The 1978–79 NBA season was the 33rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Seattle SuperSonics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, a rematch of the previous year's Finals, but with the opposite result.
* The Buffalo Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego, California and became the San Diego Clippers, shifting from the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference to the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
* The Detroit Pistons changed conferences, moving from the Midwest Division of the Western Conference to the Central Division of the Eastern Conference, where they remain today.
* The Washington Bullets shifted from the Central Division to the Atlantic Division. The franchise also won its last division title until the 2016-17 season.
* The NBA adopted a three-official system similar to the one used in college basketball (but not used in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament until 1979) on a one-year trial basis. The experiment was scrapped for the 1979–80 season, but returned permanently in 1988–89.
* The 1979 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, with the West defeating the East 134–129 in overtime. David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets won the game's MVP award.
* The Jazz played their final season in New Orleans, Louisiana, before moving to Salt Lake City. It would be 23 years before New Orleans received another NBA franchise.
* The Los Angeles Lakers played their final season under the ownership of Jack Kent Cooke.
| Points per Game | Assists per Game | Rebounds per Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Season | League | Berth | Champ | Place | Logo | Team | Team | W | L | Conf | G | Age | Pts | PPG | Opp | ±PPG | AST | Opp | ±A/G | REB | Opp | ±R/G | Elig |
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 5 | 3 |  | Atlanta | atlanta-hawks | 46 | 36 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 24.6 | 8950 | 109.1 | 107.1 | 2.1 | 23.6 | 23.5 | 0.1 | 45.4 | 44.1 | 1.3 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 5 |  | Boston | boston-celtics | 29 | 53 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 27.5 | 8874 | 108.2 | 113.3 | -5.0 | 24.3 | 26.5 | -2.1 | 42.9 | 43.6 | -0.7 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 5 |  | Chicago | chicago-bulls | 31 | 51 | Western Conference | 82 | 26.2 | 8588 | 104.7 | 108.7 | -4.0 | 26.5 | 26.2 | 0.3 | 46.0 | 42.3 | 3.6 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 4 |  | Cleveland | cleveland-cavaliers | 30 | 52 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 27.3 | 8732 | 106.5 | 110.2 | -3.7 | 21.9 | 25.1 | -3.2 | 42.5 | 45.2 | -2.7 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 4 | 2 |  | Denver | denver-nuggets | 47 | 35 | Western Conference | 82 | 26.2 | 9080 | 110.7 | 109.5 | 1.3 | 26.4 | 26.5 | -0.1 | 47.6 | 44.5 | 3.1 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 5 |  | Detroit | detroit-pistons | 30 | 52 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 25.4 | 9023 | 110.0 | 112.7 | -2.7 | 25.5 | 26.8 | -1.3 | 44.9 | 47.9 | -3.0 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 6 |  | Golden State | golden-state-warriors | 38 | 44 | Western Conference | 82 | 25.2 | 8621 | 105.1 | 104.8 | 0.4 | 25.2 | 25.5 | -0.4 | 44.9 | 44.9 | 0.0 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 4 | 2 |  | Houston | houston-rockets | 47 | 35 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 27.6 | 9297 | 113.4 | 112.4 | 1.0 | 28.1 | 27.8 | 0.3 | 45.9 | 42.7 | 3.2 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 3 |  | Indiana | indiana-pacers | 38 | 44 | Western Conference | 82 | 25.0 | 8909 | 108.6 | 110.2 | -1.6 | 24.5 | 26.6 | -2.1 | 45.8 | 47.6 | -1.8 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 2 | 1 |  | Kansas City | sacramento-kings | 48 | 34 | Western Conference | 82 | 25.7 | 9274 | 113.1 | 110.2 | 2.9 | 27.3 | 21.7 | 5.6 | 43.8 | 45.2 | -1.3 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 5 | 3 |  | LA Lakers | los-angeles-lakers | 47 | 35 | Western Conference | 82 | 27.1 | 9260 | 112.9 | 109.9 | 3.1 | 28.5 | 27.2 | 1.3 | 42.8 | 46.0 | -3.3 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 4 |  | Milwaukee | milwaukee-bucks | 38 | 44 | Western Conference | 82 | 24.8 | 9353 | 114.1 | 111.8 | 2.2 | 31.2 | 28.1 | 3.2 | 43.0 | 44.7 | -1.7 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 6 | 3 |  | New Jersey | brooklyn-nets | 37 | 45 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 25.7 | 8832 | 107.7 | 111.9 | -4.2 | 23.3 | 26.6 | -3.4 | 44.0 | 47.6 | -3.5 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 6 |  | New Orleans | utah-jazz | 26 | 56 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 26.7 | 8882 | 108.3 | 114.6 | -6.2 | 25.4 | 27.6 | -2.3 | 47.7 | 50.6 | -2.9 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 4 |  | New York | new-york-knicks | 31 | 51 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 25.7 | 8830 | 107.7 | 111.1 | -3.4 | 25.9 | 25.8 | 0.1 | 44.3 | 45.3 | -1.0 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 3 | 2 |  | Philadelphia | philadelphia-76ers | 47 | 35 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 26.4 | 8983 | 109.5 | 107.7 | 1.9 | 27.5 | 25.5 | 1.9 | 47.1 | 45.8 | 1.3 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 3 | 2 |  | Phoenix | phoenix-suns | 50 | 32 | Western Conference | 82 | 25.5 | 9459 | 115.4 | 111.7 | 3.7 | 30.5 | 25.5 | 5.0 | 42.2 | 44.7 | -2.4 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 6 | 4 |  | Portland | portland-trail-blazers | 45 | 37 | Western Conference | 82 | 25.6 | 8888 | 108.4 | 107.1 | 1.3 | 23.7 | 23.9 | -0.2 | 45.0 | 41.8 | 3.2 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 2 | 1 |  | San Antonio | san-antonio-spurs | 48 | 34 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 27.3 | 9780 | 119.3 | 114.1 | 5.2 | 28.2 | 27.2 | 1.0 | 45.3 | 46.7 | -1.4 | ||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 5 |  | San Diego | los-angeles-clippers | 43 | 39 | Western Conference | 82 | 27.3 | 9278 | 113.1 | 114.9 | -1.8 | 18.8 | 23.1 | -4.4 | 46.4 | 44.1 | 2.3 | |||
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 1 | 1 | 1 |  | Seattle | oklahoma-city-thunder | 52 | 30 | Western Conference | 82 | 26.8 | 8740 | 106.6 | 103.9 | 2.7 | 24.1 | 23.3 | 0.8 | 47.6 | 44.0 | 3.6 | |
| 1979 | 1978-79 | NBA | 1 | -1 | 1 |  | Washington | washington-wizards | 54 | 28 | Eastern Conference | 82 | 28.2 | 9423 | 114.9 | 109.9 | 5.0 | 26.5 | 26.6 | -0.1 | 49.7 | 45.4 | 4.4 | |
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I sincerely appreciate the research work, and the information being shared. It is important and interesting history.