Summary
Two of the league's best teams, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, got even better this season. The 76ers signed free agent center Moses Malone away from San Antonio and the Lakers added rookie forward James Worthy, who immediately became an important part of their fast-break attack.
Malone led the league in rebounding and finished fifth in scoring to win the MVP award, as the 76ers had the league's best record at 65-17. The Lakers were second best at 58-24, but they lost Worthy to a broken leg in the last week of the season.
Asked how his team would do in the playoffs, Malone responded, "Fo', fo', fo," meaning sweeps of all three series.
He was off by one game. After sweeping the New York Knicks in the Eastern semi-finals, the 76ers took five games to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the final series. (The Bucks had swept the Boston Celtics in their semi-final series.)
The Lakers, meanwhile, had beaten Portland in five games and San Antonio in six games to reach the championship round. But, with Worthy out and both Norm Nixon and Bob McAdoo missing a great deal of time because of injuries, they were no match for Philadelphia. The 76ers won the finals in four straight. One of the happiest Philadelphia players was the great Dr. J, Julius Erving, finally on an NBA champion as his career was winding to a close.
