50 Fun Facts About 70s NBA

Which injured Knicks center limped onto the court before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals?

Willis Reed had torn a thigh muscle in Game 5, yet he hit the Knicks' first two baskets. Walt Frazier took over from there with 36 points and 19 assists.

Under which name did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar play until 1971, the year he won his first NBA championship?

Lew Alcindor had converted to Islam in 1968 but kept his new name private for three years, going public with it in 1971.

Which team, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, ended the Lakers' record 33-game winning streak in January 1972?

The Milwaukee Bucks were the defending champions and stopped the run on January 9, 1972. The Lakers still finished 69–13 and took the title.

Which Michigan State guard did the Lakers select first overall in the 1979 NBA draft after winning a coin flip?

Magic Johnson was available to the Lakers only because they held the Jazz's first-round pick from an earlier trade. The Bulls lost the coin flip and picked second.

Which rule change, long a feature of the rival ABA, did the NBA adopt on a one-year trial for 1979–80?

The three-point line was dismissed by many as a gimmick when it arrived. Chris Ford of the Celtics made the first one on October 12, 1979.

Which star did the cash-strapped Nets sell to the Philadelphia 76ers for $3 million just before the 1976–77 season?

Julius Erving was sold because the Nets owed the Knicks $4.8 million for moving into their territory. Dr. J reached the Finals in his first Philadelphia season.

Which UCLA-trained center, a devoted Grateful Dead fan, was Finals MVP in 1977 and NBA MVP the following season?

Bill Walton attended more than 850 Grateful Dead concerts in his lifetime. He had been the first pick of the 1974 draft after winning two NCAA titles.

Which Jazz guard scored 68 points against the Knicks in February 1977, then a record for an NBA guard?

Pete Maravich led the whole NBA in scoring that season, averaging 31.1 points a game. The signed ball from his 68-point night later sold for $131,450.

Which Knicks forward on the 1970 and 1973 title teams later served 18 years as a U.S. senator?

Bill Bradley represented New Jersey in the Senate from 1979 to 1997. He had delayed his NBA career for two years to study at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Which 76ers forward of the late 1970s, nicknamed Jellybean, was the father of a future five-time NBA champion?

Joe Bryant spent four seasons with his hometown 76ers and later played for several teams in Italy, where his son Kobe spent much of his childhood.

Which city celebrated its first NBA title in 1977 after its team lost the opening two Finals games to Philadelphia?

Portland was gripped by what locals called Blazermania as the Trail Blazers won four straight. No team had recovered from 0–2 in the Finals that way before.

Which college forward did the Celtics draft sixth overall in 1978, then wait a full year for him to sign?

Larry Bird chose to play one more college season first. When he arrived for 1979–80, the Celtics won 32 more games than the year before.

Which star sank a 60-foot shot at the buzzer in Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals, only to lose in overtime?

Jerry West launched it from beyond midcourt, but it counted for only two points and merely tied the game at 102. The Knicks then won 111–108.

Which center was named MVP of the 1972 NBA Finals after playing the clinching game with a badly injured hand?

Wilt Chamberlain had fallen on his right hand earlier in the series and was listed as doubtful for the clincher. He played anyway and was admired for doing so.

Which future coach of eleven NBA champions won a 1973 title as a long-armed reserve forward for the Knicks?

Phil Jackson had missed the Knicks' 1970 title season after spinal fusion surgery. He spent it putting together a photo diary of the championship run.

Which future Hall of Fame coach was a reserve guard on the Lakers team that won the 1972 NBA title?

Pat Riley came off the bench for that team. A decade later he was coaching the Lakers, and he led them to four championships in the 1980s.

Which Rockets forward suffered life-threatening injuries from a punch in a December 1977 game against the Lakers?

Rudy Tomjanovich was running in to stop a fight when Kermit Washington turned and hit him. He recovered to play again and later coached Houston to two titles.

Which city was the first home of the Jazz, who joined the NBA in 1974 and left for Utah in 1979?

New Orleans gave the team its name, a tribute to the city as the home of jazz music. The name survived the move to Salt Lake City.

Which team, coached by Al Attles, stunned the heavily favored Washington Bullets with a sweep in the 1975 NBA Finals?

The Warriors had won only 48 games that season. It was also the first major American pro final with two Black head coaches, Attles and K.C. Jones.

Which sportswear brand gave Knicks guard Walt Frazier his own suede signature sneaker, the Clyde, in 1973?

Puma signed him after Frazier set his terms, among them his signature on every shoe and a new colour for every game he played.

Which forward, known for shooting free throws underhanded, was named MVP of the 1975 NBA Finals?

Rick Barry made 90 percent of his NBA free throws with the unorthodox technique, the best mark of any player when he retired in 1980.

Which Celtics star retired in 1978 after 16 seasons, having been named MVP of the 1974 NBA Finals?

John Havlicek was a swingman so famous for stamina that rivals said just keeping up with him was a challenge. He played in eight Finals and won them all.

Which Celtics legend spent 1973 to 1977 as head coach and general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics?

Bill Russell took the SuperSonics to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. His team-first approach never quite fitted the roster, and he left with a losing record.

Which Spurs guard nicknamed the Iceman scored 63 points on the last day of 1977–78 to win the scoring title?

George Gervin scored 33 of them in the second quarter, then an NBA record. A Denver rival had scored 73 hours earlier, and the title was settled by 0.07 of a point.

Which Nuggets star nicknamed Skywalker scored 73 points against the Pistons on the last day of the 1977–78 season?

David Thompson was chasing the scoring title that afternoon. He still lost it by less than a tenth of a point when his San Antonio rival answered later the same day.

Which team joined the NBA in the 1976 merger with the ABA, alongside the Nuggets, Nets and Spurs?

The Indiana Pacers were one of four survivors the NBA accepted from the ABA's last six teams. The other two clubs folded, and their players went into a dispersal draft.

Which team lost the triple-overtime Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals at Boston Garden, 128–126?

The Phoenix Suns had to shove fans away from their huddle before a buzzer-beater forced the third overtime. The game is sometimes called the greatest ever played.

Which 1970 expansion team moved to San Diego in 1978 and took the name Clippers?

The Buffalo Braves left partly because of arena conflicts with a local college team. The new name referred to the sailing ships seen in San Diego Bay.

Which 76ers center nicknamed Chocolate Thunder shattered two glass backboards with dunks in 1979?

Darryl Dawkins got the nickname from Stevie Wonder, a regular at 76ers games. His broken backboards led the NBA to adopt breakaway rims.

Which center, who turned professional straight from high school in 1974, was named NBA MVP for 1978–79?

Moses Malone had added 15 pounds before that season and led the NBA in rebounding. He went on to win the award twice more.

Which Washington Bullets star, famed for bone-jarring picks and outlet passes, was named MVP of the 1978 NBA Finals?

Wes Unseld made up for his lack of height as a center with brute strength and sheer determination. He had been both Rookie of the Year and MVP in his first season.

Which guard won his only championship in 1971 while his antitrust lawsuit against the NBA was still in court?

Oscar Robertson was president of the players' union when the suit was filed in 1970. Its 1976 settlement brought free agency to the NBA and raised salaries across the league.

Which undersized Celtics center won the 1973 NBA MVP award and once spent a day driving a Boston taxi?

Dave Cowens stood 6-foot-9 and made up for it with hustle and athleticism. His day behind the wheel of a cab came in 1977, in the middle of his career.

Which Kings guard led the NBA in both scoring and assists in the 1972–73 season, a first for the league?

Nate Archibald, nicknamed Tiny, averaged 34 points and 11.4 assists while playing 46 minutes a night. All three figures were the highest of his career.

Which SuperSonics forward won a 1971 Supreme Court case against the NBA rule that kept college underclassmen out?

Spencer Haywood had signed with Seattle in defiance of a rule making players wait four years after high school. The decision opened the draft to younger players.

Which Lakers forward retired nine games into the 1971–72 season, just before the team's 33-game winning streak began?

Elgin Baylor had ruptured an Achilles tendon the season before and was worn down by injuries. The streak began in the very next game, and the Lakers won the title without him.

Which coach took over a 5–17 Seattle SuperSonics team in 1977 and led it to the 1979 NBA championship?

Lenny Wilkens had been the SuperSonics' player-coach at the start of the decade. His rescued 1977–78 team reached the Finals and lost in seven games before winning a year later.

Which former Rochester Royals player coached the Knicks to NBA championships in 1970 and 1973?

Red Holzman had won the 1951 NBA title as a Rochester player. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986.

Which former Celtics forward coached Boston to NBA championships in 1974 and 1976?

Tom Heinsohn became head coach in 1969 and was Coach of the Year in 1973, when his team went 68–14 but was upset in the playoffs by the Knicks.

Which former Democratic Party chairman became NBA commissioner in 1975 and oversaw the merger with the ABA?

Larry O'Brien had also been Postmaster General in the 1960s. He ran the league until 1984, and the NBA championship trophy is named after him.

Which coach of the 1971–72 Lakers champions is credited with inventing the morning shootaround on game days?

Bill Sharman devised it as a way to burn off nervous energy. He had already won titles as a coach in two other professional leagues before the Lakers hired him.

Which ABA team's owners gave up their franchise in the 1976 merger for a share of NBA television money?

The Spirits of St. Louis owners collected a seventh of the TV income of each surviving ABA club for nearly four decades, until a revised agreement in 2014.

Which network took over NBA broadcasts in 1973 and still showed some 1979 playoff games on late-night tape delay?

CBS aired weeknight playoff games at 11:30 p.m. in that era. Even one game of the 1979 Finals was shown on delay in most of the country.

Which city shared the Kings with Kansas City after the former Royals left Cincinnati in 1972?

Omaha hosted games in a 9,300-seat civic auditorium. The old nickname was dropped in the move to avoid confusion with Kansas City's baseball club.

Which statistic did the NBA begin to record officially in the 1973–74 season, alongside steals?

Blocked shots had gone uncounted through the 1950s and 1960s, so the totals of that era's great defensive centers are unknown.

Which three-time scoring champion won the 1975 NBA MVP award and was traded to the Knicks in December 1976?

Bob McAdoo had 42 points and a career-high 29 rebounds two days before the trade. He later won two titles as a Lakers reserve in the 1980s.

Which Delta State star did the Jazz pick in the 1977 NBA draft, the only woman ever officially drafted?

Lusia Harris went in the seventh round, 137th overall, and declined to try out for the team. A 1969 pick of another woman had been voided by the league.

Which venue became the home of the Detroit Pistons in 1978, three years after the NFL's Lions moved in?

The Pontiac Silverdome was a football stadium in the suburbs, and the Pistons played basketball there for ten years, until 1988.

Which center, famous for his size-22 shoes, did the Detroit Pistons take first overall in the 1970 NBA draft?

Bob Lanier wore the largest shoe the maker Allen Edmonds ever created. He played in eight All-Star Games and was MVP of the 1974 edition.

Which 5-foot-9 Rockets guard of the 1970s, once a national baton-twirling champion, reached the Basketball Hall of Fame?

Calvin Murphy won his twirling title as an eighth grader in 1963. Despite his height he was also picked for an NBA All-Star Game.