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Championship Disparity

Rimcheck

Rimcheck

Member
I just read the following statistic, and it is really disheartening. It makes it even more difficult to be optimistic about my team's chances of ever winning a title.

"In the previous 63 NBA Finals, the Celtics (21) and Lakers (31) have combined for 52 appearances. And 32 NBA titles. (That's half.)" If you add in the 10 titles between the Bulls and Spurs, that means that 67% of the NBA championships have been won by 4 teams.

17 Boston Celtics 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969
1974 1976 1981 1984 1986,2008
15 Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1972 1980 1982 1985 1987 1988
2000 2001 2002,2009
6 Chicago Bulls 1991 1992 1993 1996 1997 1998
4 San Antonio Spurs 1999 2003 2005 2007
3 Philadelphia/Golden State Warriors 1947 1956 1975
3 Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers 1955 1967 1983
3 Detroit Pistons 1989 1990 2004
2 Baltimore/Washington Bullets 1948 1978
2 Houston Rockets 1994 1995
2 New York Knickerbockers 1970 1973
1 Miami Heat 2006
1 Milwaukee Bucks 1971
1 Portland Trailblazers 1977
1 Rochester Royals 1951
1 Saint Louis Hawks 1958
1 Seattle Supersonics 1979

The following teams have NEVER won:
Jazz
Timberwolves
Pacers
Nuggets
Grizzlies
Mavericks
Hornets
Clippers
Kings
Suns
Nets (although I think they won an ABA championship)
Cavaliers
Bobcats
Hawks (although they did win one when they were in St. Louis)
Magic
Raptors
 
"Compare that to the other leagues.

Counting this year, the last 30 Stanley Cup Finals, will have yielded 14 different champions.

The last 30 Super Bowls have crowed 15 different teams as Lombardi Trophy winners.

And the league that often gets mentioned the most as somehow having the least parity, Major League Baseball, has produced an amazing 19 different teams as winners over the last three decades.

Take a look at how many different teams, over the last 30 years, made it to their league’s respective final series.

* NBA: 18
* NHL: 22
* NFL: 25
* MLB: 25
"
 
Since the Jazz b2b western conference titles, the Lakers have won the west 6 times, Spurs 4 times, and the Mavs once. And that's just displaying the lack of parity this decade in our conference. Chicago won the east 6 times in the 90's, the Knicks twice, Detroit and Orlando once each (a little better but not so much considering Detroit was also there in '89 and resurgent early this decade). Very, very disheartening. The only real anamoly in my lifetime was the Heat winning one (pisses me off since they sucked forever and the Jazz have been good almost every yr in my existence and never won one, blame whomever but i blame horrible timing mostly because our best teams happened to be before the Bulls dynasty ended, not when MJ was playing baseball although we kinda choked to Houston the 2nd time but, so did the Suns, Spurs, and Magic thereafter)
 
Pretty easy to see why though. Basketball is more star driven than any other sport and with fewer players on the playing area it makes them even more of a factor. Factor in the CBA and how they can keep those guys together for as long as they can and that's what you got.

LA - Shaq/Kobe Gasol/Kobe
SA - Duncan/Robinson Duncan/Parker/Ginolbli
Bulls - Jordan/Pippen
HOU - Hakeem/Drexler

The best players win and win often. The only way they change it is if they limit contract length and institute a hard cap.
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
Pretty easy to see why though. Basketball is more star driven than any other sport and with fewer players on the playing area it makes them even more of a factor. Factor in the CBA and how they can keep those guys together for as long as they can and that's what you got.

LA - Shaq/Kobe Gasol/Kobe
SA - Duncan/Robinson Duncan/Parker/Ginolbli
Bulls - Jordan/Pippen
HOU - Hakeem/Drexler

The best players win and win often. The only way they change it is if they limit contract length and institute a hard cap.
Click to expand...

This was what I was going to bring up. Hopefully when they re-negotiate the CBA there is will some changes with partially guaranteed contracts, shorter contract terms, etc. That is the only thing I see changing this issue.
 
NBA sucks. When will David Stern sacrifice a virgin in the name of the Utah Jazz to win the title? Or do I have to do that myself...
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
"Compare that to the other leagues.

Counting this year, the last 30 Stanley Cup Finals, will have yielded 14 different champions.

The last 30 Super Bowls have crowed 15 different teams as Lombardi Trophy winners.

And the league that often gets mentioned the most as somehow having the least parity, Major League Baseball, has produced an amazing 19 different teams as winners over the last three decades.

Take a look at how many different teams, over the last 30 years, made it to their league’s respective final series.

* NBA: 18
* NHL: 22
* NFL: 25
* MLB: 25
"
Click to expand...

Wow... those are interesting numbers. Because I am one of those guys that whine about there being no parity in Baseball.
 
Just listened to a David Stern press conference that happened a day or two ago. He had nothing but praise for Boston and LA. One reporter asked about championship disparity and he gave props to Jerry Buss, Bill Russell and others from those two organizations. Then he basically said they are the two best teams because they know how to put together winning basketball teams. NOPE! Here is how you put together a winning basketball team, $$$.

Highest NBA Payroll: Source https://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm
#1 Lakers - $91 million
#3 Celtics - $86 million
#10 Jazz - $74 million

If the Jazz added another all star caliber player in the $12 - $17 million range, we'd likely be in the finals too.
 
Rimcheck said:
Just listened to a David Stern press conference that happened a day or two ago. He had nothing but praise for Boston and LA. One reporter asked about championship disparity and he gave props to Jerry Buss, Bill Russell and others from those two organizations. Then he basically said they are the two best teams because they know how to put together winning basketball teams. NOPE! Here is how you put together a winning basketball team, $$$.

Highest NBA Payroll: Source https://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm
#1 Lakers - $91 million
#3 Celtics - $86 million
#10 Jazz - $74 million

If the Jazz added another all star caliber player in the $12 - $17 million range, we'd likely be in the finals too.
Click to expand...

NYK Portland and Dallas have all spent like crazy and have no championships to speak of. SA & DET have both spent fairly close to a lot of playoff teams and have had a lot of success. Money does not equal championships.
 
NYK Portland and Dallas have all spent like crazy and have no championships to speak of. SA & DET have both spent fairly close to a lot of playoff teams and have had a lot of success. Money does not equal championships.
Click to expand...

This is a good point Chad. Great players and coaches equal championships, but in many cases, it requires a lot of $$ to attract the great ones. :)
 
Most championship teams are built through the draft and trades. Not attracting free agents.

Key players for championship series
Lakers: Gasol (trade) Kobe(traded for on draft day)Odom(trade)Bynum(draft)
Celtics: Pierce(draft) Ray Allen(trade) Garnett(trade) Rondo (draft)
Suns: Nash(FA but Dallas could have matched and kept him) Amare (draft) JRich(trade)
ORL: Howard (draft) Nelson(draft) Carter(trade) Lewis(FA, but he is their 4th best player.)

The only one I can think of in the last 10-15 years who was signed as a big time FA and made his team win championships was Shaq. Spurs were built through the draft. Pistons through draft and trades. Miami draft and trades Bulls draft and trades.
 
Based on the draft/trade formula, the Jazz simply need to not win for two or three seasons and finally get some high first rounders (excluding the Dwill trade up).
Because it is pretty apparent that the Jazz FO cannot pull off a big trade. Biggest trade we've pulled off for an existing NBA player in the last 10 years was probably Kyle Korver.
 
Some of it is luck/and or good management. Look at SA. They get two #1 picks overall and then a couple diamonds in the rough (Parker and Ginobli) pair that with a great coach.

Trades aren't always the answer. Dallas has made some big trades and and haven't come up with anything out of it. Detroit has and Miami has.

There is no perfect formula.

What sucks is when one team gets good they stay good for too long. i.e. Lakers, Spurs, Bulls.
 
Rimcheck said:
I just read the following statistic, and it is really disheartening. It makes it even more difficult to be optimistic about my team's chances of ever winning a title.

"In the previous 63 NBA Finals, the Celtics (21) and Lakers (31) have combined for 52 appearances. And 32 NBA titles. (That's half.)" If you add in the 10 titles between the Bulls and Spurs, that means that 67% of the NBA championships have been won by 4 teams.

17 Boston Celtics 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969
1974 1976 1981 1984 1986,2008
15 Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1972 1980 1982 1985 1987 1988
2000 2001 2002,2009
6 Chicago Bulls 1991 1992 1993 1996 1997 1998
4 San Antonio Spurs 1999 2003 2005 2007
3 Philadelphia/Golden State Warriors 1947 1956 1975
3 Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers 1955 1967 1983
3 Detroit Pistons 1989 1990 2004
2 Baltimore/Washington Bullets 1948 1978
2 Houston Rockets 1994 1995
2 New York Knickerbockers 1970 1973
1 Miami Heat 2006
1 Milwaukee Bucks 1971
1 Portland Trailblazers 1977
1 Rochester Royals 1951
1 Saint Louis Hawks 1958
1 Seattle Supersonics 1979

The following teams have NEVER won:
Jazz
Timberwolves
Pacers
Nuggets
Grizzlies
Mavericks
Hornets
Clippers
Kings
Suns
Nets (although I think they won an ABA championship)
Cavaliers
Bobcats
Hawks (although they did win one when they were in St. Louis)
Magic
Raptors
Click to expand...

I don't make appearances in General NBA all that often, but I found this and just couldn't resist myself:

Q. I agree with you the Lakers Celtics is exciting but it also underscores the fact that the majority of Finals appearances and championships have been concentrated among a small number of teams. Is that bad for the league, A? And B, is there anything that can be done about it?

COMMISSIONER DAVID STERN: Yeah, we could have taken Bill Russell and Red Auerbach away from the Celtics and deprived Dr. Buss of his ownership of the Lakers. He's been an owner for 30 years and the team has been in The Finals 15 times. You know, you give credit where credit is due, to Russ, to Jerry, to Red. That's what our sport is about. Hats off to the Lakers and the Celtics for being persistent and consistent winners in the league.
Click to expand...

What I heard:

Reporter: The majority of Finals appearances and championships have been concentrated among a small number of teams. Is that bad for the league, A? And B, is there anything that can be done about it?

Stern: ISN'T IT AMAZING THAT TWO ORGANIZATIONS CAN KEEP IT UP SO MANY YEARS?

Reporter: Mr Stern, I don't believe you answered my question. Neither part a or b.

Stern: CAN'T YOU JUST BE HAPPY FOR THE LAKERS AND CELTICS?

Reporter: I'm very happy for the--

Stern: CASE CLOSED. NEXT QUESTION
Click to expand...

So we've a commissioner that won't even think that it might be better for the organization as a whole to look into something like this. This bodes well for the NBA.
 
I think Stern knows there is a problem. He knows the players have WAY too much power and can destroy franchises with horrible 5 years contract disasters. Will getting rid of totally guaranteed contracts do it? I think it would help from keeping teams from being horrible so long (like the Knicks). Look what it has done with the NFL. However it is not a cure for inept owners and general managers. Those teams will always suck.
 
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