After the end of game 5, Kareems averages for the Finals looked like this: In contrast, Magics numbers, while still very impressive especially for a rookie, didnt exactly stand out compared to Kareem (17 ppg, 10 rpg, 9 apg, 2.6 spg on 56% shooting through the first 5 games). Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Magic Johnson win the 1980 NBA Finals MVP? The key was Darryl Dawkins, who had one of his best games of the season by scoring 25 points, many of them on outside shots trying to draw Abdul-Jabbar away from the basket. The Lakers also received strong performances from Jamaal Wilkes with 37 points and 10 rebounds,[3] and Norm Nixon. Lakers center Kareem Abdul Jabbar was crowned the regular season MVP. There is no doubt that Magics performance in Game Six was phenomenal, shooting 60.9% from the field and 100% from the free-throw line. Free trialHow to Watch Today's NBA GamesToronto Raptors at Washington WizardsThe Washington Wizards (29-32) and Pascal Siakam's Toronto Raptors (31-32) face off at Capital One Arena on Thursday, March 2, beginning at 7:00 PM ET.Game Time: 7:00 PM ETTV Channel: NBC Sports NetworksLive Stream: fuboTV (, The Indiana Pacers (28-35) meet Keldon Johnson and the San Antonio Spurs (15-47) at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday, March 2 at 8:30 PM ET.The Pacers won their most recent game 124-122 against the Mavericks on Tuesday. Westhead continued to use McKinney's offense, a creative and spontaneous offense that came to be known as Showtime,[11][12][13] and the team finished the season with a record of 6022. No. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2. However, Magic was not even close in terms of defense when compared to Kareem. Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson of the 1980 winning team Lakers. When hes not writing as Terrell, hes writing under his pseudonym Tavion Scott, creating scripts for his audio drama podcasts. A new face of the league after a decade (70s) where the league nearly died, Finals weren't even being televised live iirc. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. Los Angeles took an early advantage in the NBA Finals, but Lakers superstar big man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suffered an injury in Game 5. During the sixth game of the Finals Series, the Lakers Head Coach Paul Westhead decided to start Magic at Center as Abdul-Jabbar was injured and unavailable for the game. Kidd should have won the award that year. 1981 NBA Finals: A interview and racial controversy. So was Abdul-Jabbar the real winner of the MVP title that year? Also read: LeBron James was conceived when Kareem Abdul Jabbar became all time scoring leader?: Weird theory on Lakers stars birth. Siakam recorded 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Raptors. Also, and this is weird: Jeanie Buss who does run the LA Lakers now, having inherited her fathers team and legacy in 2013 is 60 and dating Jay Mohr of SNL fame. So while I acknowledge that I agree with the pick of Rose, I don't think it is as open and shut as has been reported. Terrell is a huge fan of great storytelling when it comes to television and film. Nate Archibald of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award. Johnson on the other hand, averaged 18 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. But was Abdul-Jabbar the one who actually convinced Haywood to get clean? He hobbles thereafter, but they dont immediately call a time-out to remove him. 1981 NBA Finals Rockets vs. Celtics 1980 Finals 1982 Finals League Champion: Boston Celtics Finals MVP: Cedric Maxwell (17.7 / 9.5 / 2.8) 1981 Playoff Leaders: PTS: Moses Malone (562) TRB: Moses Malone (305) AST: Maurice Cheeks (116) WS: Moses Malone (3.5) East Conf Semis On this page: All Games in Series Playoff Series Four Factors TGT Tips! Defensive Player of the Year. It's not a travesty to give it to Magic, given Kareem missed a game. The satisfying season finale of HBOs Winning Time aired this week, and most of the episode took place during Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Championship. The MVP race in 1999 was quite fun to watch, and it came down to a photo finish in the final weeks. Thus, stats made it evident that Abdul-Jabbar was the Lakers key player. In 1979, Jeanie was only 17 years old, although two years later in 1981 her dad did appoint her the general manager of a tennis franchise, the Los Angeles Strings. Kareem was very clearly the best player in 4 out of the 5 games he played in, and had the absolute monster numbers and heroic Game 5 performance that shouldve gotten him the Finals MVP, but he ended up being denied the award because of one game in which he wasnt there. But as strong as those number may seem, they represent one of Malone's worst statistical seasons since his rookie year. A crowd surrounds Magic Johnson at the Lakers championship parade, Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 23:20, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Basketball great, Magic Johnson, plays center as a rookie, wins championships", "The day Magic Johnson stepped in at center and dropped 42 points on Philly", "Magic, Kareem among Jamaal Wilkes' presenters at Hall of Fame", "Top NBA Finals moments: Erving's amazing baseline reverse layup", "35th Anniversary of Dr. J's Iconic Reverse Layup Versus Lakers in NBA Finals", "How the N.B.A. The satisfying season finale of HBO's Winning Time aired this week, and most of the episode took place during Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Championship. "I turned all my anger toward Westhead, who I felt had snatched it from me. But he missed the finals due to his ankle injury. What made Johnson's performance even more remarkable was that he was an NBA rookieand, indeed, one who had left college after only two years, and was only 20 years old. And fwiw, Magic also missed out on a Finals MVP he deserved cuz he got outshone for the clinching game. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has submitted a bid to buy the Commanders, according to a report from Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. During the 1979-1980 NBA season, Bird averaged 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists a game. Certainly Steve Nash had a good year and led the Phoenix Suns to the best record in the league that year at 62-20. He began watching the sport after stumbling upon a court in his society, helping him identify an undiscovered passion for the game of hoops. Heres how it works. This was also the year of Kobe's great 81 point game. Press J to jump to the feed. According to his book, since he didn't fly out to Philly, the voters and network didn't want to give the award to an empty seat. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the league's MVP, but midway through Game 5, the Lakers center suffered a severely sprained ankle. Winning Timewas recently picked up for a second season on HBO. However, the rookie bested his captain with an average of 8.7 assists per game. Norm Nixon had 23 points and Jamaal Wilkes finished with 20 while the Lakers did an excellent job double-teaming Julius Erving. Johnson became the first and only rookie to win the NBA Finals MVP award. Thank you for signing up to Whattowatch. And then Game 6 happened, and Magic played the game of his life, stealing Finals MVP with a single performance, although it sounded like even the voters at the time wanted to give Kareem the award: Sports columnist Bill Livingston publicly confessed that he and others changed votes to deny Kareem the award because CBS did not want to present an award to an empty seat. He was a five-time NBA champion during his time in the league. Kareem 40 pts vs. Sixers (Game 5, 1980 NBA finals) f9ish 5.27K subscribers Subscribe 239 Share Save 41K views 13 years ago Kareem had 40 pts, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks. McAdoo led the league in scoring this season with 34.5 ppg and that played a large role in his win, but his scoring was only slightly higher than Berry's 30.6 ppg. Although Lamar Odom was on the team, he has always served the Lakers best off the bench rather than a second option. The final controversy in Winning Time episode 10 delivers another rather surprising true story. Perhaps just an absence in Game Six cost the entire voting panel to change their decision, which seemed unfair. The suggestion in "Winning Time" that it was Johnson's idea to start as center is dramatic license. "[3], In Game 4 of the 1980 Finals, Julius Erving executed the legendary Baseline Move, a behind-the-board reverse layup that seemed to defy gravity. Of course, the benefit of hindsight would cast judgement on the decision as Barry would advance to the finals and win a title in one of the greatest upsets in finals history, while McAdoo would lose in the second round of the playoffs. Malone averaged 27.4 ppg and 10 rpg. Behind Johnson's passing, Abdul-Jabbar's post play and Michael Cooper's perimeter shooting and defense, the trio formed the core of the Lakers' Showtime-era teams. T-6. 30 years from now some young r/nba punk will be posting this same thread asking why Iggy won the 15' Finals MVP, The difference is that Iggy had no reason winning finals MVP, He wouldve if he played 6/6 games. In reality, Haywood wrote in a 1988 account in People magazine, he blamed Westhead, who had actually kicked Haywood off the team following Game 3. 2021-22 Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors . Teammate of the Year. Darryl Dawkins led the Sixers with 26 points and Erving added 23. Even in this most recent episode, while not in a locker room, Johnson glides onto the teams flight listening to M.A.Z.E.s "Golden Time of the Day." Magic delivered an iconic masterpiece, probably the greatest game of his career with 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists (teammate Jamaal Wilkes shouldnt go unmentioned here too, putting up 37 points and 10 rebounds). But the truth is stranger than fiction. Greatness. Paul Westhead does also thank Jack McKinney in his remarks, and the players (including Norm Nixon) make sure to single out Kareems contributions. Can he be the most valuable player if his team has more talent and experience than the team of another MVP contender? He averaged 25.5ppg, 12.7 rpg, and 2.5 bpg. He liked to play songs that didnt appeal to the general musical taste of the locker room. "Jamaal Wilkes had an unbelievable game", said Johnson in 2011. Therefore, viewers must be wondering if Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the original winner of the 1980 NBA Finals MVP? The HBO series focused on Johnson, the ascending superstar point guard, legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes) andteam owner Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly)completed its spotlight-grabbing 10-episode first season Sunday. As such, when a player receives the . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once again had a big game with 33 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and three assists as the Lakers cruised to a 111101 win. It represented a 16 game improvement for the team over the previous season. But withAbdul-Jabbar stuck watching the game from his Los Angeles home, giving the award to an empty chair was bad TV. Rap in the 90s was apparently not his go-to genre. Surprised, he says, because he was certain LeBron. According to unconfirmed reports, Abdul-Jabbar was originally voted as the Finals MVP. The Lakers countered by collapsing more in the paint and rallied for a 6060 tie at the half. Additionally, there is a question over whether the Bulls success derives more from Tom Thibodeau's system or Rose's play. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the 76ers faced NBA Rookie of the Year Award winner Larry Bird and the 61win Celtics, and owing to the core's three consecutive playoff appearances, the more experienced 76ers were favored to win the series. She performed that job while attending U.S.C. The 1980 NBA Finals TV Mini Series 1980 YOUR RATING Rate Sport The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1979/1980 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. Johnson had no say in the matter. - The Grueling Truth A look back at the Celtics return to glory and also a look back at racist comments by Rick Barry towards Bill Russell. While doing the play-by-play of a Miami Heat game earlier in the season, commentators Steve Kerr and Marv Albert got in a heated discussion about the MVP race. We hope you enjoyed what we put together here. Winning Time. Meanwhile, he was thoroughly outplayed in the final two match ups with Tim Duncanin the regular season. Love. Meanwhile, Barry's team, while winning the same number of games, led Golden State to the best record in the West. 3. The episode showed what happened at the end of the 1979-80 season. Generally, slumps by teams heading into the playoffs hurt MVP candidates, but it did not effect Malone's candidacy in the minds of voters. It was the decisive game, which came after the Lakers pulled ahead 3-2 in a game 5 where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar badly sprained his ankle. When I did the first MVP poll of the season on Jan. 1, Steph Curry was the obvious . 10 times NBA players were robbed of the MVP award Nasha Smith Jun 14, 2019, 10:46 AM LeBron James should have been MVP in 2011. Sixth Man of the Year. Based on Livingstons story, Kareem initially had the votes to win, but Johnson took home the prize. Hersey Hawkins provided a bit of scoring, but Barkley clearly had less talent to work with. In the series, the moment Johnson first stepped into a locker room he was accompanied by a boom box. He transformed the team into a legitimate contender this season. The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 197980 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. Enough of us saps changed our votes to deny Kareem the award 4-3. Also, whats the truth behind Larry Birds Rookie of the Year award? Elsa/Getty Images. Rookie Magic Johnson contributed 16 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds. This picture, taken at our friends wedding in June, tells the story, our story.I guess really can have it all.I love you @jaymohr37 pic.twitter.com/UzkGZDZ2R8. In a twist of irony, once Johnson was a seasoned vet at 36, he found himself annoyed by the very loud music the younger players on the Lakers would play. He averaged 22.9 ppg and 10.4 rpg. In the first season finale of Winning Time, the LA Lakers defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in the sixth game of the 1980 NBA World Championship Series and are crowned the champions. He literally and symbolically takes Abdul-Jabbar's vacant plane seat. But after losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 NBA Finals, the 76ers realized that a fancy and one-on-one style of play will not take them all the way. Magics performance in the sixth game not only crowned the Lakers as the 1980 NBA Champions but also won him the Finals MVP Award. A year-by-year list of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award winners: YEAR PLAYER TEAM. This game was a nip-and-tuck affair that was highlighted by Julius Erving's signature "Baseline Move" in the fourth quarter. The NBA's MVP award has been chosen annually by a panel of media members since the 1980-81 season. "We went to Philadelphia and won a championship.". Magic had an amazing game, but guess what it's a series award. Compared to Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson averaged only 21.5 points per game and 11.2 assists per game. Sports columnist Bill Livingston publicly confessed that he and others changed votes to deny Kareem the award because CBS did not want to present an award to an empty seat. Though, there is no doubt Magic Johnson was great in the Finals. He converted the 3-point play to take a 106103 lead. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Julius Erving led a short comeback in the second, but a 90 run by the Lakers extended their lead to 14 at the half. 4 seed considering the struggles of everyone on the team? In Game 6, Magic Johnson played what may have been the greatest game of his career. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. [2] But the Lakers still had to travel to Philadelphia for Game 6. (March 4), HBO's "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,", The casting magic of HBO's 'Winning Time' Lakers, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Teammate of the Year. Sky hooks and an epic comb-over: The casting magic of HBO's 'Winning Time' Lakers. This isn't a documentary.". 44+22+10 sper triple-doble! [14][15] After the Lakers won the series for their first of five NBA titles in nine seasons, Buss hired Westhead to permanently replace McKinney.[16]. "Winning Time" features Spencer Haywood (Wood Harris) plottingto kill the Lakers after the teamvoted to kick out the troubled forwardbecause of his cocaine use. Its unclear (and unlikely) that Magic learned that in the fourth quarter of Game 6. Solomon Hughes and Quincy Isaiah in Winning Time (Image credit: Warrick Page/HBO) Many argue that the Lakers would have been a lottery team without Kobe in 2006, and one glance at the roster appears to back that claim up: Smush Parker, Chris Mihm, Kwami Brown. All rights reserved. In the playoffs, they eliminated the Washington Bullets in two games, and the Atlanta Hawks in five games. There was a problem. An injury in the fifth game sidelines Abdul-Jabbar, setting up Magic Johnson to take his captains position and the center stage. The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1979-80 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs.The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2.. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the league's MVP, but midway through Game 5, the Lakers center suffered . Abdul-Jabbar then limped back onto the floor. Johnson had no problem and was up to the challenge, although he would lose the famous opening tip to Caldwell Jones. The 2015 award, however, has become slightly more controversial with time. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. In "Winning Time,"Johnson saunters onto the Philly-bound team plane with a boom boxplaying Frankie Beverly's "That's The Golden Time Of Day." As the finale is concluding, there is a moment when Abdul-Jabbar shows up to the home of Spencer Haywood (Wood Harris). Back in 2015, Iguodala won the Finals MVP award after the Warriors defeated LeBron James and the Cavaliers, a result that still sparks debates among fans and media members to this day. Steve Nash is the only repeat MVP winner that has never appeared in an NBA Finals game. Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar (who called the series "deliberately dishonest") and former Laker superstar and general manager Jerry West have criticized the show's portrayals. The Sixers, however, had Julius Erving who scored 11 of the Sixers last 13 points to complete an 8-point comeback, and tie the game at 103103 with only 43 seconds remaining. Absurd though it sounds, the first-year player had 42 points to go with 15 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals in Game 6.

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