The 1977–78 NBA 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 . 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 win total 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
Roster
Season standings
Regular season
Record vs. opponents
Game log
Regular season
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | October 21, 19778:05p.m. EDT | Detroit | W 117–109 | Kupchak (29) | Dandridge,Unseld (9) | Henderson (12) | Capital Centre13,276 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | October 22, 19778:05p.m. EDT | @ New York | L 115–141 | Hayes (26) | Hayes (14) | Henderson,Unseld,Wright (4) | Madison Square Garden15,261 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | October 28, 19778:05p.m. EDT | @ Indiana | L 127–136 | Wright (43) | Unseld (15) | Henderson (9) | Market Square Arena12,542 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | October 29, 19778:35p.m. EDT | @ Kansas City | L 106–120 | Wright (19) | Unseld (11) | Chenier,Henderson,Wright (5) | Kemper Arena9,220 | 1–3
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | November 4, 19778:05p.m. EST | Phoenix | W 113–96 | Dandridge (24) | Hayes (14) | Henderson (10) | Capital Centre8,742 | 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | November 5, 19779:05p.m. EST | @ Houston | L 105–116 | Wright (20) | Dandridge,Unseld (9) | Henderson,Unseld,Wright (3) | The Summit9,449 | 2–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | November 6, 19778:35p.m. EST | @ New Orleans | W 108–97 | Dandridge,Hayes (21) | Hayes (20) | Wright (4) | Louisiana Superdome26,474 | 3–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 8 | November 10, 19778:05p.m. EST | Milwaukee | L 103–106 | Dandridge (25) | Hayes (13) | Unseld,Wright (6) | Capital Centre7,139 | 3–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 9 | November 12, 19778:05p.m. EST | Philadelphia | W 116–98 | Dandridge (28) | Hayes (16) | Wright (10) | Capital Centre18,355 | 4–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 10 | November 13, 19777:05p.m. EST | @ Detroit | L 102–104 | Hayes (29) | Hayes (16) | Henderson (8) | Cobo Arena5,149 | 4–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 11 | November 15, 19778:05p.m. EST | Seattle | W 111–109 | Hayes (22) | Hayes (14) | Unseld (6) | Capital Centre5,593 | 5–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 12 | November 18, 19778:05p.m. EST | New York | W 123–103 | Hayes (27) | Hayes (12) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre17,242 | 6–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 13 | November 19, 19778:35p.m. EST | @ Kansas City | W 131–125 (OT) | Kupchak (32) | Dandridge (12) | Henderson (7) | Omaha Civic Auditorium6,534 | 7–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 14 | November 21, 19777:30p.m. EST | @ Buffalo | W 114–97 | Kupchak (21) | Dandridge (14) | Henderson (7) | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium6,125 | 8–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 15 | November 22, 19778:05p.m. EST | Denver | L 114–119 | Dandridge (29) | Hayes (12) | Wright (7) | Capital Centre8,363 | 8–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 16 | November 26, 19778:05p.m. EST | Houston | W 93–91 | Hayes (24) | Pace (10) | Dandridge (7) | Capital Centre18,387 | 9–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 17 | November 30, 19778:05p.m. EST | San Antonio | W 116–105 | Kupchak (26) | Unseld (15) | Unseld (10) | Capital Centre7,092 | 10–7