1992–93 NBA season

Updated on Nov 30, 2023

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Sport Basketball Picked by Orlando Magic Champion Chicago Bulls Number of teams 27		TV partner(s) NBC, TBS, TNT Top seed Phoenix Suns Period 1992 – 1993 Top draft pick Shaquille O'Neal

League National Basketball Association Duration November 6, 1992 – April 25, 1993 April 29 – June 5, 1993 (Playoffs) June 9 – 20, 1993 (Finals) Season MVP Charles Barkley (Phoenix Suns) Top scorer Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) Similar 1996–97 NBA season, 1997–98 NBA season, 1998–99 NBA season, 1995–96 NBA season, 1987–88 NBA season

The 1992–93 NBA season was the 47th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their third-straight NBA Championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

Notable occurrences

The 1993 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the West defeating the East 135–132 in overtime. Much to delight of the local fans, Karl Malone and John Stockton of the Utah Jazz were named co-MVPs of the game.

The Phoenix Suns played their first season at America West Arena.

The San Antonio Spurs played their final season in the HemisFair Arena.

The Charlotte Hornets became the first of the four late-1980s expansion franchises to win a playoff series on Alonzo Mourning's 20-foot jumper at the buzzer in Game 4 of their first round playoff series against the Boston Celtics.

Michael Jordan scored his 20,000th career point and tied Wilt Chamberlain's record of seven scoring titles.

In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the Suns defeated the Bulls in triple overtime, 129–121. This marked the second time a Finals game lasted three overtimes, along with Game 5 of the 1976 Finals, which also involved the Suns. Coincidentally, in the 1976 game, Paul Westphal played for the Suns, and in the 1993 game, he coached the Suns.

Michael Jordan scored 40 or more points in 4 consecutive games of the NBA Finals, setting a record, and averaged an NBA Finals record 41.0 points per game for the series.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals to become the first team in almost 30 years to win three consecutive championships.

New Jersey Nets guard Dražen Petrović was killed in an automobile accident in Munich, Germany on June 7. Almost two months later, on July 27, Boston Celtics guard Reggie Lewis died of a heart attack during practice. Both were later honored by their respective teams by retiring their numbers, and Petrovic would be eventually inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Dallas Mavericks became the third team to lose 70 games in a season, after the 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers and the 1986–87 Los Angeles Clippers, they finished 11–71. They would later be joined by the 1997–98 Denver Nuggets, the 2009–10 New Jersey Nets and the 2015-16 Philadelphia 76ers.

During the regular season, three backboards were broken. Two were done by Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal, once against Phoenix where he dunked the ball so hard the entire goal collapsed and once against New Jersey when he pulled the entire backboard off of the goal. The other was by New Jersey's Chris Morris, who dunked with such force during a game against Chicago that the backboard glass shattered. This led the league to provide stronger shatterproof backboards. However, every team is still required to have a spare backboard in their home arenas just in case.

References

1992–93 NBA season Wikipedia

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