1991–92 NBA season

The 1991–92 NBA season was the 46th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their second straight NBA Championship, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. This would be Larry Bird's final season in the NBA.

1991–92 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 1, 1991 – April 19, 1992 April 23 – May 29, 1992 (Playoffs) June 3 – 14, 1992 (Finals)
Number of teams	27
TV partner(s)	NBC, TBS, TNT
Draft
Top draft pick	Larry Johnson
Picked by	Charlotte Hornets
Regular season
Top seed	Chicago Bulls
Season MVP	Michael Jordan (Chicago)
Top scorer	Michael Jordan (Chicago)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Chicago Bulls
Eastern runners-up	Cleveland Cavaliers
Western champions	Portland Trail Blazers
Western runners-up	Utah Jazz
Finals
Champions	Chicago Bulls
Runners-up	Portland Trail Blazers
Finals MVP	Michael Jordan (Chicago)
NBA seasons
← 1990–91 1992–93 →

Notable occurrences

Coaching changes

Offseason
Team	1990–91 coach	1991–92 coach
Charlotte Hornets	Gene Littles	Allan Bristow
Miami Heat	Ron Rothstein	Kevin Loughery
Minnesota Timberwolves	Bill Musselman	Jimmy Rodgers
New York Knicks	John MacLeod	Pat Riley
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
Houston Rockets	Don Chaney	Rudy Tomjanovich
Los Angeles Clippers	Mike Schuler	Mack Calvin
	Mack Calvin	Larry Brown
Milwaukee Bucks	Del Harris	Frank Hamblen
Sacramento Kings	Dick Motta	Rex Hughes
San Antonio Spurs	Larry Brown	Bob Bass
Seattle SuperSonics	K.C. Jones	Bob Kloppenburg
	Bob Kloppenburg	George Karl

• The game clock and shot clock combo was introduced as of today.
• Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers announces his retirement early in the season after receiving the news that he had tested positive for HIV.
• The Philadelphia 76ers' Charles Barkley honored Johnson by switching from his usual number 34 to 32, which he wore for the entire season. The 76ers had retired the number in honor of Billy Cunningham, who un-retired it for Barkley to wear.
• Due to back problems, Boston Celtics star Larry Bird retires at the end of the season, and since Bill Russell vs. Jerry West it brings one of the most memorable eras in NBA history (Magic vs. Bird) to a close.
• After a season in the Western Conference's Midwest Division, the Orlando Magic move back to the Eastern Conference, playing in the Atlantic Division. The 27 teams of the NBA would remain in the same four divisions until 2004, when the league would realign into six divisions.
• The 1992 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, with the West defeating the East 153–113. In an emotionally charged game, Magic Johnson wins the game's MVP award.
• In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers rescheduled and relocated their home first-round playoff games. Game 4 of the Lakers-Blazers series was played at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, while Game 4 of the Clippers-Jazz series was played at the Anaheim Convention Center.
• Luc Longley, drafted by the Timberwolves, becomes the first Australian to play in the NBA. He would later play in three Bulls championship teams.
• Larry Brown became the first to coach two different NBA teams in a single season after resigning from the San Antonio Spurs to coach the Los Angeles Clippers. Brown led the Clippers to the team's first winning season since their relocation to Los Angeles in addition to ending their fifteen-year playoff drought.
• The season marked the last time the Boston Celtics would win 50 games (they won 51) until the 2008 season.
• Following the first round loss to the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons head coach Chuck Daly resigned, ending the Pistons' "Bad Boys" era.
• On December 17, the Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the Miami Heat by a score of 148–80. This 68-point win by the Cavaliers stood as a record for nearly three decades until the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder by 73 points 152–79 on December 2, 2021.
• Run TMC, consisting of Golden State Warriors players Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond, was disbanded when Richmond was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Billy Owens.
• The Utah Jazz played their first season at the Delta Center (now Vivint Arena).
• The Phoenix Suns played their final season at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
• The Chicago Bulls set a franchise record with 67 wins in a season (later broken by the 1996 team).
• The NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals both had their games played in Chicago, causing a potential scheduling conflict with each other. However, this was rendered moot as the Blackhawks were swept in four games by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended up winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
• Dennis Rodman recorded 1,530 rebounds and averaged 18.7 rebounds per game in the regular season, both of which were the highest figures since 1972.^{[citation needed]} It is the first of an NBA record seven consecutive rebounding titles for Rodman.
• Michael Jordan scored 35 points in the first half of Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals, setting records for most points in a Finals half and most three-pointers in a half (six) until the latter was broken by the Houston Rockets' Kenny Smith (seven) in 1995. He also set a new NBA record for the most times a player has won a championship and led the league in scoring in the same season.^[1]
• The Miami Heat were the first of the four late 1980s expansion franchises to make it to the playoffs, but were swept in the first round by the Bulls.
• The Milwaukee Bucks failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1978-79.
• All NBA teams sported patches on their warmups commemorating basketball's centennial anniversary.

1991–92 NBA changes

• The New Jersey Nets changed their road uniforms to a darker blue color.
• The Philadelphia 76ers changed their uniforms, adding stars to their jerseys.
• The Portland Trail Blazers changed their logo and uniforms.
• The Utah Jazz moved into the Delta Center.

Standings

By division Eastern Conference Atlantic Division v t e W L PCT GB Home Road Div y-Boston Celtics 51 31 .622 — 34–7 17–24 19–9 x-New York Knicks 51 31 .622 — 30–11 21–20 20–8 x-New Jersey Nets 40 42 .488 11 25–16 15–26 15–13 x-Miami Heat 38 44 .463 13 28–13 10–31 14–14 Philadelphia 76ers 35 47 .427 16 23–18 12–29 15–13 Washington Bullets 25 57 .305 26 14–27 11–30 7–21 Orlando Magic 21 61 .256 30 13–28 8–33 8–20 Central Division v t e W L PCT GB Home Road Div y-Chicago Bulls 67 15 .817 — 36–5 31–10 22–6 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 57 25 .695 10 35–6 22–19 21–7 x-Detroit Pistons 48 34 .585 19 25–16 23–18 15–13 x-Indiana Pacers 40 42 .488 27 26–15 14–27 13–15 Atlanta Hawks 38 44 .463 29 23–18 15–26 7–21 Milwaukee Bucks 31 51 .378 36 25–16 6–35 10–18 Charlotte Hornets 31 51 .378 36 22–19 9–32 10–18 Western Conference Midwest Division v t e W L PCT GB Home Road Div y-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 — 37–4 18–23 20–6 x-San Antonio Spurs 47 35 .573 8 31–10 16–25 18–8 Houston Rockets 42 40 .512 13 28–13 14–27 12–14 Denver Nuggets 24 58 .293 31 18–23 6–35 8–18 Dallas Mavericks 22 60 .268 33 15–26 7–34 11–15 Minnesota Timberwolves 15 67 .183 40 9–32 6–35 9–17 Pacific Division v t e W L PCT GB Home Road Div y-Portland Trail Blazers 57 25 .695 — 33–8 24–17 21–9 x-Golden State Warriors 55 27 .671 2 31–10 24–17 19–11 x-Phoenix Suns 53 29 .646 4 36–5 17–24 17–13 x-Seattle SuperSonics 47 35 .573 10 28–13 19–22 16–14 x-Los Angeles Clippers 45 37 .549 12 29–12 16–25 13–17 x-Los Angeles Lakers 43 39 .524 14 24–17 19–22 13–17 Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354 28 21–20 8–33 6–24 By conference # Eastern Conference v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 z-Chicago Bulls 67 15 .817 – 2 y-Boston Celtics 51 31 .622 16 3 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 57 25 .695 10 4 x-New York Knicks 51 31 .622 16 5 x-Detroit Pistons 48 34 .585 19 6 x-New Jersey Nets 40 42 .488 27 7 x-Indiana Pacers 40 42 .488 27 8 x-Miami Heat 38 44 .463 29 9 Atlanta Hawks 38 44 .463 29 10 Philadelphia 76ers 35 47 .427 32 11 Milwaukee Bucks 31 51 .378 36 12 Charlotte Hornets 31 51 .378 36 13 Washington Bullets 25 57 .305 42 14 Orlando Magic 21 61 .256 46 # Western Conference v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 c-Portland Trail Blazers 57 25 .695 – 2 y-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 2 3 x-Golden State Warriors 55 27 .671 2 4 x-Phoenix Suns 53 29 .646 4 5 x-San Antonio Spurs 47 35 .573 10 6 x-Seattle SuperSonics 47 35 .573 10 7 x-Los Angeles Clippers 45 37 .549 12 8 x-Los Angeles Lakers 43 39 .524 14 9 Houston Rockets 42 40 .512 15 10 Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354 28 11 Denver Nuggets 24 58 .293 33 12 Dallas Mavericks 22 60 .268 35 13 Minnesota Timberwolves 15 67 .183 42 Notes 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 Playoffs Main article: 1992 NBA 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. First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final                         E1 Chicago* 3 E8 Miami 0 E1 Chicago* 4 E4 New York 3 E4 New York 3 E5 Detroit 2 E1 Chicago* 4 E3 Cleveland 2 E3 Cleveland 3 E6 New Jersey 1 E3 Cleveland 4 E2 Boston* 3 E2 Boston* 3 E7 Indiana 0 E1 Chicago* 4 W1 Portland* 2 W1 Portland* 3 W8 LA Lakers 1 W1 Portland* 4 W4 Phoenix 1 W4 Phoenix 3 W5 San Antonio 0 W1 Portland* 4 W2 Utah* 2 W3 Golden State 1 W6 Seattle 3 W6 Seattle 1 W2 Utah* 4 W2 Utah* 3 W7 LA Clippers 2 * Division winner Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage Statistics leaders Category Player Team Stat Points per game Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 30.1 Rebounds per game Dennis Rodman Detroit Pistons 18.7 Assists per game John Stockton Utah Jazz 13.7 Steals per game John Stockton Utah Jazz 2.98 Blocks per game David Robinson San Antonio Spurs 4.49 FG% Buck Williams Portland Trail Blazers .604 FT% Mark Price Cleveland Cavaliers .947 3FG% Dana Barros Seattle SuperSonics .446 NBA awards Most Valuable Player: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls Rookie of the Year: Larry Johnson, Charlotte Hornets Defensive Player of the Year: David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs Sixth Man of the Year: Detlef Schrempf, Indiana Pacers Most Improved Player: Pervis Ellison, Washington Bullets Coach of the Year: Don Nelson, Golden State Warriors All-NBA First Team: F – Karl Malone, Utah Jazz F – Chris Mullin, Golden State Warriors C – David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs G – Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls G – Clyde Drexler, Portland Trail Blazers All-NBA Second Team: F – Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls F – Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers C – Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks G – Tim Hardaway, Golden State Warriors G – John Stockton, Utah Jazz All-NBA Third Team: F – Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons F – Kevin Willis, Atlanta Hawks C – Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers G – Mark Price, Cleveland Cavaliers G – Kevin Johnson, Phoenix Suns NBA All-Rookie First Team: Steve Smith, Miami Heat Larry Johnson, Charlotte Hornets Billy Owens, Golden State Warriors Stacey Augmon, Atlanta Hawks Dikembe Mutombo, Denver Nuggets NBA All-Rookie Second Team: Terrell Brandon, Cleveland Cavaliers Rick Fox, Boston Celtics Mark Macon, Denver Nuggets Stanley Roberts, Orlando Magic Larry Stewart, Washington Bullets NBA All-Defensive First Team: Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons NBA All-Defensive Second Team: Larry Nance, Cleveland Cavaliers Buck Williams, Portland Trail Blazers Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks John Stockton, Utah Jazz Micheal Williams, Indiana Pacers See also List of NBA regular season records References Second straight year that Michael Jordan qualified for accolade, [1], Accessed on October 3, 2022