National Basketball Association (NBA)

1991-92 NBA Season Overview

National Basketball Association (NBA)

1991-92 NBA Season Overview

Leagues / Basketball / NBA / 1992 / Season Overview

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. * 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 set the record for largest margin of victory in league history. * 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 game at the Delta Center. * 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). * 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. * 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. * All NBA teams sported patches on their warmups commemorating basketball's centennial anniversary.

1992 NBA Champions

Chicago Bulls

defeated Portland Trail Blazers

Commissioner David Stern

Union Director Charles Grantham

Players' President Isiah Thomas

1992 NBA Draft

Pick Player Team

1 Shaquille ONeal Magic

2 Alonzo Mourning Hornets

3 Christian Laettner Timberwolves

4 Jimmy Jackson Mavericks

5 LaPhonso Ellis Nuggets

View Entire 1992 NBA Draft

1 Comment

Davan S. Mani says:

April 17, 2020 at 11:36 pm

what a year. the competitiveness of the ABL really brought the NBA out of its duldrums.

Reply

1992 NBA Draft

Related Articles

Subscribe to our monthly Sports History Newsletter

1 Comment

LEAVE A COMMENT Cancel reply