1975–76 NBA season

The 1975–76 NBA season was the 30th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

1975–76 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 23, 1975 – April 11, 1976 April 13 – May 18, 1976 (Playoffs) May 23 – June 6, 1976 (Finals)
Number of games	82
Number of teams	18
TV partner(s)	CBS
Draft
Top draft pick	David Thompson
Picked by	Atlanta Hawks
Regular season
Top seed	Golden State Warriors
Season MVP	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers)
Top scorer	Bob McAdoo (Buffalo)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up	Cleveland Cavaliers
Western champions	Phoenix Suns
Western runners-up	Golden State Warriors
Finals
Champions	Boston Celtics
Runners-up	Phoenix Suns
Finals MVP	Jo Jo White (Boston)

Notable occurrences

• Larry O'Brien begins his tenure as the league's third commissioner.^[1]
• The jump ball to start the second, third and fourth quarters is eliminated. The winner of the opening jump ball receives possession at the beginning of the fourth, with the opposing team starting the middle periods with possession.
• The 1976 NBA All-Star Game was played at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, with the Eastern Conference beating the Western Conference 123–109.^[2] Dave Bing of the Washington Bullets wins the game's MVP award.^[2]
• The Kansas City-Omaha Kings are renamed the Kansas City Kings as they settle into a permanent home in Kansas City, Missouri.
• The New Orleans Jazz moved into the cavernous Louisiana Superdome after splitting their inaugural season between two inadequate facilities, the Loyola University Fieldhouse and New Orleans Municipal Auditorium.
• The Houston Rockets play their inaugural season in The Summit.
• It was the final season for Don Nelson, Pat Riley and Jerry Sloan as players. Each would go on to coach more than 2,000 games in the NBA.
• This was the final season before the NBA-ABA merger. In the 1976 offseason, four ABA teams joined the NBA: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and the reigning ABA champion New York Nets, who relocated to New Jersey.
• It was the first season for Darryl Dawkins, World B. Free, and Kobe Bryant's dad Joe Bryant.
• Dick Bavetta began his Hall of Fame officiating career, replacing the retired Mendy Rudolph, who suffered a blood clot in his lung during a 1975 playoff game and became an analyst for CBS Sports. Bavetta went on to set the record for most games officiated with 2,635 by the time he retired in 2014.
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named the league's Most Valuable Player despite his team missing the playoffs. He remains the only league MVP to miss the playoffs.
• The NBA Finals were contested by the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. Phoenix was making their first finals appearance; Boston was making their fourteenth.
• Game 4 of the NBA Finals was first game ever played in the month of June.
• Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Suns went into triple-overtime before the Celtics prevailed 128–126. This was the first triple-overtime game in NBA finals history; the only triple-overtime finals game since occurred in 1993, in which the Phoenix Suns were again participating.

Coaching changes

Offseason
Team	1974–75 coach	1975–76 coach
N/A
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
Atlanta Hawks	Cotton Fitzsimmons	Bumper Tormohlen
Detroit Pistons	Ray Scott	Herb Brown

Teams

1975-76 National Basketball Association
Eastern Conference
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Atlantic	Boston Celtics	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston Garden	13,909
	Buffalo Braves	Buffalo, New York	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	15,280
	New York Knicks	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	19,812
	Philadelphia 76ers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	The Spectrum	18,176
Central	Atlanta Hawks	Atlanta, Georgia	Omni Coliseum	16,378
	Cleveland Cavaliers	Richfield, Ohio	Richfield Coliseum	20,900
	Houston Rockets	Houston, Texas	The Summit	16,285
	New Orleans Jazz	New Orleans, Louisiana	Louisiana Superdome	55,675
	Washington Bullets	Landover, Maryland	Capital Centre	18,756
Western Conference
Midwest	Chicago Bulls	Chicago, Illinois	Chicago Stadium	18,676
	Detroit Pistons	Detroit, Michigan	Cobo Arena	12,191
	Kansas City Kings	Kansas City, Missouri	Kemper Arena	16,700
	Milwaukee Bucks	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	MECCA Arena	10,783
Pacific	Golden State Warriors	Oakland, California	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena	12,787
	Los Angeles Lakers	Inglewood, California	The Forum	17,505
	Phoenix Suns	Phoenix, Arizona	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	14,870
	Portland Trail Blazers	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum	12,888
	Seattle SuperSonics	Seattle, Washington	Seattle Center Coliseum	14,096

Map of teams

Boston

Buffalo

New York

Philadelphia

Atlanta

Cleveland

Houston

New Orleans

Washington

Chicago

Detroit

Kansas City

Milwaukee

Golden State

Los Angeles

Phoenix

Portland

Seattle

Atlantic Division Central Division Midwest Division Pacific Division

Final standings

By division

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	54	28	.659	–	31–10	23–18	13–8
x-Philadelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	8	34–7	12–29	9–12
x-Buffalo Braves	46	36	.561	8	28–14	18–22	10–11
New York Knicks	38	44	.463	16	24–17	14–27	10–11

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Cleveland Cavaliers	49	33	.598	–	29–12	20–21	15–11
x-Washington Bullets	48	34	.585	1	31–10	17–24	14–12
Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	9	27–13	13–29	14–12
New Orleans Jazz	38	44	.463	11	22–19	16–25	15–11
Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	20	20–21	9–32	7–19

Midwest Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	–	22–19	16–25	13–8
x-Detroit Pistons	36	46	.439	2	24–17	12–29	12–9
Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	7	25–16	6–35	10–11
Chicago Bulls	24	58	.293	14	15–26	9–32	7–14

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–	36–5	23–18	17–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16	31–10	12–29	12–14
x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17	27–14	15–26	15–11
Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19	31–11	9–31	10–16
Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22	25–15	12–30	11–15

By conference

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	54	28	.659	–
2	y-Cleveland Cavaliers	49	33	.598	5
3	x-Washington Bullets	48	34	.585	6
4	x-Philadelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	8
5	x-Buffalo Braves	46	36	.561	8
6	Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	14
7	New York Knicks	38	44	.463	16
8	New Orleans Jazz	38	44	.463	16
9	Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	25

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–
2	x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16
3	x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17
4	y-Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	21
5	x-Detroit Pistons	36	46	.439	23
6	Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19
7	Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22
8	Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	28
9	Chicago Bulls	24	58	.293	35

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Main article: 1976 NBA playoffs

First Round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

NBA Finals

E1

Boston*

4

E4

Philadelphia

1

E5

Buffalo

2

E5

Buffalo

2

Eastern Conference

E1

Boston*

4

E2

Cleveland*

2

E3

Washington

3

E2

Cleveland*

4

E1

Boston*

4

W3

Phoenix

2

W1

Golden State*

4

W4

Milwaukee*

1

W5

Detroit

2

W5

Detroit

2

Western Conference

W1

Golden State*

3

W3

Phoenix

4

W3

Phoenix

4

W2

Seattle

2

• * Division winner
• Bold Series winner
• Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Bob McAdoo	Buffalo Braves	31.1
Rebounds per game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Los Angeles Lakers	16.9
Assists per game	Slick Watts	Seattle SuperSonics	8.1
Steals per game	Slick Watts	Seattle SuperSonics	3.18
Blocks per game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Los Angeles Lakers	4.12
FG%	Wes Unseld	Washington Bullets	.561
FT%	Rick Barry	Golden State Warriors	.923

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
• Rookie of the Year: Alvan Adams, Phoenix Suns
• Coach of the Year: Bill Fitch, Cleveland Cavaliers

All-NBA First Team: F – Rick Barry, Golden State Warriors F – George McGinnis, Philadelphia 76ers C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers G – Nate Archibald, Kansas City Kings G – Pete Maravich, New Orleans Jazz

All-NBA Second Team: F – Elvin Hayes, Washington Bullets F – John Havlicek, Boston Celtics C – Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics G – Randy Smith, Buffalo Braves G – Phil Smith, Golden State Warriors

NBA All-Rookie Team: Joe Meriweather, Houston Rockets Alvan Adams, Phoenix Suns Lionel Hollins, Portland Trail Blazers John Shumate, Phoenix Suns/Buffalo Braves Gus Williams, Golden State Warriors

NBA All-Defensive First Team: Paul Silas, Boston Celtics John Havlicek, Boston Celtics Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics Norm Van Lier, Chicago Bulls Slick Watts, Seattle SuperSonics

NBA All-Defensive Second Team: Jim Brewer, Cleveland Cavaliers Jamaal Wilkes, Golden State Warriors Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers Jim Cleamons, Cleveland Cavaliers Phil Smith, Golden State Warriors

See also

• 1976 NBA Finals
• 1976 NBA playoffs
• 1975–76 ABA season
• List of NBA regular season records

References

1. Goldaper, Sam (April 29, 1975). "N.B.A. Picks O'Brien As New Commissioner O'Brien to Head N.B.A". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
2. "Bing MVP, East wins". The Southern Illinoisan. February 4, 1976. p. 19. Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.