What era in the NBA had the most parity

[Bklynborn682]

What era in the NBA had the most parity?
The 60's,70's,80's,90's,00's,10's?

[JulesWinnfield]

Parity wise it's easily the 70s. Only decade without a repeat champion. The talent was split across 2 different leagues at the time with the ABA existing as well. Kareem was the player of the decade but he spent a good portion of that decade in Los Angeles with suspect talent around him before Magic got there. Championships were more up for grabs, especially as the decade wore on

[Johnlac1]

What era in the NBA had the most parody?
The 60's,70's,80's,90's,00's,10's?

I don't know about parody.....I do believe you mean parity. The seventies and eighties had multiple champions. Nobody won three titles in a row. Nobody in the seventies won two titles in a row. Portland was on its way before Walton went down in'78. The Lakers made it back to the finals in '73 after winning in '72, but lost to the Knicks in five close games. Only the Celtics and Lakers won at least two titles in the seventies.
In the eighties the Lakers won two in a row and then the Pistons won two in a row. The Lakers were the best overall team of the eighties but they only won four titles. The Celtics won three, the Pistons two, and the Sixers one.

[Quotatious]

Parody? 2010s easily. You see JaVale McGee and Kendrick Perkins pulling off a Tragic Bronson or Greg Smith tying shoes in the paint, although maybe that kind of stuff is exposed more these days because of Shaqtin a Fool.

I guess maybe you meant parity, as Jules mentioned. If that's what you mean, then I would vote 70s, and I don't think it's even close.

[bball gemius51]

I know what you meant,but i'll answer the question as it's asked. The current era has more parody,because it is comical that a lot of average ballplayers have somehow found themselves in the nba because they can stand behind a line and make a couple of shots. The current nba is not as good as college basketball was in the 80's and 90's

[Colbinii]

I know what you meant,but i'll answer the question as it's asked. The current era has more parody,because it is comical that a lot of average ballplayers have somehow found themselves in the nba because they can stand behind a line and make a couple of shots. The current nba is not as good as college basketball was in the 80's and 90's

Now this post right here is a true parody.

Sent from my SM-G920P using RealGM mobile app

[Bklynborn682]

I apologize I don't know how I wrote "parody" instead of parity. I'm guessing it was either sleep deprivation or a brain fart.

[Heej]

Just want to say this really speaks to the quality of this board that the first 3 pages wasn't people roasting OP for misspelling "parity" like it would be on the GB.

Also, I think the answer is very clearly the 70s and this is borne out by the fact that it's the most forgettable era precisely because there were no decade defining superteams like every other decade.

[wojoaderge]

Also, I think the answer is very clearly the 70s and this is borne out by the fact that it's the most forgettable era precisely because there were no decade defining superteams like every other decade.

Or most memorable

[Statlanta]

My quick rank without doing much research(off the top of my head)

70
10
00
80
90
60

[bball gemius51]

Also, I think the answer is very clearly the 70s and this is borne out by the fact that it's the most forgettable era precisely because there were no decade defining superteams like every other decade. . ..... . .Because a bunch of the young black talent was going to the aba,which gave them the freedom to showcase their draw dropping athleticism and skills

[trex_8063]

What era in the NBA had the most parity?
The 60's,70's,80's,90's,00's,10's?

Not sure if you can still edit, but your poll question asks which era has most parody.

[Johnlac1]

Just want to say this really speaks to the quality of this board that the first 3 pages wasn't people roasting OP for misspelling "parity" like it would be on the GB.

Also, I think the answer is very clearly the 70s and this is borne out by the fact that it's the most forgettable era precisely because there were no decade defining superteams like every other decade.

The Lakers had a super team for one year ('72) as did the Bucks the previous year. "72 was the year the Lakers set the record of 33 straight wins and 69 for the season.
The problem with the Lakers was that all their great players were getting old. Baylor actually retired shortly into their title season. West was 33 most of the season and turned 34 during the playoffs. Chamberlain was 35.
During Chamberlain's five years with the Lakers they went to four finals. One play cost them titles in both '69 and '70 and injuries to West might have cost them another title in '71 and '73. Although in '71 even with a healthy West, who missed the entire playoffs, the Bucks were better and the clear best team in the league.
But in the '73 finals the Lakers had a good shot at beating the Knicks who were the fourth best team in the league behind the Lakers. West came down with pulled muscles in both legs during the finals, and the Lakers lost in five close games.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Can't wait for the two Jordan/90s fans who voted to argue for the 90s. Jordan only won 6 rings because that's how ZOMG awesome he is to have done it at a time when even the myriad expansion teams would be champions in any other era. This is an age when you could have Tom freaking Tolbert on your bench and still not make the Finals. Even Matt Maloney was denied a trip to the promised land! Just think about that.

[Lovethisgamegr]

1960's 8 teams.Out of question
1970's 17 teams.Out of question
1980's 23 teams.Celtics-Lakers Dynasty that's a minus,Pistons,76ers strong teams that's a plus we have a candidate
1990's Chicago Bulls-MJ, out of question
2000's Lakers 5 times(that's a minus),Spurs,Pistons,Celtics,Heat we have a candidate.
2010's Lebron's era, Warriors,Spurs

So it has to be either the 80's or the 2000's i'll call that a draw.

[batmana]

It's an absolute parody when you think about the parity in many eras:
50s - Mikan
60s - Russell
80s - Celtics/Lakers
90s - MJ
In recent years, not so much but still tons of domination with the big duos of the 00s (Shaqobe or The Twin Towers) and the superteams of the 10s (The LeBrons). I guess the current decade appears to be as close as possible to the 70s but with still 4 more champions to be decided, we don't have the complete picture.
At this point, it's the 70s unless you want to make a parody out of parity.
P.S.: Hope you don't take offense from all those smartass responses, including mine.

[penbeast0]

1960's 8 teams.Out of question
1970's 17 teams.Out of question
1980's 23 teams.Celtics-Lakers Dynasty that's a minus,Pistons,76ers strong teams that's a plus we have a candidate
1990's Chicago Bulls-MJ, out of question
2000's Lakers 5 times(that's a minus),Spurs,Pistons,Celtics,Heat we have a candidate.
2010's Lebron's era, Warriors,Spurs

So it has to be either the 80's or the 2000's i'll call that a draw.

Since OP specifically included them, are they out of the question because you just don't feel capable of evaluating them or because you feel the quantitative difference between "17 teams" and "23 teams" (not that simple as the numbers kept changing, particularly in the 70s) is somehow so clear as to distinguish them?

[sp6r=underrated]

I've been doing some research on this. If you click on view image you can maximize it.

This table is standard deviation of Single Season SRS.



Parity peaked in the mid to late 70s. The early 70s didn't have repeat champions but it isn't accurate to say there was much single season parity. Parity began to steadily decline entering the 80 until it peaked around 99. From 99 to 07 parity steadily increased. After that parity returned to the historic norm.

This table shows SRS standard deviation for 5 year franchise runs. Only franchises that played the complete 5 year run. Please note the 00s are slightly impacted because of the situation with the New Orleans Pelicans hornets trading franchise history.



The 5 year run table is far more stark. Franchises became very close together in the late 70s before parity began a 20 year decline. A far more gradual reversal occurred in the 00s but the parity gain was steadily reversed and we are approaching 90s levels again.

[FuShengTHEGreat]

What era in the NBA had the most parity?
The 60's,70's,80's,90's,00's,10's?

I voted the 2000s.

Shaq/Kobe Lakers.......Tim Duncan led Spurs....the out of nowhere Piston juggernaut in the mid 2000s...The Boston Big 3 and a different Kobe led Laker team.

Unlike some here I don't really know if it's possible for me to give a fair assessment of the 60s & 70s in terms of parity due to the fact that the ABA existed for about a 10 year stretch during this span.

I think due to that league strength moreso in the 70s than the 60s wasn't what it could've been if the ABA never existed.

A good chunk of prime/peak Rick Barry played there. And it's possible that the NBA never saw the best version of Dr. J either.

[JulesWinnfield]

There was parity in the East in the 00s. But it's tough for me to wax poetically about league parity when we saw 2 simultaneous dynasties in the league that decade (LA and SA, even though LA had a hiatus post Shaq and pre Pau). And one of those two teams made the finals every year that decade except for the one year Dallas did