Fansided

Every NBA team’s best iteration ever

By Micah Wimmer

PORTLAND, OR - 1987: Head Coach Pat Riley leads Magic Johnson #32, Byron Scott #4, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar #33 during a game played circa 1987 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1987 NBAE (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - 1987: Head Coach Pat Riley leads Magic Johnson #32, Byron Scott #4, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar #33 during a game played circa 1987 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1987 NBAE (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – APRIL 13: Member of the Boston Celtics 1986 Championship team Bill Walton is honored at halftime of the game between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden on April 13, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – APRIL 13: Member of the Boston Celtics 1986 Championship team Bill Walton is honored at halftime of the game between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden on April 13, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

Boston Celtics: 1985-86

While the run the Celtics had from 1957 through 1969, when they won 11 championships in 13 seasons, is the best long-term iteration of any team in NBA history, no single year of that Celtics dynasty from the 1950s and 1960s can match up with the team they fielded in the 1985-86 season.

Larry Bird delivered perhaps the best season of his career, winning his third consecutive MVP award while doing everything for the Celtics. That year, he averaged 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists for the season while coming tantalizingly close to becoming a member of the 50-40-90 club a year earlier than he actually did. Kevin McHale, the man with the unstoppable array of post moves, became a full-time starter for the first time that season as well, adding even more firepower to the starting lineup, while going on to average 20 points per game for the first time in his career. The Celtics also had Robert Parish starting at center, creating what may have been the greatest front court ever.

Rounding out the team was two other eventual Hall of Famers in Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton. Johnson, while not as athletic or as deadly a scorer as he had been in Seattle and Phoenix was still a very capable floor general and an even more capable defender, who made the All-Defensive team nine times in his career. And after several years of intermittent appearances on the court due to injury, former MVP Bill Walton was the Sixth Man of the Year that season for the Celtics. While his numbers were not overwhelming, his basketball IQ and passing ability opened up the floor for them, making a championship caliber team even better.

The Celtics were also practically unbeatable on their home floor, going 40-1 at the Boston Garden in the regular season and were undefeated at home throughout the playoffs. They were more beatable on the road, but only relatively. This would prove to be the last championship that the Celtics won in the Bird era, but they certainly made sure to go out on the highest of high notes.

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