1979 NBA Finals

The 1979 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series played at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1978–79 season. The Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics played the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets, with the Bullets holding home-court advantage, due to a better regular season record. The SuperSonics defeated the Bullets in five quick games for their first championship in franchise history. The series was a rematch of the previous year’s NBA Finals, which the Bullets won in seven games. Dennis Johnson of the SuperSonics was named as the NBA Finals MVP, while Gus Williams of the SuperSonics was the top scorer, averaging 28.6 points per game. This was Seattle's second men's professional sports championship, following the Seattle Metropolitans' victory in the 1917 Stanley Cup Final. The city's next title wouldn't be until 2014 when the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII. This was the franchise's only championship until the 2025 NBA Finals, when they were the Oklahoma City Thunder. It is also, to date, the last time the Bullets/Wizards have appeared in the Finals. Both the 1978 and 1979 NBA Finals were informally dubbed the "George Washington series", because both teams were playing in places named after the first President of the United States (the SuperSonics represented Seattle, Washington while the Bullets represented Washington, D.C., albeit playing in nearby Landover, Maryland).