The complete CRAZINESS of the 1980-81 NBA season

A documentary/retrospective of the 1980-81 NBA season. The video is divided in four parts. It will cover Larry Bird and the 1981 Boston Celtics, Moses Malone and the 1981 Houston Rockets, Julius Erving's (Dr. J) MVP season, and Magic Johnson, Kareem, and the 1981 Los Angeles Lakers.

Intro: 0:00 - 0:31
Larry Bird & the Celtics: 0:32 - 9:15
Houston Rockets: 9:16 - 21:37
Dr. J: 21:38 - 29:18
Los Angeles Lakers: 29:19 - 33:12

[AaronStark]

Dennis Johnson is my all-time favorite player and this was definitely his peak season. First Team All-NBA and received the most votes for NBA All-Defensive Team. He would have also most likely been the DPOY if the award existed at the time.

[anthonygordon]

I was at one of the Bulls-Celtics games in the 1st round in Chicago. Bird was incredible.

[bryanburnap]

I think one of the sneakiest most important thing that happened in the NBA is when Milwaukee moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference after the 79/80 season. If Milwaukee stayed in the west - the conference Finals in the West would have been Milwaukee vs Los Angeles at least 2 or 3 times in the early to mid 80's. Your Final four would have been Boston vs Philadelphia and Los Angeles vs Milwaukee year after year.

[CenturySkyScrapers]

Nicely put together. I just wish nba took better care of these legendary tapes.
I've seen 1940's cartoon videos with better quality than some of these old tapes.

[clevergirl]

With the Lakers getting eliminated, there were so many players that surely saw that as an opportunity to win the conference. George Gervin would have made his first Finals apperance and Dennis Johnson would have made 3 Finals apperances in four years. But Moses Malone was just too much!

[camoss]

When the playoffs began, most of the games were broadcast on tape delay.

[JenniferBaker-ch]

In 81' I was a 6th grader pretending I was Gus Williams, Dr J. or Kareem. We all had a Skyhook back then . And a Finger Roll.

[MelHouston-km]

Western Conference finals was the Kansas City Omaha Kings vs the Houston Rockets didn't see that coming

[nothingbutthenets]

If a few breaks go the Sixers way in the series against the Celtics, Dr. J would have won his first title without a top 75 teammate. His NBA legacy would have been looked at much different. It's a shame they couldn't close any of the last three games out.

[TheGreakkyFreaky-ewtf]

No disrespect to Cornbread Maxwell, but Larry Bird should have won the Finals MVP. It's not by much, but his rebounding and play making were so important. And like the video said, he had some clutch moments. He was their most Valuable player.

[lalakersnation]

This was such a weird season from the Lakers. They were jealous of all the attention that Magic was getting, and yet, they proved that they weren't the same team without him. This was their worst season as far as number of wins during the Magic Johnson era. And then he goes and has the worst game of his life in the deciding Game 3. That was a huge wake up call that would ultimately push them to win the title the next year.

[northshores]

Bird is the only player I have heard that he needed to get the ball to his teammates because they needed to get more shots. In other words, to get them into the flow of the game so the team played better. Never heard MJ say that. It is why Bird is the Best Ever.

[IndependentThinker]

The narrator should have mentioned that Magic Johnson was injured when the Lakers lost to the Rockets. He tried to come back for the playoffs but was ineffective.

[charlesbronson]

That Celtic team should have won 3 or 4 in a row

[ericveneto]

Were any of those high steal & block games for Erving the same game?

[jamesflanagan]

2025 Rockets showing shades of those 1981 Rockets! Certainly not record wise, but nobody taking them seriously, being great rebounders, playing defense, and struggling on offense from time to time! Houston can absolutely win it all this year if everything breaks just right! Vegas is doing them dirty having 6 other Western Conference teams ahead of them in championship odds! That's CRAZY!!! Minnesota is not winning a ring this year. Rockets have championship DNA by doing the little things like rebounding, playing defense and hustling. I'm not guaranteeing they will win it all, but they have just a good of a shot or better than all the other teams in the hunt. Don't sleep on these guys!

[ericveneto]

The Celtics trade was Parish & a pick (which became McHale)

[celsustruth]

NBA still struggling business wise. But help had

[toddfrank]

Dr. J got the MVP that year because the media decided it was his turn.

[massimocometti]

The very first season of the Dallas Mavericks as an expansion team