Summary
There were two big pre-season stories. Walter Kennedy retired as NBA commissioner and was replaced by Larry O'Brien, whose main task was to work out a merger agreement with the American Basketball Association.
Seeking to rebuild, the Los Angeles Lakers sent four players to the Milwaukee Bucks to bring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar back to the scene of his college triumphs. He led the league in blocked shots and rebounds and finished second in scoring, but the Lakers still failed to make the playoffs.
Oddly, the Bucks had exactly the same record as the year before, 38-44, but moved from the bottom to the top of the weak Midwest Division. Defending champion Golden State led all NBA teams with 59 wins and Boston again finished first in the Atlantic Division, while the Cleveland Cavaliers took over first place in the Central.
The Celtics beat Cleveland in six games to move in the championship series. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns, who had finished third in the Pacific Division, knocked off second-place Seattle to reach the conference finals and then upset the Warriors in seven games for the right to play the Celtics.
The final series produced what may well have been the most exciting game in NBA championship history, a three-overtime marathon in Game 5. Forward Glenn McDonald, who spent most of his brief NBA career on the Boston bench, was pressed into action because so many players had fouled out. He scored 6 points in the third overtime, including the jump shot that won it for the Celtics, 128-126.
Two days later, the Celtics closed out the series with an 87-80 win at Phoenix to win their 13th NBA title. Jo Jo White, a jump-shooting guard in the line of Bill Sharman and Sam Jones, averaged 21.7 points against Phoenix to win the MVP award.
