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The 1979 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series played at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1978–79 season. The Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics played the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets, with the Bullets holding home-court advantage, due to a better regular season record. The SuperSonics defeated the Bullets 4 games to 1. The series was a rematch of the 1978 NBA Finals, which the Washington Bullets had won 4–3.
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| Dates | May 20–June 1 | |||||||||
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| MVP | Dennis Johnson (Seattle SuperSonics) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | SuperSonics: Dennis Johnson (2010) Jack Sikma (2019) Bullets: Bob Dandridge (2021) Elvin Hayes (1990) Wes Unseld (1988) Coaches: Lenny Wilkens (1998) Officials: Hugh Evans (2022) Darell Garretson (2016) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Bullets defeated Spurs, 4–3 | |||||||||
| Western finals | SuperSonics defeated Suns, 4–3 | |||||||||
Dennis Johnson of the SuperSonics was named as the NBA Finals MVP, while Gus Williams of the SuperSonics was the top scorer, averaging 28.6 points per game.
This was Seattle's second men's professional sports championship, following the Seattle Metropolitans' victory in the 1917 Stanley Cup Finals. The city's next title wouldn't be until 2014 when the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII.
Both the 1978 and 1979 NBA Finals were informally dubbed the "George Washington series", because both teams were playing in places named after the first President of the United States (the SuperSonics represented Seattle, Washington while the Bullets represented Washington, D.C., albeit playing in nearby Landover, Maryland).
Until 2023, this was the most recent time that a Western Conference team not based in Texas or California has won an NBA title, and the last of only two occasions alongside the 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers when a team from the present-day Northwest Division has won the league title, which is by 27 years the longest league championship drought for any division of the four major North American sports leagues. [note 1] Since then, the following Western teams have gone on to win an NBA title: the Los Angeles Lakers (eleven times), the San Antonio Spurs (five times), the Golden State Warriors (four times), the Houston Rockets (twice), and the Dallas Mavericks (once). The remaining twenty-one titles since 1980 have been won by Eastern Conference teams.[note 2]
This was a rematch of the 1978 NBA Finals, which the Bullets won 4–3. Seattle lost Marvin Webster to the New York Knicks but acquired Lonnie Shelton in exchange. Other than that, both teams' rosters stayed virtually intact. Unlike the previous year, both teams finished 1–2 in the NBA, with the Bullets topping the league at 54 wins; the Sonics with 52 wins. In the playoffs, Seattle defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 and the Phoenix Suns 4–3, while Washington had a much tougher road, eliminating the Atlanta Hawks in an unexpectedly tough seven-game series and coming back from a 3–1 deficit to eliminate the San Antonio Spurs in seven. Both earned a first-round bye.
Television
The Finals were carried by CBS television (the network's NBA on CBS aired league games from 1973 to 1990), with Brent Musburger as the lead announcer. The 1979 Finals has been preserved in full, unlike the previous year's, in which Games 2, 3 and 4 are missing. (Except for 1978, all NBA Finals since 1975 have been completely preserved.)
Road to the Finals
| Seattle SuperSonics (Western Conference champion) | Washington Bullets (Eastern Conference champion) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season |
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| Earned first-round bye | First Round | Earned first-round bye | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defeated the (5) Los Angeles Lakers, 4–1 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (5) Atlanta Hawks, 4–3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defeated the (3) Phoenix Suns, 4–3 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (2) San Antonio Spurs, 4–3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season series
The teams split the four-game series in the regular season:
| Game | Date | Home team | Result | Road team |
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| Game 1 | May 20 | Washington Bullets | 99–97 (1–0) | Seattle SuperSonics |
| Game 2 | May 24 | Washington Bullets | 82–92 (1–1) | Seattle SuperSonics |
| Game 3 | May 27 | Seattle SuperSonics | 105–95 (2–1) | Washington Bullets |
| Game 4 | May 29 | Seattle SuperSonics | 114–112 (3–1) | Washington Bullets |
| Game 5 | June 1 | Washington Bullets | 93–97 (1–4) | Seattle SuperSonics |
Game 1
May 20 |
| Seattle SuperSonics 97, Washington Bullets 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–26, 25–33, 21–23, 26–17 | ||
| Pts: Gus Williams 32 Rebs: John Johnson 11 Asts: Dennis Johnson 7 |
Pts: Larry Wright 26 Rebs: Wes Unseld 12 Asts: Tom Henderson 6 | |
| Washington leads the series, 1–0 | ||
Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland Attendance: 19,035 Referees:
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The Bullets controlled the game and led by 18 in the fourth, but Seattle mounted a furious comeback to tie it at 97. Larry Wright, who had 26 points off the bench, drove to the basket as time ran down and had his shot blocked by Dennis Johnson, but the referees called a foul on Johnson. Wright went to the line with one second left and hit two of three foul shots (NBA rules at the time awarded an extra free throw attempt when a team was in the penalty foul situation) to win the game.[2]
Game 2
May 24 9 p.m. EDT |
| Seattle SuperSonics 92, Washington Bullets 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–23, 21–29, 19–14, 24–16 | ||
| Pts: Gus Williams 23 Rebs: Jack Sikma 13 Asts: Dennis Johnson, John Johnson 6 each |
Pts: Bob Dandridge 21 Rebs: Elvin Hayes 14 Asts: Bob Dandridge 5 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland Attendance: 19,035 Referees:
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Elvin Hayes had 11 points in the first quarter, but only nine the rest of the way as Seattle turned its defense up a notch, holding the Bullets to 30 points in the second half.
Outside of the two metropolitan areas of the competing teams, as well as Baltimore and Portland, the game was shown on tape delay beginning at 11:35 Eastern and Pacific/10:35 p.m. Central and Mountain. This was the first of six championship series games shown by CBS on tape delay over a three-season span. Four of the six games in the championship series two years later were shown on tape delay outside of the markets of the competing clubs.
Game 3
May 27 |
| Washington Bullets 95, Seattle SuperSonics 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–31, 19–24, 22–26, 29–24 | ||
| Pts: Bob Dandridge 28 Rebs: Unseld, Hayes 14 each Asts: Bob Dandridge 5 |
Pts: Gus Williams 31 Rebs: Jack Sikma 17 Asts: Dennis Johnson 9 | |
| Seattle leads the series, 2–1 | ||
Kingdome, Seattle, Washington Attendance: 35,928 Referees:
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Seattle dominated this game, which wasn't as close as the final margin indicated. Gus Williams scored 31 points, Jack Sikma had 21 and 17 rebounds, and Dennis Johnson had a fine all-around game with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Game 4
May 29 |
| Washington Bullets 112, Seattle SuperSonics 114 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–24, 37–28, 28–32, 23–20, Overtime: 8–10 | ||
| Pts: Hayes, Grevey, Charles Johnson 18 each Rebs: Wes Unseld 16 Asts: Tom Henderson 8 |
Pts: Gus Williams 36 Rebs: Jack Sikma 17 Asts: John Johnson 13 | |
| Seattle leads the series, 3–1 | ||
Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington Attendance: 14,098 Referees:
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[3] The Sonics won a close one in OT 114–112, staving off a late Bullets comeback behind 36 points by Gus Williams and 32 by Dennis Johnson. Williams and Johnson dominated the Bullets' guards all series, as they were plagued by poor shooting. Johnson also had four blocks in the game, the last on Kevin Grevey with 4 seconds left to ensure the Seattle victory.
Game 5
June 1 |
| Seattle SuperSonics 97, Washington Bullets 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–30, 24–21, 23–18, 31–24 | ||
| Pts: Gus Williams 23 Rebs: Jack Sikma 17 Asts: John Johnson 6 |
Pts: Elvin Hayes 29 Rebs: Elvin Hayes 14 Asts: Bob Dandridge 7 | |
| Seattle wins the series, 4–1 | ||
Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland Attendance: 19,035 Referees:
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[4] Back home, Elvin Hayes had a hot first half, scoring 20, but injuries to starting guards Tom Henderson, Kevin Grevey and prolonged poor shooting by their replacements took their toll. Hayes had only nine points in the second half as Seattle closed out the series.[5]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
- Seattle SuperSonics
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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- Washington Bullets
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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Seattle SuperSonics
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Washington Bullets
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- By comparison, the longest divisional title drought in the National Football League is sixteen seasons by the AFC South; every division has won at least one championship since 2015 in Major League Baseball; and in the National Hockey League the longest drought is seven seasons by the Pacific Division.
- Eight Eastern Conference teams from seven different states and Canada have won NBA Championships since 1980: Chicago Bulls (six times), Boston Celtics (four times), Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat (thrice each), and Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors (once each).
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