1980–81 Cleveland Cavaliers season

1980–81 Cleveland Cavaliers season
1980–81 Cleveland Cavaliers season
Head coach	Bill Musselman (25–46); Don Delaney (3–8);
General manager	Don Delaney
Owner(s)	Ted Stepien
Arena	Coliseum at Richfield
Results
Record	28–54 (.341)
Place	Division: 5th (Central); Conference: 9th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	WUAB
Radio	WWWE
< 1979–80	1981–82 >

Last updated August 31, 2025

The 1980-81 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 11th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Club Team

Roster

1980–81 Cleveland Cavaliers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Player	Height	Weight	From
G	11, 23	Mike Bratz	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Stanford
F	32	Kenny Carr	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	NC State
G	21	Mack Calvin	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	USC
F	35	Don Ford	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	UC Santa Barbara
G	20	Geoff Huston	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Texas Tech
F	40	Walter Jordan	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	Purdue
C	41	Bill Laimbeer	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Notre Dame
F	30	Mike Mitchell	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Auburn
G	15	Roger Phegley	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Bradley
G	9	Randy Smith	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Buffalo State
F	31	Richard Washington	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	UCLA

Head coach

Don Delaney

Assistant(s)

Larry Creger
Gerald Oliver

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	60	22	.732	–	34–7	26–15	23–7
x-Chicago Bulls	45	37	.549	15.0	26–15	19–22	20–9
x-Indiana Pacers	44	38	.537	16.0	27–14	17–24	17–12
Atlanta Hawks	31	51	.378	29.0	20–21	11–30	9–21
Cleveland Cavaliers	28	54	.341	32.0	20–21	8–33	9–21
Detroit Pistons	21	61	.256	39.0	14–27	7–34	9–21

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	60	22	.732	2
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	62	20	.756	–
4	x-New York Knicks	50	32	.610	12
5	x-Chicago Bulls	45	37	.549	17
6	x-Indiana Pacers	44	38	.537	18

7	Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	23
8	Atlanta Hawks	31	51	.378	31
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	28	54	.341	34
10	New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	38
11	Detroit Pistons	21	61	.256	41

Notes

z, y – division champions
x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

1980–81 game log
Total: 28–54 (Home: 20–21; Road: 8–33)

October: 4–8 (home: 3–3; road: 1–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record

November: 4–10 (home: 4–3; road: 0–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
19	November 13, 1980	Atlanta	W 114–111				Coliseum at Richfield 3,987	5–14

December: 5–9 (home: 4–5; road: 1–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record

January: 9–5 (home: 5–2; road: 4–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
43	January 9, 1981	@ Atlanta	W 108–107 (OT)				The Omni 9,398	16–27
51	January 23, 1981	@ Atlanta	W 106–98				The Omni 9,820	20–31

February: 3–9 (home: 3–4; road: 0–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
All-Star Break
64	February 21, 1981	Atlanta	L 105–118				Coliseum at Richfield 8,231	25–39

March: 3–13 (home: 1–4; road: 2–9)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
73	March 14, 1981	@ Atlanta	W 112–110 (OT)				The Omni 7,368	26–47
75	March 17, 1981	Atlanta	W 122–107				Coliseum at Richfield 4,288	28–47

1980–81 schedule

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Mike Mitchell	82	39.0	47.6	44.4	78.4	6.1	1.7	0.8	0.6	24.5
Kenny Carr	81	32.3	51.1	0.0	71.4	10.3	2.4	0.9	0.5	15.2
Randy Smith	82	26.8	46.6	3.6	81.5	2.4	4.4	1.4	0.2	14.6
Roger Phegley	82	27.7	49.1	28.6	83.9	3.0	2.2	0.8	0.2	14.4
Mike Bratz	80	32.4	39.0	33.7	81.1	2.5	5.7	1.7	0.2	10.0
Richard Washington	69	21.8	45.9	50.0	75.0	5.3	1.6	0.6	0.8	9.9
Bill Laimbeer	81	30.4	50.3	0.0	76.5	8.6	2.7	0.7	1.0	9.8
Dave Robisch	11	33.8	37.8	0.0	80.6	7.7	4.0	0.6	0.5	9.4
Robert Smith	1	20.0	40.0	0.0	100.0	3.0	3.0	0.0	0.0	8.0
Geoff Huston	25	21.7	49.7	0.0	81.5	1.6	4.7	0.5	0.0	7.0
Bill Robinzine	8	10.5	43.8	0.0	62.5	1.6	0.6	0.5	0.0	4.1
Don Ford	64	15.6	44.6	0.0	91.7	2.6	1.3	0.2	0.2	3.5
Chad Kinch	29	8.5	39.6	0.0	80.0	0.8	1.2	0.3	0.2	2.8
Mack Calvin	21	6.1	33.3	20.0	71.4	0.6	1.3	0.2	0.0	2.5
Walter Jordan	30	6.9	38.7	0.0	58.8	1.4	0.4	0.4	0.2	2.3
John Lambert	3	2.7	60.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Jerome Whitehead	3	2.7	33.3	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.7

Player Statistics Citation:^[1]

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Milestones

All-Star

Transactions

Free agents

Subtractions
Player	Date signed	New team
Austin Carr	Expansion Draft May 28, 1980	Dallas Mavericks

References

↑ "1980-81 Cleveland Cavaliers Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2021.

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[1] "1980-81 Cleveland Cavaliers Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2021.

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