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The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #7, The 1971 Milwaukee Bucks

#7
The 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks
Regular Season: 66-16 (80.5)
Playoffs: 12-2 (85.7)
Total: 78-18 (81.3)

Award Winners;
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: League MVP, Finals MVP, 1st Team All-NBA, 2ndTeam All-Defense, All Star
Oscar Robertson: 2nd Team All-NBA, All Star

The Milwaukee Bucks were an expansion team that came into the league in 1968 and got very lucky very fast. Not surprisingly for a team in its debut season, the Bucks fared poorly, winning 27 games and winding up with the number one draft pick in 1969. There was clearly only one choice to make that year, and it was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor.

For you youngbloods who don’t know, Kareem was an absolute monster in both high school and college. His high school team, Power Memorial in New York City, won back to back national championships in 1963 and ‘64. He won three straight NCAA championships with UCLA in 1967, ‘68 and ‘69. He likely would’ve won four if he’d been allowed to play on the varsity team while he was a freshman, but it was against NCAA regulations at the time. He was so good as a freshman that in scrimmages, the freshmen team regularly beat the varsity squad. The NCAA even BANNED DUNKING because it made things too easy for him! This only helped him, as it led to him perfecting his unstoppable hook shot known as the skyhook. In his three years on the varsity team, UCLA lost two games. Two. Out of ninety. Anyway, he was good.

Here’s where Milwaukee’s luck really comes in: before David Stern introduced the draft lottery in 1985, the holder of the number one pick was literally decided by a coin toss between the worst team in the East and worst team in the West. The Bucks had been at the bottom of the Eastern Division in ‘68-69, with the Phoenix Suns being the worst in the West. The Bucks won the toss and grabbed Kareem without hesitation. The Suns got another center, the 6’10 Neal Walk. Walk actually had some pretty good seasons in Phoenix, but was out of the league by 1977. Milwaukee had more good luck in that draft, stealing future All Star Bob Dandridge at 45th overall.

The ‘69-70 season was a dramatic turnaround for the Bucks, who improved from 27 wins to 56. Even as a rookie, Kareem was one of the best players in the NBA, and the young Milwaukee team made it as far as the division finals. They lost in five games to a great New York Knicks team led by Walt Frazier and Willis Reed, but the Bucks were clearly on their way.

What put them over the top in 1970-71 was the arrival of veteran superstar point guard Oscar Robertson, who’d played his whole career with the Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings). The Royals hadn’t made the playoffs since 1967 and hadn’t made the Finals since 1951, when they were still in Rochester. It’s well known that Robertson didn’t get along well with his coach in Cincinnati, Celtics legend Bob Cousy. Whatever the reason for the trade, Oscar was happy to have a change of scene.

In 1970-71, it was 23 year old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who unsurprisingly put up the biggest numbers, averaging 31.7 points and 16 rebounds on 57.7% shooting. Did I tell you he was good? 32 year old Oscar Robertson brought 19.4 points, 8.2 assists and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 49.6% from the field and 85% at the line. 23 year old small forward Bob Dandridge put up 18.4 points and 8 rebounds on 50.9% shooting. 27 year old two guard Jon McGlocklin chipped in 15.8 points while shooting 53.5%. With all the ingredients together, the Bucks went 66-16 in the regular season and posted a 20 game winning streak during February and March, despite at one point having to play five games in six days! Imagine playing that much and still kicking everyone’s ass.

In 1970-71, the Bucks were shifted into the Western Conference and faced the 41-41 San Francisco Warriors in the first round, who were led by Nate Thurmond and Jerry Lucas. The Warriors were clearly not up to the challenge, and the Bucks won the first three games by between 11 and 14 points. San Francisco did pull out a 106-104 win in game four before having the door slammed in their faces in game five by a score of 136-86. Yes, that’s 50 points. Seven Bucks scored in double figures in that one, with Jon McGlocklin leading the way with 28. Kareem had 23 points and 17 rebounds.

Their next challenge was the 48-34 Los Angeles Lakers, featuring Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. The result was the same, with the Bucks winning in five games. Milwaukee crushed LA in four out of five by a margin of 18 to 23 points. LA did pull out an impressive 118-107 win at home in game three, with Wilt scoring 24 points and grabbing 24 rebounds. In Milwaukee’s 23 point win in game four, Kareem put up 31 points, 20 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 14 for 20.

In the NBA Finals, Milwaukee met the 42 win Baltimore Bullets, led by a young Wes Unseld, who’d managed to knock off the defending champion New York Knicks in the Eastern Finals. This series was the least challenging of all for the Bucks, and they swept the Bullets with the closest game being a 107-99 win at home in game three. Game two was the biggest blowout, with the Bucks winning 102-83 in Baltimore. Kareem led the way as usual, with 27 points and 24 rebounds and Oscar Robertson had 22 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds. Kareem was named Finals MVP, averaging 25 points, 17.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

The Bucks won over sixty games again in 1972 and ‘73 but lost in the second and first rounds respectively. In 1974 they had the league’s best record with 59 wins, but lost to John Havlicek, Dave Cowens and the Celtics in seven games in the Finals. Oscar Robertson retired after that season and the Bucks missed the playoffs in ‘75 for the first time since their debut season. That Summer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Lakers, where he went on to win five more championships in the ‘80s. Kareem had grown up in Manhattan and went to school in LA, and requested the trade as Milwaukee just wasn’t his kind of town. Even though he played most of his career and won most of his championships with the Lakers, I associate Kareem with the Bucks just as much. I think he looked really cool with the Afro and mutton chops in those old red white and green uniforms.

The Bucks had good teams throughout the ‘80s with guys like Sidney Moncrief and Marques Johnson, but still haven’t made the Finals since ‘74. Personally, as a Celtics fan, I’m terrified thinking about how good those guys could be in a few years when Giannis Antetokounmpo hits his prime. This could be the year, now that Kawhi Leonard’s off to LA.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #6, The 1986 Boston Celtics

#6
The 1985-86 Boston Celtics
Regular Season: 67-15 (81.7)
Playoffs: 15-3 (83.3)
Total: 82-18 (82)

Award Winners;
Larry Bird: League MVP, Finals MVP, 1st Team All-NBA, All Star
Dennis Johnson: 2nd Team All-Defense
Kevin McHale: 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
Robert Parish: All Star
Bill Walton: Sixth Man of the Year
K.C. Jones: All Star head coach

The Celtics have won seventeen championships and once won eight in a row, so being the greatest Celtics team ever is saying a lot. Like the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship in 1987, this one didn’t come out of nowhere. The Celtics had already won it all in 1981 against the Houston Rockets and in ‘84 against the Lakers. They’d made the Finals in ‘85 and would make them again in ‘87, but lost to the Lakers both times. Like many Celtics teams that decade, the ‘86 squad had four Hall of Famers in the starting five, but it also had a fifth coming in off the bench.

The Celtics were a bad team for a couple years in the late ‘70s, winning just 26 games in ’78-79, before Larry Bird arrived in ‘79-80, making them contenders again. Bird was drafted sixth overall by Boston in 1978 but elected to play one more year of college ball at Indiana State. He led his small school all the way to the NCAA Championship game, but lost to Michigan State, who were led by Magic Johnson. Kevin McHale was drafted in 1980 and Robert Parish was traded to Boston from Golden State as part of that deal. Danny Ainge, who’d played baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, came to Boston in ’81-82 and Scott Wedman was traded from Cleveland during ’82-83. Dennis Johnson was traded from Phoenix in 1983. The Sixth Man of the Year in ‘86, Bill Walton, was traded to Boston from the LA Clippers in exchange for forward Cedric Maxwell and a draft pick in 1985. Jerry Sichting was traded from Indiana shortly before the beginning of the season.

One thing that stood out about this team once assembled was how white it was. Eight of the twelve guys on the roster were white, including three of its starting five and all five members of the second unit, also called the Green Team for the green uniforms they wore in practice. That left Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson as the only black players in the regular rotation. This wouldn’t have been unusual twenty years earlier, but the NBA had been predominantly black since the ‘70s. Some people, including me, have speculated that this lineup might’ve been an attempt to appeal to the team’s mostly white fanbase. Greater Boston is pretty white as far as American urban areas go, and Boston has a reputation for hostility towards black people that sadly isn’t unearned. The Boston Red Sox were the last Major League team to employ a black player, in 1959, a dozen years after Jackie Robinson first took the field in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. When Bill Russell was living in suburban Boston, his house was broken into, racial slurs were written on his walls and someone even defecated in his bed. All this for a guy who brought the city eleven championships. There were also well-known and sometimes violent protests by mainly Irish-Americans in South Boston over school desegregation during the 1970s. For a city thought of as being liberal, progressive and well-educated, Boston has a noticeable amount racists.

On the other hand, lots of Northern cities, like New York and Chicago (where there was Ku Klux Klan activity during the ‘70s and ‘80s), have had serious racial issues, and it sometimes seems like Boston gets unfairly singled out as a hotbed of bigotry. Another angle is, as Bob Ryan put it, who wouldn’t want players like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Bill Walton on their team? Danny Ainge, Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting were also quality players that most, if not all, NBA teams would’ve been happy to have. Also, the notion that the Celtics were a mostly white team throughout the ‘80s simply isn’t true. In six of those ten seasons, the Celtics were either majority black or had an equal number of black and white players. The Celtics also had a black head coach from 1983 to ‘88, K.C. Jones, who’d played on many of the Celtics dynasty teams of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

That brings me to the biggest reason I doubt there was any weird quasi-racist reasoning behind the racial makeup of the ‘80s Celtics: their personnel moves were still made by Red Auerbach, who’d been with the team since 1950. Red was responsible for drafting Chuck Cooper back in 1950, who was the first black player drafted by an NBA team and one of the first to join the league. Red generally employed more black players than most teams in the ‘50s and ‘60s and was the first coach to send an all-black starting five onto the court in 1964. In 1966, when he stepped down as head coach, he named Bill Russell as his successor, making him the first black head coach in any major North American professional sports league. Although the Celtics’ two best players in the ‘70s (Dave Cowens and John Havlicek) were white, Boston’s teams in that era were predominantly black. I really doubt that Red had a change of heart in the ‘80s and suddenly became a racist. Red making the team whiter not out of racism but to sell more tickets doesn’t make much sense either, as they had great attendance even in years like 1984, when four guys in the starting five were black, as were seven of the twelve players on the roster. Anyway, now that I’ve written over 600 words about race, I guess we can move on.

The Celtics were led throughout the ‘80s by Larry Bird, and 1986 was one of his best overall seasons. The 29 year old small forward was League MVP for the third straight year, averaging 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2 steals on 49.6/42.3/89.6 shooting. 28 year old power forward Kevin McHale became a full time starter that year, with 21.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2 blocks a game while shooting 57.4% from the field. 32 year old center Robert Parish was reliable as always, contributing 16.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks on 54.9% shooting. 31 year old point guard Dennis Johnson chipped in 15.6 points and 5.8 assists, and 33 year old center and sixth man Bill Walton averaged 7.6 points on career high 56.2% shooting, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while playing 19.3 minutes a game. It was a rare healthy season for Walton, and the 80 games he played was also a career high. Danny Ainge rounded out the starting five and Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting provided valuable services off the bench.

The league wasn’t ready for a team with that level of high end talent and depth, and the Celtics won 67 games and were practically invincible at home, going 40-1 at the Garden (and sometimes Hartford), and were undefeated there in the playoffs. They were 25-4 in their last 29 games, during which they posted a 14 game winning streak, their longest of the year, in March and April.

In the first round, the Celtics met the 30-52 Chicago Bulls, led by a young Michael Jordan and small forward Orlando Woolridge. Jordan, who’d recently turned 23, missed all but 18 games in the regular season after breaking his foot three games in. He showed no signs of rust however, dropping 49 points on the Celtics in game one. MJ going ham was not a problem though, as the C’s won easily, 123-104, with Bird, McHale, Johnson and Parish combining for 106 points and 30 rebounds. Game two was a high scoring double overtime barn burner, with a possessed Michael Jordan setting a new playoff record by scoring 63 points. He had six assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks to go with it, and shot 22 of 41 from the field and made 19 of 21 at the line. Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton fouled out of the game to add to the drama. Once again it wasn’t enough, and the Celtics gutted out a 135-131 win. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 36 points along with 12 rebounds and 8 assists, and Kevin McHale had 27 points, 15 rebounds and blocked 6 shots. He even made a basket while practically laying on his back on top of a Bulls player! It was a crazy game, just look up the highlights on Youtube. In game three, the series shifted to Chicago, where Jordan was comparatively quiet with only 19 points, although he had ten rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a block as well. Like the first game, Boston won easily, 122-104. Kevin McHale was the star that day, putting up 31 points on 15 shots along with five rebounds and a block.

After their sweep of Chicago, the Celtics faced the 50 win Atlanta Hawks, led by Dominique Wilkins. The Celtics won the first two games in Boston comfortably. Game three in Atlanta was closer at 111-107 but the Celtics got the 3-0 lead. The Hawks surprised Boston in game 4 in Atlanta, winning 106-94. Wilkins led all scorers with 37 points and the 5’6, 135 pound point guard Spud Webb put up 21 points and 12 assists. The Celtics were clearly done messing around by game five back in Boston and blew the Hawks out 132-99. In the third quarter, the Celtics completely terrorized the Hawks, outscoring them 36-6. Yes, you read that right. Atlanta’s coach Mike Fratello called timeout after pointless timeout, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. Again, just look this quarter up on Youtube. The score after three quarters was 102-61. Larry Bird led the charge with 36 points, ten rebounds and five assists, McHale had 25 points and 3 blocks, and Parish had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks.

In the Conference Finals, the Celtics took on the 57 win Milwaukee Bucks, led by Sidney Moncrief and Terry Cummings. Their coach was former Celtic Don Nelson, who’d won five championships in Boston in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Nelson made the mistake of saying he was a better, smarter coach than K.C. Jones before the series, which displeased Robert Parish in particular. Parish had his best game of the playoffs in game three, with 28 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal on 12 of 21 shooting. Game one in Boston was yet another blowout, with the Celtics telling Don Nelson to shove it by a score of 128-96. Bird led the way with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, McHale had 17 points with 5 rebounds and 5 blocks, and Bill Walton scored an efficient 15 points with 9 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench. Things never got much better for Milwaukee and the series was another sweep for Boston. Danny Ainge had a great outing in game two, with 23 points on 12 shots, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

History repeated itself a bit in ‘86, as the Houston Rockets unexpectedly bumped off the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals and met the Celtics in the NBA Finals, just like in 1981. The one regret the players from the ‘86 Celtics have is that they didn’t meet the Lakers in the Finals and get their revenge for losing to LA the year before. The ‘86 Rockets were no pushovers, however. They were coached by Bill Fitch, who’d led the Celtics to a championship over Houston five years before and won 51 games in ’85-86. They’d beaten the Lakers in just five games in the Western Finals and were easily the toughest challenge the Celtics faced in the ‘86 playoffs. They were led by two young and very tall players, 23 year old 7’0 center Hakeem Olajuwon and 25 year old 7’4 power forward Ralph Sampson.

The Celtics won the first two games in Boston easily however, blowing out the Rockets 117-95 in game two. Larry Bird filled out the stat sheet with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks on 12 of 19 shooting. Kevin McHale had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks of his own. Dennis Johnson had a great game in game one, with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals on 50% shooting. The series shifted to Houston and the next two games could’ve gone either way, with Houston winning game three by two points and the Celtics winning game four by just three. The Rockets blew the Celtics out though in game five, 111-96. The 7’4 Ralph Sampson got into a physical altercation with 6’1 Jerry Sichting, leading to Sampson being thrown out of the game. Even though one of their best players was off the court, the Houston crowd was fired up by the scuffle and the Rockets came alive and won the game easily. Olajuwon played a great game, with 32 points, 14 rebounds, 8 (eight) blocks and 2 steals. The Celtics were severely pissed off by the embarrassment and took it out on each other in their next practice. K.C. Jones could tell they were ready to end the series and they did so in game six, 114-97. It was a fitting way to end an amazing season, and Larry Bird posted a 29 point triple double with 12 assists and 11 rebounds plus 3 steals and played great defense. Kevin McHale had 29 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Bird won his second Finals MVP, averaging 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 2.7 steals on 48.2/36.8/93.9 shooting. McHale had a great series too, with 25.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting 57.3 from the field and 80.4 at the line.

The Celtics made the Finals again the next year and stayed relevant up through the early ‘90s. Still, age, injuries and two untimely deaths led to a steady decline. Two days after he was taken 2nd overall by the Celtics in the ‘86 draft, University of Maryland star Len Bias died of a freak cocaine overdose. We’ll never know what he could’ve done in the NBA, but it’s been said that Bias could’ve been right up there with Michael Jordan and might’ve been the LeBron James of his era. Scott Wedman was forced to retire due to injuries after playing just six games in ‘86-87 season. Bill Walton suffered more tortuous foot injuries and played only the last ten games in ‘87 plus twelve in the playoffs, and at very limited minutes. He hoped to return for the ‘88 season, but never played again after the ‘87 Finals. Jerry Sichting was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in 1988, as was Danny Ainge to the Sacramento Kings in ‘89. K.C. Jones stepped down after the ‘88 season and Dennis Johnson retired in 1990 at age 35. Larry Bird did the same in 1992, as did Kevin McHale in ‘93.

Bird’s back problems began in 1985 when he injured himself off the court, carrying gravel while working on his mother’s driveway back home in Indiana. He missed almost the entire ‘89 season due to foot surgery, then missed large portions of ‘91 and ‘92 as his back continued to deteriorate. He was still in all star form when he could play, but he knew when enough was enough. Kevin McHale broke his foot in March of ‘87 and continued to play on it all the way through the NBA Finals. ‘87 was McHale’s peak year, and he continued to play very well up through ‘91, but was never the same after playing on that foot for months when it should’ve been healing.

The Celtics drafted the excellent two-way shooting guard Reggie Lewis in 1987, and he made the All Star game in 1992, but Lewis died of a congenital heart defect during the 1993 off-season. The team seemed to go from the luckiest in the NBA to the most unfortunate. Robert Parish signed with the Charlotte Hornets in 1994 and was the last member of that ‘86 team to leave Boston. In 1996 he signed with the Chicago Bulls and won his fourth championship with them in 1997, after which he retired at age 43. Parish still holds the NBA record for games played at 1,611. The Celts would miss the playoffs in 1994 for the first time since 1979, and every year from 1996 to 2001, before Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker finally dragged them back into respectability.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #5, The 1967 Philadelphia 76ers

#5
The 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers
Regular Season: 68-13 (84)
Playoffs: 11-4 (73.3)
Total: 79-17 (82.3)

Award winners;
Wilt Chamberlain: League MVP, 1st Team All-NBA, All Star
Hal Greer: 2nd Team All-NBA, All Star
Chet Walker: All Star

Wilt Chamberlain is one of the more interesting figures in NBA history. He’s held up as maybe the greatest ever by some old timers and gets dismissed as “trash” by some young fans who write off his competition as “plumbers” and “5’6 white guys.” On the court he could do seemingly anything he wanted. He was 7’1 and between 250 and 300 pounds when the average NBA player was an inch or two shorter than they are now. He was maybe the strongest guy ever to play in the league. He was obsessed with statistical accomplishments, but always met his goals. He was determined to maintain his streak of never fouling out of a game, to the point that he’d kind of stop playing defense once he had four or five fouls on him. It worked though, and he never fouled out once in high school, college, or the NBA. In 1962 he wanted to average 50 points a game, so he did. In 1968 he wanted to lead the league in assists, so he did (technically it was total assists, not assists per game, but still). In 1973, he wanted to set a new record for field goal percentage, so he did. And in 1967 he wanted to win a championship. So he did.

Off the court, he appeared in a few movies and TV shows, was an excellent volleyball player and even founded a professional volleyball league, owned a nightclub, released an actually pretty good R&B single, wrote several non-fiction books, was an elite track and field athlete in college, was apparently a heck of a dancer, and claimed he had sex with 20,000 women (off the record he admitted it was more like 2,000, but still). One of these days I should write a full article on the life and times of Wilt Chamberlain, it’d probably be a good read.

Wilt started his career in 1959 with his hometown Philadelphia Warriors and moved with them to San Francisco in 1962. In 1964 he made the first of his six finals appearances but lost to the Boston Celtics, who put both Wilt and the 76ers franchise through all kinds of hell in the ‘60s. Midway through the ‘64-65 season, he was traded back home to the 76ers, who until recently had been the Syracuse Nationals. Wilt liked it in California and wasn’t thrilled to head back east, as evidenced by his move to the Lakers in 1968. He helped them reach the Division Finals against the Celtics, but had a possible victory snatched away from them by John Havlicek’s famous steal in the dying moments of game seven.

In 1965-66, Wilt’s first full season back in Philly, the Sixers improved from 40-40 to 55-25. In the division finals though, they lost in five games to who else but the Celtics, who were on their way to their eighth straight championship. It was already the ninth playoff meeting between the two franchises (seven of them took place when the Sixers were still the Nationals) and the fifth straight the Celtics had won. Boston was also 5-0 when facing Wilt’s teams in the playoffs at that point in his career.

Now that Wilt’s been covered, what about the 76ers themselves before ‘67? The team was still the Syracuse Nationals until 1963, and they made three finals while in upstate New York, winning a championship in 1955 against the Pistons. They had one of the best players of the era in big man Dolph Schayes, who retired in 1964. In 1958, the Nats drafted Hal Greer 6th overall and picked up Chet Walker at 5th in 1962. Not too long after the move to Philadelphia, Billy Cunningham was drafted 5thoverall in 1965.

So what changed in the ‘67 season? For one thing, Wilt took a big step back. The 30 year old center went from taking 25.2 shots a game in ‘66 to 14.2 and his points per game dropped from 33.5 to 24.1. For the first time in his career he didn’t lead the league in scoring. He was scoring much more efficiently though and his field goal percentage rose greatly, from 54% up to 68.3, by far the highest of his career so far. His assists increased from 5.2 to 7.8 and his rebounds stayed about the same at 24.2. In other words, he was more of a team player than he ever had been before.

Chet Walker and Billy Cunningham on the other hand saw significant increases in points per game. Wilt led the way of course with his 24, 24 and 8 on 68% shooting, but he had an excellent supporting cast. 30 year old two guard Hal Greer averaged 22.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists. 26 year old small forward Chet Walker had 19.3 points and 8.3 rebounds on nearly 49% shooting. 23 year old small forward Billy Cunningham put up 18.5 points and 7.3 rebounds despite playing less than 27 minutes a game. The first 50 games of the season were an absolute cakewalk for these guys, who put up an insane record of 46-4. 46 wins out of a possible 50, that’s gotta be some kinda record. From late November to early January, they put up two separate eleven game winning streaks, for a total stretch of 22-1, and the team finished at 68-13.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Sixers faced Oscar Robertson and the 39-42 Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings). In game one the Royals surprised the 76ers in Philly, 120-116, despite Wilt having a monster game with 41 points, 22 rebounds and 5 assists on 19 of 30 shooting. Oscar had a great game too with 30 points and 16 assists, shooting 11 for 20 from the field and a perfect 11 of 11 from the line. It was over for Cincinnati after that though, and the Sixers won the next three games by 15 to 21 points to win the series. Game two was the biggest blowout, with Philly winning 123-102. Wilt had another absurd stat line, putting up a 37 point triple double with 27 rebounds and 11 assists while shooting 16 for 24.

In the division finals, both Wilt and the 76ers had a chance for revenge over the bane of their existence, the Boston Celtics, who’d won their eighth straight championship in 1966, went 60-21 in the ‘67 season and were led by Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek and Bailey Howell. It was a chance they would not let slip away. Philly won the first three games, including a 127-113 win in game one where Hal Greer scored scored 39 points plus 6 assists, and Wilt had another crazy triple double with 23 points, 32 rebounds and 13 assists. The Celtics prevented a sweep by winning game four in Boston 121-117. Sam Jones was the high scorer with 32 points plus 7 rebounds, Havlicek had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and Russell grabbed 28 rebounds to go with 9 points and 5 assists. The Sixers really ran up the score in game five though, 140-116. Wilt was in God mode yet again, with 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists for another triple double. Four other 76ers had at least 20 points, including Hal Greer, who led the team with 32, the others being Chet Walker, Wali Jones and Billy Cunningham. As the clock wound down, the jubilant Philadelphia crowd started chanting “BOSTON’S DEAD! BOSTON’S DEAD!” The fans had reason to hate the Celtics since the Philadelphia Warriors days and were finally getting their time in the sun as their boys crushed the team that’d won nine of the last ten titles.

In the NBA Finals, the Sixers faced Chamberlain’s (and Philadelphia’s) old team, the 44-37 San Francisco Warriors. They were led by 22 year old small forward Rick Barry, who’d led the league in scoring that year with 35.6 points a game. They also featured 25 year old center Nate Thurmond, who averaged 18.7 points and 21.3 rebounds. It was a high scoring series, as exemplified by the first game, which the Sixers won 141-135 in overtime. The 76ers biggest win was game two, at a score of 126-95. Hal Greer nearly had a triple double with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists, and Wilt had another real triple double with 38 rebounds, 10 points and 10 assists. The Warriors kept things interesting by winning game three back home in Daly City, 130-124. Rick Barry put up a ridiculous 55 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, with Nate Thurmond getting 17 points and 25 rebounds. Philly took a commanding 3-1 by taking game 4 122-108. The Warriors hung on to win game five 117-109, but Philly closed them out in game six on the road, 125-102. It’s honestly pretty damn impressive how close this 44 win Warriors team got to taking these 76ers to seven games. Rick Barry is a well-known asshole but the dude could play basketball. I really think he’d be ranked pretty highly on the all time list if not for the five years he missed so he could play in the ABA. But anyway, back to game six. Wilt had a big game as always with 24 points and 23 rebounds. Wali Jones led the scoring with 27 points plus 6 assists, Luke Jackson had 21 rebounds and 13 points and Chet Walker had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Wilt won Finals MVP, with averages of 17.7 points, 25.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists on 56% shooting.

So what happened to these guys? They had another strong season the next year, going 62-20, but Boston just wouldn’t stay dead. The Sixers lost to them in seven games in the division finals and the Celtics went on to win their tenth title. That Summer, Wilt requested a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. Two of the players they got in return (Jerry Chambers and Archie Clark) played in an All Star game or two, but Wilt wasn’t really replaceable. The team still had Greer, Cunningham and Walker in ‘68-69 and won 55 games, but after that they started to slide into mediocrity. To find out what happened to Philly after that, I recommend reading the entry on the 1983 76ers. There’ll be more about Wilt as well in a later entry.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #4, The 1997 Chicago Bulls

#4
The 1996-97 Chicago Bulls
Regular Season: 69-13 (84.1)
Playoffs: 15-4 (78.9)
Total: 84-17 (83.2)

Award Winners;
Michael Jordan: Finals MVP, 1st Team All-NBA, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
Scottie Pippen: 2nd Team All-NBA, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star

A couple things stand out about this team. First is just how old they were, with four guys in their starting five being over 30 and the fifth being 28. The other is that they won 69 games and still weren’t as good as the year before! Bill Simmons made the case that the ‘97 team could actually be just as good or better than the ’96 team, because despite their core being a year older and having accomplished everything a team could the year before, they still found the motivation to produce almost as great a season. I’ll have more on the ‘96 Bulls later.

This year’s squad was of course led by shooting guard Michael Jordan, who turned 34 in February and still led the league in scoring with 29.6 points to go with 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals on 48.6/37.4/83.3 shooting. Their second best player was 31 year old small forward Scottie Pippen, who averaged 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals. 35 year old power forward Dennis Rodman was still one of the league’s best rebounders, averaging 16.1 per game. Their sixth man was the 6’10 Croatian small forward Toni Kukoc, who brought 13.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.2 minutes a game. Point guard Ron Harper and center Luc Longley rounded out the starting five and Steve Kerr was a dead eye shooter off the bench. The team started off red hot, winning their first 12 games, which was their longest winning streak that year. They were 68 and 10 through their first 78 games, with a chance to tie their NBA record of 72 wins they’d set the year before, but lost three out of their last four games in the closest thing to a slump they’d had all season, for a final record of 69-13.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls met the 44 win Washington Bullets, led by Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Rod Strickland. Although the series was a three game sweep, games two and three were surprisingly close at 109-104 and 96-95. Jordan had an incredible game two, with 55 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals on 22 of 35 shooting in one of his best games of the playoffs. Kukoc and Rodman both did well in game three; Kukoc had 16 points on 7 shots plus 5 rebounds and two steals, and Rodman had an efficient 14 points, 10 rebounds and a block.

Their next challenge was the much tougher 56 win Atlanta Hawks, featuring Mookie Blaylock, Steve Smith, Christian Laettner, and the 7’2 Congolese center, Dikembe Mutombo. The Bulls took game one, but to the Hawks’ credit they won game two in Chicago, 103-95. Blaylock had 26 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals while shooting 9 for 13. Steve Smith led the scoring with 27 points and Mutombo put up 19 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks. The next three games Chicago won by between 9 and 20 points; the biggest win was 100-80 in game three in Atlanta. Jordan had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in the win.

The NBA was headed into a lower-scoring, more defensive oriented era by the late ‘90s that lasted into the mid 2000s, and that was clear in the ‘97 Eastern Finals. The Bulls faced Pat Riley’s 61 win Miami Heat led by Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning. In game two, the teams combined for just 143 points as the Bulls won 75-68. The Bulls took a 3-0 lead, winning two fairly close games before blowing the Heat out 98-74 in Miami. Jordan was the hero again, scoring 34 points to go with 8 rebounds and a steal on 14 of 25 shooting. The Heat took game four at home but the Bulls closed them out 100-87 to end the series in five.

The Bulls had some formidable competition in the NBA Finals. Their opponents were the 64-18 Utah Jazz, who only lost four games after the All Star break. They were led by 33 year old power forward and League MVP Karl Malone, 34 year old point guard John Stockton, who was one of the best PGs of his generation, and 34 year old two guard Jeff Hornacek. Malone’s often considered one of the best power forwards of all time as well as one of the best players never to win a championship. He peaked late, playing some of his best seasons in the late ‘90s when he was in his mid 30s. At 6’9 and 250, he was built similar to LeBron James, albeit with a different playing style. Stockton and Malone had been teamed up in Utah since ‘85-86 and were one of the NBA’s best duos during the late ‘80s and ‘90s.

Although the Bulls won the series in six, it was one that could’ve gone either way. Game one was a close call in Chicago, with Michael Jordan hitting the game winner to give the Bulls an 84-82 win, and he had 31 points plus 8 rebounds and a steal. Scottie Pippen may have had the best game though, with 27 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals while shooting 11 of 19, including 3 for 7 on threes. Game two was a bit more comfortable, with the Bulls winning 97-85. Jordan had a huge night, scoring 38 points to go with 13 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals on 55% shooting. The next three games were played in Utah and the Jazz won the next two, including a 104-93 win in game three. Malone had a big night, with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals on 15 of 29 shooting. Stockton also put up 17 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.

Game five in Utah, also known as the “Flu Game,” has taken on almost mythic status in Michael Jordan’s career. He played despite suffering from flu like symptoms, and the sweat-covered, visibly exhausted Jordan dropped 38 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block and shot 48.1% from the field and was 10 of 12 at the line. It took one of the most memorable performances of MJ’s career, but the Bulls gutted out a 90-88 win and led 3-2 going back to Chicago. Jordan had 39 points in game six along with 4 assists, a steal and a block, and Scottie Pippen put up 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Steve Kerr was the unlikely hero though, and he scored the last shot of the series, a mid-range jumper from Jordan that put the Bulls up by four with only a few seconds to go, putting the game out of reach for Utah. Jordan was the Finals MVP for the fifth time, averaging 32.3 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.2 steals in the series.

The Bulls won their sixth championship in eight seasons in 1998, again defeating the Jazz in six games, with Jordan famously hitting the winning shot and picking up yet another Finals MVP. And then everything shit the bed at once. It wasn’t like the Celtics and Lakers of the ‘80s who went into a slow decline until eventually fading away in the ‘90s. After the ‘98 season, head coach Phil Jackson retired (or was forced out by management), and since Michael Jordan didn’t want to play for anyone but Jackson, he retired for the second time. He returned to basketball in 2001, playing for the team he was now part-owner of, the Washington Wizards. He played two more All Star seasons in DC, averaging over 20 points both years before retiring for the third and final time at age 40 in 2003.

Scottie Pippen was traded during the lockout-lengthened off-season (that lasted until early February of ’99) to the Houston Rockets for Roy Rogers and a second round draft pick. Rogers was released by Chicago before ever playing a game for them. Dennis Rodman was released by the Bulls in January of ‘99 and signed with the Lakers a month later. Center Luc Longley was traded to the Phoenix Suns for three players and a draft pick, which was later used to select Ron Artest, but go figure, he too was traded during the 2002 season. Steve Kerr was traded as well in January ‘99 to the San Antonio Spurs, where he’d win two more championships. In exchange for Kerr, the Bulls got Chuck Person, who somehow signed with the Charlotte Hornets five days later. I’m not sure how that happened.

All that was left of of the Bulls championship core was Toni Kukoc and Ron Harper, and they went just 13-37 in 1999’s 50 game season. Many opponents relished the chance to beat the team that’d terrorized them throughout the decade. As someone who was a kid in the ‘90s, when Michael Jordan and the Bulls defined basketball, it was weird when they suddenly sucked. It wasn’t until the Derrick Rose era that Chicago got close to contention again.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #3, The 1972 Los Angeles Lakers

#3
The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers
Regular Season: 69-13 (84.1)
Playoffs: 12-3 (80)
Total: 81-16 (83.5)

Award Winners;
Wilt Chamberlain: Finals MVP, 2nd Team All-NBA, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
Gail Goodrich: All Star
Jerry West: 1st Team All-NBA, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star, All Star MVP
Bill Sharman: Coach of the Year

When I think of the history of the Lakers in LA before 1972, I think of both greatness and futility. Greatness because of some of their players, like Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. Futility, because despite those players, they never won a championship, and instead lost in the NBA Finals seven times, six of them to the same damn team.

The Lakers started out in Minneapolis as part of the old NBL (National Basketball League), and joined the BAA (now the NBA) in 1948, winning five championships in six seasons between between 1949 and 1954. They were led by one of pro basketball’s first great stars, the 6’10 center, George Mikan, as well as power forward Vern Mikkelsen. Mikan retired after winning his fifth championship in ‘54, but returned for the second half of the ‘56 season before retiring for good. Big George wasn’t the fastest player, and he didn’t like the way the new shot clock had sped up the game. Once he was gone, the Lakers fell off and so did attendance in Minneapolis.

In 1958 the Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time, but they drafted Elgin Baylor that Summer. He became a cornerstone of the franchise for over a decade. Although the Lakers finished below .500 in ‘58-59, Baylor led them on an unlikely Finals run, but they lost to the Celtics in the first of twelve meetings to date between the two teams. In 1960, the Lakers made two big moves; first, they drafted Jerry West at number one, and he became one of the best guards of all time. Second, they relocated to Los Angeles, and became the first NBA team on the west coast.

The talented young Lakers were back in the Finals in 1962, but lost to Boston again, this time in seven games, with the clincher decided by just three points. 1963 brought another Finals loss against Boston, this time in six games. In 1965, they lost to the Celtics again. This time it wasn’t close, and the ‘65 Celts were maybe the best of those dynasty teams. The Lakers were beaten in five, and three of their losses were blowouts. Guess what happened in 1966? The Lakers lost in the Finals to the Celtics again, with this one being more akin to 1962. A game seven loss decided by two points gave the Celtics their eighth straight title. They met again in 1968, and the Celtics were victorious in six. God damn, if I was a Lakers fan I would really hate the Celtics.

In the Summer of ‘68, Lakers fans must’ve thought their troubles were over when their team picked up one of the greatest ever, Wilt Chamberlain, in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. As great as he was on paper, Wilt could be difficult to work with and wasn’t the best leader or follower, and didn’t get along great with veteran Elgin Baylor. In the Finals that year, the Lakers met who else but the Celtics for the seventh time in eleven seasons. Bill Russell and Sam Jones were both in their mid-30s and headed for retirement, and Boston only won 48 games that year, so not many gave them a chance against what some call the NBA’s first “super team.” But guess what happened. The Celtics did it again, winning game seven by two points. Despite the loss, Jerry West played so well that he received the first ever Finals MVP award. In 1970, LA lost yet another Finals, this time to a new team, the New York Knicks, led by Walt Frazier and Willis Reed.

What finally changed things for the Lakers wasn’t a player but a coach, former Celtics shooting guard Bill Sharman, who’d won four championships in Boston in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. His assistant coach was another former Celtic, K.C. Jones, who had success later as a head coach, winning two titles with Boston in the mid ‘80s. Having an assistant was one of Sharman’s innovations. He also introduced novel concepts like pre-game shootarounds and having his players study film. His biggest contribution was changing the way the Lakers used Wilt Chamberlain. Sharman saw how effective Bill Russell had been in Boston despite his stats (other than rebounding) not being that eye-popping. It’s not like Russell didn’t score, but his main duties were to play amazing defense, block God knows how many shots, rebound, and make outlet passes to get the fast break going. Sharman knew that Wilt, who had three or four inches and 60 or 70 pounds on Russell, could do these things brilliantly if he was willing to.

Luckily for LA, he was, and his change in stats from ‘71 to ‘72 mirrored the one from 1966 to ‘67, the last time Wilt’s team had won it all. The 35 year old center’s points dropped from 20.7 to 14.8, and he went from taking 15 shots a game to 9.3, while his field goal percentage rose from 54.5 to 64.9. His rebounds also increased from 18.2 to 19.2. 33 year old point guard Jerry West was still going strong as well with 25.8 points and a league-leading 9.7 assists a game. 25 year old shooting guard Gail Goodrich put up 25.9 points and 4.5 assists on 48.7% shooting and shot 85% at the line. 23 year old small forward Jim McMillan averaged 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, and power forward Happy Hairston had over 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Elgin Baylor began to decline during the ‘69-70 season, playing only 54 games that year. Knee problems slowed him down and in November of 1970 he suffered an Achilles tendon injury, sidelining him for nearly a year, and he played only two games in the ‘70-71 season. Nine games into ‘71-72 he decided to retire, giving up a chance to finally win a championship. He was offered a role on the team coming off the bench, but he didn’t want to play if he couldn’t be Elgin Baylor anymore.

Despite the sad end to Baylor’s career, the team ended up being one of the greatest in franchise history, and went 69-13 in the regular season. On Halloween of 1971, they lost 109-105 to the Golden State Warriors. They didn’t lose again until January 9th, 1972, after posting a winning streak of 33 games, an NBA record that still stands. It took a great Milwaukee Bucks team and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 39 points and 20 rebounds to finally stop the madness. The most recent teams to come within shouting distance of that mark were the Warriors, who won their last four games in 2015 and then won the first 24 games of the ‘15-16 season, for a total of 28 wins, and the Miami Heat, who won 27 straight during the 2013 regular season.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers faced the 57 win Chicago Bulls, led by Bob Love, Chet Walker and Jerry Sloan. LA made short work of them, winning all four games by between 7 and 15 points. The biggest win was 95-80 at home in game one. Gail Goodrich led all scorers with 32 points and 7 assists, and Jerry West had 23 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. Chamberlain and Hairston both had 10 points and 17 rebounds. West was great in game two as well, with 37 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds.

In the Western Conference Finals, The Lakers met a formidable opponent in the 63 win Milwaukee Bucks, who had streamrolled the league the year before, winning 66 games and cruising to a championship. They were led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and Bob Dandridge, and they blew the Lakers out 93-72 in game one in LA. Kareem was Kareem, scoring 33 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, and Curtis Perry grabbed 18 rebounds to go with 8 points. LA barely pulled out a one point win in game two, 135-134. Jim McMillan led all scorers with 42 points and 7 rebounds, Jerry West had 28 points, 13 assists and 7 rebounds, and Gail Goodrich put up 25 points and 5 rebounds. The Lakers won another tight one in Milwaukee in game three, 108-105. Milwaukee thrashed LA in game four though, 114-88. Kareem had a routine 31 points and 18 rebounds, Bod Dandridge had a strong 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Curtis Perry was the leading rebounder with 19 boards to go with 11 points. Back home in game five, the Lakers got ‘em back with a 115-90 win of their own. Jim McMillan led LA’s scoring with 25 points, Wilt grabbed 26 rebounds to go with 12 points and 6 assists, Jerry West had 22 points and 10 assists and Gail Goodrich had 22 points. LA clinched it 104-100 in Milwaukee in game six. The series was a real clash of the titans, and honestly could’ve gone either way.

In the Finals, the Lakers met the 48 win New York Knicks, who’d beaten them to win their first championship in 1970. The ‘72 Knicks were led by Walt Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley. New York’s star center Willis Reed only played eleven games that year due to knee issues and missed the entire playoffs. Despite the loss of Reed, the Knicks came out hot and won game one in LA 114-92. Bill Bradley led the scoring with 29 points, Jerry Lucas had 26 points and 7 rebounds, DeBusschere had 19 points and 18 rebounds and Walt Frazier put up a triple double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. The Lakers quickly recovered though, winning the next four straight by between 5 and 14 points and clinching their first championship since leaving Minneapolis. The last game was a big win, 114-100 in LA, and Wilt Chamberlain was the hero with 24 points and 29 rebounds on 10 of 14 shooting. The whole staring five made major contributions; Gail Goodrich led the scoring with 25 points; Jerry West, who finally had a title after losing seven straight, put up 23 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds; Jim McMillan had 20 points and Happy Hairston had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Wilt Chamberlain won his second Finals MVP, averaging 19.4 points and 23.2 rebounds on 60% shooting in the series.

The following year, the Lakers made it back to the Finals but lost a re-match to the New York Knicks in their third meeting in four seasons. Wilt Chamberlain retired after that season, but not before setting another NBA record by shooting 72.7% from the field. Jim McMillan was traded to the Buffalo Braves (now Los Angeles Clippers) that off-season. Jerry West retired in 1974, and in 1975 the Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time since 1958, when they were still in Minneapolis. Happy Hairston retired in 1975 and Gail Goodrich moved on to the New Orleans Jazz in ‘76. In the 1975 off-season, Los Angeles traded for their old foe, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Surprisingly, they missed the playoffs again in ‘76, but that was more due to the weird way that playoff seeding was determined in that era than their mediocre record of 40-42. Coach Bill Sharman was gone after that season and it wasn’t until LA drafted Magic Johnson in 1979 that all the pieces fit together once again.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #2, The 2017 Golden State Warriors

#2
The 2016-17 Golden State Warriors
Regular Season: 67-15 (81.7)
Playoffs: 16-1 (94.1)
Total: 83-16 (83.8)

Award Winners;
Stephen Curry: 2nd Team All-NBA, All Star
Kevin Durant: Finals MVP, 2nd Team All-NBA, All Star
Draymond Green: Defensive Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
Klay Thompson: 3rd Team All-NBA, All Star
Steve Kerr All Star head coach

As you know if you read the entry on the 2015 Warriors (and probably if you didn’t read it), Golden State in the 2010s changed the way basketball was played in the NBA, won a championship in 2015, and had the best regular season ever in 2016 only to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals. The round before that though, the Warriors were the ones down 3-1 in the Western Finals to Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant was one the best players in the league and played great in the series, averaging 30 points, 8 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.7 steals, but Golden State was able to beat the odds and win the series. Durant then shocked and disgusted pretty much everyone by signing with the Warriors that July.

It was and still is often characterized as non-competitive and even the “weakest move in NBA history.” Personally I don’t feel as strongly about it, but it is hard to imagine a superstar in the ‘90s losing to the Bulls in the playoffs and then joining them the next year, or doing the same with the Lakers or Celtics in the ‘80s. To paraphrase Michael Jordan, when he came into the league, he didn’t want to play with Larry Bird or Magic Johnson, but instead wanted to beat them. As angry and offended as many fans were by LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Dwyane Wade in Miami in 2010, I think most would agree that Durant going to the Warriors was a pretty different situation. The ‘09-10 Heat were a 47 win team that was bounced in five games by the Celtics in the first round. The 2016 Warriors were a 73 win juggernaut that came within a game of winning their second straight title, and boasted a back to back MVP in Steph Curry. The last guy to win the MVP before Curry was Durant in 2014. Fans feared that anything resembling parity was dead in the NBA, and for the next two seasons they weren’t exactly wrong.

Kevin Durant was 28 in ‘16-17 and the small forward put up 25.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals on 53.7/37.5/87.5 shooting. It’s hard to say who was their best player though, as 28 year old point guard Stephen Curry averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals while shooting 46.8/41.1/89.8. 26 year old two guard Klay Thompson had 22.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting just about as well as Curry at 46.8/41.4/85.3. 26 year old power forward Draymond Green contributed some of everything, with 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1.4 blocks. Zaza Pachulia rounded out the starting five and Andre Iguodala continued to serve as sixth man. The Warriors weren’t quite as dominant in the regular season as the year before but were pretty close, going 67-15. The team still won 50 of its first 59 games and posted a 14 game winning streak through March and April.

In the first round, the Warriors met the 41-41 Portland Trail Blazers, led by Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Draymond was everywhere in game one with an efficient 19 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 blocks and 3 steals, and Golden State won 121-109. They won 110-81 in game two, and despite a poor shooting night, Curry had 19 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. Green had a classic game, with 12 rebounds and 10 assists to go with 6 points and 3 blocks. They did it all despite Durant missing games two and three. The closest the series got was a 119-113 win in Portland game three. In game four, Curry had 37 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and a steal, making 12 of 20 from the field and 7 of 11 from three to help the Warriors complete the sweep, 128-103.

Golden State’s next opponents were the 51 win Utah Jazz, led by Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert and George Hill. They weren’t much more of a challenge though, and the series was another sweep. Game four in Utah was their biggest win at 121-95. Curry led the scoring again with 30 points plus 7 assists, 5 rebounds and a block. Draymond also put up a 17 point triple double with 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal.

The next team to be annihilated was the San Antonio Spurs, featuring Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, who won an impressive 61 games in their first year after the retirement of longtime leader Tim Duncan. The first game was close though, with the Warriors scraping out a two point win at the Oracle. The next three games were not close, and Golden State blew the Spurs away by between 12 and 36 points. The biggest win was 136-100 in game two, and Steph put up 29 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals while shooting 8 of 13 from the floor and 6 of 9 from three. Bench man Patrick McCaw shined as well with 18 points, 5 assists and 3 steals on 6 of 8 shooting.

In the Finals, the Warriors saw the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third straight year, once again led by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The first three games followed the pattern set by the first three rounds. Golden State smashed Cleveland in games one and two and won by five points in game three. The biggest win was 113-91 in game one. Kevin Durant had a big night with 38 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists while shooting 14 of 26. Curry was the only other Warrior in double digits with 28 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals and went 6 for 11 on threes. Klay had a great game three, with 30 points and 5 rebounds on 11 of 18 shooting, including 6 of 11 from three. When it was already too late, the Cavs thrashed Golden State 137-116 in game four in Cleveland. Kyrie Irving had a hell of a game, exploding for 40 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal while shooting 15 for 27, including 7 of 12 on threes. LeBron was LeBron as well, with 31 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal for a triple double. The duo that terrorized the Dubs the year before turned it on too late though, and Golden State closed them out in game five, 129-120. Their 16-1 playoff record was the best ever, eclipsing the 15-1 mark set by the Lakers in 2001.

The next season wasn’t that different. They went 58-24 and won another NBA Championship, playing the Cavaliers in the Finals for the fourth straight year. They didn’t seem quite as invincible though. If it wasn’t for Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul’s injury during the Western Finals, the Warriors might’ve been eliminated before the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014, as Houston had led them three games to two. Their only playoff sweep that year was of the Cavs in the Finals, which were honestly not that exciting. Cleveland was lacking Kyrie Irving’s firepower, as he’d been traded to Boston in the Summer of ‘17.

This past season, they again posted a strong record of 57-25, and could’ve easily won another championship had they stayed healthy. Instead, Kevin Durant suffered a calf injury in game five of the second round against the Rockets. The Dubs were up 3-2 after game five and were able to clinch the series in game 6, then swept the Trail Blazers to make it back to the Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors won three of the first four games.

In game five, Durant made what turned out to be a premature return. He played great, with 11 points, 2 rebounds and a block in less than twelve minutes before rupturing his Achilles tendon, and is expected to miss all of next season. Shamefully, many in the Toronto crowd cheered when they saw one of the best players in the world go down with an injury. It goes to show how deep and honestly sick the hatred for Durant is among a lot of NBA fans. If Curry or Klay had gone down like that, I don’t think opposing fans would’ve responded the same way.

KD’s contributions were enough to help the Warriors eek out a one point win and extend the series. The Raptors took game six by just four points to win the title, and to make matters worse, Klay Thompson went down with a torn ACL in the 4th quarter, and won’t be back until late in the regular season in 2020 if not later. Despite the loss, the banged up Warriors played like champions. As expected, Durant left the Warriors in free agency and when he comes back in the ‘20-21 season, he’ll be playing for the Brooklyn Nets. On the upside, the Warriors signed another talented guard, D’Angelo Russell, formerly of the Nets, in the 2019 off-season. I guess we don’t know for sure if the Warriors dynasty is really dead, but it sure looks that way. The Warriors still made five straight Finals, something not done since the Celtics played in ten straight in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Love them or hate them, the Warriors of the Durant era truly were one of the greatest teams ever assembled.

The Celtics Retired Numbers Series pt 1: Ed Macauley

#22, Ed Macauley, “Easy Ed”, Center, 1950-1956

Born in St. Louis in 1928, Ed Macauley attended Saint Louis University from 1945 to ‘49, where he was First Team All-American in 1948 and ‘49 and Second Team in 1947.

He was drafted as a territorial pick by the St. Louis Bombers in 1949, but the team folded in 1950 and Macauley was picked up by the Boston Celtics. He became one the team’s best players of the 1950s, making First Team All-NBA in 1951, ‘52 and ‘53, and Second Team in ‘54. He was also an All-Star in seven straight years, from 1951 to ‘57, and led the league in field goal percentage in 1953 and ‘54. He scored a career high of 46 points in a March 1953 win against the Minneapolis Lakers.

In 1956, Macauley requested a trade to his hometown St. Louis Hawks so he could spend more time with his son who was ill at the time. This worked out well for the Celtics, as he was traded for the Hawks’ second overall pick, center Bill Russell. Macauley was an All-Star his first year back in St. Louis, which saw the Hawks making the NBA Finals, although they lost to Russell and the Celtics. The following year, The Hawks met the Celtics again in the finals and won.

Macauley only played 14 games in 1958-59 before becoming head coach of the Hawks part way through the year, a position he held through the ‘59-60 season. The Hawks made it back to the finals in 1960, but again lost to the Celtics.

Ed Macauley currently sits at 19th all time in points among Celtics players. His career highs include a 49% field goal percentage that led the league in 1953-54, and 20.4 points per game in ‘50-51. His number “22” was retired by the Celtics in 1963, and along with Reggie Lewis, Macauley is one of only two Celtics players to have their number retired without winning a championship in Boston. At the time, Macauley was already a Hall of Famer, having been inducted in 1960 at age 32, still the youngest person ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Ed Macauley died in November of 2011 at the age of 83.

The Celtics Retired Numbers Series pt 2: Bob Cousy

#14 Bob Cousy, “Cooz,” Point Guard, 1950-1963

Born in Manhattan in 1928 and raised in Queens, Bob Cousy attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts from 1946 to ‘50 where he was a star player, winning the NCAA Tournament in 1947. He made Third, Second and then First Team All American in 1948, ‘49 and ‘50, and his number “17” was retired by the school.

Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach had the chance to draft him in 1950, and faced much pressure to do so, but decided against it, as he was skeptical his skills would translate to the NBA. He was drafted instead by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now the Atlanta Hawks) third overall, but the native New Yorker didn’t want to relocate to the Davenport, Iowa area and refused to report. He was picked up by the Chicago Stags, who folded before the ‘50-51 season began, and was acquired by the Celtics via dispersal draft soon after, much to the chagrin of team owner Walter Brown.

He made an immediate impact on the Celtics, who went 39 and 30 his rookie season (which was also Auerbach’s first as head coach), after going 22 and 46 and finishing at the bottom of the division the year before. With his flashy style of passing and dribbling he earned the nickname “Houdini of the Hardwood,” and was quickly considered one of the most entertaining players in the league as well as one of its best. The NBA was only four years old when his career began, and he helped put the new league on the map. Cousy was an All-Star his first year, an achievement he would repeat every season he played, an incredible thirteen times in a row, and was MVP of the All Star Game in 1954 and ‘57. He also served as the Celtics’ captain his entire playing career.

Cousy added to his basketball legacy by forming the NBA Players Association along with his agent, Joe Sharry, in 1954. The NBA was the first major North American professional sports league to be unionized, and Cousy served as the NBAPA’s first president until 1958, when he was replaced by teammate Tom Heinsohn.

Although the Celtics had some of the best offense in the league during the early and mid ‘50s, the era was dominated by center George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers. That changed with the Celtics’ acquisition of defensive powerhouse center Bill Russell in 1956. Cousy, Russell, and the Celtics won their first championship in 1957 against the St. Louis Hawks. Cousy would win five more with Boston, every year from 1959 until his retirement in ‘63; against the Minneapolis Lakers in ‘59, the Hawks again in ‘60 and ‘61, and the now Los Angeles Lakers in ‘62 and ‘63. The Celtics also made the finals in 1958, but lost to the Hawks.

Over the course of his career, Cousy made All-NBA First Team an incredible ten straight years, from 1952 to ‘61, All-NBA Second Team in 1962 and ‘63, and was League MVP in 1957. He also led the league in assists an amazing eight straight years, from 1953 to ‘60. His Number “14” was retired by the Celtics shortly after he retired in 1963.

He currently sits at number one all time among Celtics players in assists with 6,945, over 800 ahead of the man in second place, John Havlicek. He’s also number six in points and minutes played. His career highs include 9.5 assists per game in 1959-60 and 21.7 points per game in ‘51-52, and he scored a career high of fifty points in a playoff win against the Syracuse Nationals in March of ‘53.

Following his playing career, Cousy became head coach of Boston College from 1963 to ‘69, going 21 and 3 in ‘66-67 and making the Elite Eight. In 1969, Cousy became head coach of the Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings), who became the Kansas City Royals in 1972. He coached the team until part way through the ‘73-74 season, and even made a brief comeback as a player, appearing in seven games for the Royals in 1970; although his play after years of retirement was less than stellar, he succeeded in increasing ticket sales.

Following his pro coaching gig, Cousy served as the commissioner of the American Soccer League from 1974 to ‘79 and has appeared as a color commentator on Celtics broadcasts. Bob Cousy was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971, and was selected to the NBA’s 25th, 35th, and 50th Anniversary All Time Teams, one of only four players be chosen for all three; among the others was Cousy’s old teammate, Bill Russell.

The Celtics Retired Numbers Series pt. 3: Bill Sharman

#21 Bill Sharman, “Bullseye Bill,” Shooting Guard, 1951-1961

Born in Abilene, Texas in 1926, Bill Sharman re-located to Porterville, California by the time he was in high school. Sharman joined the US Navy after graduating in 1944, with World War II still raging. After serving, he attended the University of Southern California from 1946 to ‘50. In 1950, Sharman was First Team All-Conference for the second straight year and First Team All-American, and his number “11” has been retired by USC.

Sharman was picked 17th overall in the 1950 NBA draft by the Washington Capitols. That year also marked the beginning of Sharman’s minor league baseball career, which lasted until 1955. In the end, he only played one season in Washington as the Capitols folded after his rookie year. He was then signed by the Fort Wayne (now Detroit) Pistons, who traded him to the Boston Celtics prior to the 1951-52 season.

Sharman was one of the best shooters of his generation, both from the field and especially from the free throw line, earning him the nickname “Bullseye Bill.” He led the league a record seven times in free throw percentage, including a record five times in a row from 1953 to ‘57.

With players like Bill Russell and Jim Loscutoff shoring up the defense on a team that already had excellent offense, the Celtics and Sharman won their first title in 1957 against the St. Louis Hawks. Sharman would win three more with the Celtics before he was done, against the Minneapolis Lakers in 1959 and the Hawks again in ‘60 and ‘61. The Celtics made the finals in 1958 as well, but lost to the Hawks.

Along with four titles, Sharman was named First Team All-NBA four straight years from 1956 to ‘59, All-NBA Second Team in 1953, ‘55 and ‘60, and was an All-Star eight straight years, from 1953 to ‘60. He currently sits at 11th all time among Celtics players in points. Among his career highs are an astronomical 93% free throw percentage (an NBA record until the 1970s) in 1958-59 and 22.3 points per game in ‘57-58. He scored a career high 44 points in a December 1957 win against the New York Knicks. His number “21” was retired by the Boston Celtics in 1966. Sharman was further honored by being named to 25th and 50thAnniversary NBA All-Time Teams, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976.

In 1966, Sharman came back to the NBA as the coach of the San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors. In his first season with the team, he made it to the NBA Finals but lost to a great Philadelphia 76ers team. The following year, which was his last with the Warriors, Sharman coached the Western Conference All-Star Team. After Leaving San Francisco, He became head coach of the American Basketball Association (ABA)’s Los Angeles Stars, who became the Utah Stars in 1970. He won a championship with them in 1971, before returning to the NBA to coach the Los Angles Lakers, who then featured Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich.

His first season with LA was among the greatest in NBA history, with the Lakers going 69 and 13, winning a record 33 games in a row and winning their first NBA Championship since leaving Minneapolis, against the New York Knicks. Sharman did it alongside assistant coach and former Celtics teammate, KC Jones. He won a well deserved Coach of the Year award for his efforts. Sharman left the Lakers following the 1975-76 season. Bill Sharman was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame yet again in 2004, this time as a coach. He died in October of 2013 one week after suffering a stroke at the age of 87.

The Celtics Retired Numbers Series pt. 4: Frank Ramsey

#23 Frank Ramsey, “The Kentucky Colonel,” Shooting Guard, 1954-1964

Born in Corydon, Kentucky in 1931, Frank Ramsey attended the University of Kentucky from 1950 to ‘54, where he won an NCAA Championship and made Third Team All-American in 1951, and was Second Team All-American in 1952 and ‘54. His number “30” was retired by the school. He was drafted fifth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1953, but decided to remain at school another year and debuted in the NBA in 1954.

Ramsey then missed the entire 1955-56 season due to military service, but returned for 1956-57, which was Boston’s first championship season, with the Celtics beating the St. Louis Hawks in the finals. They would make the finals every year for the rest of his career, beating the Minneapolis Lakers in 1959, the Hawks again in ‘60 and ‘61, the now Los Angeles Lakers in ‘62 and ‘63, and the San Francisco Warriors in ‘64. The Celtics made it to the finals in 1958 as well, but lost to the Hawks.

Ramsey currently sits at 16th all time in points among Celtics players, despite generally coming into games off the bench, and is considered the NBA’s first “sixth man.” His career highs include 16.5 points per game in 1957-58. He scored a career high 38 points in a January 1962 loss to the New York Knicks. Ramsey also served as team co-captain in 1963-64, alongside Bill Russell. He retired in 1964, the winner of seven championships, and his number “23” was retired by the Celtics that year.

Ramsey had been Red Auerbach’s choice to replace him after his retirement as head coach in 1966, but he turned it down, wanting to return to Kentucky. This led to Bill Russell taking on the role of player-coach that year.

In 1970, Ramsey became the head coach of his home state Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA). Despite a 32 and 35 record under coach Ramsey, the Colonels did well enough to reach the 1971 ABA Finals against the Utah Stars, who were coached by his old Celtics teammate, Bill Sharman. The Colonels lost the series in seven games. Ramsey never went back to pro coaching after that season. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. Frank Ramsey died in July of 2018 at the age of 86.

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