Season by Season
1980 to 1981

Blockbuster Trade Establishes Celtic Frontline

Larry Bird won his first NBA championship with the Celtics in just his second season.

The biggest news of the season came a full four months before the season started. On June 9, 1980, Red Auerbach pulled off the type of trade that had earned him a reputation for thievery in his more than three decades in the league. Auerbach dealt the first and 13th picks in the 1980 NBA Draft to Golden State for the third pick in the 1980 Draft and four-year veteran center Robert Parish. The Warriors selected Purdue center Joe Barry Carroll with the first pick and tabbed Mississippi forward Rickey Brown 13th. The Celtics took forward Kevin McHale of Minnesota, and thus added Parish and McHale to a frontcourt that already featured Larry Bird and Cedric Maxwell. In one trade, Auerbach had acquired a frontcourt for the next decade.Thus, the NBA's 35th season started with the Celtics in a strong position just over a year after a 29-53 finish in 1979. The Lakers, meanwhile, were dealt a big blow when Magic Johnson suffered torn cartilage in his left knee just one month into the season, forcing him out of 45 games. As a result, the Lakers failed to win the Pacific Division and were knocked out of the Playoffs in the First Round by Houston, which made it all the way to the Finals despite a 40-42 record in the regular season. Moses Malone, the 25-year-old center already in his seventh professional season, averaged 27.8 ppg and led the NBA in rebounding with 14.8 rpg. The Celtics swept Chicago, defeated Philadelphia in seven games after trailing 3-1, and overmatched Houston in six games to win their first title of the
Bird-Parish-McHale Era.