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1980 NBA Finals
1980 NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 for their first title since 1972; rookie Magic Johnson's 42 points, 15 rebounds in Game 6 with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar injured won Finals MVP.
1980 World Series
1980 World Series: Philadelphia Phillies beat Kansas City Royals 4-2 for the Phillies' first championship; Mike Schmidt MVP, Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson to clinch Game 6.
1981 NBA draft
The 1981 NBA draft was the NBA's 35th annual player draft, held in June 1981, with expansion Dallas taking Mark Aguirre first and Detroit picking Isiah Thomas second.
1981 NBA Finals
1981 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics beat Houston Rockets 4-2 (May 5-14, 1981) for the franchise's 14th title; Cedric Maxwell Finals MVP, Bird's first ring, Rockets reached Finals at 40-42.
1981 Springbok Tour
The 1981 Springbok Tour was a 56-day visit to New Zealand by South Africa's rugby team in 1981, provoking the largest civil disturbance since 1951.
1981 World Games
First edition of the World Games, Santa Clara, California, 24 July to 2 August 1981, founded by the IWGA for non-Olympic sports; 16 sports, US-led medals, conflicting surviving participation records.
1981 World Series
1981 World Series: Dodgers beat Yankees 4-2 in the strike-split season; first Division Series, three co-MVPs (Cey, Guerrero, Yeager), George Frazier lost three games, Valenzuela's Fernandomania season.
1982 NBA Finals
1982 NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 (May 27-June 8, 1982), Magic Johnson Finals MVP at 16.2/10.8/8.0; rematch of 1980 and prelude to Philadelphia's 1983 title.
1982 NFL season
1982 NFL season, the Strike Season: 57-day NFLPA strike cut play to nine games; 16-team Super Bowl Tournament; Washington Redskins (8-1) beat Miami 27-17 in Super Bowl XVII.
1983 NBA draft
1983 NBA draft, held June 28, 1983 in New York; 226 picks, 58 played. Ralph Sampson went first to Houston; the class produced All-Stars Drexler, Ellis, Malone, Rivers, and Sampson.
1983 NBA Finals
The 1983 NBA Finals: the Philadelphia 76ers, led by Finals MVP Moses Malone and Julius Erving, swept the injury-hit Los Angeles Lakers 4-0, capping a 65-17 season and a 12-1 playoff run behind the famous 'Fo', Fo', Fo' prediction.
1984 NBA draft
1984 NBA draft, held June 19, 1984 in New York: the last pre-lottery draft, won by Houston's coin flip for Hakeem Olajuwon; Portland took Sam Bowie at 2, Chicago got Michael Jordan at 3; four Hall of Famers including Barkley and Stockton.
1984 NBA Finals
1984 NBA Finals (Showdown '84): Boston Celtics beat Magic Johnson's Lakers 4-3, Game 7 111-102 on June 12, 1984; first Bird-Magic Finals, Larry Bird Finals MVP, Henderson steal, McHale clothesline, 97-degree Game 5.
1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team
1984 US men's Olympic basketball team: Bob Knight-coached all-college squad, 8–0 gold at Los Angeles, beating Spain 96–65; Jordan led with 17.1 ppg; last amateur US gold medalist before the 1992 Dream Team.
1984 World Series
The 1984 World Series: Detroit Tigers beat San Diego Padres 4-1 for Detroit's fourth title; 104-win wire-to-wire Tigers, Alan Trammell MVP, Kirk Gibson's Game 5 homer off Goose Gossage.
1985 Chicago Bears season
1985 Chicago Bears season: NFL season in which the Bears went 15-1, started 12-0, lost only at Miami, shut out Giants and Rams in the playoffs, and won Super Bowl XX 46-10 over New England.
1985 NBA draft
The 1985 NBA draft, the first under the NBA draft lottery system, gave the New York Knicks the first pick, Patrick Ewing; it also produced Hall of Famers Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars, and Arvydas Sabonis.
1985 NBA Finals
1985 NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers beat Boston Celtics 4-2 (May 27–June 9, 1985), their first Finals win over Boston after eight losses; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 38, was oldest Finals MVP; Game 1 was the 148-114 Memorial Day Massacre.
1985 World Series
The 1985 World Series, the I-70 or Show-Me Series, was won 4-3 by the Kansas City Royals over the St. Louis Cardinals; Bret Saberhagen was MVP after the Denkinger Game 6 call and an 11-0 Game 7.
1986 NBA draft
1986 NBA draft, held June 17, 1986; first pick Brad Daugherty (Cavaliers), second pick Len Bias (Celtics), who died two days later. Lottery changed in 1986 to set only the first three selections; Mark Price reached Cleveland via draft-day trade.
1986 NBA Finals
1986 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics beat Houston Rockets 4-2 for their 16th title; Larry Bird won Finals MVP (25.9 ppg) with a 29-12-11 triple double in the clinching Game 6, 114-97.
1986 World Series
1986 World Series: New York Mets beat Boston Red Sox 4-3 for the Mets' second title. Game 6 comeback on Bob Stanley wild pitch and Bill Buckner's error; Ray Knight MVP; Davey Johnson's 108-win Mets.
1987 NBA Finals
1987 NBA Finals: the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 4-2, with Magic Johnson as Finals MVP (26.2/8.0/13.0). Remembered for his 'junior, junior sky hook' winning Game 4, 107-106; the last Bird-Magic Finals.
1987 NFL season
The 1987 NFL season, shortened from 16 to 15 games by a 24-day players' strike over free agency, featured three weeks of replacement-player games and ended with the Washington Redskins winning Super Bowl XXII and John Elway as MVP.
1987 Rugby World Cup
The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup, hosted by New Zealand and Australia and won by New Zealand, who beat France 29–9.
1987 World Series
1987 World Series: Minnesota Twins beat St. Louis Cardinals 4-3, winning all four home games at the Metrodome; first all-home-team-wins Series, first indoor games, Frank Viola MVP, Twins 85-77.
1987–88 NBA season
The 1987–88 NBA season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball Association, played by 23 teams and won by the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat Detroit in the Finals.
1988 NBA Finals
1988 NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers beat Detroit Pistons 4-3 for a back-to-back title. Defined by Isiah Thomas's record 25-point third quarter on a sprained ankle in Game 6 and a Game 7 Lakers win.
1988 World Series
The 1988 World Series saw the underdog Los Angeles Dodgers upset the Oakland Athletics four games to one, capped by Kirk Gibson's famous Game 1 walk-off home run.
1989 NBA draft
1989 NBA draft: first NBA Draft under the two-round format, 54 selections; last equal-odds envelope lottery, won by Sacramento Kings at 11.11%, who took No. 1 pick Pervis Ellison.