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1979 NBA Finals
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| Dates | May 20–June 1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Dennis Johnson (Seattle SuperSonics) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | SuperSonics: Dennis Johnson (2010) Jack Sikma (2019) Bullets: Bob Dandridge (2021) Elvin Hayes (1990) Wes Unseld (1988) Coaches: Lenny Wilkens (1998) Officials: Hugh Evans (2022) Darell Garretson (2016) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Bullets defeated Spurs, 4–3 | |||||||||
| Western finals | SuperSonics defeated Suns, 4–3 | |||||||||
The 1979 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series played at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1978–79 season. The Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics played the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets, with the Bullets holding home-court advantage, due to a better regular season record. The SuperSonics defeated the Bullets 4 games to 1. The series was a rematch of the 1978 NBA Finals, which the Washington Bullets had won 4–3.
Dennis Johnson of the SuperSonics was named as the NBA Finals MVP, while Gus Williams of the SuperSonics was the top scorer, averaging 28.6 points per game.
This was Seattle's second men's professional sports championship, following the Seattle Metropolitans' victory in the 1917 Stanley Cup Finals. The city's next title wouldn't be until 2014 when the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII.
Both the 1978 and 1979 NBA Finals were informally dubbed the "George Washington series", because both teams were playing in places named after the first President of the United States (the SuperSonics represented Seattle, Washington while the Bullets represented Washington, D.C., albeit playing in nearby Landover, Maryland).
Until 2023, this was the most recent time that a Western Conference team not based in Texas or California has won an NBA title, and the last of only two occasions alongside the 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers when a team from the present-day Northwest Division has won the league title, which is by 27 years the longest league championship drought for any division of the four major North American sports leagues. [note 1] Since then, the following Western teams have gone on to win an NBA title: the Los Angeles Lakers (eleven times), the San Antonio Spurs (five times), the Golden State Warriors (four times), the Houston Rockets (twice), and the Dallas Mavericks (once). The remaining twenty-one titles since 1980 have been won by Eastern Conference teams.[note 2]
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