Worst NBA Champions of all time

[Riddler]

???

[Juggity]

In before 2007 Spurs, 2010 Lakers

[Brunodf]

Rockets

[Cry Havoc]

Players or teams?

[DeadlyDynasty]

Rockets

[stretch]

07 Spurs
95 Rockets
06 Heat

[monosylab1k]

considering what a shitty era it was, most of those 70's champions are probably the worst.

[stretch]

pre-80s competition in general sucked

late 70s and early 80s is when the league started to really become infused with widespread talent

[spurraider21]

Lakers fans will call the spurs titles bogus because "the competition was weak". Some will say Kobe > Jordan because "Jordan's competition was weak"

Apparently competition is only strong when the lakers do something good

[dunkman]

The 06 Heat team was stacked. The Spurs were better then anyone in 07, but the real finals were vs the Suns, its not Spurs fault the Eastern Conference was weaker that season. And the 10 Lakers team was damn good, they had a solid opposition in the C's team, Perkins went down in game 6, otherwise the C's won it in 6 or 7 maxi.

[DeadlyDynasty]

2007 was just a terrible year for the NBA...one of the most uninteresting seasons and postseasons in my lifetime. LeBron's Game 5 and the GSW-Dallas series are the only things worth mentioning that year.

[skmblz]

06 Heat. Stern just wanted them to win...

[midnightpulp]

considering what a shitty era it was, most of those 70's champions are probably the worst.

This.

00s has been a strong decade overall, so I don't think any championship team from this decade was particularly weak. But gun to my head, I'd pick the '07 Spurs and the '10 Lakers as the weakest.

[midnightpulp]

The 06 Heat team was stacked. The Spurs were better then anyone in 07, but the real finals were vs the Suns, its not Spurs fault the Eastern Conference was weaker that season. And the 10 Lakers team was damn good, they had a solid opposition in the C's team, Perkins went down in game 6, otherwise the C's won it in 6 or 7 maxi.

People massively overrate that Celtics team. Old, slow, banged up, and only advanced to the Finals because Lebron decided to give one massive fuck you to Dan Gilbert by tanking the series before bolting off to Miami.

[monosylab1k]

The 07 Spurs weren't really a weak team, it's just their road to the title was so weak and unchallenging. That wasn't their fault, of course, they didn't force the Mavs to choke in the 1st round, they didn't suspend Amare, and they didn't force LeBron + a lottery team to be their Finals opponent. But that whole postseason was just really weak and the 07 Spurs legacy unfairly takes a hit because of it.

[midnightpulp]

The 07 Spurs weren't really a weak team, it's just their road to the title was so weak and unchallenging. That wasn't their fault, of course, they didn't for the Mavs to choke in the 1st round, they didn't suspend Amare, and they didn't force LeBron + a lottery team to be their Finals opponent. But that whole postseason was just really weak and the 07 Spurs legacy unfairly takes a hit because of it.

They went 16-4, but yeah, that run just didn't feel as rewarding and as satisfying as other championship years. Some (I think Bill Simmons) have even called that the best Spurs team ever. Maybe they were, but unfortunately we'll never know since they'd played nothing but weak/good teams on their way to the title. They didn't beat one great team en-route and that fact will always loom over that run.

[Riddler]

2011 Mavs.

[djohn2oo8]

Rockets

Back - to -Back tho Nigguh!!

[Clipper Nation]

2007 was just a terrible year for the NBA...one of the most uninteresting seasons and postseasons in my lifetime. LeBron's Game 5 and the GSW-Dallas series are the only things worth mentioning that year.
Other than how that dumbass Avery Johnson fucked over the Clippers (and ironically his own team) by tanking at the end of the regular season to draw the Warriors in the playoffs, I actually enjoyed that season overall, tbh....

2008 made a mockery of the NBA with those Celtics and Lakers BS trades, THAT was a shitty season, imho...

[midnightpulp]

2011 Mavs.

Swept the defending champions.

Beat the Thunder.

Beat the Heat.

I thought it was one of the more impressive runs of the last decade.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Back - to -Back tho Nigguh!!

The 'yeah, but...' titles

[Clipper Nation]

FWIW, according to SRS, the worst NBA champion ever was the 1957-58 Hawks, with an SRS of 0.82...

[Riddler]

Swept the defending champions.

Beat the Thunder.

Beat the Heat.

I thought it was one of the more impressive runs of the last decade.

Fluke. Big Daddy Tyson trade to OKC goes through and that run doesn't even happen. Didn't help they blew it up for fatass and the drama queen.

[monosylab1k]

Back - to -Back tho Nigguh!!

http://www.birminghamprosports.com/birminghambarons2/picture07.jpg

[monosylab1k]

Fluke. Big Daddy Tyson trade to OKC goes through and that run doesn't even happen. Didn't help they blew it up for fatass and the drama queen.

How is any of that even remotely relevant?

[Riddler]

How is any of that even remotely relevant?

Without Tyson that run doesn't happen. Not even trying for a repeat tbh, is what makes them the worst and least deserving champs.

[apalisoc_9]

http://www.birminghamprosports.com/birminghambarons2/picture07.jpg

45 and Pippen lost to shaq in 95, tbh.

[clambake]

*

[Grit and Grind]

Rockets

[timvp]

The 2007 Spurs are the only team ever that used a full 10 man rotation all the way to a championship. Not sure how they could be considered weak since they never were even forced to shift it out of cruise control. If anything, they are closer to strongest than weakest considering they only had to break a sweat because they prematurely started celebrating in Game 4 vs. the Suns.

Considering that 2007 is the season that was the closest thing to TD, TP and Manu all being in their prime at the same time, that is arguably the best Spurs team ever.




Early 70s are by far the weakest champions. The ABA actually had more talent than the NBA back then (since they were paying higher salaries). For practical purposes, the NBA reached an acceptable level the year Magic and Bird entered the league. You can look before that but that era was comparable to like the 1800s in baseball, IMO.

[FkLA]

Swept the defending champions.

Beat the Thunder.

Beat the Heat.

I thought it was one of the more impressive runs of the last decade.

Defending champs on the way down, that didnt look like championship material all season long.

A 4th seed Thunder team that had yet to reach the level its at now.

A win over the Heat that was strongly aided by LeBron simply choking. The Heat were clearly the better team in 11', just like Dallas was clearly the better team in 06'.

[Leetonidas]

Are we talking who was the worst finals winner overall, or who had the easiest road to the finals thus was the least tested champ of all-time? Because the 2007 Spurs definitely were not one of the weaker champ squads of all time

[ffadicted]

lol @ people saying 2007 spurs. You guys are mistaking weak competition for weak champion. Spurs went 16-4 on their way to the title including sweeping the finals. It's not their fault that dallas choked hard and Lebron went god mode on the Pistons and made our path easy as fuck. As timvp said, that was probably the closest year to having prime big 3, regardless of the supporting cast, that was a good team.

[mavs>spurs]

Fluke. Big Daddy Tyson trade to OKC goes through and that run doesn't even happen. Didn't help they blew it up for fatass and the drama queen.

and if the blazers select jordan instead of bowie the bulls don't win 6 rings, what the fucks your point pussy. it happened, now you get to suck it.

[DeadlyDynasty]

lol @ people saying 2007 spurs. You guys are mistaking weak competition for weak champion. Spurs went 16-4 on their way to the title including sweeping the finals. It's not their fault that dallas choked hard and Lebron went god mode on the Pistons and made our path easy as fuck. As timvp said, that was probably the closest year to having prime big 3, regardless of the supporting cast, that was a good team.

Far and away the worst finals opponent ever. Exponentially worse than those Nets teams that repped in 02 and 03.

[Brazil]

:lol at people saying 2011 mavs or 2007 spurs. 2011 mavs was one of the most impressive PO run ever, Dirk was just amazing. 2007 spurs is arguably the best team of Duncan era with the big 3 all at full strength.

[timvp]

It's comical how much worse those Cavs became after the Spurs swept them. Going into the series, the hype was OMG DID YOU SEE WHAT LEBRON DID TO THE PISTONS HE SCORED 234234 STRAIGHT POINTS HE'S THE BEST IN THE GAME! Bowen turns LeBron into Nick Young and suddenly those Cavs sucked and get worse year after year.

Yeah, the Cavs were pretty bad relatively speaking but LeBron will go down as a top five player ever and that playoff run was his coming out party. They beat a legit team in the Pistons before getting to the Finals. The 2002 Nets on the other hand got to face Antoine Walker and the Celtics in the ECF ... and Antoine Walker took them to six games :lol

[Ashy Larry]

45 and Pippen lost to shaq in 95, tbh.


clearly 45 wasn't in basketball shape. Saw what 23 did to them when he was the following year .........

[CGD]

In recent memory, 2006 Heat

[DeadlyDynasty]

It's comical how much worse those Cavs became after the Spurs swept them. Going into the series, the hype was OMG DID YOU SEE WHAT LEBRON DID TO THE PISTONS HE SCORED 234234 STRAIGHT POINTS HE'S THE BEST IN THE GAME! Bowen turns LeBron into Nick Young and suddenly those Cavs sucked and get worse year after year.

Yeah, the Cavs were pretty bad relatively speaking but LeBron will go down as a top five player ever and that playoff run was his coming out party. They beat a legit team in the Pistons before getting to the Finals. The 2002 Nets on the other hand got to face Antoine Walker and the Celtics in the ECF ... and Antoine Walker took them to six games :lol
The Nets of 02 and 03 had several decent offensive options. Those Cavs had a 22-yr old LeBron James and a handful of shit.

[irishock]

hey shadow

[racm]

They went 16-4, but yeah, that run just didn't feel as rewarding and as satisfying as other championship years. Some (I think Bill Simmons) have even called that the best Spurs team ever. Maybe they were, but unfortunately we'll never know since they'd played nothing but weak/good teams on their way to the title. They didn't beat one great team en-route and that fact will always loom over that run.

Statistically speaking they were the most dominant Spurs team since the 1999 title, but of course the playoff picture took a hit when Avery Johnson choked against the Warriors.

That said I pick 2013 OKC*

*Clay Bennett's checks to Bavetta, et al. pending

[spursncowboys]

Back - to -Back tho Nigguh!!
:toast to your sig

[spursncowboys]

:lol at people saying 2011 mavs or 2007 spurs. 2011 mavs was one of the most impressive PO run ever, Dirk was just amazing. 2007 spurs is arguably the best team of Duncan era with the big 3 all at full strength.
The 11 Mavs may not have been the most stacked. But they went through a pretty ridiculous road to it. Lakers, Thunder, then the Heat.

[Thebesteva]

http://www.nba.com/history/finals/champions.html

It's real hard to say when you look back at all the champions post 1980's. If I had to pick, I'd say that 2011 Mavericks team. Though they were on fire and a solid team, they had 1 and done written all over them. Their sole purpose of being there was to fuck shit up for the Lakers and the Heat :lol

[lefty]

2006 Mavs

http://www.donthatemiami.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/dallas_mavericks_parade_2006.jpg

[Findog]

78 Bullets easily - They went 44-38. They only won bc Bill Walton broke his foot. The Blazers were by far the best team in basketball that year but fell apart after Walton went down.

[Findog]

http://www.nba.com/history/finals/champions.html

It's real hard to say when you look back at all the champions post 1980's. If I had to pick, I'd say that 2011 Mavericks team. Though they were on fire and a solid team, they had 1 and done written all over them. Their sole purpose of being there was to fuck shit up for the Lakers and the Heat :lol

Give me a fucking break. They won 57 games and had a guy who was arguably the best player in the league that year. They took out the two-time defending champs and two other elite teams. The 78 Bullets are by far the worst title team - they went 44-38 and only got it because the best team in the league's best player broke his foot. The Blazers were 50-10 when Bill Walton broke his foot and finished 58-24.

[Findog]

If we're going by post-Magic and Bird, I think you can make an argument for the second Rockets team or the lockout 99 Spurs.

[Juggity]

If we're going by post-Magic and Bird, I think you can make an argument for the second Rockets team or the lockout 99 Spurs.

Lockout '99 spurs were one of the most dominant defensive teams in finals history with slightly past prime D-Rob and second-year TD. I think they were one of the better spurs teams to win it all, tbh.

[Findog]

Lockout '99 spurs were one of the most dominant defensive teams in finals history with slightly past prime D-Rob and second-year TD. I think they were one of the better spurs teams to win it all, tbh.

Maybe they weren't the worst, but in the context of the lockout season, that title is not that impressive. Most players league-wide were out of shape and didn't train or practice during the lockout. The Jazz and the Spurs were like the only two teams that trained and prepared for the season. I don't think they really beat a juggernaut team in the playoffs either.

Somebody had to win that title that season, so it's not a knock against the Spurs, but there's a reason why lockout titles don't garner as much respect as full-season titles. Reggie Evans was talking shit the other day about the Heat title last year. That doesn't mean Reggie Evans is an authority on anything, but that kind of attitude is common for lockout titles.

[TDfan2007]

Maybe they weren't the worst, but in the context of the lockout season, that title is not that impressive. Most players league-wide were out of shape and didn't train or practice during the lockout. The Jazz and the Spurs were like the only two teams that trained and prepared for the season. I don't think they really beat a juggernaut team in the playoffs either.

Somebody had to win that title that season, so it's not a knock against the Spurs, but there's a reason why lockout titles don't garner as much respect as full-season titles. Reggie Evans was talking shit the other day about the Heat title last year. That doesn't mean Reggie Evans is an authority on anything, but that kind of attitude is common for lockout titles.

Well the Spurs beat the Lakers and then the Blazers, who destroyed the only other "in shape" team in the previous round.

The 2006 Heat stick out to me. They got bailed out by the refs in 2006, but then blew their wads against the BULLS and got swept in the first round the very next season.

[TDfan2007]

Going off of pure talent...maybe the 2003 Spurs? That team minus Duncan was pretty subpar.

[Arcadian]

Going off of pure talent...maybe the 2003 Spurs? That team minus Duncan was pretty subpar.

...but they did have Duncan. Therefore they were a great team.

They were also dominant in the regular season. I remember everyone was picking the Spurs to knock off the Lakers, despite them defending a 3-peat.

[Thebesteva]

Give me a fucking break. They won 57 games and had a guy who was arguably the best player in the league that year. They took out the two-time defending champs and two other elite teams. The 78 Bullets are by far the worst title team - they went 44-38 and only got it because the best team in the league's best player broke his foot. The Blazers were 50-10 when Bill Walton broke his foot and finished 58-24.

The way I asked myself who the worst team was on there was by asking if I put all those teams in a series who would I be least confident in winning. I'm not trying to knock on their championship run that year, what I'm saying is the team that was probably the least intimidating in a 7 game series out of the solid championship caliber teams is that 2011 Mavs.

I would go with the 2006 Heat but because Shaq is a nightmare matchup and D-Whistle plays unfair I cant.

[Arnold Toht]

2011 Mavs.

Blödes Arschloch!

[irishock]

Blödes Arschloch!

sup Toht, where's belloq?

[Arnold Toht]

sup Toht, where's belloq?

Bruder Belloq doin' well but can't get that chick off his mind

[Findog]

The way I asked myself who the worst team was on there was by asking if I put all those teams in a series who would I be least confident in winning. I'm not trying to knock on their championship run that year, what I'm saying is the team that was probably the least intimidating in a 7 game series out of the solid championship caliber teams is that 2011 Mavs.

I would go with the 2006 Heat but because Shaq is a nightmare matchup and D-Whistle plays unfair I cant.

Are you going post-Magic and Bird or are you including the 70's teams? The 78 Bullets and the 75 Warriors would be no match for the '11 Mavs.

[FkLA]

:lol at the mavs 'having one of the most impressive playoff runs ever'
:lol mav krew dick riders

[Killakobe81]

It's comical how much worse those Cavs became after the Spurs swept them. Going into the series, the hype was OMG DID YOU SEE WHAT LEBRON DID TO THE PISTONS HE SCORED 234234 STRAIGHT POINTS HE'S THE BEST IN THE GAME! Bowen turns LeBron into Nick Young and suddenly those Cavs sucked and get worse year after year.

Yeah, the Cavs were pretty bad relatively speaking but LeBron will go down as a top five player ever and that playoff run was his coming out party. They beat a legit team in the Pistons before getting to the Finals. The 2002 Nets on the other hand got to face Antoine Walker and the Celtics in the ECF ... and Antoine Walker took them to six games :lol

I agree LEbron is a potential GOAT but people over exaggerate how bad the Cavs were to prop Lebron ...and he doesnt need it James is clearly an all-time great.

[Thebesteva]

Are you going post-Magic and Bird or are you including the 70's teams? The 78 Bullets and the 75 Warriors would be no match for the '11 Mavs.

I'm going by the teams I actually watched myself in my life time which is pretty much starting from the Magic era during the 80's. Also look at that list again, though the story has yet to be told there hasn't been 1 team since the early 90's that was 1 and done. Someway, somehow it has been either back to back, or 1 every other year or something of that nature. I am confident that the 2011 Mavs will not be back to the NBA finals anytime soon at least (next 2-3 seasons).

Also I would want to pick that Detroit 2004 team but everyone in sports knows they were considered the greatest defensive team in SPORTS history. I was actually listening to the radio the other day and most people voted that 2004 team being the greatest defensive team in sports history, including the NFL, NHL, etc.

[Findog]

I'm going by the teams I actually watched myself in my life time which is pretty much starting from the Magic era during the 80's. Also look at that list again, though the story has yet to be told there hasn't been 1 team since the early 90's that was 1 and done. Someway, somehow it has been either back to back, or 1 every other year or something of that nature. I am confident that the 2011 Mavs will not be back to the NBA finals anytime soon at least (next 2-3 seasons).

Also I would want to pick that Detroit 2004 team but everyone in sports knows they were considered the greatest defensive team in SPORTS history. I was actually listening to the radio the other day and most people voted that 2004 team being the greatest defensive team in sports history, including the NFL, NHL, etc.

Cuban intentionally dismantled his title team because of the new CBA. They didn't even try to make a proper title defense. The '12 Mavs don't have any relevance to their championship predecessor. Also I think the 11 Mavs would have a much easier time with the 06 Heat than the 06 Mavs. The 06 Mavs almost and should have won that series. The 11 Mavs had a lot more poise and better coaching than the 06 team.

[FkLA]

Cuban intentionally dismantled his title team because of the new CBA. They didn't even try to make a proper title defense. The '12 Mavs don't have any relevance to their championship predecessor. Also I think the 11 Mavs would have a much easier time with the 06 Heat than the 06 Mavs. The 06 Mavs almost and should have won that series. The 11 Mavs had a lot more poise and better coaching than the 06 team.

11' Heat were clearly better, just like the 06' Mavs were better. Took huge chokejobs for both those teams to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory tbh.

[Findog]

11' Heat were clearly better, just like the 06' Mavs were better. Took huge chokejobs for both those teams to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory tbh.

How do you figure that? You can make a better case for the 06 Mavs choking than the 11 Heat. The Dream Team Heat had a 2-1 lead in their series, but they never had the Mavs down on the mat the way the Avery Johnson Mavs did the Shaq/Wade Heat.

[FkLA]

How do you figure that? You can make a better case for the 06 Mavs choking than the 11 Heat. The Dream Team Heat had a 2-1 lead in their series, but they never had the Mavs down on the mat the way the Avery Johnson Mavs did the Shaq/Wade Heat.

Werent the Heat on the verge of going up either 2-0 or 3-1 before the Mavs made a huge 4th quarter comeback in one of the games? LeBron choked in 11', Dirk choked in 06'. Dirk and co. made plays in 11' but so did Wade and co. in 06'. To me it was crazy just how similarly the better teams ended up losing both those Finals. Pretty sure they were the underdogs too just like the Heat were in 2006 (rightfully so in both cases).

[racm]

Werent the Heat on the verge of going up either 2-0 or 3-1 before the Mavs made a huge 4th quarter comeback in one of the games? LeBron choked in 11', Dirk choked in 06'. Dirk and co. made plays in 11' but so did Wade and co. in 06'. To me it was crazy just how similarly the better teams ended up losing both those Finals. Pretty sure they were the underdogs too just like the Heat were in 2006 (rightfully so in both cases).

Dallas made the comeback in Game 2 in Miami.

[Jacob1983]

2011 Mavs are one of the best NBA championship teams in NBA history. Yep, I said it. No one thought they could do it. No one gave them a chance. Everyone thought that JET and Dirk would never win a championship after 2006.

The worst NBA championship team has to be the 2006 Heat. Take away half of Wade's free throw attempts, and the team would have wound up like the 2002 Nets. Thank you. Stern was trying to make Wade the next Jordan and we all know how that worked out. Wade is now Robin and Lebron is Batman on the Heat. Sooner or later his herpes infested ego will get the better of him and he will leave the Heat and his BFF.

[FkLA]

2011 Mavs are one of the best NBA championship teams in NBA history. Yep, I said it. No one thought they could do it. No one gave them a chance. Everyone thought that JET and Dirk would never win a championship after 2006.

The worst NBA championship team has to be the 2006 Heat. Take away half of Wade's free throw attempts, and the team would have wound up like the 2002 Nets. Thank you. Stern was trying to make Wade the next Jordan and we all know how that worked out. Wade is now Robin and Lebron is Batman on the Heat. Sooner or later his herpes infested ego will get the better of him and he will leave the Heat and his BFF.

Youre a homer, thats why. There are a bunch of similarities between the 11' Mavs and 06' Heat including noone expecting either to win in the Finals. But of course the Mavs overcoming the odds makes them one of the best while the Heat overcoming the odds makes them one of the worst...makes perfect sense. :lol

[Jacob1983]

The Mavs 2011 championship is the best because it was sweet revenge. Yes, I'm a homer and proud of it. It was awesome to see the Mavs get their first championship by beating them that stole their championship in 2006. It was great to see Wade lose and not get love at the FT line. I loved seeing that piece of shit lose and finally being humbled by the Mavs and Dirk.

[FkLA]

Thats perfectly understandable but that makes the 2011 Mavs your favorite champions not the best champions. That team like almost anything mavs related is overrated as shit on this site, mainly cause of all the mavfans+mk suck ups tbh.

[Jacob1983]

Overrated? You fuckin' serious? The 2011 Mavs championship team is one of the best championship teams in the last 10 years. They beat a Portland team that no one thought they could beat. They swept the Lakers. The Lakers were the two time defending NBA champs and the three time defending Western Conference champs. The Mavs beat a Thunder team that had Durant, Westbrook, and Harden. And finally, the Mavs beat a Heat that had Wade, Lebron, and Bosh. Weren't the Mavs the first team to win the NBA Finals after losing game 3 when the series was tied 1-1? The Mavs also won their championship without HCA in the Finals. Can the Spurs claim that? Thank you. And the Mavs were down twice in the Finals against the Heat but still won.

[FkLA]

Who didnt think they could beat Portland? :lol

The Lakers were running on fumes. Since even the '10 run they had shown that there were chips in their armor, they were a terribly inconsistent team on the road and Kome was chucking at lower percentages than he is now...they were alot closer to the level of the '12 Lakers than the '10 Lakers. If you believe the hype that they were just laying low waiting to turn the playoff switch on (like is always the case with the Lakers according to the media) then I guess that was an impressive series win. I wasnt so much surprised that the Mavs won as much as I was that they swept them, but if you think about it Kobe-led teams usually fold when faced when adversity so it shouldnt have been that surprising tbh.The Thunder were a 4th seed that year. They were considered the future of the Western Conference but werent the power they are today.The Heat were the better team. The Mavs winning was strongly aided by LeBron choking, if he plays even close to his potential instead of scared Heat win.

The 2011 Mavs arent the worst but theyre not anywhere near one of the best of all-time either. Noone outside of ST (full of mavfans and mk suck ups) gives them that distinction.

[Latarian Milton]

06' champs might probably be the weakest of all since the turn of the century. we got through the east and didn't face much challenge, in the finals we beat them mavs who were highly flawed. take the 06' heat to today's league i'd be happy with the team making the 2nd round tbh

[ambchang]

70's
78 Bullets
79 Sonics
75 Warrirors

80's
None, they were all pretty damn strong

90's
None, they were all pretty damn strong

00's
02 Kings
06 Mavs

[AaronY]

That Mavs team was awesome in the playoffs. I know everyone assumes they still would have lost in the '12 playoffs if they would have kep that team together but I dunno...

[AaronY]

Every playoff series they played got progressively more lop sided. Like the first few games Dallas would barely win then by they would be blowing teams out by 20-30. Carlisle coached the shit out of that playoffs. Made some great mid series adjustments

[Jumi]

As a Spurs fan I hate to say this, but that 2011 Mavs team was simply, amazing! That playoff run was great and no one actually saw it coming! To say they were one of the worst champs is totally bs! Hates off to ya, Mavs!

[Findog]

Who didnt think they could beat Portland? :lol

The Lakers were running on fumes. Since even the '10 run they had shown that there were chips in their armor, they were a terribly inconsistent team on the road and Kome was chucking at lower percentages than he is now...they were alot closer to the level of the '12 Lakers than the '10 Lakers. If you believe the hype that they were just laying low waiting to turn the playoff switch on (like is always the case with the Lakers according to the media) then I guess that was an impressive series win. I wasnt so much surprised that the Mavs won as much as I was that they swept them, but if you think about it Kobe-led teams usually fold when faced when adversity so it shouldnt have been that surprising tbh.The Thunder were a 4th seed that year. They were considered the future of the Western Conference but werent the power they are today.The Heat were the better team. The Mavs winning was strongly aided by LeBron choking, if he plays even close to his potential instead of scared Heat win.

The 2011 Mavs arent the worst but theyre not anywhere near one of the best of all-time either. Noone outside of ST (full of mavfans and mk suck ups) gives them that distinction.

Several media guys picked the Blazers to upset the Mavs. Portland was a trendy pick to win that series:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8245/8471277348_374e95b3a9_b.jpg

It was an impressive run to beat the teams that they did. That doesn't make them the 86 Celtics or the 96 Bulls, but no need to shit on what they did.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

The fact nobody has even mentioned the 04 Pistons as part of the discussion is hilarious. They're the one modern era team that won a championship without a top 10 player (while arguably every other team has had a top 5 player) on its roster and was the 18th best offensive team that year. People somehow use the fact they didn't have a top 10 player as a reason to prop them up but the reality is winning a title in the modern era without a top 10 player requires a big element of luck. They were taken to 7 games by the Nets teams people in this thread have been talking shit about when they had HCA and won a conference that still largely sucked. The team they played in the finals was giving the likes of Slava Medvedenko, Luke Walton and Kareem Rush consistent minutes because it was running on fumes with a starting PF playing on one leg and of course a shooting guard who was determined to keep the ball out of Shaq's hands and for better or worse chuck 20+ shots a game.

[J.T.]

2007 was just a terrible year for the NBA...one of the most uninteresting seasons and postseasons in my lifetime. LeBron's Game 5 and the GSW-Dallas series are the only things worth mentioning that year.

Robert Horry bodychecking Nash into the scorer's table was a pretty epic moment of that postseason tbh, and according to Grantland that's the hit that closed Nash's window. . . .

[J.T.]

The fact nobody has even mentioned the 04 Pistons as part of the discussion is hilarious. They're the one modern era team that won a championship without a top 10 player (while arguably every other team has had a top 5 player) on its roster and was the 18th best offensive team that year. People somehow use the fact they didn't have a top 10 player as a reason to prop them up but the reality is winning a title in the modern era without a top 10 player requires a big element of luck. They were taken to 7 games by the Nets teams people in this thread have been talking shit about when they had HCA and won a conference that still largely sucked. The team they played in the finals was giving the likes of Slava Medvedenko, Luke Walton and Kareem Rush consistent minutes because it was running on fumes with a starting PF playing on one leg and of course a shooting guard who was determined to keep the ball out of Shaq's hands and for better or worse chuck 20+ shots a game.

SpursTalk hearts Deeeee-troit Basket-baaaaall, didn't you know?

[jeebus]

The fact nobody has even mentioned the 04 Pistons as part of the discussion is hilarious. They're the one modern era team that won a championship without a top 10 player (while arguably every other team has had a top 5 player) on its roster and was the 18th best offensive team that year. People somehow use the fact they didn't have a top 10 player as a reason to prop them up but the reality is winning a title in the modern era without a top 10 player requires a big element of luck. They were taken to 7 games by the Nets teams people in this thread have been talking shit about when they had HCA and won a conference that still largely sucked. The team they played in the finals was giving the likes of Slava Medvedenko, Luke Walton and Kareem Rush consistent minutes because it was running on fumes with a starting PF playing on one leg and of course a shooting guard who was determined to keep the ball out of Shaq's hands and for better or worse chuck 20+ shots a game.
Earlier I thought about posting the '04 Pistons but I really didn't wanna type out why and the sort. But thanks to your classy post, I can just quote it and say "what he said".

[monosylab1k]

Yeah the Pistons don't get mentioned because of all the Piston Krew suckups like Fkla who want to believe their boring ass 05 series was the best basketball ever witnessed.

[HarlemHeat37]

2006 Heat
2004 Pistons
2003 Spurs/2002 Lakers

That would be the 4 worst title teams of the post-Jordan era IMO..

[TDfan2007]

2006 Heat
2004 Pistons
2003 Spurs/2002 Lakers

That would be the 4 worst title teams of the post-Jordan era IMO..

:tu

I'll go even further and rank them (from best to worst):
1. 2002 Lakers
2. 2003 Spurs
3. 2004 Pistons
4. 2006 Heat

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

SpursTalk hearts Deeeee-troit Basket-baaaaall, didn't you know?

Yeah that's basically what I was getting at. On any other basketball message board they'd get discussed, but since Detroit is the classiest team outside of San Antonio they don't here.

[AaronY]

The Pistons defense in the regular season after they acquired Rasheed was like the best 30 game stretch on NBA history iirc.

i don't think anyone claims they were a great or even very good offensive team.

[baseline bum]

The Nets of 02 and 03 had several decent offensive options. Those Cavs had a 22-yr old LeBron James and a handful of shit.

LOL Keith Van Horn, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Kerry Kittles > prime LeBron

[DAF86]

Fluke. Big Daddy Tyson trade to OKC goes through and that run doesn't even happen. Didn't help they blew it up for fatass and the drama queen.

Do you imagine OKC with Chandler instead of Perkins? NBA=F:lolcked would have reached a whole 'nother level.

[baseline bum]

07 Spurs
95 Rockets
06 Heat


If we're going by post-Magic and Bird, I think you can make an argument for the second Rockets team or the lockout 99 Spurs.

Why the 95 Rockets? The 94 team was Hakeem + crap, but the 95 team with Drexler? They went through 60 win Utah, 59 win Phoenix, 62 win San Antonio, and 57 win Orlando, all without homecourt.

[FkLA]

Several media guys picked the Blazers to upset the Mavs. Portland was a trendy pick to win that series:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8245/8471277348_374e95b3a9_b.jpg

It was an impressive run to beat the teams that they did. That doesn't make them the 86 Celtics or the 96 Bulls, but no need to shit on what they did.

ESPN analysts are stupid tbh, Im sure none of them gave Dallas a chance in the semis vs the Lakers even though like I said earlier the Lakers were clearly running on fumes. Either way thats far from nobody believing they could beat a lower seeded team. Im not shitting on them either bro, everybody always thinks that cause I dont fall in line with slobbering the Mavs or Dirk that Im shitting on them...I dont think theyre anywhere near the worst but I also wouldnt say theyre anywhere near one of the best champs. I mean what part of my previous post wasnt true? Its hard to consider their run one of the best ever when it could be argued that without a massive chokejob from LeBron they might not have even been the best team in the league that year.

[baseline bum]

LOL people saying 2011 Mavs. That team became unbeatable after blowing that huge lead in Portland. That LA series they went and took their cookie from behind in game 1 and then 2,3,4 were complete laughers. Then they dispatched a really good OKC team in 5, and Chandler, Marion, and Stevenson forced James to take jump shots all Finals.

[timvp]

I'm going by the teams I actually watched myself in my life time which is pretty much starting from the Magic era during the 80's. Also look at that list again, though the story has yet to be told there hasn't been 1 team since the early 90's that was 1 and done. Someway, somehow it has been either back to back, or 1 every other year or something of that nature. I am confident that the 2011 Mavs will not be back to the NBA finals anytime soon at least (next 2-3 seasons).

Also I would want to pick that Detroit 2004 team but everyone in sports knows they were considered the greatest defensive team in SPORTS history. I was actually listening to the radio the other day and most people voted that 2004 team being the greatest defensive team in sports history, including the NFL, NHL, etc.

Weird take considering the Spurs were actually the best defensive team in the league that season.

[FkLA]

The Pistons defense in the regular season after they acquired Rasheed was like the best 30 game stretch on NBA history iirc.

i don't think anyone claims they were a great or even very good offensive team.

Yeah, its dumb to mention their offense/lack of superstar but completely fail to mention that they were one of the best defensive teams of all-time. But DoK mentioned it so of course all these people agree and were thinking the same thing all along. :lol

[baseline bum]

The fact nobody has even mentioned the 04 Pistons as part of the discussion is hilarious. They're the one modern era team that won a championship without a top 10 player (while arguably every other team has had a top 5 player) on its roster and was the 18th best offensive team that year. People somehow use the fact they didn't have a top 10 player as a reason to prop them up but the reality is winning a title in the modern era without a top 10 player requires a big element of luck. They were taken to 7 games by the Nets teams people in this thread have been talking shit about when they had HCA and won a conference that still largely sucked. The team they played in the finals was giving the likes of Slava Medvedenko, Luke Walton and Kareem Rush consistent minutes because it was running on fumes with a starting PF playing on one leg and of course a shooting guard who was determined to keep the ball out of Shaq's hands and for better or worse chuck 20+ shots a game.

No one mentions the 04 Pistons because of the way they completely humiliated LA. I know with hindsight everyone likes to act like that series was no surprise, but at the time the Lakers were enormous favorites to win and everyone thought the second round series with the Spurs was the Finals (especially with Cassell and Hudson both injured in the WCF). Most NBA fans had Fisher's shot as the one that won the title and everyone was expecting an 02 Finals or an 07 Finals that series. I still remember how stunned Al Micheals sounded all game when the Pistons came into Staples and just rolled them over in game 1. At the time that was considered the biggest upset in NBA history, and Pistons were killing them well before Malone got injured in game 2.

[baseline bum]

Early 70s are by far the weakest champions. The ABA actually had more talent than the NBA back then (since they were paying higher salaries). For practical purposes, the NBA reached an acceptable level the year Magic and Bird entered the league. You can look before that but that era was comparable to like the 1800s in baseball, IMO.

Early 70s? The ABA didn't start outclassing the NBA's talent until 73 or 74. The 70 and 73 Knicks with Reed, Monroe, Frazier, and Debuscchere were pretty talented, the 71 Bucks with Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson, and Dandridge were stacked, and the 71-72 Lakers with Chamberlain, West, and Goodrich? Gotta disagree with you there. Pretty much any champion from 74-79 was crap though, not counting the 77 Blazers since Walton was such an amazing player.

[FkLA]

^Not to mention if Kobe doesnt make that bullshit shot at the end of regulation in Game 2, Detroit sweeps with none of the other games even being close.

[TDMVPDPOY]

07 has to be up there for the sole purpose of the clown who stole the fmvp

doesnt even spawn for the first 3 rounds, and spawns up against a scrub pg name after a boobie

[AaronY]

Weird take considering the Spurs were actually the best defensive team in the league that season.
The pistons with Rasheed dramatically improved so that while they may have finished 2nd or 3rd or whatever they were historically good in the regular season games they played with him

[Killakobe81]

LOL people saying 2011 Mavs. That team became unbeatable after blowing that huge lead in Portland. That LA series they went and took their cookie from behind in game 1 and then 2,3,4 were complete laughers. Then they dispatched a really good OKC team in 5, and Chandler, Marion, and Stevenson forced James to take jump shots all Finals.

I was at Game 3 it was not a laugher ... they came from behind and stuck a fork in dem Lakers ... It was only like a 6 point game IIRC ... and Lakers led for a chunk of that game.


Games 4 however ...

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

No one mentions the 04 Pistons because of the way they completely humiliated LA. I know with hindsight everyone likes to act like that series was no surprise, but at the time the Lakers were enormous favorites to win and everyone thought the second round series with the Spurs was the Finals (especially with Cassell and Hudson both injured in the WCF). Most NBA fans had Fisher's shot as the one that won the title and everyone was expecting an 02 Finals or an 07 Finals that series. I still remember how stunned Al Micheals sounded all game when the Pistons came into Staples and just rolled them over in game 1. At the time that was considered the biggest upset in NBA history, and Pistons were killing them well before Malone got injured in game 2.
Going into that series, I don't think anyone expected Kobe to make such a concerted effort to keep the ball out of Shaq's hands and chuck his team out of the series.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

The Pistons defense in the regular season after they acquired Rasheed was like the best 30 game stretch on NBA history iirc.

i don't think anyone claims they were a great or even very good offensive team.

Yeah, they were a great defensive team. As was all but every other that's won a championship the last 20 years. The other teams however didn't lack a star player and didn't have a below average offense.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Yeah, its dumb to mention their offense/lack of superstar but completely fail to mention that they were one of the best defensive teams of all-time. But DoK mentioned it so of course all these people agree and were thinking the same thing all along. :lol

I'm mentioning why they're a weak championship team. Their defense isn't a reason why they're a weak championship team, so why the hell would I mention it?

[monosylab1k]

LOL people saying 2011 Mavs. That team became unbeatable after blowing that huge lead in Portland. That LA series they went and took their cookie from behind in game 1 and then 2,3,4 were complete laughers. Then they dispatched a really good OKC team in 5, and Chandler, Marion, and Stevenson forced James to take jump shots all Finals.

:cry you're just a mav krew suckup :cry

[z0sa]

Pretty much every team before Walton's Blazers IMHO.

[Leetonidas]

2006 Heat are severely underrated. They had Wade at his peak, a still relevant Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, Udonis Halsem, and Antonio Walker rounding out a very solid frontcourt rotation, along with Payton and Williams at the PG. Not a horrible squad by any stretch of the imagination

[z0sa]

2006 Heat are severely underrated. They had Wade at his peak, a still relevant Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, Udonis Halsem, and Antonio Walker rounding out a very solid frontcourt rotation, along with Payton and Williams at the PG. Not a horrible squad by any stretch of the imagination

it was the Wade reffing catastrophe and their 2007 follow up why most people hate on em tbh

[Suspect]

2013 Thunder

[DeadlyDynasty]

2013 Thunder

Who's the broad?

[Suspect]

Who's the broad?
Ill tell you when the lakers get over .500

[phxspurfan]

Bad Boy Pistons. Granted I grew up in the mid-late 90s, but no one seemed to remember or care about Isaiah Thomas. They were just champions because they were allowed to make basketball a giant slugfest.

[Budkin]

1947 Philadelphia Warriors

[Latarian Milton]

The Mavs 2011 championship is the best because it was sweet revenge. Yes, I'm a homer and proud of it. It was awesome to see the Mavs get their first championship by beating them that stole their championship in 2006. It was great to see Wade lose and not get love at the FT line. I loved seeing that piece of shit lose and finally being humbled by the Mavs and Dirk.

11' championship was one of the most surprising ones in NBA history. beating portland in the first round was no surprise, then they came up as underdogs against the lakers and no one expected them to survive this, but to everyone's (excluding stretch and ghazi, of course) surprise, they swept the lakers and went on to beat OKC in the conference finals.

then it came to the finals against miami, again the mavs were widely considered the underdog and their chance started to look diminished after losing to miami in the crucial game 3. however, the mavs took advantage of miami's complacency and rescued themselves from what could've been a bitter replica of the 06' series. 11' were surely not the strongest team to win the championship in the past decade but the miami-dallas series that year was one of the classiest of all time, that's the point you want to make i guess.

[Pelicans78]

2006 Heat in the last 10 years.

[Latarian Milton]

pistons didn't get mentioned because they were a perennial contender and one of the most consistent teams around that time imho. they continued to make the finals the right next year in 05 and only got beaten in the hands of spurs who were arguably the best team to win the NBA title in the past decade, then they made the conference finals in two consecutive years thereafter. it was like when you talked about eastern conference finals it was always the pistons vs. another team, niggas fucking owned the east back then tbh

[Ashy Larry]

2006 Heat
2004 Pistons
2003 Spurs/2002 Lakers

That would be the 4 worst title teams of the post-Jordan era IMO..

http://www.totalprosports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/30-david-robinson-photobobmed-best-sports-gifs-of-2012.gif

[Arnold Toht]

:lmao ESPN Dallas' MacMahon went against the Mavs that series

[mercos]

Of the years I watched (starting in 1995-96) the 2006 Miami Heat are the worst champions. They won the title with hero ball, and largely at the free throw line, legitimately or not. They were not the best team that year IMO, and would not have won without the NBA's slanted superstar rules.