1977–78 Washington Bullets season

The 1977–78 Washington Bullets season was the team's 17th season in the NBA and their 5th season in the city of Washington, D.C. It would prove to be their most successful season, as they would win their first and only NBA championship as of 2025. In the NBA Finals, they defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games.
The Bullets got off to a slow start in the regular season, losing 6 of their first 10 games. On January 13, the Bullets beat the defending Champion Portland Trail Blazers to improve to 24–15, capping an 18–5 run over 23 games. Injuries would begin to have an effect on the team as the Bullets struggled, as they would lose 13 of their next 18 games. Hovering a few games above.500 for the rest of the season, the Bullets managed to make the playoffs with a 44–38 record. They hold the record for the lowest winning percentage of any NBA Championship winning team. The 1968–69 Boston Celtics, 1974–75 Golden State Warriors, 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers, and 1994–95 Houston Rockets are the only other NBA championship teams to have won below 50 games in non-lockout seasons since 1958; all of them won more than 44 games.

Offseason

NBA draft

Round

Pick

Player

Position

Nationality

College/HS/Club Team

Notes

Greg Ballard

United States

Player stats

Regular season

Note: GP= Games played; GS= Games started; MP=Minutes played; FG=Field goals; FGA=Field goals attempted; FG%=Field goal percentage; FT=Free throws; FTA=Free throws attempted; FT%=Free throw percentage; ORB= Offensive rebounds; DRB= Defensive rebounds; TRB= Total rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player	GP	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG
Hayes	81		3246	636	1409	.451	326	514	.635	335	740	1075	149	96	159	1598	19.7
Dandridge	75		2777	560	1190	.471	330	419	.788	137	305	442	287	101	44	1450	19.3
Kupchak	67		1759	393	768	.512	280	402	.697	162	298	460	71	28	42	1066	15.9
Grevey	81		2121	505	1128	.448	243	308	.789	124	166	290	155	61	17	1253	15.5
Chenier	36		937	200	451	.443	109	138	.790	15	87	102	73	36	9	509	14.1
Henderson	75		2315	339	784	.432	179	240	.746	66	127	193	406	93	15	857	11.4
Wright	70		1466	283	570	.496	76	107	.710	31	71	102	260	68	15	642	9.2
[Charles Charles Johnson (basketball, born 1949)\|Johnson (basketball, born 1949)\|Johnson]	39		807	141	346	.408	42	51	.824	20	73	93	82	31	1	324	8.3
Unseld	80		2644	257	491	.523	93	173	.538	286	669	955	326	98	45	607	7.6
Ballard	76		936	142	334	.425	88	114	.772	102	164	266	62	30	13	372	4.9
Walker	40		384	57	161	.354	64	96	.667	21	31	52	54	14	5	178	4.5
Pace	49		438	67	140	.479	57	93	.613	50	84	134	23	12	24	191	3.9
Total	82		19830	3580	7772	.461	1887	2655	.711	1349	2815	4164	1948	668	386	9047	110.3

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG
Hayes	21		868	189	385	.491	79	133	.594	103	176	279	43	32	52	457	21.8
Dandridge	19		746	172	359	.479	58	84	.690	35	88	123	74	30	14	402	21.1
Grevey	21		584	126	284	.444	73	90	.811	25	36	61	42	11	3	325	15.5
Johnson	21		425	93	229	.406	29	37	.784	20	33	53	48	30	0	215	10.2
Kupchak	21		504	84	199	.422	45	69	.652	49	78	127	22	4	3	213	10.1
Henderson	21		597	72	173	.416	58	79	.734	17	30	47	106	27	5	202	9.6
Unseld	18		677	71	134	.530	27	46	.587	72	144	216	79	17	7	169	9.4
Wright	21		402	76	163	.466	19	25	.760	7	24	31	67	17	2	171	8.1
Ballard	19		243	21	63	.333	32	41	.780	27	52	79	18	9	3	74	3.9
Pace	9		52	7	10	.700	11	15	.733	5	15	20	1	1	6	25	2.8
Walker	4		17	1	8	.125	4	5	.800	1	1	2	2	0	0	6	1.5
Total	21		5115	912	2007		435	583		361	677	1038	502	178	95	2259	114.1

NBA Finals

After being swept in their previous two trips to the NBA Finals, the Bullets lost Game 1 on the road against the Seattle SuperSonics, and a 19-point lead vanished in the process.
In Game 4, the Bullets rose to the occasion beating the Sonics 120–116 to even the series at 2 games apiece. After losing Game 5 in Seattle, the Bullets kept their hopes alive with a dominating 117–82 win at the Capital Centre. Game 7 returned to Seattle and the Bullets were a heavy underdog. Kevin Grevey suffered a sprained wrist above his shooting hand, and Bob Dandridge was forced to see some action at guard. Dandridge would play strongly and scored 19 points to tie with Charles Johnson, who hit a half court shot at the end of the 3rd quarter, for the team high. Wes Unseld scored 15 points while pulling down 9 rebounds as the Bullets emerged with a 105–99 victory to win their first NBA Championship.

Awards and honors

Wes Unseld, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award