Summary
There were major changes in the NBA, both off and on the court. The Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns joined the league and the Hawks moved from St. Louis to Atlanta.
Wilt Chamberlain went to his fourth team, the Los Angeles Lakers, joining Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Rookie Wes Unseld helped to lead the Baltimore Bullets from last to first in the Eastern Division. He was named both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player and Gene Shue won Coach of the Year honors.
Another rookie, Elvin Hayes of San Diego, was the league's scoring champion. As usual, Chamberlain led in rebounds and field goal percentage.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics finished fourth in the Eastern Division behind Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, while the Lakers won in the West.
The Western playoffs ran true to form, with the Lakers beating the second-place Atlanta Hawks in the division finals. But the New York Knicks shocked the Bullets in four straight games and the Celtics upset the second-place 76ers in a five-game series. Then they knocked off the Knicks in six games to reach the championship series.
The home team won each game of the finals through the first six games, setting up a seventh game in Los Angeles, where hundreds of ballons waited in netting above the floor, to be released when the Lakers won the championship. It never happened. The Celtics won the finale, 108-106.
Player-coach Bill Russell and Sam Jones, who had quietly become the franchise's leading career scorer, both retired after the season. The Celtics' dynasty, which had won 11 championships in 13 years, including eight in a row, was truly over.
