1983-84 David Stern becomes new NBA Commissioner. The Celtics defeat the
Lakers.
1983-84 David Stern becomes new NBA Commissioner. The Celtics defeat the
Lakers.
The season started with a significant change off the court. Larry
O'Brien, NBA Commissioner, resigned and his place was filled in by David Stern,
vice president of the NBA. As the league's fourth Commissioner, Stern would
oversee the NBA marketing, developing a cohesive and profitable strategy and he
would become the driving force behind the NBA 's worldwide popularity grow. On
the court, the Playoff system underwent a radical change. The format was
expanded to 16 teams( instead of 12) without best-of-3 mini-series. The First
Round series - a best of 5 moves on. Now the NBA Champions would have to win
four series for the first time in NBA history.
The Celtics dominated the season, winning 62 games and the defending champion
76ers won only 52 games and was eliminated in the first round by New Jersey.
Boston swifted past Washington, then defeated the New York Knicks (in seven
games), and easily moved past Milwaukee to get to the Finals. The Lakers, who
won 54 games, defeated Kansas City, Dallas and Phoenix, losing only three games
during the series. Boston. Proved more superior the the Lakers , winnning a 15th
NBA Championship.
Larry's Celtics better than Magic's Lakers in seven games. Four seasons
had gone by since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had joined the NBA in 1979.
Magic's Lakers had won two titles and Bird's Celtics had won only once. But the
two greatest players had never met in the Big Finals yet, and their rivalery was
limited to only two meetings during the regular season. But 1984 changed that.
The Lakers won the first game in the series( in Boston), and with 18 seconds
left in Game 2, led 115-113. After the series moved back to Los Angeles, the two
teams thought of a sweep. But James Worthy's unfortunate pass in Game 3 was
intercepted by Gerald Henderson, who tied the score and led the game to OT,
which was won by Boston. The Celtic triumphed in overtime in Game 4, pulling the
series to a 2-2 score and a 6-game matchup.
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