1978
Reigning belt holder: Bill Walton
NBA Champion: Washington Bullets
MVP: Bill Walton
Finals MVP: Wes Unseld
Scoring champ: George Gervin (27.2)
PER champ: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (29.2)
The Candidates:
Bill Walton: Big red's career looked like it had finally turned the corner. With a championship ring on his finger, Walton and the Blazers hit the ground running. Walton averaged a career-bests of 18.9ppg and 5 assists, along with 13.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, and the Blazers steamrolled their way to a 50-10 record. Then reality came crashing down, as Walton injured his left ankle compensating for his bad left foot, and missed the rest of the season to surgery. The Blazers went just 8-14 the rest of the way, and though Walton returned for the playoffs, he clearly wasn't the same on his bad foot. Despite limping around like an old man, he still managed 17 points and 16 rebounds in a game 1 loss to seattle. It got worse for him in game 2, as he had 10 first half points but the pain forced him from the series at halftime. He watched as his microwave dynasty crumbled as quickly as it began, with the Sonics knocking out the league's #1 seed 4-2 in the 2nd round. Despite the finish, Walton won a close race for his first league MVP award, mainly because of how the Blazers played without him.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Kareem's cinderella 1977 season did not carry over to 1978. It wasn't that he wasn't great anymore; he was, averaging 25.8 points, good for 4th in the league, 12.9 rebounds and 3 blocks, and his PER of 29.2 far surpassed any other player. It's that once again, his frustration of playing for a mediocre team got the better of him. For the 2nd time in 4 seasons, Kareem broke his hand punching something, this time the thing being Kent Benson, mere minutes into the opening game of the season. The Lakers started 8-13 without him, though this time his return was impact enough to get them to 45 wins and a playoff berth. Still, the dark cloud over the Lakers remained in 1978 and Seattle kicked them out of the playoffs in the first round 2-1 despite Kareem's 27-point average.
George Gervin: Playing in the shadow of Dr. J for the majority of his ABA career, the Iceman made a name for himself in 1978. Averaging 27.2 points, 3.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals, Gervin also proved to be one of the NBA's most efficient players, shooting 53.6% from the field and his PER of 24.7 was was the best rating of any guard in the league. The Spurs won as well, earning the NBA's 3rd best record with 52 wins. On the season's final day, needing 59 points to win his first scoring title, Gervin had 53 in the first half (still an NBA record), and finished with 63 to win it. Gervin continued to put the ball in the basket in the playoffs, averaging over 33 points on 55% shooting against the eventual champion Bullets, though it was not nearly enough as Washington was simply better, deeper and peaking at the right time. Gervin's spurs were eliminated 4-2 in the 2nd round.
David Thompson: Another ABA transplant peaking in the late 70s, young skywalker continued to impose his will on defenses, averaging career highs of 27.1ppg, 4.5 assists and adding 4.9 rebounds on 52% shooting. On the night he and Gervin dueled for the scoring title, he equaled Gervin's 53-point first half, and did him one better with 73 total points, to this date the most points scored in a single game by anyone other than Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant. Despite losing out to Gervin individually, his 48-win Nuggets actually went a round further in the postseason, squeaking by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2nd round behind Thompson's 37-point performance in game 7. Denver's run would come to an end in the conference finals against a revitalized Sonic team, as Dennis Johnson was able to limit Thompson to just a 23.8 point average over 6 games. Though he broke free with 35 to keep Denver alive in game 5, he managed just 21 points in a blowout loss in game 6.
Reigning belt holder: Bill Walton
NBA Champion: Washington Bullets
MVP: Bill Walton
Finals MVP: Wes Unseld
Scoring champ: George Gervin (27.2)
PER champ: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (29.2)
The Candidates:
Bill Walton: Big red's career looked like it had finally turned the corner. With a championship ring on his finger, Walton and the Blazers hit the ground running. Walton averaged a career-bests of 18.9ppg and 5 assists, along with 13.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, and the Blazers steamrolled their way to a 50-10 record. Then reality came crashing down, as Walton injured his left ankle compensating for his bad left foot, and missed the rest of the season to surgery. The Blazers went just 8-14 the rest of the way, and though Walton returned for the playoffs, he clearly wasn't the same on his bad foot. Despite limping around like an old man, he still managed 17 points and 16 rebounds in a game 1 loss to seattle. It got worse for him in game 2, as he had 10 first half points but the pain forced him from the series at halftime. He watched as his microwave dynasty crumbled as quickly as it began, with the Sonics knocking out the league's #1 seed 4-2 in the 2nd round. Despite the finish, Walton won a close race for his first league MVP award, mainly because of how the Blazers played without him.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Kareem's cinderella 1977 season did not carry over to 1978. It wasn't that he wasn't great anymore; he was, averaging 25.8 points, good for 4th in the league, 12.9 rebounds and 3 blocks, and his PER of 29.2 far surpassed any other player. It's that once again, his frustration of playing for a mediocre team got the better of him. For the 2nd time in 4 seasons, Kareem broke his hand punching something, this time the thing being Kent Benson, mere minutes into the opening game of the season. The Lakers started 8-13 without him, though this time his return was impact enough to get them to 45 wins and a playoff berth. Still, the dark cloud over the Lakers remained in 1978 and Seattle kicked them out of the playoffs in the first round 2-1 despite Kareem's 27-point average.
George Gervin: Playing in the shadow of Dr. J for the majority of his ABA career, the Iceman made a name for himself in 1978. Averaging 27.2 points, 3.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals, Gervin also proved to be one of the NBA's most efficient players, shooting 53.6% from the field and his PER of 24.7 was was the best rating of any guard in the league. The Spurs won as well, earning the NBA's 3rd best record with 52 wins. On the season's final day, needing 59 points to win his first scoring title, Gervin had 53 in the first half (still an NBA record), and finished with 63 to win it. Gervin continued to put the ball in the basket in the playoffs, averaging over 33 points on 55% shooting against the eventual champion Bullets, though it was not nearly enough as Washington was simply better, deeper and peaking at the right time. Gervin's spurs were eliminated 4-2 in the 2nd round.
David Thompson: Another ABA transplant peaking in the late 70s, young skywalker continued to impose his will on defenses, averaging career highs of 27.1ppg, 4.5 assists and adding 4.9 rebounds on 52% shooting. On the night he and Gervin dueled for the scoring title, he equaled Gervin's 53-point first half, and did him one better with 73 total points, to this date the most points scored in a single game by anyone other than Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant. Despite losing out to Gervin individually, his 48-win Nuggets actually went a round further in the postseason, squeaking by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2nd round behind Thompson's 37-point performance in game 7. Denver's run would come to an end in the conference finals against a revitalized Sonic team, as Dennis Johnson was able to limit Thompson to just a 23.8 point average over 6 games. Though he broke free with 35 to keep Denver alive in game 5, he managed just 21 points in a blowout loss in game 6.
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