From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2007–08 NBA season was the 62nd season of
the National Basketball
Association. The 1,230-game regular season (82 games for each
of the 30 teams) began on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, and ended on
Wednesday, April 16, 2008. The 2008 NBA Playoffs started on
Saturday, April 19, 2008 and ran until Tuesday, June 17 when the Boston Celtics
defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 to win the
2008 NBA
Finals, four games to two. The 2007 NBA Draft was held on June 28, 2007
and Greg Oden was
selected first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. However,
he missed the entire season due to knee surgery.[1]
This season was notable for being one of the most competitive
Western Conference playoff races in NBA history. Up until April 4,
2008, not a single Western Conference team had secured a playoff
spot, and the 8th-seeded team was a mere 6.5 games behind the 1st
seed. Additionally, the quality of the teams ensured that the Golden
State Warriors finished with the highest winning percentage of
any non-playoff team in NBA history since the switch to the
eight-team playoff format, beating out the 2000-2001 Houston
Rockets. The all-time record is held by the 1971-1972 Phoenix Suns
(49-33), which was during the four-team playoff era.
Notable
occurrences
- The 2008 NBA All-Star Game was
played at the New Orleans Arena, home of the New Orleans
Hornets, on February 17, 2008 with the East winning 134-128 and
Cleveland's LeBron James being named the MVP. Every
single All-Star Game participant would end up in the NBA playoffs,
with the exception of Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.
- The Hornets returned to New Orleans,
Louisiana full-time, after splitting home games during the
previous two seasons with New Orleans and Oklahoma City due to damage caused by Hurricane
Katrina.
- The NBA extended its six-year television contract with Time Warner's TNT and The Walt Disney Company's ABC and ESPN through 2016.
- Sacramento
Kings small forward Ron Artest and Golden
State Warriors shooting guard Stephen Jackson were suspended for the
first seven games of the season.[2]
- The Orlando
Magic got approvals in the last week of July for a new arena, which is
expected to be ready for the 2010–11 season.[3]
- After spending 12 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett was
traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for seven
different players, the largest trade in NBA history for one
player.
- On November 2, 2007, the Seattle SuperSonics made their
plans to move to Oklahoma City official.[4]
- On December 23, 2007, Kobe Bryant became the youngest player to
score 20,000 points at age 29 years, 122 days old, surpassing Wilt
Chamberlain's previous record of 29 years, 134 days old.[5]
- On December 24, 2007, the Chicago Bulls fired head coach Scott Skiles after a
9–16 start. Jim Boylan
was named the interim head coach for the remaining games in the
season three days later.[6]
- On January 11, 2008, NBA commissioner David Stern granted the Miami Heat a
51.9-second replay on their overtime game on December 19, 2007
versus the Atlanta
Hawks because the official scorer ruled incorrectly that Shaquille
O'Neal was fouled out, when he was on his fifth foul. The Hawks
were fined $50,000 for their "gross negligence". The replay was
held on March 8, 2008, before the teams' next meeting. This was the
first replay since December 1982 when then-NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien
granted a replay on a double overtime game between the San Antonio
Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers.[7] This
replay was continued despite O'Neal having been traded to the Phoenix Suns.[8] The
Hawks went on to win the replay.
- February 2008 was marked by several major trades by some the
league's top teams. Some of the more notable trades include:
- Pau Gasol going from
the Memphis
Grizzlies to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron
Mckie, draft rights to his brother Marc Gasol, and two first-round draft picks
in 2008 and 2010.[9]
- Shaquille O'Neal going from the Miami
Heat to the Phoenix Suns in return for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.[10]
- Mike Bibby going
from the Sacramento Kings to the Atlanta Hawks in
exchange for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Shelden
Williams, Lorenzen Wright, and a second-round 2008 draft
pick.[11]
- Jason Kidd, along
with Malik Allen and
Antoine Wright
going from the New Jersey Nets to the Dallas
Mavericks in exchange for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, retired Keith Van Horn,
two first-round draft picks and three million dollars.[12]
- Kurt Thomas going from the Seattle
SuperSonics to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson
and a 2009 first-round draft pick. Brent Barry was immediately
waived by the Sonics, and later re-signed by the Spurs.[13]
- A three-team deal between Cleveland, Chicago, and Seattle that saw Ben Wallace and Joe
Smith, a 2009 second-round pick, Sonics forward Wally
Szczerbiak and guard Delonte West all go to Cleveland, Cavs
forwards Drew Gooden
and Cedric
Simmons, guards Larry Hughes and Shannon Brown go to Chicago, Cavs
forwards Ira Newble
and Donyell
Marshall, and Bulls forward Adrian Griffin go to Seattle.[14]
- Bonzi Wells and
Mike James going from
the Houston
Rockets to the New Orleans Hornets for point guard Bobby Jackson.[15]
- On February 28, 2008, Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James became
the youngest player to score 10,000 points at age 23 years, 59 days
old, surpassing Kobe
Bryant's previous record of 24 years, 193 days old.[16]
- From January 29, 2008 to March 18, 2008, the Houston Rockets
won 22 consecutive games, notching the
second longest winning streak in NBA history.
- The Boston
Celtics broke the record for the best single-season turnaround
in NBA history
by improving from 24 wins in 2006-07 to 66
wins this season, a total of 42 games.[17] The
previous record of 36 games was held by the 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs, who improved
from 20 to 56 wins.[18][19]
- The Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs for the first time since 1999, ending the league's
longest playoff drought.[20]
- The Golden State Warriors missed the
playoffs despite finishing the regular season with a 48-34
record.
- On April 28, 2008, Pat
Riley announced that he would step down as the Miami Heat head
coach after leading the team to a 15-67 record. Former Heat
assistant coach Erik Spoelstra was announced as his
replacement. Riley remained as team president.[21]
- After losing in the first round of the playoffs, Dallas
Mavericks coach Avery Johnson was fired as head coach.
Former Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was named as Johnson's
replacement.
- Mike
D'Antoni agreed to a four-year, $24 million contract with the
New York
Knicks. The team D'Antoni left, the Phoenix Suns, replaced him
with Terry
Porter.
- The 2008 NBA
Finals featured No. 1 seeds from both conferences for the first
time since 2000. The Boston Celtics, who earned their first
finals appearance since 1987, faced the Los Angeles Lakers,
reviving a classic rivalry not seen since the Lakers beat the
Celtics 4-2 in 1987. This time the Celtics prevailed 4–2 over the
Lakers.
- Flip
Saunders was dismissed as Detroit Pistons head coach, four days
after the Celtics beat the Pistons in the Eastern Conference
Finals.[22]
- On June 17, 2008, after a rough 26-game journey, the Boston
Celtics won their record 17th NBA Championship with a six-game NBA
Finals triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers.
- The NBA
Finals was the first since the 1998 NBA Finals to feature neither Shaquille
O'Neal nor Tim
Duncan.
Final
standings
- x - Clinched playoff berth
- y - Clinched division title
- z - Clinched home court advantage throughout
the playoffs
- (1) - (8) - Playoff seedings
- C - NBA Champions[23]
Statistics
leaders
NBA
awards
Players of
the week
The following players were named the Eastern and Western
Conference Players of the Week.
Players of
the month
The following players were named the Eastern and Western
Conference Players of the Month.
Rookies of
the month
The following players were named the Eastern and Western
Conference Rookies of the Month.
Coaches of
the month
The following coaches were named the Eastern and Western
Conference Coaches of the Month.
References
- ^
Top draft pick Greg Oden to
miss rookie season with Trail Blazers, Sports
Illustrated.
- ^
Jackson, Artest suspended
following court pleas, ESPN.
- ^
Orlando OKs venues; big
hurdle awaits
- ^ Associated Press (2007-11-03). "Sonics tell NBA of intent to
move SuperSonics to Oklahoma City". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3091416. Retrieved
2007-12-27.
- ^
2007-12-23&?nav=playerwidget&type=news#kobe_bryant
"NBA: Kobe youngest to reach 20,000". NBA. 2007-12-23. http://www.nba.com/fantasy/fantasy_playernews.jsp?date=
2007-12-23&?nav=playerwidget&type=news#kobe_bryant. Retrieved
2007-12-24.
- ^
"Sports People: Chicago Bulls
fire coach Scott Skiles". Chicago Tribune. 2007-12-24. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-071224chicagobullsfirecoachscottskiles,0,6113811.story?coll=chi-site-nav. Retrieved
2007-12-25.
- ^
Heat, Hawks to replay final
minute of Dec. 19 game later this year, ESPN.
- ^
NBA Sets Guidelines for
Heat-Hawks Replay, NBA.com
- ^
In dire need of frontcourt
help, Lakers acquire Gasol from Grizzlies, ESPN.
- ^
Suns trade Marion and Banks
for O'Neal to the Heat, NBA.
- ^
"HAWKS: Hawks Acquire Mike
Bibby From Sacramento". http://www.nba.com/hawks/news/Hawks_Acquire_Bibby_021608.html. Retrieved
2008-02-17.
- ^
Mavs acquire Kidd from
Nets, NBA.
- ^
Duncan receives help, Spurs
trade Elson and Barry for Thomas, NBA.
- ^
three-way trade deal for
Chicago, Cleveland, and Seattle, NBA.
- ^
Hornets acquire Wells and
James/Jackson reunited with Adelman, NBA.
- ^
James hits milestone but
Cavaliers fall to Celtics 92-87, ESPN.
- ^
Mark Murphy, C’s can do as they please -
Stars sit, but team still clinches homecourt, Boston Herald,
April 6, 2008.
- ^
No Big Three, but Celts still
get top seed, complete NBA's biggest turnaround, Associated
Press, April 5, 2008.
- ^
Lisa Brooks, Celtics: From Worst To
First, ESPN.com, April 2, 2008.
- ^
Hawks returning to NBA
playoffs for first time in 9 years, Associated
Press, April 14, 2008.
- ^
Riley Steps Down, Spoelstra
Named Head Coach, NBA, April 28, 2008, accessed April
28, 2008.
- ^
Flip Saunders Not To Return As
Pistons’ Coach, NBA, June 3, 2008, accessed June 3,
2008.
- ^
2007-08 Divisional
Standing, NBA, accessed April 26, 2008.
- ^
Kobe Bryant Wins Most Valuable
Player Award, NBA, May 6, 2008, accessed May 6,
2008.
- ^
Kevin Durant Named Rookie of
the Year, NBA, May 1, 2008, accessed May 1,
2008.
- ^
Kevin Garnett Wins Kia
Defensive Player of the Year, NBA, April 22, 2008, accessed April
22, 2008.
- ^
Ginobili Wins 2007-08 Sixth
Man of the Year Award Presented by Kia Motors, NBA,
April 21, 2008, accessed April 21, 2008.
- ^
Hedo Turkoglu Wins Most
Improved Player Award, NBA, April 28, 2008, accessed
April 28, 2008.
- ^
Byron Scott wins 2007-08 NBA
Coach of the Year award, NBA, April 29, 2008, accessed
April 29, 2008.
- ^
Boston’s Danny Ainge Named
2007-08 NBA Executive of the Year, NBA, May 14, 2008,
accessed May 14, 2008.
- ^
Suns’ Hill Wins 2007-08 NBA
Sportsmanship Award, NBA, April 25, 2008, accessed
April 25, 2008.
- ^ a
b
c
MVP Kobe Bryant highlights
All-NBA First team, NBA, May 8, 2008, accessed May 8,
2008.
- ^ a
b
Kobe, Garnett Headline
All-Defensive Team, NBA, May 12, 2008, accessed May
12, 2008.
- ^ a
b
Durant, Horford Headline
T-Mobile All-Rookie Team, NBA, May 13, 2008, accessed
May 13, 2008.
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