The 1980–81 New York Knicks season was the 35th season

Season (sports)

In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...

 for the team in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA). In the regular season, the Knicks

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 finished in third place in the Atlantic Division

Atlantic Division (NBA)

The Atlantic Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . The division consists of five teams, the Boston Celtics, the New Jersey Nets, the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors...

 with a 50–32 win–loss record, qualifying for the 1981 NBA Playoffs

1981 NBA Playoffs

The 1981 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament which followed National Basketball Association's 1980–81 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics winning their 14th overall championship by defeating the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets in...

. New York lost in the best-of-three first round to the Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

 in a two-game sweep.

NBA Draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	12	Mike Woodson Mike Woodson Michael Dean "Mike" Woodson is a retired American basketball player and former head coach of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.Woodson took over the job from Terry Stotts prior to the 2004-05 NBA season. He came to the Hawks after a stint as an assistant coach on the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons NBA Championship...	G/F		Indiana Indiana University Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
2	36	DeWayne Scales DeWayne Scales DeWayne Jay Scales is a retired American professional basketball player.A 6'8" forward from Louisiana State University, Scales played in the NBA from 1980 to 1984 as a member of the New York Knicks and Washington Bullets. Scales averaged 4.6 points per game in his NBA career.-Note:...	F		LSU Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
3	58	Toby Knight Toby Knight Toby Knight is an American former professional basketball player.A 6'9" forward from the University of Notre Dame, Knight played in the NBA as a member of the New York Knicks from 1977 to 1982. He averaged 12.9 points per game in his professional career.-References:...	F		Santa Clara Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...