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The1971–72 NBA season was the 26th season of theNational Basketball Association. The season ended with theLos Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating theNew York Knicks 4 games to 1 in theNBA Finals.

As the 25th anniversary of the founding of the modern NBA, the league unveiled a new logo, inspired by the logo ofMajor League Baseball, to commemorate the occasion. It features the whitesilhouette of a basketball player dribbling, framed by red and blue.Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers was used as the model for the logo. Coincidentally, Jerry West would win the only NBA Championship of his career during the season.

• The San Diego Rockets relocated toHouston, Texas and became theHouston Rockets.^[1]
• The San Francisco Warriors were renamed theGolden State Warriors and the team moved across theSan Francisco Bay toOakland.^[1]
• The1972 NBA All-Star Game was played at theForum inInglewood, California, with the West beating the East 112–110. To the delight of the home crowd,Jerry West of the Lakers won the game's MVP award, making a basket at the buzzer to win the game.
• The Lakers' 69 wins set a new record for most regular season wins in NBA history. This mark would stand for 24 seasons, until it was bettered by the1995–96 Chicago Bulls.^[1]
• The Lakers'Elgin Baylor announced his retirement nine games into the season. That night, the Lakers began a winning streak that would last for two months, totaling 33 games. That streak still stands as the longest winning streak in the history of major American professional team sports.^[1]
• The current NBA logo, which features the silhouette ofJerry West, made its debut. The blue/red pattern was adopted from theMajor League Baseball logo.
• This was the first season the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers did not make the playoffs.
• This was the last season of the Cincinnati Royals. The team would relocate in the offseason, splitting their home games betweenKansas City andOmaha, and rename themselves the Kings.

TheLos Angeles Lakers came into the season returning a veteran squad from their playoff run a year before. Nine games into the season, aging and oft injuredElgin Baylor announced his retirement after 13 seasons. He was replaced at the starting small forward spot byJim McMillian, who would go on to average 18 points per game, third best on the team. Despite Baylor's retirement, the Lakers went on a 33-game winning streak. The Lakers completed two undefeated months, going 14–0 in November and 16–0 in December. After winning their first three games in January, the Lakers lost 120–104 to theMilwaukee Bucks. On March 20, 1972, the Lakers beat Golden State by a record 63 points (162–99), a mark that would stand until 1991, when Cleveland beat Miami by 68 points (148–80) and later was broken in 2021 when Memphis beat Oklahoma City by 73 points (152–79). The Lakers finished the season with a record 69 wins, which would stand until the1995–96 season when theChicago Bulls won 72 regular season games and later was also broken by the2015–16 Golden State Warriors won an NBA record 73 regular season games.^[1]

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks won 63 games on the play of renamedKareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly Lew Alcindor, andOscar Robertson. The Celtics, led by second year centerDave Cowens, point guardJo Jo White and 32-year-old swingmanJohn Havlicek won the Atlantic Division with 56 wins. Boston had recovered from the retirement of Bill Russell,K. C. Jones andSam Jones by winning 12 more games than the previous season.

In the first round, the Lakers swept the Bulls and Milwaukee defeated Golden State. New York eliminated the Bullets and Boston won against the Atlanta Hawks. In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers lost game 1 versus the defending champion Bucks atThe Forum 93–72, a game that saw the Lakers score only 8 points in the third quarter. However, the Lakers led by assist championJerry West, leading scorerGail Goodrich and veteran Wilt Chamberlain would win 4 of the next 5 games and beat Milwaukee in six games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, New York defeated the top-seed Celtics in five games.^[1]

In the NBA Finals, New York won game 1 very easily, but Los Angeles won game 2 106–92 to even the series. In game 3, the Lakers jumped out to a 22-point lead and regained home-court advantage with a 107–96 win. In game 4, the Knicks forced overtime. At the end of regulation, Wilt Chamberlain was called for his fifth foul. In his first 12 seasons, he had never fouled out of a game. Chamberlain did not foul out and led the Lakers to a 116–111 victory, but he broke his wrist in the overtime period. The Lakers held a 3–1 series lead going into game 5 in Los Angeles. In game 5, Chamberlain played despite his injury. The score was tied at 53 in the first half, but the Lakers outscored the Knicks 61–47 in the second half to win the game and the NBA Championship, 114–100.^[1]

Notes

• z,y – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

• Most Valuable Player:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,Milwaukee Bucks
• Rookie of the Year:Sidney Wicks,Portland Trail Blazers
• Coach of the Year:Bill Sharman,Los Angeles Lakers

Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section onNBA.com orBasketball reference.com

• 1972 NBA Finals
• 1972 NBA playoffs
• 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers season
• 1971–72 ABA season
• List of NBA regular season records

• 1971–72 NBA season
• 1971–72 in American basketball by league

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