2014–15 NBA season
October 28, 2014 – April 15, 2015
April 18, 2015 – May 27, 2015 (Playoffs)
June 4, 2015 – June 16, 2015 (Finals)
82
30
Stephen Curry (Golden State)
Cleveland Cavaliers
Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors
Cleveland Cavaliers
Andre Iguodala (Golden State)
On June 10, 2014, signed a five-year, $25 million deal as the head coach of the New York Knicks, instead of playing one more season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. During his eighteen seasons in the league as a player, he won five NBA championships, all with the Los Angeles Lakers (2000–2002 and 2009–2010).[1]
Derek Fisher
On June 15, 2014, announced his retirement immediately following the Miami Heat's loss in Game 5 of the 2014 NBA Finals. He was 35, and had played for thirteen seasons. He won back-to-back NBA championships with the Heat (2012–2013)[2]
Shane Battier
On September 9, 2014, announced his retirement after 17 years of playing; the last team he played for was the Detroit Pistons, and he won a championship with them in 2004 as well as a Finals MVP that same year.
Chauncey Billups
On February 26, 2015, officially announced his retirement after 14 seasons from NBA with one championship ring with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.[3]
Richard Hamilton
On March 21, 2015, officially announced his retirement after 18 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. Nash was contracted by the Lakers, but was sidelined by season-ending injuries during pre-season.[4]
Steve Nash
Preseason[edit]
The preseason began on October 4, 2014 and ended on October 24, 2014.
z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
y – Clinched division title
x – Clinched playoff spot
* – Division champion
returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers after four years with the Miami Heat. He had controversially announced his departure from Cleveland in a nationally televised special on July 8, 2010.
LeBron James
The Charlotte Bobcats were renamed the on May 20, 2014.[91] The re-established Hornets retained the 10-year history of the Bobcats, as well as regained the original Charlotte Hornets records from the 1988–89 NBA season through the 2001–02 NBA season. The New Orleans Pelicans retained the history and records that existed under the New Orleans Hornets name from the 2002–03 NBA season through the 2012–13 NBA season including the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets of the 2005–06 NBA season and 2006–07 NBA season.
Charlotte Hornets
became the third female official in NBA history, joining Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner who both joined in the 1997–98 season.
Lauren Holtkamp
The won the #1 pick in the NBA draft for the second year in a row, as well as the third time in four years and the sixth time in franchise history. It tied with the Chicago Bulls in 2008 for the lowest percentage possible in the modern-day draft lottery, as well as marking the second time a team got the #1 draft pick two years in a row. Their selection was Andrew Wiggins, the second straight Canadian player to be selected as the #1 pick.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The and the Minnesota Timberwolves played at the Mexico City Arena on November 12, while the New York Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks played at The O2 Arena in London on January 15. During the preseason the Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks played at the Bell Centre in Montreal on October 24, and the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings played at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on October 5.
Houston Rockets
The and Memphis Grizzlies celebrated their 20th anniversaries as franchises in the NBA, although the latter was originally known as the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Toronto Raptors
Both top selections Andrew Wiggins and were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love on August 23, the soonest date allowed, with Wiggins having signed a rookie contract 30 days earlier. The trade of Wiggins also marked the second time since the NBA-ABA merger that a #1 draft pick was traded to another team without playing for his drafting team.
Anthony Bennett
The made history by hiring Becky Hammon as the first full-time female assistant coach in any of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues. Hammon, a guard for the WNBA's San Antonio Stars, joined the Spurs coaching staff upon her retirement at the conclusion of the 2014 WNBA season.
San Antonio Spurs
In September, co-owner Bruce Levenson sold his share of the Hawks after self-reporting a 2012 e-mail he received that was considered inappropriate and racist. Around that same time, general manager Danny Ferry's remark that player Luol Deng "had a bit of African in him" was leaked, resulting in Ferry taking an indefinite leave of absence and having coach Mike Budenholzer taking on the job until his potential return.
Atlanta Hawks
On September 29, the became the first team to have two sets of brothers on the same team, with Goran Dragić's younger brother Zoran signing a two-year deal and both twin brothers Markieff and Marcus Morris getting four-year contract extensions. All four played in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on November 15, and on January 2, 2015 they played together at the same time late in the fourth quarter in a 112–96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Phoenix Suns
On October 6, the NBA announced a new 9-year TV deal with and TNT worth $24 billion. Starting in the 2015–16 NBA season, the NBA's value increased from $930 million to $2.6 billion per year, which would also increase each team's salary cap from $63 million to around $89 million. In addition, the NBA also announced that it will host an end-of-season award show on TNT.
ESPN
On October 19, the and the Boston Celtics played a preseason game that consisted of four 11-minute quarters, instead of the regular 12-minute quarters; it decreased the overall amount of playing time to around two hours. Boston won the game 95–90.
Brooklyn Nets
The NBA owners vote 17–13 to reform the lottery odds to reduce the chances of the worst teams in the league winning the lottery. However, the proposal failed as a 23-vote super-majority was required.
[97]
The NBA debuted a replay center in on October 28, 2014.
Secaucus, New Jersey
The league experimented with on-court . The New York Knicks (Chase), Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors (Samsung Electronics), and Philadelphia 76ers (PartyPoker.com), removed their sponsor and replaced it with the website and/or Twitter handle of the team. The Indiana Pacers and the Toronto Raptors retain marquee sponsorship with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and with Bank of Montreal. Meanwhile, additional teams join in the experimentation: the Houston Rockets court at the Toyota Center was sponsored by ZTE to promote smartphones;[98][99] the Orlando Magic court at Amway Center was sponsored by FanDuel;[100] the Brooklyn Nets court at Barclays Center was sponsored by AirFastTickets, a ticketing company based in the United Kingdom; the Charlotte Hornets court at the Time Warner Cable Arena was sponsored by Novant Health; and the Utah Jazz court at the EnergySolutions Arena was sponsored by United Fuel Supply, an oil company based in Salt Lake City and established in 2011.[101] The Los Angeles Clippers court at the Staples Center adopted American Airlines as its sponsor. The Washington Wizards joined in on the experimentation as well, with GEICO (which is based in nearby Chevy Chase, Maryland) as the team's marquee sponsor in the Verizon Center. The Minnesota Timberwolves court at the Target Center added USBank; the Phoenix Suns court at the U.S. Airways Center added Annexus, a retirement company; and the New Orleans Pelicans court at the Smoothie King Center added Ochsner Health System.
advertising
On November 1, 2014 surpassed 20,000 career points, becoming the 40th player in NBA history to do so. He reached the milestone in the 1st quarter of a 96–93 home win against the Charlotte Hornets.
Carmelo Anthony
On November 11, surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon as the highest-scoring player born outside the United States and the 9th all-time, as the Mavericks came from behind 24 points down to beat Sacramento 106–98 for their 21st straight regular-season win at home against the Kings. Nowitzki hit a jumper from just inside the three-point line early in the fourth quarter to pass Olajuwon, finishing the night at 26,953 career points.[102]
Dirk Nowitzki
On November 12, surpassed John Havlicek and became the all-time leader for missed field goal attempts in the league. His career-breaking record 13,418th missed shot came at 6:22 in the fourth quarter on a 14-foot fadeaway in a 107–102 loss on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies.[103]
Kobe Bryant
On November 13, the led the Philadelphia 76ers by 44 points, tying for the 2nd-largest margin at halftime. (Mavericks franchise record was broken by their own team on December 27, 2020 led the Los Angeles Clippers by 50 points, 77–27 an NBA record still stands).
Dallas Mavericks
On December 2, the announced that the US Airways Center would be renamed the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Phoenix Suns
On December 13, reached 10,000 career rebounds.[104] At 29 years, 5 days, Howard became the third youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career rebounds. Only Wilt Chamberlain (28 years, 81 days) and Bill Russell (28 years, 285 days) reached the milestone at a younger age.[105]
Dwight Howard
On December 14, 2014, passed Michael Jordan for third place on the all-time scoring list. He reached the mark at 5:24 in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves by making two free-throw shots. Bryant finished with 26 points in the Lakers' 100–94 victory over Minnesota.
Kobe Bryant
On December 18, and rookie Dwight Powell were traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the Boston Celtics receiving Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, a 2015 first round draft pick, and a future second round draft pick.
Rajon Rondo
On December 22, the Detroit Pistons waived after signing him to a four-year, $54 million contract in July 2013.[106] He signed with the Houston Rockets two days later, after the Rockets waived undrafted rookie Tarik Black, who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers a few days later. In Smith's debut with the Rockets, he recorded 21 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes in a 117–111 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on December 26. After the waivers were cleared, the Pistons went on a seven-game winning streak after starting out 5–23 with Smith on the roster.
Josh Smith
On Christmas Day, jerseys listed players' first names instead of the traditional last names. The Miami Heat defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 101–91 on Christmas Day, spoiling LeBron James's return to Miami.
[107]
On December 26, passed Elvin Hayes to become the 8th best all-time scorer. He scored 14 points in the Mavericks' 102–98 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Also that day, Jared Dudley became the first player to shoot perfectly from the field while attempting at least 10 field goals and 3 three-pointers, as he scored 24 points on 10-for-10 shooting, (4 for 4 on three-pointers) in the Milwaukee Bucks' 107–77 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Dirk Nowitzki
On January 2, 2015, an agreement was put in place by the ownership to sell the franchise.
Atlanta Hawks
On January 5, passed Moses Malone to become the 7th best all-time scorer. He scored 15 points in the Mavericks' 96–88 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Dirk Nowitzki
The became the sole leaders of the Eastern Conference in January for the first time since the 1993–94 NBA season.
Atlanta Hawks
On January 15, the acquired Austin Rivers, the son of Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, in a three-way trade with the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. Rivers is the first son to play for his father in NBA history.[108]
Los Angeles Clippers
On January 23, scored an NBA-record 37 points in a quarter, when he was a perfect 13-for-13 from the field and 9-for-9 from three-point range in the third quarter of a 126–101 win over the Sacramento Kings. He broke the previous record of 33 held by George Gervin and Carmelo Anthony. The 9 three-pointers were also a league record for a quarter, surpassing the mark of 8 by Michael Redd and Joe Johnson. The 13 field goals tied David Thompson's record for a quarter.[109][110]
Klay Thompson
On January 31, 2015, the became the first team to go 17–0 in a month after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers.[111]
Atlanta Hawks
For the month of January 2015, the entire starting lineup (Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford) tied for Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors. This marked the first time five players tied for the award, and the second time that multiple players from the same team tied for the award. All except Carroll would go on to become Eastern Conference All-Stars.
Atlanta Hawks
During the All-Star game, would record the second-highest number of points with 41 as the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 163–158. After the game, it was announced that the New York Knicks had bought out Amar'e Stoudemire's contract and he could play wherever he wanted to. He'd end up going to the Dallas Mavericks two days later.
Russell Westbrook
By the February 19 trade deadline, a record 43 different players ended up being traded. Trading highlights included returning to the Minnesota Timberwolves; Tayshaun Prince returning to the Detroit Pistons; the Phoenix Suns trading with five different teams and trading both star point guards---Isaiah Thomas to the Boston Celtics and Goran Dragić to the Miami Heat---while getting Brandon Knight from the Milwaukee Bucks; and the Oklahoma City Thunder getting Enes Kanter and Steve Novak from the Utah Jazz and D. J. Augustin and Kyle Singler from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Kendrick Perkins, Grant Jerrett, and Reggie Jackson.
Kevin Garnett
On March 24, Dirk Nowitzki recorded his 10,000th rebound in a 101–94 victory over the . He became the first player to record 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 1,000 blocks, and 1,000 three-pointers, as well as the seventh player reach 10,000 rebounds.
San Antonio Spurs
On March 24, 2015, and Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles Lakers made up the first starting Asian-American backcourt in NBA history in a 127–117 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Clarkson is Filipino-American on his father's side and Filipino on his mother's; Lin's heritage is Chinese/Taiwanese. Clarkson had a career high 30 points and three blocks, along seven assists and four rebounds. He became the youngest Laker to score 30 points since Andrew Bynum on Jan. 21, 2009.[112] Jeremy Lin contributed with 19 points, 7 assists, and 2 rebounds.[113]
Jeremy Lin
On April 8, became the first player to return from a torn meniscus injury in a time-span less than 6 months. He was out for approximately 6 weeks.
Derrick Rose
All five teams in the made the 2015 playoffs, marking only the fourth time all teams in a division had made the playoffs, and the first time since the entire Central Division made it in the 2005–06 NBA season. It was the first occurrence of all teams in a division making the playoffs with all teams having a winning record.
Southwest Division
On April 11, in a game between the and the Orlando Magic, the teams scored 15 combined points in the second quarter, setting an NBA record for the fewest points in a quarter.
New York Knicks
The and Los Angeles Lakers suffered their first 60-loss seasons in franchise history. The Knicks finished 17–65, surpassing 23–59 in 1986 and 2006. The Lakers finished 21–61, surpassing their worst record of 27–55 from the previous season. It leaves the Utah Jazz as the only franchise without a 60-loss season.
New York Knicks
The and the Indiana Pacers both missed the playoffs, marking the first time since 2004–05 that two teams who reached the conference finals the previous post-season, failed to make the playoffs.
Miami Heat
The and Atlanta Hawks both achieved their first 60-win seasons in franchise history, finishing 67–15 and 60–22 and first place in their conference. Also, both teams advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 1976 and 1970, respectively.
Golden State Warriors
became the first scoring leader since Tracy McGrady in 2003–04 whose team (in this case, the Oklahoma City Thunder) did not make the playoffs.
Russell Westbrook
On April 30, the eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks 120–66 in Game 6 of the playoffs. The 54 point blowout is the largest margin of victory in a series-clinching game in NBA postseason history.[114]
Chicago Bulls
The became the first defending champions to be eliminated in the first round since the 2012 Dallas Mavericks, and the second time since 2000.
San Antonio Spurs
The became the ninth team in NBA history to win a playoff series in which they faced a 3–1 deficit—in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Houston Rockets
On May 23, set a new NBA record for the most 3-point FG made in a single playoffs, with 59, previously held by Reggie Miller with 58 in 2000. Curry would eventually finish the postseason with a total of 98 3-point FG made, 39 more than the previous record.
Stephen Curry
Both conference final teams from the East and West, notably the and the Golden State Warriors respectively, hold commanding 3–0 series leads, a first in NBA playoff history.
Cleveland Cavaliers
On May 25, the made 20 3-pointers (tied playoff record) and Houston Rockets had 17 to set an NBA record for most 3-pointers combined in a playoff game (37).
Golden State Warriors
The became the fourth #1 seed to be swept in the playoffs.
Atlanta Hawks
For the first time since the of the NBA (1947, formerly called the Basketball Association of America), two rookie head coaches, in this case David Blatt of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, meet head-to-head in the finals.
inaugural season
For the first time in NBA Finals history, Games 1 and 2 went into overtime, with the and Golden State Warriors splitting victories.