1978 in basketball

The following are the basketball events of the year 1978 throughout the world.

National team competitions

Men's Division 1978 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Quezon City and Manila:  Yugoslavia (win world title via OT, 82–81)  Soviet Union  Brazil 1978 FIBA Oceania Championship in New Zealand:  Australia (wins Best-of-3 series, 2–1)  New Zealand AfroBasket 1978 in Dakar:  Senegal (Win African title, 103–72)  Ivory Coast  Egypt

Women's Division 1978 FIBA Asia Women's Cup in Kuala Lumpur:  South Korea  China  Japan

Youth Division

• 1978 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Italy:

   Soviet Union (Win European title, 104–100)

   Spain

   Yugoslavia

Professional club seasons

Country	League	Champion	Runner-up	Result	Playoff format
United States	1977–78 NBA season	Washington Bullets	Seattle SuperSonics	4–3	Best-of-7 series

Player awards (NBA)

Regular Season MVP

Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers

NBA Finals MVP

Wes Unseld, Washington Wizards

• CSP Limoges were promoted to the first division of the French championship (future Pro A)

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

• Class of 1978:^[1]
  • Paul Arizin
  • Joe Fulks
  • Cliff Hagan
  • Jim Pollard

Births

• February 14 - Richard Hamilton, NBA player
• May 13 - Mike Bibby, NBA player
• June 19 — Dirk Nowitzki, NBA player
• August 23 — Kobe Bryant, NBA player (died 2020)
• September 9 - Shane Battier, NBA player
• December 2 - Jason Collins, NBA player

Deaths

• May 8 — Chuck Hyatt, 70, American Hall of Fame college player (Pittsburgh).
• June 6 — Paul Lambert, 43, American college coach (Pittsburg State, Hardin–Simmons, Southern Illinois).^[2]
• June 30 — Bob Matheny, 49, All-American college player (California)^[3]
• August 15 — Mike Novak, 63, American NBA, BAA and NBL player.
• September 11 — Omar Browning, 66, American AAU player and coach of the 1948 Olympic champions.
• September 24 — Bob Kramer, 56, American NBL player (Oshkosh All-Stars, Youngstown Bears).
• September 28 — Neil Johnston, 49, American Hall of Fame player (Philadelphia Warriors).
• November 11 — Bennie Borgmann, 77, American Hall of Fame player (Original Celtics).

See also

• 1978 in sports

References

1. "Hall of Famers". Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 Oct 2014.
2. "Lambert dies in motel fire". Chicago Tribune. June 7, 1978. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
3. "Rites set for Matheny". Tucson Citizen. March 25, 1955. p. 38. Retrieved May 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.