1972 ABA and NBA drafts McAdoo sought and won early eligibility in the
1972 NBA draft. However, it was rumored that McAdoo had signed with the
Virginia Squires of the rival
American Basketball Association after a "secret" ABA draft in which names of those drafted were not made public. Even though no contract was produced and McAdoo denied it, NBA Commissioner
Walter Kennedy reportedly advised NBA teams not to draft McAdoo. Other reports were that a contract was signed and voided, because McAdoo was too young to have signed it and that Buffalo somehow knew this. Later, McAdoo was indeed noted as the No. 1 pick of the
1972 ABA draft.
Buffalo Braves (1972–1976) Buffalo acted anyway, and McAdoo was selected with the No. 2 overall pick by the
Buffalo Braves, after rumors that contract talks between the
Portland Trail Blazers and McAdoo did not come to fruition with the first pick.
LaRue Martin was selected by Portland. In
1974–75, he was awarded the
NBA Most Valuable Player Award, averaging
34.5 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.12 blocks per game, while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 80.5 percent from the free throw line. He also led the league in fan voting for the 1975 All-Star Game with 98,325 votes. McAdoo is the youngest player to have had a 50-point/20-rebound game. That season, with McAdoo aided by strong play from
Jim McMillian and
Randy Smith, the Braves would finish with an improved 49–33 record, though again they would lose in their first postseason matchup, this time a seven-game series loss to
Elvin Hayes,
Wes Unseld, and the
Washington Bullets During the
1976 NBA Playoffs, McAdoo and the Braves would finally advance out of the first round, beating the
Philadelphia 76ers as McAdoo averaged 30.3 points, 18.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 47.3 minutes per game. However, in the following round the Braves would again be eliminated by the
Celtics, who would once again go on to win the finals. The following season, on December 7, 1976, McAdoo grabbed a career-high 29 rebounds, while adding 42 points, in a 107–103 loss to the
Indiana Pacers. Two days later, McAdoo was traded by the Buffalo Braves with
Tom McMillen to the
New York Knicks for
John Gianelli and cash. McAdoo's style was very modern for his time. Although a "big man" at , he had no problems taking shots from the perimeter, which, in his prime, made him a nearly unstoppable force on offense. In 334 games with Buffalo, McAdoo averaged 28.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.4 blocks and 1.1 steals. In 1977–78, the Knicks, finished 43–39 under new Coach
Willis Reed, as McAdoo averaged 26.5 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals in 79 games. The Knicks defeated the
Cleveland Cavaliers 2–0 in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, before losing to the
Philadelphia 76ers with
Julius Erving 4–0 in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. McAdoo averaged 34.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the Cavaliers series and 18.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists 2.3 blocks and 1.5 steals in the 76ers series. In 1978–79, the Knicks fired Willis Reed and rehired Red Holtzman mid-season. On January 23, 1979, McAdoo scored his most points scored as a Knick, with 45 in a 148–124 loss against the
Los Angeles Lakers. After 40 games with the Knicks, McAdoo was averaging 26.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists when he was traded. On February 12, 1979, McAdoo was traded by the Knicks to the
Boston Celtics for
Tom Barker and three first-round picks in the
1979 NBA draft. In the draft, the Knicks selected
Bill Cartwright with the third pick,
Larry Demic with the ninth, and
Sly Williams with the 21st. After the season Boston fired Cowens as coach, replaced him with
Bill Fitch, and
Larry Bird arrived from Indiana State. On September 6, 1979, McAdoo was traded by the Celtics to the
Detroit Pistons for a number one 1980 draft pick (
Joe Barry Carroll was later selected) and a number 13 (1st round) 1980 draft pick (
Rickey Brown was later selected). This exchange was arranged as compensation for Boston signing veteran free agent
M.L. Carr on July 24, 1979. The number one pick Boston received was later traded to the
Golden State Warriors who used it to select Carroll. In return, Boston received the #3 overall pick (used to select
Kevin McHale) and center
Robert Parish.
Detroit Pistons (1979–1981) In 1979–80, McAdoo joined a Pistons team that finished 16–66 under coaches
Dick Vitale (4–8), who had encouraged the trade for McAdoo, and Vitale's replacement
Richie Adubato (12–58). Playing alongside Hall of Famer
Bob Lanier, McAdoo averaged 21.1 points and 8.1 rebounds in 58 games. On February 19, 1981, McAdoo, who had been injured, claimed he was healthy and asked to be reinstated into the Pistons starting lineup. Coach
Scotty Robertson denied his request, saying McAdoo had not practiced and was not in proper physical shape. McAdoo asked to be allowed to go home and was allowed to leave. The next day Pistons general manager
Jack McCloskey notified McAdoo to not return for the rest of the season. On March 11, 1981, McAdoo was waived by the Pistons after playing in only six games with the team in 1980–81, as Detroit finished 21–61. He would be the last Piston to wear #11 before the arrival of
Isiah Thomas.
Los Angeles Lakers (1981–1985) On December 24, 1981, McAdoo was traded by the New Jersey Nets to the
Los Angeles Lakers for a 1983 2nd round draft pick (
Kevin Williams was later selected). McAdoo had not played for the Nets in the 1981–82 season and
Mitch Kupchak had become injured for the Lakers. "As the 1981–82 season began, I was in the middle of a contract dispute with the New Jersey Nets. However, I couldn't even play since I was still recovering from off-season surgery to have bone spurs removed from my foot. There were times, standing around on crutches for months, when I thought my career was over." McAdoo reflected, "But I got a call from the Lakers on Christmas Eve. They had just lost a key player, Mitch Kupchak, who blew out his knee. In the short term, they were hoping I could fill his void coming off the bench. In the long term, I think they were hoping I could help the team get headed in the right direction." McAdoo had a memorable end to his NBA career, winning two NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982 and 1985 as a key
reserve on the
Showtime-era teams with Hall of Famers
Magic Johnson,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and
James Worthy. The former MVP was silently frustrated with not starting behind players such as
Jim Brewer,
Mark Landsberger, and
Kurt Rambis, but sacrificed to be part of championship teams. "That championship is the one thing I don't have I'll do whatever I need to get it." McAdoo said in playing with the Lakers in 1982. In 1981–82, the Lakers won the 1982 NBA Championship, as
Pat Riley had taken over coaching from
Paul Westhead. Riley and McAdoo thus began a professional relationship that continued for decades. In 41 games with the Lakers, McAdoo averaged 9.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18.2 minutes in the regular season. In the
1982 NBA Finals, McAdoo averaged 16.3 points in 27 minutes as the Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 4–2. In the entire playoffs, McAdoo averaged 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds. Averaging 15.0 points in 1982-1983 and 13.1 points in 1983–84 for the Lakers in the next two seasons, the team finished 58–24 and 54–28. McAdoo played with a severely injured hamstring in the 1983 playoffs. "If we could have had Mac (McAdoo) healthy, we might have had a shot," coach Riley said after the 1983 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals. McAdoo averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as the Lakers lost 4–3 to the Boston Celtics in the 1984 NBA Finals. "It was a great opportunity for me to play with Kareem and Magic," McAdoo said of his tenure with the Lakers. "For the first time in my career, I had a chance to win a championship. But I had no thoughts at all in my mind about coming off the bench. It just happened. To me it was a wrap I would start. They didn't have anyone who could stick with me at that position, but I dealt with it because I had never been on a championship team. And I've never been one to cause disruption or anything like that."
NBA career totals In his NBA career, McAdoo scored 18,787 career points. He averaged 22.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals in 852 games. He played for the Buffalo Braves (1972–1976), New York Knicks (1976–1979), Boston Celtics (1979), Detroit Pistons (1979–1980), New Jersey Nets (1980–1981), Los Angeles Lakers (1981–1985) and Philadelphia 76ers (1986). In his last season, he retired after playing in just 2 games. In seven seasons in the Italian League, McAdoo played in 201 games, and averaged 27.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. In three seasons in the EuroLeague, all as a member of Olimpia Milano, he averaged 25.8 points per game overall, averaging 21.8 points per game in 1986–87, 29.1 points per game in 1987–88, and 25.5 points per game in
1989–90. ==Coaching/scouting career==