The 1984 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1983-84 season. This was the first postseason allowing sixteen teams to qualify, a format that is still in use as of 2012. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Larry Bird was named NBA Finals MVP.

It was the first NBA Finals meeting between the Celtics and Lakers since 1969; they met 7 times in the Finals from 1959–69, with Boston coming out on top each year. Going into the 1984 playoffs, the Lakers had already won 2 titles in the 1980s and the Celtics 1, making the revival of the Celtics–Lakers rivalry arguably inevitable and certainly highly anticipated.

Two teams made their playoff debuts (and won their first playoff series) in the 1984 playoffs: the Utah Jazz (who joined the NBA for the 1974-75 season as the New Orleans Jazz) and Dallas Mavericks, a 1981 expansion team. The Jazz would not miss the playoffs again until 2004.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs is a best-of-seven elimination tournament among sixteen teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference (called Divisions, pre-1970), ultimately deciding the final four teams who will play in the NBA Conference Finals.

The NBA announced the current revised playoff seeding system on August 3, 2006. Following the NBA regular season, eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs and are seeded one to eight.

The team that has the best record in each of the three divisions in each conference is declared division champion. The three champions, and another team in the conference with the best record, are seeded one through four by their records. This guarantees that the division champions will be no lower than fourth seed, and also ensures that a conference's two best teams (by record) are ranked as the top two. However, because the NBA does not re-seed its teams and because home court advantage goes to the team with the better record, not the better seeding, division winners are guaranteed no better than a de-facto five seed, as their 4th seeding does not guarantee home court advantage in the first round, and after the first round the 4 vs 5 winner will play the same teams as the loser would have played had they won the first round. This will continue throughout the remainder of the playoffs and to the finals until the 4 vs 5 winner loses a playoff round or wins the championship. Of the remaining eleven conference teams, the four with the best records are seeded fifth through eighth based on their record.

Dave Zinkoff (May 15, 1910 – December 25, 1985) was a sports public address announcer, memorable for his inimitable and colorful delivery. He worked for the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park in the 1940s, the Philadelphia Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as various colleges and boxing and wrestling matches held at the Philadelphia Convention Hall.

Zinkoff worked Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. He was probably most famous for his introduction of long time 76ers star Julius Erving, which went something like "From! The University Of Mazzachushetts, number six, Captain of the Philadelphia 76ers Julius... The Doctor... Errrrrrrrrrving!!" When Steve Mix scored, Zinkoff would say, "Mix makes!" the basket. When Wilt will dunk, he would comment, "Dipper Dunk" and Mel Counts, "That counts".

On March 25, 1986, exactly three months after his death, his microphone was retired by the 76ers.