| 1980–81 Kansas City Kings season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Cotton Fitzsimmons | ||
| General manager | H. Paul Rosenberg (interim) | ||
| Owners | Leon Karosen Robert Margolin H. Paul Rosenberg | ||
| Arena | Kemper Arena | ||
| Results | |||
| Record | 40–42 (.488) | ||
| Place | Division: 3rd (Midwest) Conference: 5th (Western) | ||
| Playoff finish | Western Conference finals (lost toRockets 1–4) | ||
Stats atBasketball Reference | |||
| Local media | |||
| Television | KBMA-TV 41 | ||
| Radio | KCKN–AM 1340 KCKN-FM 94.1 | ||
| |||
The1980–81 Kansas City Kings season was the Kings 32nd season in theNBA and their ninth season in the city ofKansas City.[1] The Kansas City Kings made the playoffs with a 40–42 win-loss record and appeared in the Western Conference finals where they lost to the also 40–42Houston Rockets. This is the only time two NBA teams with losing records have made it to the conference finals.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Hawkeye Whitney | SG/SF |  United States | North Carolina State |
| 3 | 62 | Tony Murphy | SG | United States | Southern |
| 5 | 108 | Kevin Blakley | United States | Eastern Michigan | |
| 6 | 131 | Trent Grooms | United States | Kent State | |
| 7 | 154 | Arnold McDowell | United States | Montana State | |
| 9 | 193 | Charley Cole | United States | Delta State |
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach Assistant(s) Legend
|
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-San Antonio Spurs | 52 | 30 | .634 | – | 34–7 | 18–23 | 21–9 |
| x-Kansas City Kings | 40 | 42 | .488 | 12.0 | 24–17 | 16–25 | 19–11 |
| x-Houston Rockets | 40 | 42 | .488 | 12.0 | 25–16 | 15–26 | 19–11 |
| Denver Nuggets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 15.0 | 23–18 | 14–27 | 13–17 |
| Utah Jazz | 28 | 54 | .341 | 24.0 | 20–21 | 8–33 | 13–17 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 15 | 67 | .183 | 37.0 | 11–30 | 4–37 | 5–25 |
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | c-Phoenix Suns | 57 | 25 | .695 | – |
| 2 | y-San Antonio Spurs | 52 | 30 | .634 | 5 |
| 3 | x-Los Angeles Lakers | 54 | 28 | .659 | 3 |
| 4 | x-Portland Trail Blazers | 45 | 37 | .549 | 12 |
| 5 | x-Kansas City Kings | 40 | 42 | .488 | 17 |
| 6 | x-Houston Rockets | 40 | 42 | .488 | 17 |
| 7 | Golden State Warriors | 39 | 43 | .476 | 18 |
| 8 | Denver Nuggets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 20 |
| 9 | San Diego Clippers | 36 | 46 | .439 | 21 |
| 10 | Seattle SuperSonics | 34 | 48 | .415 | 23 |
| 11 | Utah Jazz | 28 | 54 | .341 | 29 |
| 12 | Dallas Mavericks | 15 | 67 | .183 | 42 |
Notes
| 1981 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Western Conference First Round: 2–1 (home: 0–1; road: 2–0)
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Western Conference Semifinals: 4–3 (home: 2–1; road: 2–2)
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Western Conference Finals: 1–4 (home: 1–2; road: 0–2)
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| 1981 schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| Player | GP | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otis Birdsong | 71 | 36.5 | .544 | .286 | .697 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 24.6 |
| Scott Wedman | 81 | 35.8 | .477 | .325 | .686 | 5.3 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 19.0 |
| Phil Ford | 66 | 34.7 | .478 | .306 | .831 | 1.9 | 8.8 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 17.5 |
| Reggie King | 81 | 33.9 | .544 | .684 | 9.7 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 14.9 | |
| Sam Lacey | 82 | 27.2 | .442 | .200 | .786 | 7.1 | 4.9 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 6.9 |
| Joe Meriweather | 74 | 20.5 | .496 | .695 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 7.6 | |
| Ernie Grunfeld | 79 | 20.1 | .535 | .743 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 7.5 | |
| Jo Jo White | 13 | 18.2 | .439 | .611 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 6.4 | |
| Leon Douglas | 79 | 17.2 | .573 | .000 | .548 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 6.0 |
| Hawkeye Whitney | 47 | 16.6 | .487 | .333 | .769 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 7.4 |
| Lloyd Walton | 61 | 13.5 | .413 | .000 | .788 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| John Lambert | 43 | 11.0 | .406 | .000 | .783 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.4 |
| Frankie Sanders | 23 | 8.1. | 442 | .909 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 3.8 | |
| Gus Gerard | 16 | 7.7 | .373 | .000 | .655 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 3.6 |
| Player | GP | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Wedman | 15 | 43.8 | .434 | .281 | .714 | 5.8 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 20.5 |
| Ernie Grunfeld | 15 | 42.2 | .488 | .500 | .806 | 0.7 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 16.8 |
| Reggie King | 15 | 41.3 | .492 | .000 | .735 | 9.9 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 21.3 |
| Sam Lacey | 15 | 35.5 | .420 | .000 | .857 | 8.0 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 10.0 |
| Phil Ford | 5 | 31.6 | .429 | .000 | .692 | 1.6 | 5.8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 7.8 |
| Otis Birdsong | 8 | 29.3 | .571 | 1.000 | .611 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 15.5 |
| Leon Douglas | 15 | 21.2 | .469 | .429 | 4.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 3.0 | |
| Joe Meriweather | 10 | 19.9 | .490 | .571 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 5.6 | |
| John Lambert | 15 | 11.7 | .407 | .000 | .833 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 3.3 |
| Lloyd Walton | 8 | 9.1 | .267 | .000 | .750 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| Frankie Sanders | 9 | 5.6 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.6 |
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