Fansided

Ranking every NBA Champion from No. 72 to No. 1 — The Definitive List

By Staff

TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 30: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the Golden State Warriors and Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors defend their positions during Game One of the NBA Finals on May 30, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 30: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the Golden State Warriors and Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors defend their positions during Game One of the NBA Finals on May 30, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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UNITED STATES – MAY 06: We Prefer Knicks 2 to 1. Coach Red Holzman gives his big five – Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Dave Barnett and Bill Bradley some advice they’d better remember during timeout. Knicks must have taken enough of the good points of spiel to heart because they held back Lakers’ last-period spurt and now lead best-of-seven series, 2-1. (Photo by Paul DeMaria/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
UNITED STATES – MAY 06: We Prefer Knicks 2 to 1. Coach Red Holzman gives his big five – Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Dave Barnett and Bill Bradley some advice they’d better remember during timeout. Knicks must have taken enough of the good points of spiel to heart because they held back Lakers’ last-period spurt and now lead best-of-seven series, 2-1. (Photo by Paul DeMaria/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) /

42. 1972-73 New York Knicks

In the two years between winning their first title and this season, the Knicks pulled off one of the great coups in NBA history by acquiring guard Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. That formed one of the great guard tandems in NBA history as Monroe played alongside Walt Frazier. Both were flamboyant players and it took a full year for them to figure out how to work together. Monroe struggled mightily with his role in the NBA Finals at the end of the 1971-72 season as the Knicks lost to the Lakers.

By the end of the 1972-73 season together, Monroe and Frazier were a machine, creating shots for the likes of Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley. That’s five Hall of Famers who each averaged between 15 and 19 points in the NBA Finals as the Knicks avenged their loss from the previous season against the Lakers.

41. 2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers

This Lakers team was a wheezing version of the previous season. It was a better defensive team with Metta World Peace doing his usual thing on the perimeter to squelch offensive talent. Kobe Bryant was again brilliant as he averaged 27.0 points a game. Likewise, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Bynum did pretty much exactly what they had done the year before.

To go along with that, the rest of the league was relatively mediocre, allowing the Lakers to breeze through to the finals until they faced the Boston Celtics. The Celtics might have won the series if they weren’t wheezing even harder than the Lakers by that point. Boston’s Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were all at least 32 by this season and didn’t have enough over a seven-game series.

The Lakers defense eventually choked off whatever Boston tried to do. After Boston took a 3-2 series lead, it was held to 67 and then 79 points in the final two games of the Finals. The Celtics went out in the most limp fashion imaginable.

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