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| Dates | April 23–May 5 | |||||||||
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| MVP | Jerry West (Los Angeles Lakers) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Celtics: John Havlicek (1984) Bailey Howell (1997) Sam Jones (1984) Don Nelson (2012, coach) Bill Russell (1975) Lakers: Elgin Baylor (1977) Wilt Chamberlain (1979) Jerry West (1980) Coaches: Bill Russell (2021) Officials: Mendy Rudolph (2007) Earl Strom (1995) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Celtics defeated Knicks, 4–2 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Lakers defeated Hawks, 4–1 | |||||||||
The 1969 NBA World Championship Series to determine the champion of the 1968–69 NBA season was played between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. The Lakers were heavily favored due to the presence of three formidable stars: Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West. In addition, Boston was an aging team; they made the playoffs as the fourth place team in the Eastern Division, and were not favored to make it to the finals. The Celtics won the championship in seven games – the last championship of the Bill Russell dynasty – and is considered one of the great upsets in NBA history. The Celtics became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 2-0 series deficit to win the championship.
This series is also notable in that West, with an average of nearly 38 points a game, won the Finals Most Valuable Player award, despite being on the losing team. This was the first year a Finals MVP award was given, and it remains the only time in NBA Finals history that the MVP was awarded to a player on the losing team. It also marked the first time in NBA Finals history that a Game 7 was won by the road team.