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NBA Playoffs: Ranking the 5 mentally and physically toughest teams of all-time

By Robby Sabo

Jan 12, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; A general view of the NBA Champions Trophy and a ball autographed by the San Antonio Spurs rests on a table prior to a ceremony honoring the NBA Champion Spurs in the East Room at The White House. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 12, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; A general view of the NBA Champions Trophy and a ball autographed by the San Antonio Spurs rests on a table prior to a ceremony honoring the NBA Champion Spurs in the East Room at The White House. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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1. Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics

Coming in as the toughest NBA Playoffs squad of all-time is the Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics of the 1980s.

Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish made up what turned out to be a front-line completely full of Hall of Fame basketball players.

The talent, basketball IQ, and the unity of this group was astounding. What has them ahead of the Bad Boys is their wherewithal to step up when the moment most warranted it.

Of course when the Celtics of the ’80s is mentioned, so are the Los Angeles Lakers. Just as when Bird is brought into the conversation, so is Magic Johnson.

A few decades later we now see a different side of these two guys. One that led to a heart-warming friendship. Make no mistake about it, though, these guys hated each other back then.

There was no patty-cake playing and laughing like we often see now. It was pure, unadulterated hatred.

What spearheaded the Celtics’ physical and mental toughness was Bird.

It’s arguable that no other professional athlete in the world did more with less than Bird did. Sure, he could shoot the lights out, but his athleticism was far below that of his competitors.

It was his basketball mind, wit and passion that allowed his team to blossom.

No season better exemplified this attitude than the NBA Championship in 1984.

After losing to Magic in the 1979 NCAA Championship game, and then watching him go up 2-1 in NBA Championships, Bird willed his team to a seven-game series win to capture the first series victory in head-to-head championship matchups.

When the entire world said Bird couldn’t beat Magic, he and his team showed us otherwise:

What really puts the Celtics ahead of the Bad Boys is two-fold.

One: they enjoyed a longer period of success than the Pistons did. And two: when they were finally surpassed by the Pistons in the NBA Playoffs, they didn’t disregard them.

Bird and the Celtics accepted defeat graciously and humbly. They understood that the Pistons had earned the right to be called the best in the East.

Even when Isiah Thomas said that Bird would be “just another good guy” if he was black, it didn’t alter the way Bird respected the game and his opponents.

He was all business on the court, at all times. This can be said for the entirety of that Boston run during the ’80s.

All of this defines toughness in the NBA Playoffs.

Bird’s dominance not only amazed us with the way he made so much out of so little, but he did it in a way that reminded us even the “scrapper” has a shot to succeed on the biggest of stages:

While nobody can argue that the Celtics were better than the Lakers, there’s no question who the tougher team was.

These guys were very little flash, all grit and determination.

Next: NBA Playoffs: We're Not Mad, We're Just Disappointed And Sad

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