1982–83 NBA season

The 1982–83 NBA season was the 37th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Philadelphia 76ers winning the NBA Championship, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals.

1982–83 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 29, 1982 – April 17, 1983
April 19 – May 20, 1983 (Playoffs)
May 22–31, 1983 (Finals)
Number of teams23
TV partner(s)CBS, ESPN, USA
Draft
Top draft pickJames Worthy
Picked byLos Angeles Lakers
Regular season
Top seedPhiladelphia 76ers
Season MVPMoses Malone (Philadelphia)
Top scorerAlex English (Denver)
Playoffs
Eastern championsPhiladelphia 76ers
  Eastern runners-upMilwaukee Bucks
Finals
ChampionsPhiladelphia 76ers
  Runners-upLos Angeles Lakers
Finals MVPMoses Malone (Philadelphia)

Notable occurrences

  • The 1983 NBA All-Star Game was played at The Forum in Inglewood, California, with the East defeating the West 132–123. Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers won the game's MVP award. It was at this game that R&B singer Marvin Gaye performed his famous rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner".
  • This season marked the final season for Larry O'Brien as commissioner of the NBA. In honor of his long tenure, the NBA would rename its championship trophy after him (it was originally named after the late Boston Celtics owner Walter A. Brown).
  • The USA Network extended their cable deal with the NBA for another two years, and ESPN shared broadcast rights with them.
  • The 76ers posted a 12–1 record in the playoffs, a record for highest winning percentage in the postseason (it was later broken by the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers, whose record was, in turn, later broken by the 2017 Golden State Warriors).
  • The Boston Celtics were swept for the first time in their playoff history, at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Conference Semifinals of the 1983 NBA playoffs. The Bucks swept the Celtics 4–0.
  • The 1983 NBA Finals was the last Finals to end before June 1.
  • This was the final season for Wilson serving as the suppliers of the official NBA game ball (a partnership that dated back to 1946); it was replaced in that capacity by Spalding in the following season, which supplied game balls to the NBA through the 2020–21 season. Wilson returned as the game ball supplier for the 2021–22 season.[1]
  • Ted Stepien sold the Cleveland Cavaliers to Gordon Gund. Under Stepien, attendance at the Cavaliers' home arena at Richfield Coliseum declined, first-round picks were traded in consecutive years (which led the NBA to institute the Ted Stepien rule), and long-time announcer Joe Tait was fired (he returned following the Gund purchase). The Cavaliers had five different coaches and three consecutive losing seasons under Stepien.
  • On November 3, 1982, Randy Smith played in his 845th consecutive NBA game, breaking Johnny Kerr's iron man record.[2] The game was a 130–111 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in which Smith started and scored 14 points. Smith's iron man streak ended at 906 games when he played his last game with the Clippers on March 13, 1983 and was traded to the Atlanta Hawks. The record was later surpassed by A. C. Green in 1997.
  • On April 16, 1983, during a 12-point victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the San Antonio Spurs set the all-time NBA regular season record for team field goal percentage by shooting .707 from the floor.
  • The NBA adds the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award awards.
  • This season saw the final season of eventual Hall of Famers' Dave Cowens, Spencer Haywood and Calvin Murphy.
Coaching changes
Off-season
Team 1981–82 coach 1982–83 coach
Chicago Bulls Rod Thorn Paul Westhead
Cleveland Cavaliers Bill Musselman Tom Nissalke
New York Knicks Red Holzman Hubie Brown
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
New Jersey Nets Larry Brown Bill Blair

Final standings

By division

W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Philadelphia 76ers 6517.79335–630–1115–9
x-Boston Celtics 5626.683933–823–1814–10
x-New Jersey Nets 4933.5981630–1119–2211–13
x-New York Knicks 4438.5372126–1518–2310–14
Washington Bullets 4240.5122327–1415–2610–14
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 5131.62231–1020–2122–7
x-Atlanta Hawks 4339.524826–1517–2421–8
Detroit Pistons 3745.4511423–1814–2719–11
Chicago Bulls 2854.3412318–2310–3113–17
Cleveland Cavaliers 2359.2802815–268–338–22
Indiana Pacers 2062.2443114–276–356–24
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 5329.64631–1022–1921–9
x-Denver Nuggets 4537.549829–1216–2517–13
Kansas City Kings 4537.549830–1115–2618–12
Dallas Mavericks 3844.4631523–1815–2615–15
Utah Jazz 3052.3662321–209–3215–15
Houston Rockets 1468.171399–325–364–26
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 5824.70733–825–1621–9
x-Phoenix Suns 5329.646532–921–2021–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics 4834.5851029–1219–2214–16
x-Portland Trail Blazers 4636.5611231–1015–2616–14
Golden State Warriors 3052.3662821–209–3211–19
San Diego Clippers 2557.3053318–237–347–23

By conference

#
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Philadelphia 76ers6517.793
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks5131.62214
3 x-Boston Celtics5626.6839
4 x-New Jersey Nets4933.59816
5 x-New York Knicks4438.53721
6 x-Atlanta Hawks4339.52422
7 Washington Bullets4240.51223
8 Detroit Pistons3745.45128
9 Chicago Bulls2854.34137
10 Cleveland Cavaliers2359.28042
11 Indiana Pacers2062.24445
#
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers5824.707
2 y-San Antonio Spurs5329.6465
3 x-Phoenix Suns5329.6465
4 x-Seattle SuperSonics4834.58510
5 x-Portland Trail Blazers4636.56112
6 x-Denver Nuggets4537.54913
7 Kansas City Kings4537.54913
8 Dallas Mavericks3844.46320
9 Utah Jazz3052.36628
9 Golden State Warriors3052.36628
11 San Diego Clippers2557.30533
12 Houston Rockets1468.17144

Notes

  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs and first round bye
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs and first round bye
  • y – Clinched division title and first round bye
  • x – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.

First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
E1 Philadelphia* 4
E4 New Jersey 0 E5 New York 0
E5 New York 2 Eastern ConferenceE1 Philadelphia* 4
E2 Milwaukee* 1
E3 Boston 0
E3 Boston 2 E2 Milwaukee* 4
E6 Atlanta 1 E1 Philadelphia* 4
W1 Los Angeles* 0
W1 Los Angeles* 4
W4 Seattle 0 W5 Portland 1
W5 Portland 2 Western ConferenceW1 Los Angeles* 4
W2 San Antonio* 2
W6 Denver 1
W3 Phoenix 1 W2 San Antonio* 4
W6 Denver 2
  • * Division winner
  • Bold Series winner
  • Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders

CategoryPlayerTeamStat
Points per gameAlex EnglishDenver Nuggets28.4
Rebounds per gameMoses MalonePhiladelphia 76ers15.3
Assists per gameMagic JohnsonLos Angeles Lakers10.5
Steals per gameMicheal Ray RichardsonGolden State Warriors2.84
Blocks per gameTree RollinsAtlanta Hawks4.29
FG%Artis GilmoreSan Antonio Spurs.626
FT%Calvin MurphyHouston Rockets.920
3FG%Mike DunleavySan Antonio Spurs.345

NBA awards

Player of the week

The following players were named NBA Player of the Week.

Week Player
Oct. 29 – Nov. 7 Reggie Theus (Chicago Bulls) (1/1)
Nov. 8 – Nov. 14 Kelly Tripucka (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)
Nov. 15 – Nov. 21 Alex English (Denver Nuggets) (1/2)
Nov. 22 – Nov. 28 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/3)
Nov. 29 – Dec. 5 Buck Williams (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Dec. 6 – Dec. 12 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (2/3)
Dec. 13 – Dec. 19 Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)
Dec. 20 – Dec. 26 Maurice Lucas (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Dec. 27 – Jan. 2 Kiki Vandeweghe (Denver Nuggets) (1/1)
Jan. 3 – Jan. 9 Mickey Johnson (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Jan. 10 – Jan. 16 Alex English (Denver Nuggets) (2/2)
Jan. 17 – Jan. 23 Joe Barry Carroll (Golden State Warriors) (1/1)
Jan. 24 – Jan. 30 Artis Gilmore (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
Jan. 31 – Feb. 6 Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
Feb. 7 – Feb. 21 Larry Nance (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Feb. 22 – Feb. 27 Walter Davis (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Feb. 28 – Mar. 6 John Drew (Utah Jazz) (1/1)
Mar. 7 – Mar. 13 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/2)
Mar. 14 – Mar. 20 Andrew Toney (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
Mar. 21 – Mar. 27 Jeff Ruland (Washington Bullets) (1/1)
Mar. 28 – Apr. 3 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (3/3)
Apr. 4 – Apr. 10 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (2/2)
Apr. 11 – Apr. 17 Mike Glenn (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1)

Player of the month

The following players were named NBA Player of the Month.

Month Player
October/November Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
December Larry Drew (Kansas City Kings)(1/1)

Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/2)

January Alex English (Denver Nuggets) (1/1)
February Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) (2/2)
March Jeff Ruland (Washington Bullets) (1/1)

Rookie of the month

The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month.

Month Rookie
October/November Terry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (1/4)
December Clark Kellogg (Indiana Pacers) (1/1)
January Terry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (2/4)
February Terry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (3/4)
March Terry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (4/4)

Coach of the month

The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month.

Month Coach
October/November Scotty Robertson (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)
December Billy Cunningham (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
January Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1)
February Hubie Brown (New York Knicks) (1/1)
March Stan Albeck (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)

References

  1. "Clippers' Smith NBA Iron Man". USA Today. November 4, 1982.
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