Girish Mahajan (Editor)

1961–62 NBA season

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Sport
  
Basketball

Eastern champions
  
Boston Celtics

Western champions
  
Los Angeles Lakers

Champion
  
Boston Celtics

Start date
  
1961

TV partner(s)
  
NBC

Eastern runners-up
  
Philadelphia Warriors

Number of games
  
80

Number of teams
  
9

Finals champion
  
Boston Celtics

League
  
National Basketball Association

Season MVP
  
Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)

Top scorer
  
Wilt Chamberlain (Golden State Warriors)

The 1961–62 NBA season was the 16th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 4th straight NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

Contents

Notable occurrences

  • The Chicago Packers entered the league, bringing the number of teams to nine.
  • 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 wins 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.
  • This year witnessed the only 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.
  • This was the last season of the NBA on NBC; the network would regain NBA coverage starting in the 1990–91 season.

    • Western Division


    x – clinched playoff spot

    Statistics leaders

    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

    • A Season for the Ages

    The 1961–62 season was arguably the greatest ever, in terms of individual player statistics. Many of the statistics recorded in that season would easily win the league leader award in today's league. Below is a table showcasing some of the most impressive individual per game statistics of the season.

    Just of these players, compared 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.

    References

    1961–62 NBA season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA