Boston Celtics' top draft pick Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose barely two days after the draft. In the wake of Micheal Ray Richardson's lifetime suspension, several NBA players were suspended for violations of the anti-drug policy; among them Houston Rockets forward Lewis Lloyd and guard Mitchell Wiggins.
This was the final NBA season for Philadelphia's Julius Erving who announced his retirement that year. NBA arenas paid tribute to Erving's retirement by staging special events for him. The New Jersey Nets, in particular, retired Erving's No. 32 jersey for his contributions with the franchise. Thus Erving became the only player to have his number retired by a team while still an active player.
Michael Jordan joined Wilt Chamberlain as only the second player in NBA history to score 3000 points in a season. With a 37.1 ppg, Jordan also began a seven-year reign as the NBA's scoring champion, tied with Chamberlain for the league record.
In a game on February 4, 1987, the Los Angeles Lakers set two NBA records by jumping out to a 29–0 lead over the Sacramento Kings and leading by 36 points (40–4) at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers went on to win, 128–92.
The NBA logo was prominently displayed on the uniforms for the first time (usually on the left side of the jersey; it was moved to the top rear in 2014), becoming the first sports league in North America to do so. The practice of placing the league logo on the jerseys eventually spreads to the NFL, NHL and MLB.
Fernando Martín became the first Spanish player to play in the NBA when he debuted for the Portland Trail Blazers in December 1986. He would pave the way for future Spanish players in the league, including five-time NBA All-Star Pau Gasol.
Los Angeles Clippers becoming the second team in NBA history to lose 70 or more games joining the 1972–73 76ers, the latter was (1992–93 Mavericks, 1997–98 Nuggets, 2009–10 Nets (including losing 18 straight games to start the season), and the 2015–16 76ers (including a record–tying 26–game losing streak also including losing 18 straight games to start the season).
Michael Jordan becomes the first player in NBA history to accumulate over 200 steals with over 100 blocks in a season.
z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
y – Clinched division title
x – Clinched playoff spot
PlayoffsEdit
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.
^AP. "3 SUNS PLAYERS ARE INDICTED IN DRUG INVESTIGATION". nytimes.com. from the original on November 6, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
^Services, From Times Wire (May 9, 1987). "More NBA Players Linked to Arizona Drug/Gambling Probe". from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2018 – via LA Times.
^"Twin Towers On The Rise". Sports Illustrated. 65 (18). November 3, 1986. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
^"NBA Playoffs : Hot Sonics Beat Rockets in Overtime, 111–106". Los Angeles Times. Times Wire Services. May 3, 1987. from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
^"N.B.A. Playoffs; Mavericks Eliminated By Sonics". New York Times. Associated Press. May 1, 1987. from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
August 29, 2023
1986, season, 41st, season, national, basketball, association, season, ended, with, angeles, lakers, winning, their, fourth, championship, decade, beating, boston, celtics, games, finals, leaguenational, basketball, associationsportbasketballdurationoctober, 1. The 1986 87 NBA season was the 41st season of the National Basketball Association The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their fourth championship of the decade beating the Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals 1986 87 NBA seasonLeagueNational Basketball AssociationSportBasketballDurationOctober 31 1986 April 19 1987April 23 May 30 1987 Playoffs June 2 14 1987 Finals Number of teams23TV partner s CBS TBSDraftTop draft pickBrad DaughertyPicked byCleveland CavaliersRegular seasonTop seedLos Angeles LakersSeason MVPMagic Johnson L A Lakers Top scorerMichael Jordan Chicago PlayoffsEastern championsBoston Celtics Eastern runners upDetroit PistonsWestern championsLos Angeles Lakers Western runners upSeattle SuperSonicsFinalsChampionsLos Angeles Lakers Runners upBoston CelticsFinals MVPMagic Johnson L A Lakers NBA seasons 1985 861987 88 Contents 1 Notable occurrences 2 1986 87 NBA changes 3 Final standings 3 1 By division 3 2 By conference 4 Playoffs 5 Statistics leaders 6 NBA awards 6 1 Yearly awards 6 2 Player of the week 6 3 Player of the month 6 4 Rookie of the month 6 5 Coach of the month 7 ReferencesNotable occurrences EditCoaching changes OffseasonTeam 1985 86 coach 1986 87 coachSan Antonio Spurs Cotton Fitzsimmons Bob WeissPortland Trail Blazers Jack Ramsay Mike SchulerChicago Bulls Stan Albeck Doug CollinsCleveland Cavaliers Gene Littles Lenny WilkensIndiana Pacers George Irvine Jack RamsayGolden State Warriors Johnny Bach George KarlIn seasonTeam Outgoing coach Incoming coachNew York Knicks Hubie Brown Bob HillPhoenix Suns John MacLeod Dick Van ArsdaleSacramento Kings Phil Johnson Jerry ReynoldsBoston Celtics top draft pick Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose barely two days after the draft In the wake of Micheal Ray Richardson s lifetime suspension several NBA players were suspended for violations of the anti drug policy among them Houston Rockets forward Lewis Lloyd and guard Mitchell Wiggins On April 17 three Phoenix Suns players James Edwards Jay Humphries and Grant Gondrezick and two former players Gar Heard and Mike Bratz were indicted for cocaine trafficking at a popular Phoenix nightclub Several other players were also involved in the scandal 1 2 When Mychal Thompson joined the Lakers this season alongside the likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar Magic Johnson and James Worthy the Lakers became the first team to ever have four different 1 draft picks join the same team The 1987 NBA All Star Game was played at the Kingdome in Seattle with the West defeating the East 154 149 in overtime To the delight of the Seattle crowd the SuperSonics Tom Chambers won the game s MVP award Michael Jordan won his first Slam Dunk Contest This was the final NBA season for Philadelphia s Julius Erving who announced his retirement that year NBA arenas paid tribute to Erving s retirement by staging special events for him The New Jersey Nets in particular retired Erving s No 32 jersey for his contributions with the franchise Thus Erving became the only player to have his number retired by a team while still an active player Michael Jordan joined Wilt Chamberlain as only the second player in NBA history to score 3000 points in a season With a 37 1 ppg Jordan also began a seven year reign as the NBA s scoring champion tied with Chamberlain for the league record This was the last season the Lakers and Celtics matched up in the NBA Finals until 2008 The 1986 87 season was also known as the Golden Era of the NBA The 1987 NBA season featured up to 23 Hall of Fame players such as Magic Johnson Kareem Abdul Jabbar James Worthy Larry Bird Michael Jordan Kevin McHale Robert Parish Bill Walton Moses Malone Julius Erving Isiah Thomas Dominique Wilkins Charles Barkley Akeem Olajuwon 3 4 5 Clyde Drexler Karl Malone John Stockton Alex English Patrick Ewing Artis Gilmore Adrian Dantley Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman Despite finishing with a sub 500 record the Seattle SuperSonics were able to upset the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets before bowing down to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in a four game sweep In a game on February 4 1987 the Los Angeles Lakers set two NBA records by jumping out to a 29 0 lead over the Sacramento Kings and leading by 36 points 40 4 at the end of the first quarter The Lakers went on to win 128 92 The NBA logo was prominently displayed on the uniforms for the first time usually on the left side of the jersey it was moved to the top rear in 2014 becoming the first sports league in North America to do so The practice of placing the league logo on the jerseys eventually spreads to the NFL NHL and MLB Fernando Martin became the first Spanish player to play in the NBA when he debuted for the Portland Trail Blazers in December 1986 He would pave the way for future Spanish players in the league including five time NBA All Star Pau Gasol Los Angeles Clippers becoming the second team in NBA history to lose 70 or more games joining the 1972 73 76ers the latter was 1992 93 Mavericks 1997 98 Nuggets 2009 10 Nets including losing 18 straight games to start the season and the 2015 16 76ers including a record tying 26 game losing streak also including losing 18 straight games to start the season Michael Jordan becomes the first player in NBA history to accumulate over 200 steals with over 100 blocks in a season Larry Bird becomes the first player in NBA history to enter the 50 40 90 club 1986 87 NBA changes EditThe Milwaukee Bucks changed their uniforms removing the red areas on the side panels to their jerseys and shorts Final standings EditBy division Edit Atlantic Divisionvte W L PCT GB Home Road Divy Boston Celtics 59 23 720 39 2 20 21 15 9x Philadelphia 76ers 45 37 549 14 28 13 17 24 12 12x Washington Bullets 42 40 512 17 27 14 15 26 13 11New Jersey Nets 24 58 293 35 19 22 5 36 12 12New York Knicks 24 58 293 35 18 23 6 35 8 16Central Divisionvte W L PCT GB Home Road Divy Atlanta Hawks 57 25 695 35 6 22 19 17 13x Detroit Pistons 52 30 634 5 32 9 20 21 17 13x Milwaukee Bucks 50 32 610 7 32 9 18 23 17 13x Indiana Pacers 41 41 500 16 28 13 13 28 13 16x Chicago Bulls 40 42 488 17 29 12 11 30 17 12Cleveland Cavaliers 31 51 378 26 25 16 6 35 8 22Midwest Divisionvte W L PCT GB Home Road Divy Dallas Mavericks 55 27 671 35 6 20 21 19 11x Utah Jazz 44 38 537 11 31 10 13 28 19 11x Houston Rockets 42 40 512 13 25 16 17 24 19 11x Denver Nuggets 37 45 451 18 27 14 10 31 14 16Sacramento Kings 29 53 354 26 20 21 9 32 10 20San Antonio Spurs 28 54 341 27 21 20 7 34 9 21Pacific Divisionvte W L PCT GB Home Road Divy Los Angeles Lakers 65 17 793 37 4 28 13 24 6x Portland Trail Blazers 49 33 598 16 34 7 15 26 17 13x Golden State Warriors 42 40 512 23 25 16 17 24 17 13x Seattle SuperSonics 39 43 476 26 25 16 14 27 15 15Phoenix Suns 36 46 439 29 26 15 10 31 14 16Los Angeles Clippers 12 70 146 53 9 32 3 38 3 27By conference Edit Eastern ConferencevteTeam W L PCT GB1 c Boston Celtics 59 23 720 2 y Atlanta Hawks 57 25 695 23 x Detroit Pistons 52 30 634 74 x Milwaukee Bucks 50 32 610 95 x Philadelphia 76ers 45 37 549 146 x Washington Bullets 42 40 512 177 x Indiana Pacers 41 41 500 188 x Chicago Bulls 40 42 488 199 Cleveland Cavaliers 31 51 378 2810 New Jersey Nets 24 58 293 3511 New York Knicks 24 58 293 35 Western ConferencevteTeam W L PCT GB1 z Los Angeles Lakers 65 17 793 2 y Dallas Mavericks 55 27 671 103 x Portland Trail Blazers 49 33 598 164 x Utah Jazz 44 38 537 215 x Golden State Warriors 42 40 512 236 x Houston Rockets 42 40 512 237 x Seattle SuperSonics 39 43 476 268 x Denver Nuggets 37 45 451 289 Phoenix Suns 36 46 439 2910 Sacramento Kings 29 53 354 3611 San Antonio Spurs 28 54 341 3712 Los Angeles Clippers 12 70 146 53Notes z Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs c Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs y Clinched division title x Clinched playoff spotPlayoffs EditTeams 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 This section is an excerpt from 1987 NBA playoffs Bracket edit First RoundConference SemifinalsConference FinalsNBA Finals E1Boston 3E8Chicago0E1Boston 4E4Milwaukee3E4Milwaukee3E5Philadelphia2E1Boston 4Eastern ConferenceE3Detroit3E3Detroit3E6Washington0E3Detroit4E2Atlanta 1E2Atlanta 3E7Indiana1E1Boston 2W1LA Lakers 4W1LA Lakers 3W8Denver0W1LA Lakers 4W5Golden State1W4Utah2W5Golden State3W1LA Lakers 4Western ConferenceW7Seattle0W3Portland1W6Houston3W6Houston2W7Seattle4W2Dallas 1W7Seattle3 Division winnerBold Series winnerItalic Team with home court advantageStatistics leaders EditCategory Player Team StatPoints per game Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 37 1Rebounds per game Charles Barkley Philadelphia 76ers 14 6Assists per game Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 12 2Steals per game Alvin Robertson San Antonio Spurs 3 21Blocks per game Mark Eaton Utah Jazz 4 06FG Kevin McHale Boston Celtics 604FT Larry Bird Boston Celtics 9103FG Kiki Vandeweghe Portland Trail Blazers 481NBA awards EditYearly awards Edit Most Valuable Player Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers Rookie of the Year Chuck Person Indiana Pacers Defensive Player of the Year Michael Cooper Los Angeles Lakers Sixth Man of the Year Ricky Pierce Milwaukee Bucks Most Improved Player Dale Ellis Seattle SuperSonics Coach of the Year Mike Schuler Portland Trail BlazersAll NBA First Team F Larry Bird Boston Celtics F Kevin McHale Boston Celtics C Akeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets G Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls G Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers All NBA Second Team F Dominique Wilkins Atlanta Hawks F Charles Barkley Philadelphia 76ers C Moses Malone Washington Bullets G Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons G Fat Lever Denver Nuggets All NBA Rookie Team John Hot Rod Williams Cleveland Cavaliers Roy Tarpley Dallas Mavericks Chuck Person Indiana Pacers Brad Daugherty Cleveland Cavaliers Ron Harper Cleveland Cavaliers NBA All Defensive First Team Kevin McHale Boston Celtics Michael Cooper Los Angeles Lakers Akeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets Alvin Robertson San Antonio Spurs Dennis Johnson Boston Celtics NBA All Defensive Second Team Paul Pressey Milwaukee Bucks Rodney McCray Houston Rockets Mark Eaton Utah Jazz Maurice Cheeks Philadelphia 76ers Derek Harper Dallas Mavericks Player of the week Edit The following players were named NBA Player of the Week Week PlayerOctober 31 November 9 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls November 10 November 16 Robert Parish Boston Celtics November 17 November 23 Alvin Robertson San Antonio Spurs November 24 November 30 Hot Rod Williams Cleveland Cavaliers December 1 December 7 Tom Chambers Seattle SuperSonics December 8 December 14 Dominique Wilkins Atlanta Hawks December 15 December 21 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers December 22 December 28 Patrick Ewing New York Knicks December 29 January 4 Larry Bird Boston Celtics January 5 January 11 Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons January 12 January 19 Otis Thorpe Sacramento Kings January 20 January 26 Alex English Denver Nuggets January 27 February 1 Fat Lever Denver Nuggets February 2 February 15 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers February 16 February 22 Moses Malone Washington Bullets February 23 March 1 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls March 2 March 8 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers March 9 March 15 Karl Malone Utah Jazz March 16 March 22 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers March 23 March 29 Larry Smith Golden State Warriors March 30 April 5 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers April 6 April 12 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls April 13 April 15 Julius Erving Philadelphia 76ers Player of the month Edit The following players were named NBA Player of the Month Month PlayerNovember Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls December Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers January Charles Barkley Philadelphia 76ers February Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls March Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers Rookie of the month Edit The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month Month RookieNovember Chuck Person Indiana Pacers December Ron Harper Cleveland Cavaliers January Ron Harper Cleveland Cavaliers February Chuck Person Indiana Pacers March Brad Daugherty Cleveland Cavaliers Coach of the month Edit The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month Month CoachNovember Pat Riley Los Angeles Lakers December Frank Layden Utah Jazz January Bill Fitch Houston Rockets February Mike Schuler Portland Trail Blazers March George Karl Golden State Warriors References Edit AP 3 SUNS PLAYERS ARE INDICTED IN DRUG INVESTIGATION nytimes com Archived from the original on November 6 2017 Retrieved May 5 2018 Services From Times Wire May 9 1987 More NBA Players Linked to Arizona Drug Gambling Probe Archived from the original on November 17 2015 Retrieved May 5 2018 via LA Times Twin Towers On The Rise Sports Illustrated 65 18 November 3 1986 Retrieved October 8 2013 NBA Playoffs Hot Sonics Beat Rockets in Overtime 111 106 Los Angeles Times Times Wire Services May 3 1987 Archived from the original on June 10 2015 Retrieved October 8 2013 N B A Playoffs Mavericks Eliminated By Sonics New York Times Associated Press May 1 1987 Archived from the original on May 24 2015 Retrieved October 8 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1986 87 NBA season amp oldid 1172294879, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
