A few are especially noteworthy when considering different sports and their peak years and decades. For professional basketball, the NBA in the 1980s was one such era. It was a magical period for all basketball fans, especially young fans growing up. It began as a time of recovery for the league and ended as a precursor to a boundless future. Some of the all-time best teams and dynasties emerged, one talented team progressing to another.
Let’s start with a bit of history. The NBA was floundering in the ’70s, with its lowest ratings ever. The NBA Finals was actually shown on tape delay for a few years! Think about that for a moment - the game appeared on late-night television, not during peak prime-time hours. It is almost impossible to imagine such a scenario today. There was no ESPN or Internet yet, so the results were unknown beforehand unless someone was searching hard. If they didn’t watch the game, people had to wait for the newspaper the next day to find out the result. The first NBA Finals I remember occurred in the late 70s, and once I became a fan, I was hooked on basketball for life.
It all changed with the promise of a brighter future as Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird entered the league in 1980. They had faced each other in the Michigan State vs. Indiana State NCAA Championship game in 1979, in what is still the highest-rated television audience ever to watch a basketball game, college or pro. To postulate that Magic and Bird ‘saved’ the league is an understatement. In what could be viewed as a sports kismet, they joined the two most renowned franchises in league history, reigniting the sport’s greatest rivalry. The Lakers were the league’s first dynasty in the 1950s. The NBA’s original ‘Goat, George Mikan, led them to five championships. Then the Celtics emerged in the late ’50s and ’60s with a lineage like no other. They won an absurd eleven championships in thirteen years, led by Bill Russell and Red Auerbach (coach and General Manager). They were a force of nature, with a coach and player partnership for the ages. Think of Paul Brown and Otto Graham, Tom Landry and Roger Staubach, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich (‘Pop’), or Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
The rivalry was severely one-sided in the 60s. At one point, the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the Finals four times in five years. The Celtics still succeeded in the early to mid-’70s, winning titles in 1974 and 1976. The Lakers had possibly the best team ever in 1972, with a 33-game winning streak, which is still a record today. The closest any team has come since was the 2013 Miami Heat team of Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, which won 27 in a row. The Celtics struggled in the late ’70s, reaching a nadir of only 29 wins in the 1978/79 season. They won 61 games the following season in Larry Bird’s rookie year. The Lakers had talent, especially with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joining the team for the 1975/76 season. Still, they were chronic underachievers. It would take a momentous change for the Celtics and Lakers to rebound from their late 70s mediocrity.
Through clever trades, drafting, and serendipity, the Lakers landed Magic Johnson. The Celtics added Larry Bird through brilliant draft shenanigans. Red Auerbach drafted Bird one year before he joined the league, a loophole the NBA quickly shut down after Boston’s coup. Suppose the two had ended up on franchises with less rich legacies. In that case, the destiny of the league might have been different in the upcoming decade. Fortunately, fate seemed to intervene and set the NBA on its mercurial ascent.
The 1980s began with two teams dominating, the Lakers in the West and the Philadelphia 76ers in the East. The Celtics did win the NBA championship in 1981 against the Moses Malone-led Houston Rockets, who had stunned the Lakers in the Western conference championship. They had upset the 76ers in the Conference Final after being down 1-3 in the series early on. The Sixers played the Lakers in the Finals in 1980 and 1982, but they always seemed to be one great big man short. In Magic’s rookie year in 1980, the Lakers took almost no time to gel into the league’s best team, beating the Sixers in six games.
Magic Johnson won the Finals MVP, scoring 42 points with 15 rebounds in game six. At the time, he was only twenty years old and filling in for an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had severely sprained his ankle in game 5 of the series. Kareem was the legitimate Finals MVP, as he had led the Lakers up to game 6. He was initially voted MVP by the media, but CBS asked them to change the vote because they wanted to give it to Magic instead. Their rationale was that Magic had just played this mythical game to complete a dreamlike storyline. He was there, unlike Kareem, who had not traveled with the team to Philadelphia due to the injury's severity. Presumably, Kareem would have won it if he had been present. He wasn’t too upset, though, as he had won the regular season MVP for a record sixth time and was an NBA champion for the second time. That number would only increase in 1982 as the Lakers dominated the Sixers again. Magic won the Finals MVP again, this time deservingly so. He had won two championships and two Finals MVPs in his first three seasons by the precocious age of 22. He and Larry Bird were on their way to becoming the NBA’s best players as the league prepared for the imminent showdown between the Lakers and Celtics in the Finals, finally.
In one of the most impactful trades in league history, Moses Malone joined the Sixers in 1983. They instantly became the favorite to win the title. They were true to form, as they had one of the best regular seasons ever, then won the title after sweeping the Lakers, losing only one game in the entire playoffs. They almost fulfilled Malone’s bold prediction of “Fo, Fo, Fo,” or a clean sweep of the playoffs, which has still never happened in NBA history. This 1983 Philly team is considered one of the best, along with the 1967 Sixers, as one of only a handful of teams in history.
Their time at the top was short, though, because the Celtics resurfaced as the next ‘beast in the East’ in 1984 (and beyond), ready to take on the Lakers for league dominance. In the first Finals matchup of the two storied franchises since 1969, the Celtics were the first to draw blood, literally. The feeling was that their more physical style, plus the inherent greatness of Larry Bird (second Finals MVP), were enough to curtail a more skilled yet ‘softer’ Lakers team. Kareem and Magic felt humiliated and vowed not to allow the Celtics to beat them again. The count was even now, with two championships in the 80s for each team.
1985 was the Lakers’ year, from start to finish. They dominated the regular season, and by the Finals, they were unbeatable. They out-skilled the Celtics, and they fought back this time, refusing to be pushed around. Magic and Bird canceled out each other, so the difference was Kareem. Magic kept feeding him the ball because he was the one force the Celtics could not overcome. Kareem won Finals MVP at the ripe age of 37, becoming the oldest to do so. Justice had been served. The Celtics had met their match. The rivalry was becoming more visceral by the year.
1986 was different. The Lakers were less dominant, and the Celtics added the great Bill Walton as their sixth man. They became one of the best teams ever, winning 67 games and, remarkably, losing only ONE home game (40-1). They appeared to be ready for the Lakers this time. Then the Houston Rockets, led by their ‘twin towers,’ Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, appeared as a new force in the league.
The Rockets beat down the Lakers in the Western Conference finals in only five games. This was one of only two seasons in the 80s that the Lakers did not make it to the Finals. However, the Rockets had no chance against this Celtics team. Boston was dominant, as Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds in the series to win MVP. The Celtics weren’t competing against the Rockets only. They were making their mark against the best teams of all time.
In 1987 the league and fans were rabid for another Lakers versus Celtics matchup in the Finals. There was simply no other possibility. The NBA was rising in status among American sports, second only to the NFL. The Lakers and Celtics, Magic and Bird, were its kingmakers. With the title count now even at three to three, 1987 would decide who was the decade’s best. The Finals were their rivalry’s most competitive yet, with neither side making it easy for the other. It ended with Magic’s ‘baby sky hook,’ and Bird’s barely missed long three-pointer to tie the game. After missing the shot, Bird’s glance at Lakers’ coach Pat Riley said it all: “How could you leave me so wide open?” he seemed to express. Exasperated fans on both sides wondered the same thing. Ultimately, the fact that the series had come down to only two plays perfectly encapsulated their rivalry. Nothing came easily. They had to struggle for every shot, fight for any open space, and battle for every point. It was beyond epic. It was the best rivalry not only in the history of basketball but in any sport. It remains to this day sport’s greatest rivalry.
As the decade ended, the wheels had already been set in motion for the NBA’s next era, with new dynasties to come. The Celtics started to falter, and a new force in the East brazenly announced its presence. The Detroit Pistons finally conquered the Celtics in the East, and they almost beat the Lakers in 1988, thanks to Isiah Thomas’ remarkable play. He scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of game 6, playing on a badly sprained ankle. It was right up there with the best performances in Finals history. The Lakers were still the better team in ’88, but in ’89, the mantle passed. Though the Lakers had problems with major injuries, the Pistons were clearly the better team at that point. They won again in 1990. Their controversial, brutal style was often criticized, but it was only part of their success. They had great skill and brawn.
Like Magic and Bird, Isiah Thomas led a diverse group of players who complimented each other perfectly. Each piece was important, every movement part of a larger game plan. Their message was clear. We will out-skill you and stomp you. Get out of our way. For a few years, that is precisely what happened. The Pistons had one of the NBA’s best dynasties, even if some people don’t want to give them such credit now. Regardless, history cannot be changed.
The best players in the 1980s were among the best of all time. The two greatest point guards in league history are Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. Ironically, their personal rivalry (and friendship) helped define the 80’s. Larry Bird and Julius Erving dominated at the forward spot. Moses Malone came out as the best center in the early 80s yet started to falter by mid-decade. Kareem lost ground to Moses early on yet rose again as the league’s best center in ’84 and ’86 at age 38. Incredible. He was by far the best player in the 1970s and had continued success in his second decade. Kevin McHale was the best power forward. Some guy named Michael Jordan did reasonably well, too! He began his quest in the ’80s, achieving phenomenal personal statistics. He averaged 37 points a game in 1987, the only player to average over 37 points in a full season besides Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt had five seasons higher than Jordan’s mark, including 45 points per game one season and another 50 ppg. (It should be noted that Elgin Baylor averaged 38.3 ppg points in basically half of a season in 1961/62).
In 1988 Jordan won Defensive Player of the Year, along with regular season MVP and yet another scoring title, the second of ten. Jordan did not have tremendous team success in the 80s. No, that belonged to Magic, Bird, Isiah, Kareem, and Moses. His story would reach its fruition in another time, another decade.
The 80s represented the NBA at its competitive peak, with all-time great players competing for dominance every season. There were more stellar teams than in any other decade, and more dynasties, with no less than three. No other time has more than one. It was a decade of phenomenal personal stats and incredible team success, encompassing magical players who cared more about winning than anything else. There have always been talented players and exceptional teams throughout the history of the NBA, yet the 1980s tops them all. There will never be another era to equal it.
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