RetroSeasons
RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.
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National Basketball Association (NBA)
1993-94 NBA Season Leaders
Recap
The 1993–94 NBA season was the 48th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals to win the franchise's first championship.
* The Orlando Magic became the first team to earn the top overall pick in consecutive years in the Lottery Era. They drafted Chris Webber in the 1993 NBA draft, only to trade him to the Golden State Warriors for Penny Hardaway. Webber would win Rookie of the Year that season.
* Just before the start of the season, Michael Jordan shocked the world by announcing his retirement from the NBA following the passing of his father. Jordan would not be back on the court until March 1995.
* The Chicago Bulls played their final season at Chicago Stadium.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers played their final season at Richfield Coliseum.
* The San Antonio Spurs played their first season at the Alamodome.
* The Atlanta Hawks traded Dominique Wilkins to the Los Angeles Clippers for Danny Manning midway through the season. As of 2018, the Hawks became the first and only #1 seed to trade their scoring leader during the regular season.
* The Dallas Mavericks almost became the first team to lose 70 or more games in consecutive seasons. They finished with a dreadful 13–69 record.
* Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a game against the Orlando Magic in April, which led to his retirement from the NBA. Just a few months prior, teammate Bill Laimbeer announced his retirement, citing a lack of desire to play. Their retirements came a season before Grant Hill’s arrival the next season.
* Laker legend Magic Johnson tried his hand at coaching, but the Lakers missed the playoffs for just the fourth time in NBA history (and the first time since 1976) and Johnson refused to come back for the 1994–95 season; both L.A. based teams post a collective mark of 60-104, marking the first time both the Lakers and Clippers missed the playoffs together since the latter team's arrival in Los Angeles in 1984.
* The Houston Rockets tied a record set in 1948 by the Washington Capitols in starting the season with 15 victories; they started the season 22–1 before finishing with a 58–24 record.
* On February 17, David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs recorded the NBA's 4th quadruple-double (34 points, 10 each rebounds, assists, and blocks) in a home game against the Detroit Pistons. This is the last time a quadruple-double was made in an NBA game.
* The 1994 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the East defeating the West 127–118. Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls took home the game's MVP honors.
* On the season's final day, Spurs center David Robinson scored 71 points against the Los Angeles Clippers to capture the scoring title.
* In the wake of the Northridge earthquake, the game between Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers was postponed and rescheduled.
* Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers became just the third member of the 50-40-90 Club by shooting 50% from the field, 42% from three, and 91% from the line for the course of the entire season. Only Larry Bird and Mark Price had achieved this feat at that time; only Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry have achieved it since.
* The Denver Nuggets made NBA Playoff history by becoming the first eight-seed to defeat a one-seed in the first round of a playoff series when they defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 3 games to 2.
* The Indiana Pacers won their first NBA playoff series by sweeping the Orlando Magic, who were making their playoff debut. The Pacers would go on to their first Eastern Conference Finals, eventually losing to the New York Knicks in seven games.
* The New York Knicks came one game away from playing the maximum number of playoff contests. Had the New Jersey Nets captured one more victory over them in the first round, this would have been done as the Knicks played seven-game series in the next three rounds against the Bulls, Pacers, and Rockets. The Boston Celtics would later exceed the mark in 2008.
* This year's NBA Finals would be the last to go seven games until 2005. This was also the only year in which both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals would go to seven games and involve teams from the same city.
* Neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the Boston Celtics made the playoffs, making this the only season in NBA history until 2014 that neither of these teams had qualified.
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I sincerely appreciate the research work, and the information being shared. It is important and interesting history.