1961–62 NBA season
16th NBA season
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The 1961–62 NBA season was the 16th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their fourth straight NBA championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 19, 1961 – March 14, 1962
March 16 – April 5, 1962 (Playoffs)
April 7–18, 1962 (Finals)
March 16 – April 5, 1962 (Playoffs)
April 7–18, 1962 (Finals)
Games80
| 1961–62 NBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | October 19, 1961 – March 14, 1962 March 16 – April 5, 1962 (Playoffs) April 7–18, 1962 (Finals) |
| Games | 80 |
| Teams | 9 |
| TV partner | NBC |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Walt Bellamy |
| Picked by | Chicago Packers |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | Boston Celtics |
| Season MVP | Bill Russell (Boston) |
| Top scorer | Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | Boston Celtics |
| Eastern runners-up | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Western champions | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Western runners-up | Detroit Pistons |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Boston Celtics |
| Runners-up | Los Angeles Lakers |
Notable occurrences
- The Chicago Packers entered the league, bringing the number of teams to nine. Originally, there was planned to be a new franchise in Pittsburgh that was to be added alongside them, but the Pittsburgh franchise ended up withdrawing their application to join the NBA on January 18, 1961 due to a disagreement with the Boston Celtics regarding the availability of Bill Sharman to coach the upcoming Pittsburgh franchise.[1]
- The NBA also initially voted to add in the new American Basketball League champions in the Cleveland Pipers into the NBA, with the Pipers' addition being a merger between them and the runner-up Kansas City Steers ABL franchise (with them essentially adding the best players from both teams onto the Pipers once they entered the NBA). However, financial complications from team owner (and future New York Yankees team owner) George Steinbrenner's end would help cause the NBA to renege on their decision to add the Pipers into the NBA, which later caused the Pipers to fold operations as a franchise soon afterward (as well as became the final breaking point on Maurice Podoloff's end for his eventual resignation as the NBA's president).[2]
- The NBA schedule was expanded for the third consecutive season. This time it went from 79 games per team, to 80.
- The Philadelphia Warriors played their final season before their transcontinental relocation to San Francisco for the following season. The NBA would return to Philadelphia in 1963.
- The 1962 NBA All-Star Game was played in St. Louis, Missouri, with the West beating the East 150–130. Local favorite Bob Pettit won the game's MVP award.
- In a game played in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wilt Chamberlain made history by scoring 100 points in the Philadelphia Warriors 169–147 win over the New York Knicks. It still stands as one of the greatest individual feats in sports history. Chamberlain would go on to average 50.4 points per game that season, another record.[3]
- This year witnessed the first occurrence of a player averaging a triple-double throughout an entire season when Oscar Robertson averaged 30.8 points, 11.4 assists, and 12.5 rebounds per game.[3]
- This was the last season of the NBA on NBC, the network would regain NBA coverage starting in the 1990–91 season.
| Offseason | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | 1960–61 coach | 1961–62 coach |
| New York Knicks | Carl Braun | Eddie Donovan |
| Philadelphia Warriors | Neil Johnston | Frank McGuire |
| In-season | ||
| Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach |
| St. Louis Hawks | Paul Seymour | Andrew Levane Bob Pettit |
Final standings
Eastern Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Boston Celtics | 60 | 20 | .750 | – | 23–5 | 26–12 | 11–3 | 26–10 |
| x-Philadelphia Warriors | 49 | 31 | .613 | 11 | 18–11 | 19–19 | 12–1 | 18–18 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 41 | 39 | .513 | 19 | 18–10 | 11–19 | 12–10 | 17–19 |
| New York Knicks | 29 | 51 | .363 | 31 | 19–15 | 2–23 | 8–13 | 11–25 |
Western Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Los Angeles Lakers | 54 | 26 | .675 | – | 26–5 | 18–13 | 10–8 | 33–13 |
| x-Cincinnati Royals | 43 | 37 | .538 | 11 | 18–13 | 14–16 | 11–8 | 29–17 |
| x-Detroit Pistons | 37 | 43 | .463 | 17 | 16–14 | 8–17 | 13–12 | 24–22 |
| St. Louis Hawks | 29 | 51 | .363 | 25 | 19–16 | 7–27 | 3–8 | 16–30 |
| Chicago Packers | 18 | 62 | .225 | 36 | 15-23 | 3-39 | 0–0 | 10–30 |
x – clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Syracuse | 2 | E2 | Philadelphia | 3 | ||||||||
| E2 | Philadelphia | 3 | E1 | Boston* | 4 | ||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles* | 3 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles* | 4 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Detroit | 3 | W3 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||
| W2 | Cincinnati | 1 | |||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
- Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals
Statistics leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors | 4,029 |
| Rebounds | Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors | 2,052 |
| Assists | Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals | 899 |
| FG% | Walt Bellamy | Chicago Packers | .519 |
| FT% | Dolph Schayes | Syracuse Nationals | .899 |
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.
NBA awards
- Most Valuable Player: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
- Rookie of the Year: Walt Bellamy, Chicago Packers
- All-NBA First Team:
- F – Elgin Baylor, Los Angeles Lakers
- F – Bob Pettit, St. Louis Hawks
- C – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors
- G – Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals
- G – Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers
- All-NBA Second Team:
- F – Tom Heinsohn, Boston Celtics
- F – Jack Twyman, Cincinnati Royals
- C – Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
- G – Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
- G – Richie Guerin, New York Knicks
Individual statistics
The 1961–62 season is notable for having some of the most impressive individual season statistics ever. A number of records were set this season, some of which still stand to this day. Below is a table showcasing some of the most significant individual per game statistics of the season.
| Player | Team | GP | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia | 80 | 48.5 | 50.4 | 25.7 | 2.4 |
| Bill Russell | Boston | 76 | 45.2 | 18.9 | 23.6 | 4.5 |
| Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati | 79 | 44.3 | 30.8 | 12.5 | 11.4 |
| Elgin Baylor | Los Angeles | 44 | 44.4 | 38.3 | 18.6 | 4.6 |
| Bob Pettit | St Louis | 78 | 42.1 | 31.1 | 18.7 | 3.7 |
| Jerry West | Los Angeles | 75 | 41.2 | 30.8 | 7.9 | 5.4 |
| Richie Guerin | New York | 78 | 42.9 | 29.5 | 6.4 | 6.9 |
| Walt Bellamy | Chicago | 79 | 42.3 | 31.6 | 19.0 | 2.7 |
| Cliff Hagan | St Louis | 77 | 36.2 | 22.9 | 8.2 | 4.8 |
| Willie Naulls | New York | 75 | 39.7 | 25.0 | 11.6 | 2.6 |
| Red Kerr | Syracuse | 80 | 34.6 | 16.3 | 14.7 | 3.0 |
When comparing these players to the 2014–15 NBA league leaders, 7 of these players would win the scoring title, 5 would win the rebounding title and 1 would win the assist title.[4]