1980 NBA Finals Games Start At 11:30 P.M.
Los Angeles Lakers Series With Philadelphia 76ers Was Classic
Jun 8, 2009
Young basketball fans might ask this question.
Why is the college basketball season over on the first Monday in April, yet the National Basketball Association season, including playoffs, lasts until early to mid-June?
There was a time when everything in the NBA was over in late April and early May.
That changed with the league’s expansion and extended playoffs, which happened in the late 1980’s
In fact, the 1980 NBA Finals between the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers was classic for a number of reasons.
First, it was the rookie year of Lakers guard/forward Magic Johnson who went on to become the Finals MVP leading his team to a six-game win.
Hall of Famers such as center Kareem Abdul Jabbar and forward Jamal Wilkes for the Lakers, plus Julius Erving for the 76ers made the series a battle of super starts.
Jabbar was the league MVP that season.
CBS starts 1980 NBA Finals Games at 11:30 p.m.
The national television situation for the series was in chaos and led to reforms that still have an effect to this day.
The CBS network had the rights to the NBA that year. The Finals ran from May 4 through May 16.
In 2009, the Finals between the Lakers and Orlando Magic are in early June.
As television insiders well know. May is sweeps month in television. It’s a time to make or break certain programming with ratings.
The NBA Finals was a ratings loser, especially in a weekday prime time lineup.
So what did CBS do?
It started the weeknight games in Philadelphia at 11:30 p.m., which is right after local news broadcasts.
On the West Coast, three hours earlier, the starting time was still 11:30 p.m. Those fans would have to watch the game on tape delay, except in the Los Angeles market.
NBA Grows During 1979-80 80 Season
The NBA had 22 teams during the 1979-80 season, including four former ABA franchises in the New York/New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Indiana Pacers.
It was also the year Boston Celtics hall of famer Larry Byrd entered the league. The NBA introduced the 3-point shot that year.
With fewer teams and divisions, only 12 teams made the playoffs compared to 16 teams today.
The first-place teams in each of the four divisions got a first-round playoff bye.
The regular season started in October instead of November.
After that series, the league demanded that all games of the NBA Finals be on prime time television.
That’s why the season starts in early November and the Finals are held in June, allowing network programming to not worry about its sweeps week.
