| 1980–81 NBA season | |
| League: | National Basketball Association |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Duration: | October 10, 1980 – March 29, 1981 March 31 – May 3, 1981 (Playoffs) May 5–14, 1981 (Finals) |
| No Of Teams: | 23 |
| Tv: | CBS, USA |
| Draft: | Draft |
| Draft Link: | 1980 NBA Draft |
| Top Pick Link: | List of first overall NBA draft picks |
| Top Pick: | Joe Barry Carroll |
| Picked By: | Golden State Warriors |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Top Seed: | Boston Celtics |
| Mvp: | Julius Erving (Philadelphia) |
| Mvp Link: | NBA MVP |
| Top Scorer: | Adrian Dantley (Utah) |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Playoffs Link: | 1981 NBA Playoffs |
| Conf1: | Eastern |
| Conf1 Link: | Eastern Conference (NBA) |
| Conf1 Champ: | Boston Celtics |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Conf2: | Western |
| Conf2 Link: | Western Conference (NBA) |
| Conf2 Champ: | Houston Rockets |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Kansas City Kings |
| Finals: | Finals |
| Finals Link: | 1981 NBA Finals |
| Finals Champ: | Boston Celtics |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Houston Rockets |
| Finals Mvp: | Cedric Maxwell (Boston) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | NBA Finals MVP |
| Seasonslist: | List of NBA seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NBA |
| Prevseason Link: | 1979–80 NBA season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1979–80 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1981–82 NBA season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1981–82 |
The 1980–81 NBA season was the 35th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Houston Rockets 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. As of 2023, this was the last time an NBA season (including postseason) had ended before Memorial Day.
| Team | 1979–80 coach | 1980–81 coach | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Stan Albeck | Bill Musselman | |
| Dallas Mavericks | Expansion | Dick Motta | |
| Detroit Pistons | Richie Adubato | Scotty Robertson | |
| Golden State Warriors | Johnny Bach | Al Attles | |
| Indiana Pacers | Bobby Leonard | Jack McKinney | |
| San Antonio Spurs | Bob Bass | Stan Albeck | |
| San Diego Clippers | Gene Shue | Paul Silas | |
| Washington Bullets | Dick Motta | Gene Shue | |
| In-season | |||
| Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach | |
| Atlanta Hawks | Hubie Brown | Mike Fratello | |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Bill Musselman | Don Delaney | |
| Denver Nuggets | Donnie Walsh | Doug Moe | |
| New Jersey Nets | Kevin Loughery | Bob MacKinnon | |
| 1980-81 National Basketball Association | ||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | Boston Celtics | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 15,320 |
| New Jersey Nets | Piscataway, New Jersey | Rutgers Athletic Center | 8,500 | |
| New York Knicks | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 19,812 | |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Spectrum | 18,176 | |
| Washington Bullets | Landover, Maryland | Capital Centre | 18,756 | |
| Central | Atlanta Hawks | Atlanta, Georgia | Omni Coliseum | 16,378 |
| Chicago Bulls | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 18,676 | |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Richfield, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum | 20,900 | |
| Detroit Pistons | Pontiac, Michigan | Pontiac Silverdome | 33,000 | |
| Indiana Pacers | Indianapolis, Indiana | Market Square Arena | 17,171 | |
| Milwaukee Bucks | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | MECCA Arena | 10,783 | |
| Midwest | Dallas Mavericks * | Dallas, Texas | Reunion Arena | 18,293 |
| Denver Nuggets | Denver, Colorado | McNichols Sports Arena | 17,171 | |
| Houston Rockets | Houston, Texas | The Summit | 16,285 | |
| Kansas City Kings | Kansas City, Missouri | Kemper Arena | 16,700 | |
| San Antonio Spurs | San Antonio, Texas | HemisFair Arena | 16,057 | |
| Utah Jazz | Salt Lake City, Utah | Salt Palace | 12,686 | |
| Pacific | Golden State Warriors | Oakland, California | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 13,237 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Inglewood, California | The Forum | 17,505 | |
| Phoenix Suns | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 14,870 | |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Portland, Oregon | Memorial Coliseum | 12,888 | |
| San Diego Clippers | San Diego, California | San Diego Sports Arena | 14,500 | |
| Seattle SuperSonics | Seattle, Washington | Kingdome | 59,166 | |
| Expansion team * |
Notes
See main article: 1981 NBA playoffs. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics. Note that in the Western Conference, the lower seeded team won every series.
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 30.7 | ||
| Rebounds per game | 14.8 | ||
| Assists per game | 9.1 | ||
| Steals per game | 3.43 | ||
| Blocks per game | 3.39 | ||
| FG% | .670 | ||
| FT% | .958 | ||
| 3FG% | .383 | ||
| Week | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 10 – Oct. 19 | Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz) (1/1) | |
| Oct. 20 – Oct. 26 | Otis Birdsong (Kansas City Kings) (1/1) | |
| Oct. 27 – Nov. 02 | David Thompson (Denver Nuggets) (1/1) | |
| Nov. 03 – Nov. 09 | Elvin Hayes (Washington Bullets) (1/1) | |
| Nov. 10 – Nov. 16 | Billy Knight (Indiana Pacers) (1/1) | |
| Nov. 17 – Nov. 23 | Artis Gilmore (Chicago Bulls) (1/1) | |
| Nov. 24 – Nov. 30 | Robert Parish (Boston Celtics) (1/1) | |
| Dec. 01 – Dec. 07 | Mike Dunleavy (Houston Rockets) (1/1) | |
| Dec. 08 – Dec. 14 | Dan Roundfield (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1) | |
| Dec. 15 – Dec. 21 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1) | |
| Dec. 22 – Dec. 28 | Dennis Johnson (Phoenix Suns) (1/1) | |
| Dec. 29 – Jan. 04 | Bernard King (Golden State Warriors) (1/1) | |
| Jan. 05 – Jan. 11 | Nate Archibald (Boston Celtics) (1/1) | |
| Jan. 12 – Jan. 18 | Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1) | |
| Jan. 19 – Jan. 25 | Phil Ford (Kansas City Kings) (1/1) | |
| Jan. 26 – Feb. 01 | Kenny Carr (Cleveland Cavaliers) (1/1) | |
| Feb. 02 – Feb. 08 | Caldwell Jones (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1) | |
| Feb. 09 – Feb. 15 | Mike Newlin (New Jersey Nets) (1/1) | |
| Feb. 16 – Feb. 22 | Mike Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) (1/1) | |
| Mar. 02 – Mar. 08 | Larry Smith (Golden State Warriors) (1/1) | |
| Mar. 09 – Mar. 15 | Moses Malone (Houston Rockets) (1/1) | |
| Mar. 16 – Mar. 22 | Michael Ray Richardson (New York Knicks) (1/1) | |
| Mar. 23 – Mar. 29 | Robert Reid (Houston Rockets) (1/1) |
| width=20% | Month | width=35% | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1) | ||
| November | Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1) | ||
| December | Freeman Williams (San Diego Clippers) (1/1) | ||
| January | Bernard King (Golden State Warriors) (1/1) | ||
| February | Calvin Murphy (Houston Rockets) (1/1) | ||
| March | Kelvin Ransey (Portland Trail Blazers) (1/1) |