It was a few minutes after Denver’s reign as NBA champion had come to an end last spring. The Minnesota Timberwolves were celebrating, their music and screams loud enough to be heard inside the room where Nuggets coach Michael Malone was somberly going through his final postgame news conference of the season.
In that moment, it was official: Another season was going by without the NBA having a back-to-back champion, and Malone was left to state what has become obvious.
“It is hard. It is hard. It is hard to repeat,†Malone said. “It’s hard to win.â€
He's right. And there’s never been an era in NBA history where it’s been harder.
Here are the last six NBA champions, in order: Toronto, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee, Golden State, Denver and now Boston. That’s six different title-winning franchises in six seasons, a run of parity that the league has seen only once before — nearly a half-century ago.
The days of dynasties may be on hold for now, replaced by a time when, for a variety of reasons, it's more difficult than usual to get to the NBA mountaintop and stay there. It's the Celtics’ turn to try to buck that trend.
“It’s always hard to win one,†said Boston guard Jrue Holiday, who won a title with Milwaukee in 2021 and was part of the Bucks team that was ousted in Round 2 a year later. “But then to win back-to-back is even harder.â€
The NBA doesn’t seem to mind. This is the Parity Era and the current collective bargaining agreement figures to make it even tougher for teams to be dynastic — a swift change from the four-year run spanning 2015 through 2018 when Cleveland and Golden State got to the finals annually.
In simple terms, the more that teams spend, the harder it is now to make moves, especially moves involving big-contract players. The latest CBA, which went into effect last year, includes two aprons over the luxury tax figure. Go over the first apron, your roster flexibility is hampered. Go over the second one, and it's severely hampered. It could be argued there haven’t been rule changes this significant since the league changed the lottery odds and added a play-in tournament to discourage tanking.
An example: it recently took Minnesota and New York several days to complete a deal a couple weeks ago after agreeing on the parameters — Karl-Anthony Towns going to the Knicks, Julius Randle and Donte DiVencenzo going to the Wolves — because the financial particulars needed to be very precise.
“The new rules … some of the consequences are unintended, quite frankly,†Wolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly was quoted by ESPN saying. “I don’t know if anyone intended to make it this challenging to make moves, to make trades when you’re above certain aprons.â€
No, that’s exactly what the NBA wanted.
“I don’t want to say nothing is lost, but to me, I don’t think our system, by definition, will prevent repeat championships," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "I think that, yes, it makes it less likely, but we didn’t set out to say, ‘Let’s make sure there’s a different champion every year.’ I think, again, it goes more to equality of opportunity. But I think in the same vein, I think there’s real incentive for players to stay in markets.â€
Nobody would say all 30 teams enter this season with a realistic title chance. But there are more true hopefuls than there were just a few seasons ago. Last year, 12 teams entered the year with title odds of 25-1 or shorter. Six years earlier, at the peak of the Warriors-Cavs run, there were only three such teams.
“The league’s looking for parity,†Washington general manager Will Dawkins said. “And flattening the lottery odds, adding in the second apron, all of those things are things that are supposed to contribute to that.â€
None of the previous five champions, not including the reigning Celtics (the overwhelming favorite to win this season's title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook), even made it back to the finals the following season. That matches the longest such drought in NBA history, last done when the champions from 1973 through 1977 — in order, New York, Boston, Golden State, Boston again and then Portland — were all ousted in the conference finals or earlier.
A few years ago, most teams probably didn't think they had a realistic chance. That's different row.
“I just think all of it is setting up to be more competitive, more teams going for it. And that’s when it gets fun, when there’s not much difference between teams,†Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It'll be how teams can manage all those different emotions and the competitive spirit throughout the course of a season. It gets uncomfortable at times. I love it. It's awesome for the league, it’s great for viewership, it’s great for the fans. It’s ultimately what you want.â€
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