1979 Kansas City Kings: A Surprise Division Champion
The 1979 Kansas City Kings entered the year with seemingly little hope. They had won just 31 games in 1978 and not enjoyed any consistent success since the franchise was in Cincinnati with Oscar Robertson in the 1960s. But in ’79, a young Kings lineup, coached by Cotton Fitzsimmons, jumped up and took the NBA by surprise with a run to the Midwest Division title.
A YOUNG CORE COMES TOGETHER
Otis Birdsong, a 23-year-old two-guard, was the leading scorer, pouring in 22ppg. He was joined in the backcourt by dynamic point guard Phil Ford, a rookie out of North Carolina. Ford averaged 16 points/9 assists per game and won Rookie of the Year honors.
Scott Wedman added punch from the forward position, hitting for 18 points/5 rebounds a night. Bill Robinzine added muscle down low, averaging a 13/8 line. Sam Lacey, the veteran of the core rotation group at age 30, was a solid all-around player, posting 11 points/9 rebounds/5 assists a game.
Kansas City also had depth. Darnell Hillman and Tom Burleson added to the depth up front, each grabbing five boards a night. The Kings were a complete team, their core talent was mostly in their 20s, and it came together this season.
EARLY SIGNS
A middling 7-7 start wasn’t going to catch anyone’s attention, but it was an improvement on where the Kings had been. On November 11, they paid a visit to Denver, who had won the Midwest Division a year earlier. Wedman had a huge night, pouring in 35 points. Kansas City jumped out to a twelve-point lead after a quarter and closed out a nice 117-113 road win.
Winning at Denver started a four-game winning streak. Later in December, their record now 17-10, Kansas City hosted Seattle. The SuperSonics (today’s Oklahoma City Thunder) had reached the NBA Finals in 1978 and were bound for a championship this season. With 55 percent shooting from a balanced lineup, K.C. blew the game open in the third quarter and won 114-95.
While losing four of six to end the calendar year slowed the momentum, Kansas City’s progress was obvious. They were 20-14, had a four-game lead on Denver in the Midwest and were within two games of the best record in the Western Conference.
HOLDING STEADY
The Kings and Nuggets played each other in a congested home-and-home sequence on back-to-back nights, each team winning on the road. Kansas City nudged their record to 23-16 and then took advantage of a manageable schedule stretch to rip off five straight wins. Although the end of months, for whatever reason, continued to be a struggle—January ended the same as December, with four losses in six games.
Even so, Kansas City was 30-20, a steady 3 ½ games up in the Midwest.
FROM CRUISING TO CRISIS
The Kings soared in February, tearing off ten wins in twelve games, highlighted by sweeping a pair from Eastern Conference contender Philadelphia. Kansas City’s division lead stretched to seven games.
Then the roller coaster turned downward. A couple of losses were normal, given how hot the Kings had been. Then a crushing stretch of three straight overtime games all ended in defeats. A clutch win over the defending champion Washington Bullets stopped the bleeding, but only for the short-term. Kansas City lost seven of their next nine games.
The division lead melted away. With five games to play, the Kings were 43-34. They were going to make the playoffs—no small achievement given what they had done in recent years. But they were now a half-game back of the Nuggets, who were 43-33.
Moreover, the division crown carried more significance in the NBA world of 1979. Only six teams per conference qualified for the playoffs. That meant the teams who won the division got a bye into the conference semifinals. The other teams had to play a best-of-three “mini-series” in the first round.
Avoiding the lightning round and getting into the conference semis was at stake over what would be an intense final week.
RACE TO THE FINISH
Kansas City got a couple of wins against lesser teams, while Denver lost to Washington. The Kings and Nuggets were even in the loss column, and Kansas City had the head-to-head tiebreaker if it came down to that.
A matchup with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Los Angeles Lakers, who were bound for the playoffs, was a key test in the first week of April. Lacey scored 19 points and passed for ten assists. Ford and Birdsong each hit 20-plus, while Robinzine attacked the glass with 15 boards. In a sizzling game, Kansas City won in overtime, 115-111.
The Kings and Nuggets answered each other with wins over the next couple days and entered the final day of the regular season at 47-34. Kansas City hosted a bad Indiana Pacers team. Birdsong met the moment with 32 points/11 rebounds, Wedman hit for 29, and Lacey posted a vintage 14/13/8 line. Kansas City won 107-101 and captured the Midwest Division.
A QUICK END AGAINST PHOENIX
The Kings would play a superior team in the conference semifinals—the Phoenix Suns had won 50 games, even as they finished behind Seattle in the Pacific Division. Kansas City would get homecourt—the format allowed a higher-seeded division winner to retain that advantage regardless of record—but they were a decided underdog.
Phoenix had an explosive lineup, with Paul Westphal and Walter Davis each 24ppg scorers. Alvan Adams and Truck Robinson made for a physical front line. The Suns came into K.C. and grabbed Game 1, 102-99, shifting homecourt advantage.
Kansas City responded with a smothering defensive effort in Game 2, forcing 28 turnovers and winning 111-91. But that was the last hurrah. Phoenix’s superiority took hold and the Kings lost the next three games by a combined 50 points.
THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING GOOD
Losing decisively in the playoffs is always a disappointment, but that can’t overshadow just how far Kansas City came to reach that point to begin with. Fitzsimmons was named Coach of the Year. And 1979 started a nice little three-year run of success, one that included a trip to the conference finals in 1981.