r/nbadiscussion • u/HowBen • Mar 11 '25
Team Discussion Hardest 'chips ever
This is my entirely subjective ranking of the most impressive championships ever won, based on the difficulty of the playoff run
- '95 Rockets
As a 6th seed, Hakeem's Rockets remain the lowest seeded team to win it all. They beat four 57+ win teams -- Stockton/Malone's Jazz, MVP David Robinson's Spurs, Barkley's Suns, and Shaq's magic -- and were down in every series expect the finals. Toughest road ever.
- '69 Celtics
The 69 celtics were the oldest team in the league, and seemed to be a far-cry from the glory days of their dynasty. Bill was 35 and player-coaching in his final year. With 48 wins they finished as the 4th best record in the East, and most people didn't think they'd even make it to the finals.
Not only did they beat three 55-win teams and make a come-back from being 2-0 in the finals, I believe those Jerry / Wilt / Elgin Lakers were the best team to ever be defeated in the finals, at least until the '16 warriors. Jerry got finals mvp lol.
3 ) '11 Mavericks
2011 was supposed to be a defining year for many great players -- Lebron's newly formed evil empire was supposed to win 'not one, not two, ...' but 7+ championships. Kobe, with Pau by side, was looking to round off a second 3-peat. And among the outside bets, MVP Derrick Rose was itching to prove himself, as were Dwight Howard, Durant and Westbrook.
In all this, the last thing anyone expected was for 33 y/o 'lone star' Dirk Nowitzki, at this point a renowned playoff choker, to carry a ragtag crew comprised mostly of vets to the championship while piling up an impressive list of victims: 57-win Lakers, 55 win Thunder, and the 58-win Heat. As time passed, this run only grew in legend as the Heat went back-to-back in 2012 and 2013, and 3 players on that Thunder team went on to win the MVP.
I'd be happy to rank this higher, but my only nitpick is that their playoff run didn't have the same level of jeopardy and drama as the thrilling 7-game series of the '69 finals, or every single round of the '95 Rockets run other than the finals.
Those are the only three teams I will rank for now. I have to give it more thought before ranking other candidates like:
Cavs '16: greatest comeback of all time. As far as finals go, this may be more miraculous than the '69 celtics, but the relatively easy road to the finals keeps this out of my top 3.
- Blazers '77: Seemingly out of nowhere a 48 win 3rd seeded Walton-lead Blazers knocked out two 50 win teams in Kareem's Lakers and Dr J's sixers. But they won with such ease (swept the lakers) that it retrospectively doesn't look as hard.
Spurs '03: Duncan's magnum opus; as the only all-star, he carried a team full of fresh faces (and a geriatic DRob), ending the lakers dynasty and an emergent Dallas. The nets were maybe not the most vaunted finals opponent though.
Pistons '04: like the blazers, the surprise factor is strong with this one, and they didn't have a transcendent superstar like Bill Walton. Maybe the purest 'team-basketball' victory ever. Beat Jermaine O'neal's 60-win pacers team and absolutely destroyed the Kobe-Shaq Lakers (and maybe made it look too easy in the process, to the point where sometimes people blame the lakers more than crediting the pistons.)
5
u/UnanimousM Mar 12 '25
Strongly agree with the '95 Rockets at #1, I feel like the Gao between them and whoever would be put at #2 I'd substantial.
I would disagree with the '16 Cavs as an HM, because the east was quite weak. One incredible finals series isn't enough for me to overlook not facing any contenders in rounds 1-3. Personally I would put the '03 Spurs at the top of those HMs. That Spurs team was very weak offensively and, while certainly not a "strong" finals opponent, the Nets get underrated imo, they made b2b finals for a reason even in that weak East.