1980–81 NBA season

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.

Notable occurrences

 * The Dallas Mavericks become the league's 23rd franchise. As a result, the NBA realigns four of its teams to better reflect their geographical locations (the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls move to the Eastern Conference and the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets to the Western Conference), finishing a process of geographic realignment that began in the 1978–79 season.
 * The 1981 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Richfield Coliseum near Cleveland, Ohio, with the East defeating the West 123–120. Nate Archibald of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award.
 * To date, this was the final time that a regular-season had ended during the month of March.
 * The Houston Rockets (40–42) become just the second team in NBA history (to date) to make the finals without posting a winning record during the regular season. The Kansas City Kings, their opponents in the Western Conference finals, also posted a 40–42 record.
 * It was the final season for Hall of Famers Rudy Tomjanovich, Wes Unseld, and Jo Jo White.

By conference
Notes
 * z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs and first round bye
 * c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs and first round bye
 * y – Clinched division title and first round bye
 * x – Clinched playoff spot

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.

NBA awards

 * Most Valuable Player: Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
 * Rookie of the Year: Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
 * Coach of the Year: Jack McKinney, Indiana Pacers


 * All-NBA First Team:
 * F – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
 * F – Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
 * C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
 * G – Dennis Johnson, Phoenix Suns
 * G – George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs


 * All-NBA Second Team:
 * F – Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
 * F – Adrian Dantley, Utah Jazz
 * C – Moses Malone, Houston Rockets
 * G – Otis Birdsong, Kansas City Kings
 * G – Nate Archibald, Boston Celtics


 * All-NBA Rookie Team:
 * Kelvin Ransey, Portland Trail Blazers
 * Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
 * Larry Smith, Golden State Warriors
 * Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
 * Joe Barry Carroll, Golden State Warriors


 * NBA All-Defensive First Team:
 * Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
 * Caldwell Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
 * Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
 * Dennis Johnson, Phoenix Suns
 * Micheal Ray Richardson, New York Knicks


 * NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
 * Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
 * Kermit Washington, Portland Trail Blazers
 * George Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
 * Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks
 * Dudley Bradley, Indiana Pacers (tie)
 * Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers (tie)