2009–10 NBA Season | |
---|---|
League | National Basketball Association |
Sport | Basketball |
Duration | October 27, 2009 – April 14, 2010 April 17 – May 29, 2010 (Playoffs) June 3 – 17, 2010 (Finals) |
Number of games | 82 |
Number of teams | 30 |
TV partner(s) | ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Blake Griffin (did not play regular season games until the 2010–11 season) |
Picked by | Los Angeles Clippers |
Regular season | |
Top seed | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Season MVP | LeBron James (Cleveland) |
Top scorer | Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) |
Playoffs | |
Eastern champions | Boston Celtics |
Eastern runners-up | Orlando Magic |
Western champions | Los Angeles Lakers |
Western runners-up | Phoenix Suns |
Finals | |
Champions | Los Angeles Lakers |
Runners-up | Boston Celtics |
Finals MVP | Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers) |
The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 1,230-game regular season (82 games for each of the 30 teams) began on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, and ended on Wednesday, April 14, 2010.
The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, and Blake Griffin was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. The Dallas Mavericks hosted the 59th Annual All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on February 14, 2010.
For the second time in NBA history, all eight Western Conference playoff teams won at least 50 games, and only 7 wins separated the Western Conference #1 seed from #8 seed. Both of these events first occurred in 2008.
Cleveland's league-leading 61 wins was the lowest win total to lead the league since the Indiana Pacers won 61 games in 2003–04.
The New Jersey Nets became the fifth team in NBA history to lose 70 games in a season.
June
July
September
October
November
December
January
February
NBA All-Star Break
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was played at Cowboys Stadium, in Texas, on February 14, 2010, with the East winning in a closely contested game, 141–139, and the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade being named the MVP. The game had record-breaking attendance, with 108,713. In the Rookie Challenge game, the Rookies defeated the Sophomores. Tyreke Evans was named the game's MVP. This is the first time the Rookies won the Rookie Challenge since 2002. During the NBA All-Star Weekend, Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest for the third time in his career; Kevin Durant, who also won the inaugural event, won this year's H.O.R.S.E Competition and Boston's Paul Pierce beat rookie Stephen Curry to win the Three-Point Shootout. Steve Nash won the Skills Challenge for the second time in his career. Team Texas, which represented Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, won the Shooting Stars Competition. In a miscellaneous note, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic set a Guinness World Record for the longest basketball shot while sitting down, at 52 ft 6 in, during Jam Session.