The 1969 NBA Playoffs featured a team that was about to hit the end of the road in many ways. The Boston Celtics had been led by Bill Russell for years, but he was nearing his retirement. This season would actually be the last season that Russell would play in the National Basketball Association. The regular season featured teams that looked like they would be able to pass the Celtics in the Eastern Division, even with Russell still in the league. Philadelphia and the New York Knicks were among the teams that would have a shot at knocking out the Celtics in these playoffs. The Celtics were only the 4th best team in their division and barely qualified for the playoffs. Baltimore was the top team in the Eastern Division and the number one seed. The Western Division was won by the Los Angeles Lakers in the regular season. The Lakers were a consistently successful team in the Western Division for years and their repeated success was no surprise to anyone. The San Francisco Warriors, San Diego Rockets and Atlanta Hawks were the other 3 teams to qualify for the playoffs. The San Diego Rockets were actually only in their second season in the NBA. This playoff appearance would be their only appearance while playing in San Diego. The first round of the playoffs featured some surprise efforts from the opponents of the top team in each division. The Lakers were defeated by the San Francisco Warriors twice while playing in Los Angeles to start the series. Many people thought that the Lakers would not be able to come back after losing their home court advantage. The Lakers responded by winning the next 4 games and taking the series 4 games to 2. The New York Knicks shocked Baltimore in the first round of the playoffs. New York won the first two games in Baltimore and then completed the 4-0 sweep of the series. The Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics had relatively easy tasks in winning their respective matches. The Lakers continued rolling against Atlanta and took the series 4 games to 1. The Lakers qualified for the NBA Finals yet again. The Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks squared off in the Eastern Division. The Knicks looked like a team that could take out Boston after they handled Baltimore so easily. The Knicks were unable to take control of the series, however. The Celtics won the series in 6 games and advanced to play the Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Lakers and Celtics had a lot of history in the Finals, and most of history favored the Celtics. This season was the first season that the â€Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award†would be distributed. This was very interesting as Russell was still playing in the league at this time. The Lakers and Celtics fought out this series until the end. When all was said and done the Lakers were once again defeated by the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Bill Russell left the NBA with 2 consecutive NBA Championships under his belt. Despite losing, Jerry West was awarded the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award. This is the only time in history that the award was won by a player on the losing team.
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