It is believed that the bid was . But Kobe Bryant was just sensational this season, posting 35.4 ppg (first in the league), 5.3 rpg, and 4.5 apg. After winning the NBA Finals, it is said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is going to be the MVP, but David Stern tells Magic Johnson that he could take the award instead since Kareem isn't there. Please check your email for a confirmation. These things are true, but in defense of Howard and James, both players had to make bigger adjustments and sacrifices to their games throughout the regular season than Rose did. Johnson, a rookie, became the third player to win an NCAA title and NBA title in back-to-back years. Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, playing on a mission and finally with an effective supporting cast around him, scored 33 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had six blocks and five assists on the way to a 109102 win in the Forum. Arjun Julka is a NBA author at The SportsRush. REMINDER: This thread is only for serious and thought-provoking analysis. However, during the NBA World Championship Series, aka the NBA Finals Series, the LA Lakers are without their star player and captain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Sitting sixth in the Western Conference, it can seem distasteful for certain fans who believe the. LeBron James was so good for the Cleveland Cavaliers that he scored four of the 11 votes for Finals MVP. Steve Nashis the only repeat MVP winner that has never appeared in an NBA Finals game. The Sixers led by as much as 20 in the fourth period, but the Lakers roared back, trimming the lead to 105104 late in the game. Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson of the 1980 winning team Lakers. Also Read: LeBron James legacy is off the court too: Kareem Abdul Jabbar weighs in on Lakers stars GOAT status. 44+22+10 sper triple-doble! 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. [2] Scoring a game-high 42 points and grabbing a game-high 15 reboundsand handing out seven assists Johnson led the Lakers to the NBA crown. The 1990 MVP race would prove to be one of the closest in league history as Magic Johnson edged out "Sir Charles" by a mere 22 votes. Hollyoaks spoilers: Diane Hutchinson makes a SHOCKING confession. It was a testament to James' great play. She performed that job while attending U.S.C. Did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Magic Johnson win the 1980 NBA Finals MVP? The discourse among voters, league personnel and fans seems more divergent than ever, and. The 1980 NBA World. Kidd's numbers were also special that year, as he averaged 14.7 ppg, 9.9 apg and 7.3 rpg. Then Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West retired, and the Lakers missed the playoffs in 1975 and 1976. Lakers won the chip and Magic won MVP! The Lakers were the top seed in the western conference and would have the home-court advantage going into the Finals. 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). The 7-foot-2-inch Abdul had ledhis team through the finals, gutting out aMVP-worthy Game 5 victory despite a severelyinjuredankle. Mourning never really had a chance. Paul Westhead does also thank Jack McKinney in his remarks, and the players (including Norm Nixon) make sure to single out Kareems contributions. So my friend who is a huge Magic Johnson fan (refuses to place LeBron near him because 5 rings > 3 rings ) was watching the 1980 finals game 6 and obviously Magic went off in that game. As for Howard, he started the season with one team and would end the season with a totally different team. Mo Cheeks the 5th or 6th best offensive player in the series, 14.7 ppg on 57.7% FG. But if the measure of an MVPis leading one's team to regular season success, it was hard to make the case that Duncan did. Norm Nixon had 23 points and Jamaal Wilkes finished with 20 while the Lakers did an excellent job double-teaming Julius Erving. Jordan led the Bulls to an incredible 69-13 season (tied for second best of all-time) despite losing starting center Luc Longley and sixth man of the year Toni Kukoc for around 25 games apiece due to injuries. So Magic just got it for his amazing game 6. Magic got the rebound to seemingly seal the win, but the Lakers tried to force the fast-break and ended up turning the ball over, out-of-bounds. 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. Los Angeles took an early advantage in the NBA Finals, but Lakers superstar big man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suffered an injury in Game 5. [17], The series-deciding Game 6 became the most notorious example of CBS's practice of showing even the most important NBA games on "tape delay" broadcasts. The Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals, themselves in six games, in the World Series. West even threatenedlegal action through a letter from his lawyer, demanding a retraction from HBO and producer Adam McKay, whilecalling Jason Clarke's rage-filledperformance a "malicious assault. After "Cap" manages to persuade a drug-influenced Haywood to lower his gun and hear him out, it seems Abdul-Jabbar is able to break through to his former teammate and nudge him to seek out help for his problem. But I was looking at the series stats and like, Kareem was 33/13 with 4.6 blocks per game. Johnson had no say in the matter. Not too manyteams can have their supporting cast change early in the season, yet still maintain their defensive identity despite the turnover. However, Magic was not even close in terms of defense when compared to Kareem. Sixth Man of the Year. Julius Erving scored the only three-pointer of the series (and first in NBA Finals history) in this game. TGT Play! Odds Deals Podcasts US USA Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana England and Wales company registration number 2008885. All episodes of Winning Time are now available to stream on HBO Max in the US and are on Sky TV and NOW TV in the UK. Most, if not all NBA fans know the big story of those finals. Alan Diaz/AP Michael Jordan was robbed in the 1988 - 1989 and. Did Nash really belong in that distinguished company? Nevertheless, Duncan wound up winning the title while Malone lost in the second round. Kareem wasn't totally robbed imo. First of all, I find it a bit curious the fact that Berry finished behind Cowens in MVP voting, yet Cowens didn't even make the All-NBA First Team that year while Berry did. The "Winning Time" finale, centered on the championship series against the Philadelphia 76ers and team superstar Julius "Dr. It was one of then-owner Jack Kent Cooke's final acts before selling the team to Jerry Buss during that summer. Curiously, even though Magic Johnson won the award and Johnson's team won a league best 63 games (the league's only 60-win team that year) and Barkley's club only won 53 games, Barkley received more first place votes (38-27). Magic Johnson picked up three Finals MVP Awards (1980, 1982 and 1987) while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1985) and James Worthy (1988) received the honor once each. Meanwhile, McAdoo was fairly well liked across the NBA. SPOILERS AHEAD! The chemistry between the three was evident early on, as the Lakers eliminated the Phoenix Suns and defending champions Seattle SuperSonics in a pair of five-game playoff series to advance to the NBA Finals. Abdul-Jabbar was the series'statistical MVP winner through his heroic Game 5. Early on, the Sixers seemed unsure how to counter the matchup problem. . 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. [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]. If you put Deron Williams on the Bulls instead of Derrick Rose could they win 60-games under Thibs defensive philosophy? He also contributed many intangibles to the team as well, such as his defensive tenacity and his incredible will to win, eventually leading the Nets to its first ever trip to the finals. Magic Johnson's performance in Game 6 and the series earned him the 1980 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). In the finals, the talismanic captain of the LA Lakers scored 167 points at an average of 33.4 points per game. The Lakers went up 70, then 114. For those interested in the Jeanie Buss drama, that is almost entirely a series-created fiction. In the Pacers' win, Tyrese Haliburton led the way with a team-high 32 points (adding seven rebounds and six assists). Nash received credit for leading the Suns to a solid 54-28 record despite playing without his All-Star big Amare Stoudemire for most of the season. T-6. When I did the first MVP poll of the season on Jan. 1, Steph Curry was the obvious . This game was a nip-and-tuck affair that was highlighted by Julius Erving's signature "Baseline Move" in the fourth quarter. . NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. Can you put any other center in the league on the Magic and have a No. T: 02743.899.588 - 0985.173.317 Ms Hng - 0908.131.884 Mr Quyn Los Angeles would win the game. In between, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was acquired, and the Lakers returned to prominence in 1977, but Kareem couldn't do it alone. Here are Page 2's 10 most controversial MVP races in sports since 1990: 1. Abdul-Jabbar, bad ankle and all, dunked emphatically over Erving and drew the foul with 33 seconds left. All rights reserved. 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. The Wizards' most recent contest on Tuesday ended in a 119-116 victory over the Hawks. He literally and symbolically takes Abdul-Jabbar's vacant plane seat. This was also the year of Kobe's great 81 point game. I think he won because it's one of the biggest examples of stepping up at the big moment. However, reporters change their votes at the last moment, and David Stern awards the Finals MVP to Magic Johnson. Johnson won three MVPs from 1987 to 1990 but was unable to win all three in consecutive seasons. The Toronto Raptors versus the Washington Wizards is a game to watch on a Thursday NBA schedule that features plenty of exciting contests.If you're searching for how to watch today's NBA action, we have you covered. [10] Assistant coach Paul Westhead, who also worked under McKinney at St. Joseph's, was named the interim head coach. Many consider this victory as the birth of Showtime. MacArthur squeaked into the playoffs at 6-3, but its tough schedule paid off the Generals blew out Urbana 20-0 to open the playoffs, then won even bigger in the second round with a 33-2 defeat . How did he respond? The Lakers and the Celtics didnt face each other in the NBA Finals until 1984-85 (a Lakers win), again in 1985-86 (the Celtics won) and again the following year, which saw the Lakers win (The Lakers were the more dominant team in the 80s, winning 5 Championships to three by the Celtics). So Game 6 was shown at 11:30pm Eastern (10:30pm Central) in all but eight US cities: Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento and Reno, who carried it live; all but Philadelphia are located in the Pacific Time Zone, thus could show the game live at 6 p.m. local time, then carry CBS's prime time lineup, delayed by a few minutes for the ending of the game. Also, whats the truth behind Larry Birds Rookie of the Year award? Magic Johnson had a spectacular year in 1990. 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. If you take James off and replace him with any other small forward in the game, could they get the same intangibles they get from James? To read our interview with Adrien Brody, who portrayed Lakers assistant coach Pat Riley, click here. Can he be the most valuable player if his team has more talent and experience than the team of another MVP contender? In Game 6, Magic Johnson played what may have been the greatest game of his career. Temporary bans may be handed out to users who post memes and other low-effort or off-topic comments in this thread. pic.twitter.com/Dzw6reXR98, Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) May 16, 2018. Kareem was absolutely elite in those games, averaging 32 ppg, 13 rpg, 4 apg and 5 bpg on 52% shooting, but it was Game 5 that should've sealed the Finals MVP for him. [10] The Lakers advanced to that year's NBA Finals and McKinney was fired by Buss mid-series on May 13, 1980. Title and NBA title in back-to-back years to users who post memes and other low-effort or off-topic comments in thread. 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