1979–80 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1979–80 season was the 10th season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] The Blazers lost seven more games than the previous season, ending with a record of 38–44, their first losing record since the 1975–76 season; despite that, they qualified for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

1979–80 Portland Trail Blazers season
Head coach	Jack Ramsay
General manager	Harry Glickman
Owner(s)	Larry Weinberg
Arena	Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	38–44 (.463)
Place	Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 6th (Western)
Playoff finish	First round (Lost to SuperSonics 1–2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KOIN
Radio	KEX
< 1978–79 1980–81 >

The Blazers were ousted from the 1980 NBA Playoffs after losing their best-of-three series to the Seattle SuperSonics, two games to one.

The Blazers' season was documented in The Breaks of the Game, a book published in 1981 by journalist David Halberstam. The Breaks of the Game was a New York Times best-seller and is considered one of the greatest sports books ever written.^[2]

Draft picks

Main article: 1979 NBA Draft

Note: This is not a complete list; only the first two rounds are covered, as well as any other picks by the franchise who played at least one NBA game.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	12	Jim Paxson	G/F	United States	Dayton
2	40	Andrew Fields	F	United States	Cheyney State

Roster

1979–80 Portland Trail Blazers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From G 12 Bates, Billy Ray 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1956–05–31 Kentucky State PF 52 Brewer, Jim 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1951–12–02 Minnesota G 10 Brewer, Ron 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1955–07–16 Arkansas F 30 Gross, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1953–08–03 Long Beach State F 11 Jeelani, Abdul 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954–02–10 UW–Parkside C 44 Kunnert, Kevin   6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1951–11–11 Iowa SF 33 Natt, Calvin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1957–01–08 Louisiana–Monroe F/C 25 Owens, Tom 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1949–06–28 South Carolina G 4 Paxson, Jim 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1957–07–09 Dayton F 15 Steele, Larry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1949–05–05 Kentucky F/C 43 Thompson, Mychal   (IN) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1955–01–30 Minnesota G 13 Twardzik, Dave 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1950–09–20 Old Dominion F 42 Washington, Kermit 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1951–09–17 American

Head coach Jack Ramsay Assistant coach(es) Bucky Buckwalter Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended   Injured

Regular season

 

The Trail Blazers played their home games at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732	–	37–4	23–18	19–11
x-Seattle SuperSonics	56	26	.683	4	33–8	23–18	18–12
x-Phoenix Suns	55	27	.671	5	37–5	18–22	19–11
x-Portland Trail Blazers	38	44	.463	22	26–15	12–29	13–17
San Diego Clippers	35	47	.427	25	24–17	11–30	13–17
Golden State Warriors	24	58	.293	36	15–26	9–32	8–22

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	49	33	.598	11
3	x-Seattle SuperSonics	56	26	.683	4
4	x-Phoenix Suns	55	27	.671	5
5	x-Kansas City Kings	47	35	.573	13
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	38	44	.463	22
7	San Diego Clippers	35	47	.427	25
8	Chicago Bulls	30	52	.366	30
9	Denver Nuggets	30	52	.366	30
10	Utah Jazz	24	58	.293	36
11	Golden State Warriors	24	58	.293	36

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1979-80 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	–	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–1	6–0	2–0	2–4	4–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–2	4–2	4–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–3
Boston	4–2	–	2–0	4–2	2–0	6–0	2–0	6–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	5–1	5–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–2
Chicago	1–1	0–2	–	2–0	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	1–5	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–5	3–3	0–2	4–2	2–4	2–4	0–2
Cleveland	2–4	2–4	0–2	–	1–1	6–0	2–0	2–4	2–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–5	1–1	0–2	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Denver	1–1	0–2	4–2	1–1	–	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–6	1–5	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–5	2–4	1–1	3–3	1–5	3–3	1–1
Detroit	0–6	0–6	1–1	0–6	1–1	–	1–1	1–5	1–5	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–4	1–5	0–2	0–2	2–4	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4
Golden State	0–2	0–2	2–4	0–2	3–3	1–1	–	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–5	0–6	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–4	2–4	0–2	3–3	0–6	3–3	0–2
Houston	4–2	0–6	1–1	4–2	1–1	5–1	1–1	–	4–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–4	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–4
Indiana	2–4	2–4	2–0	4–2	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–4	–	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–4	4–2	1–5	0–2	2–0	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Kansas City	2–0	1–1	3–3	0–2	6–0	2–0	3–3	2–0	1–1	–	2–4	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–5	1–1	5–1	3–3	6–0	2–0
Los Angeles	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	5–1	2–0	2–0	4–2	–	3–3	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–3	2–4	2–0	5–1	4–2	6–0	1–1
Milwaukee	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	6–0	1–1	2–0	3–3	3–3	–	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–2	5–1	0–2	4–2	2–4	4–2	1–1
New Jersey	2–4	1–5	1–1	3–3	1–1	4–2	0–2	3–3	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	–	2–4	1–5	1–1	0–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–3
New York	2–4	1–5	2–0	3–3	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2	–	0–6	2–0	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Philadelphia	2–4	3–3	1–1	5–1	2–0	5–1	2–0	4–2	5–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	6–0	–	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–1
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	–	6–0	1–1	2–4	4–2	6–0	2–0
Portland	0–2	0–2	3–3	2–0	4–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	5–1	4–2	1–5	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–6	–	1–1	4–2	1–5	3–3	1–1
San Antonio	1–5	2–4	2–0	2–4	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–3	4–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	2–4	1–1	1–1	–	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–2
San Diego	1–1	0–2	2–4	1–1	3–3	2–0	3–3	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–5	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	2–4	0–2	–	3–3	5–1	1–1
Seattle	2–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	5–1	2–0	6–0	1–1	2–0	3–3	2–4	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	5–1	1–1	3–3	–	5–1	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	4–2	1–1	3–3	1–1	3–3	0–2	1–1	0–6	0–6	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–6	3–3	1–1	1–5	1–5	–	0–2
Washington	3–3	2–4	2–0	3–3	1–1	4–2	2–0	4–2	2–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	3–3	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	—

Game log

Playoffs

1980 playoff game log
First round: 1–2 (home: 1–0; road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 2 @ Seattle L 110–120 Ron Brewer (24) Kermit Washington (7) Kermit Washington (12) Kingdome 26,412 0–1 2 April 4 Seattle W 105–95 (OT) Natt, R. Brewer (27) Jim Brewer (12) T. R. Dunn (4) Memorial Coliseum 12,666 1–1 3 April 6 @ Seattle L 86–103 Billy Ray Bates (26) Tom Owens (16) Billy Ray Bates (3) Kingdome 23,546 1–2
1980 schedule

Player statistics

Legend

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

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and honors

• Calvin Natt, All-NBA Rookie Team
• Kermit Washington, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Transactions

References

1. 1979-80 Portland Trail Blazers
2. "The Top 100 Sports Books of All Time".