The following are the basketball events of the year 1981 throughout the world.

Basketball competitions taking place in 1981

Winners of major team competitions 1980–1981

Player awards (NBA)

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

• Class of 1981:^[1]
  • Tom Barlow
  • Arad McCutchan
  • Ferenc Hepp
  • J. Walter Kennedy

Deaths

• January 1 — Matt Vaniel, American professional player (born 1919)
• January 5 — Joe Dolhon, American professional player (born 1927)
• January 9 — Tommy Byrnes, American professional player (born 1923)
• January 10 — Chink Crossin, American professional player (born 1923)
• January 22 — Russ Wilkins, American professional player (born 1923)
• January 31 — Dick Edwards, American college coach (born 1930)
• February 7 — Connie Kunzmann, American professional player (born 1956)
• February 26 — Bud Lindberg, American professional player (born 1909)
• April 3 — Willis Young, American professional player (born 1911)
• June 7 — Ian Watson, Australian Olympic player (born 1949)
• June 20 — Rock Norman, American college coach (born 1892)
• June 23 — Lou Spicer, American professional player (born 1922)
• July 3 — Artūras Andrulis, Lithuanian national team player (born 1922)
• July 25 — Bobby Anet, college All-American and national champion (Oregon) (born 1917)
• August 6 — Jack Harvey, college All-American and AAU player (born 1918)
• September 4 — Carl Knowles, American Olympic gold medalist (1936) (born 1910)
• September 10 — John Lance, American college coach (born 1897)
• September 16 — John Azary, American college and professional player (born 1929)
• November 8 — George Nostrand, American professional player (born 1924)

See also

• 1981 in sports

References