The Miami Heat will play the Boston Celtics for the third time in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals since the Heath in 1989.
Both previous times – in 2012 and 2020 – the heat came out on top.
Obviously, the Boston Celtics is one of the most famous NBA franchises.
With 17 NBA titles, they are the most in league history with the Los Angeles Lakers.
But if you beat the NBA since 1990, then only the Celtics would take ninth place as the most prolific NBA team in the NBA Finals.
During this 32-year period, the Celtics participated in two NBA finals – won in 2008 and lost in 2010.
According to statista.com, the average age in the United States is 38.1 years, meaning that about half of the country’s population has not been alive during 14 of the 17 championships. And they were very young for two of them (apart from 2008, they also won in 1984 and 1986, just 38 and 36 years ago).
More work from Tim Walters:
Listen now !:Spring football is here; High school recruitment guru breaks Florida
ICYMI ::Reach out to the draft Jaguars, Buccaneers, Dolphins with three podcasts
Based on their performances in the NBA Finals, eight teams have been more successful than the Celtics, who have played one win and one loss since the Mauritius since 1990.
Both teams are still alive in their pursuit of the NBA title as the Mavericks knocked out the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night and play the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
Some of the teams ahead of the Celtics had title clusters, while other franchises retained greatness for decades.
Here are the franchises that I consider the top 5 in the NBA for the past 32 years, taking into account the performances in the finals, sustainable greatness and overall stability.
5. Golden State Warriors
In the early 1990s, the Warriors had hilarious teams with Chris Malen, Tim Hardway and Mitch Richmond, but they failed to do anything significant. After the band, known as “Run TMC”, was disbanded, the 12-year-old team – from 1995 to 2006 – did not reach the playoffs. In fact, after reaching the 2007 playoffs, they did not return to the playoffs until 2013.
Includes Steph Curry, Clay Thompson and Drayman Green. Thanks to a great draft, the Warriors have been one of the best teams in the last decade. They won the NBA title in 2015, then captured Kevin Durant and two more titles in 2017 and 2018. Had it not been for the amazing return of the Cleveland Cavaliers under LeBron James in 2016 and a bit of luck with injury in 2019, the Warriors could would win five in a row.
Due to injuries to both Curry and Thompson, the team suffered a two-year setback but returned to the NBA elite in 2022 when playing in the Western Conference final against the Mavericks in hopes of winning another NBA title.
4. Chicago Bulls
Since 1990, the Bulls have equaled the most NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers – 6. However, their greatness essentially ended with the resignation of Michael Jordan in 1998.
They have reached the playoffs 12 times in the 24 years since his Airness retired, but have lost in the first round eight of those 12 times. They made it to the conference finals in 2011 thanks in large part to Derrick Rose, but they are still looking for the greatness they haven’t had in more than 20 years. Despite this, they deserve to be in the top 5 since 1990.
3. San Antonio Spears
David Robinson did not play his first two years in the NBA because he was in the U.S. Navy. He finally made his debut in 1989 and led the Spurs for a long decade, holding the playoffs for seven consecutive years from 1990-96. However, in the 1996-97 season, Robinson injured his back, then broke his leg and missed most of the season, leaving the Spurs the third worst record in the league.
The curse eventually became a blessing. That year, Spurs won the Draft Lottery and selected Tim Duncan of Wake Forest №1 overall. With Robinson and Duncan, the team won two NBA titles in 1999 and 2003. Robinson then resigned, but with the advent of Tony Parker and Manu Ginabili “Spurs” won three more titles in 2005, 2007 and 2007. 2014. The Spurs have missed the playoffs for the past three years, but it’s still a franchise you believe in at the start of each season because they still have their own head coach stone – Greg Popovich.
2. Miami Heath
It was a tough choice between Heat and Spurs in second place, but here’s why I did it: The Heat maintained a high level for most of its existence, developing talent and making good deals to stay on top in several different iterations.
The 1990s had great teams with Tim Hardaway and Alonza Marning. They reached the playoffs eight of the 10 years in the 1990s.
In 2004, they drafted Dwayne Wade and then signed Shaquille O’Neill the following season. In 2006, they won the NBA title together. Four years later, together with Wade, they assembled the most popular super team in NBA history, signing James and Chris Bosch, attracting many veterans who were also stars, such as Ray Allen, Gary Peyton, Antoine Walker and others.
After reaching the finals all four years together – two wins and two defeats – the super team fell apart, and eventually everyone left town. It would have hurt most of the franchises, but Pat Riley and Eric Spoelstra, fearless, embarked on a quick reconstruction.
Thanks to the good draft of Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson and Tyler Héroe, as well as the signatures of veterans such as Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and PJ Tucker, the team reached the final in 2020 and lost, and may return this year if successful get the heat. past the Celtics. They reached six NBA Finals, tying the Bulls and Spurs in second place since 1990, and won three times. To maintain perfection for decades, the heat is № 2.
1. Los Angeles Lakers
Speaking of perfection for decades, the Los Angeles Lakers embody it. Since 1990, they have tied most of the titles with the Bulls – six, and they have played the most matches – 9.
After Magic Johnson’s sudden retirement in 1991 due to his HIV diagnosis, the Lakers could be in big trouble. To some extent they were, but they still made the playoffs every year in the 1990s except 1994. Their fate changed when the team signed free agent Shaquille O’Neal in 1996. Shaq then received as a gift the recently drafted Kobe Bryant in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets.
In 2000-2002, the duo won three titles in a row. After Shaq left Los Angeles, Kobe wanted to establish himself as grand, but for that he needed his own titles. He did it in 2009 and then did it again in 2010. The Lakers got into a tough time in 2014-19, missing the playoffs every year, but after bringing James on board won the title in the abbreviated 2020 pandemic. The Lakers struggled with this In a year as he got older, LeBron couldn’t make the playoffs with the often-injured Anthony Davis and the unstable Russell Westbrook. However, being the Lakers, you expect that they will soon attract another well-known free agent and return to their path of greatness.
Contact Walters at twalters@gannett.com
Here is a list of the top 10 NBA teams in the NBA Finals
Rank / Team / Finals / Final
9. Mavericks: 2 (1-1)
9. Celtics: 2 (1-1)
8. Rockets: 2 (2-0)
7. Pistons: 3 (2-1)
6. Cavaliers: 5 (1-4)
5. Warriors: 5 (3-2)
4. Heating: 6 (3-3)
3. Bulls: 6 (6-0)
2. Spurs: 6 (5-1)
1. Lakers: 9 (6-3)
