On June 21, theToronto Raptors hiredDallas Mavericks assistant coachDwane Casey as head coach,[8] replacingJay Triano, whose contract as head coach expired at the end of the previous season. Triano was retained as a special assistant to the president and general manager.[9]
Thelockout was the fourth work stoppage in the history of the NBA. It began atUTC (12:01 amEDT) on July 1, 2011. The main issues dividing the owners and the players wererevenue sharing and the structure of thesalary cap. During the lockout, teams could not trade, sign or contact players and players couldn't access NBA team facilities, trainers, or staff members. All preseason games (scheduled to begin October 9) and the first six weeks of the regular season (scheduled to begin November 1, through December 15) were canceled.[19][20] Some players signed contracts toplay in other countries, and most had the option to return to the NBA as soon as the lockout ended. On November 26, 2011, after 15 hours of talks, a tentative deal was reached; once officially ratified, the NBA started a revised 2011–12 season.[1] Owners allowed players to have voluntary workouts at team sites starting December 1. On December 8, 2011, the lockout ended when the owners and players ratified a new CBA agreement.[21]
A revised 66-game regular season began on December 25, 2011, with fiveChristmas Day games, two more than the original schedule.[23] The league built a new schedule from scratch based on available arena dates. In October, the league allowed arenas inLos Angeles andChicago to reassign NBA dates for other events. The number of games between conferences was affected as was the case in the1999 lockout, when each team played only five or six interconference games in a 50-game schedule. Normally, each team plays teams in the other conference twice each.[24] Teams played 48 conference games and 18 non-conference games in a 66-game schedule, compared to 52 conference games and 30 non-conference games in a normal 82-game season.[25] Teams played on average two more games per month and also were required to play three-consecutive games at least once in the season. In total, the league had 42 sets of back-to-back-to-back games throughout the season, with 11 teams playing two such sets. The exception was the then champion Dallas Mavericks, who never had a set of 3 consecutive back to backs.[26][27][28] The three-game set, or "triple", also occurred during the shortened1998–99 season, which featured 64 triples and sloppier play due to tired players.[26][27] Before that, the last occurrence was two decades earlier.[27] On 29 occasions during the season, teams played a stretch of five games in six days.[28] With fewer off days during the season, the level of play was lower due to fatigue, and some older players rested to avoid burnout and recuperate from injuries.[29] When theSan Antonio Spurs restedTim Duncan for a game in March at the end of a back-to-back-to-back, coachGregg Popovich submitted the description of Duncan's injury as "Old".[30]
The 2012 NBA playoffs began on April 28, and concluded on June 21, 2012, when theMiami Heat defeated theOklahoma City Thunder.
TheChicago Bulls were eliminated after losingDerrick Rose andJoakim Noah to injuries, and theNew York Knicks lost to theMiami Heat while losingBaron Davis andIman Shumpert to knee injuries. The Heat were not immune, losingChris Bosh for most of the playoffs en route to their championship. CommissionerDavid Stern initially said there was no connection between the injuries and the 66-game schedule compressed into 124 days; however, he backed off those comments a week later, saying more research was needed.
This season also marked the final time thatKobe Bryant appeared in the playoffs, as an Achilles injury the following season prevented him from joining the Lakers for the 2013 first round.
On December 8, 2011, theNew Orleans Hornets, theLos Angeles Lakers and theHouston Rockets agreed to a trade that would sendChris Paul to Los Angeles. NBA commissionerDavid Stern nullified the trade, saying the Hornets were better off keeping Paul than accepting the terms of the deal. The league had acquired the Hornets from former ownerGeorge Shinn, and the commissioner's office has final authority over all management decisions.[33] Several of the other owners, who co-own the Hornets, also opposed the deal.[34]Cleveland Cavaliers ownerDan Gilbert felt that the Lakers were acquiring the best player in the deal, Paul, and reducing their salary to possibly acquireDwight Howard.[33][35] Owners believed the trade would have sent a bad message coming out of the lockout, where one goal was to givesmall-market teams a chance to keep their players. Paul had long been speculated to be leaving the Hornets as a free agent after the end of the season.Magic Johnson said the trade denial "sends a bad message to fans", andDwyane Wade called the situation a "mess".[36] The three teams involved in the trade attempted to lobby the league to reverse its ruling[37] as well as reconstruct the deal that would satisfy the league, only to be met by resistance from the league who wants the Hornets to receive more youth and draft picks. Later, the Lakers pulled out of the trade talk.[38] Five days later, Paul was finally traded to theLos Angeles Clippers.[39]
TheToronto Raptors became the first North American sports franchise to apply3D application to its hardwood floor, which when seen by the players and in-arena spectators appears flat, but when seen by the television audience appears popped up. It made its debut in a pre-season game against theBoston Celtics atAir Canada Centre on December 18. On December 21, when the two teams met at theTD Garden, the Celtics became the first team to apply theirTwitter account on their trademarkparquet floor.
The Raptors also became the first NBA team to unveilcamouflaged uniforms, which they wore for the first time on March 21 against theChicago Bulls as a tribute to theCanadian Forces.[40]
Due to a career-ending knee injury,Portland Trail Blazers guard and three-time All-StarBrandon Roy announced his retirement, after only five seasons, on December 9, 2011. Roy's retirement was brief, however, as he joined theMinnesota Timberwolves the next season.
A new shot-clock rule was put into place. Upon reaching the five-second mark, tenths of a second is displayed in order to accurately determine last-second shots.
On February 19 in an overtime win vs. theDenver Nuggets,Kevin Durant scored 51,Russell Westbrook scored 40, andSerge Ibaka had a triple-double marking the first time that a player scores 50+ points, with another scoring 40+ points, and another having a triple-double in the same game.
TheCharlotte Bobcats set the single–season NBA record for the worst winning percentage, going 7–59 for a .106 winning percentage. The1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers previously held the record with .110, but they played the typical 82–game schedule.
Kevin Durant became the seventh player to win three consecutive scoring titles, and the first sinceMichael Jordan notched the last scoring title of his career in the1997–98 season.
ThePhiladelphia 76ers became the fifth eighth seed to defeat a top seed in the playoffs, winning the first round series in six games over theChicago Bulls. The Bulls lost reigning MVPDerrick Rose to anACL injury in Game 1, who consequently missed the rest of the series.
December 31:800 coaching wins –San Antonio Spurs head coachGregg Popovich became the 14th coach to register 800 wins in a 104–89 win over theUtah Jazz, putting him second all-time behindJerry Sloan for coaching victories with one team.[42]
January 1:Youngest player to 28,000 points –Los Angeles Lakers guardKobe Bryant scored his 28,000th career point in a 99–90 loss against theDenver Nuggets. Bryant was 33 years and 131 days old.[43]
January 12:Most free throw attempts in a game.Orlando Magic centerDwight Howard attempted a regular season record 39 free throws against theGolden State Warriors, breakingWilt Chamberlain's record of 34 set in 1962. (Shaquille O'Neal attempted 39 free throws in Game 2 of the2000 NBA Finals.) Howard entered the game making 42 percent of his free throws for the season and just below 60 percent for his career. The Warriorsfouled Howard intentionally throughout the game. Howard made 21 of the 39 attempts, and he finished with 45 points and 23 rebounds in the Magic's 117–109 victory.[44]
January 28: Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant with his 7,161st free throw broke the Lakers all-time free throw record, breakingJerry West's record[45] in a 100–89 loss to theMilwaukee Bucks.
January 29: Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant with his 9,936th field goal broke the Lakers all-time field goals record held byKareem Abdul-Jabbar just one day after breaking Jerry West's team free throw record[45] in a 106–101 win over theMinnesota Timberwolves.
February 3:Youngest player to 18,000 points –Miami Heat forwardLeBron James scored his 18,000th career point in a 99–79 win against thePhiladelphia 76ers. James was 28 years and 35 days old. This record was previously held by Kobe Bryant.
February 6:Bryant 5th on NBA all-time scoring list. Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant passedShaquille O'Neal after scoring his 28,597th point during the first half of a 95–90 loss to thePhiladelphia 76ers.
March 19:Chicago Bulls'Tom Thibodeau became the fastest coach in NBA history to earn 100 career victories, doing so on his 130th game as a head coach.[47]
April 21:Nash 5th on the NBA all-time assist list.Phoenix Suns point guardSteve Nash passedOscar Robertson for 5th on all time assist list after passing his 9,888th assist in a 107–118 loss against theDenver Nuggets.
April 23:Memphis Grizzlies franchise record: Most steals in a game: Memphis Grizzlies shooting guardTony Allen made the most steals in franchise history in a game with eight in a 104–99 win over theCleveland Cavaliers.
April 26:NBA Record:Phoenix Suns shooting guardJosh Childress broke the record for the most minutes played in one season without making a free throw with 491 minutes played this season.
April 26:NBA Record: Charlotte Bobcats set the record for worst winning percentage in a season at 0.106 (7–59), surpassing the record previously held by the1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers. In doing so, they also set a record for worst home winning percentage at 0.121 (4–29), beating out the record previously held by the 1947–48Providence Steamrollers.
April 26:NBA Record: San Antonio Spurs finish the season with a 50–16 record, in doing so they won at least 50 games for the 13th straight season.
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