Best Finals Winner of The Last 7 Finals

[MavsDirk41]

RealGM has way too many bias Raptors fans and that’s why they’re second but they really weren’t that good. Kawhi got a super lucky bounce to beat Jimmy’s Sixers and then they got super lucky Klay and KD were injured in the finals.

1. Lakers
2. Celtics
3. Bucks

And the bubble Lakers beat a 5th seed Heat who were missing their 3rd best player the entire series and their 2nd best player missed two of the 6 games. They beat a team with Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder, rookie Herro, Myers Leonard, and Kelly Olynk once Dragic and Bam went down. Injuries happen but that was an extremely weak finals opponent.

[Ssj16]

Finals oponents SRS

22 BOS 7.02
19 GSW 6.42 injured
21 PHO 5.67
20 MIA 2.59 injured
25 IND 1.68 injured
24 DAL 0.09
23 MIA -0.13

GSW won against the best team by far

Looking at the finals is such a small snapshot. You have to look at the full journey to the playoffs

[WarriorGM]

Curry’s performance and getting his 4th championship stand out to me of the options

Here is another interesting debate. Rank the best players of those teams.

#1. Jokic

#2. Steph Curry
#3. Kawhi Leonard
#4. Giannis
INTERCHANGABLE
#5. Shai
#6. Lebron
#7. AD
#8. Jayson Tatum

since it happened 3 times in like the first 7 posts, where do people get this weird elevation of steph's 2022 playoffs from? the warriors were the favorites heading into the playoffs, even after being injured all season, so it's not like they weren't viewed well going in or it was some miracle run or carry job.

steph didn't start half of the first round and wasn't particularly good in either the 2nd round (26/5/6) or WCF (24/7/7) and even his 31/6/5 finals is very good but hardly legendary.

like overall playoffs he's at:

24.4 PER
0.203 WS48
7.7 BPM
+6.5 on/off

lebron 2020 is at:
30.2 PER
0.267 WS48
10.7 BPM
+15.3 on/off

and AD has an argument for being better overall than even lebron with:
29.6 PER
0.284 WS48
8.7 BPM
+17.4 on/off

kawhi is at:
28.0 PER
0.254 WS48
10.1 BPM
+16.7 on/off

those are all time playoff runs by those 3 (as well as jokic obviously) with massive numbers and massive lift.



even giannis is decent bit ahead at:
27.6 PER
0.224 WS48
9.9 BPM
8.0 on/off

and was his team's best offensive and defensive player, even if he had an easy path.


steph looks much more like a battle for 6th with shai than top 2.

Seriously. Super weird. I’d go:

1. Jokic
2. Giannis
3. SGA
4. Kawhi
5. LeBron
6. AD
7. Steph
8. Tatum

Where do people get it? By understanding box score stats alone have never been able to fully explain Steph's impact on a game. Steph solved a historic Celtics defense with the DPOY and multiple All-Defensive selections that swept KD and Kyrie. It was the clearest case of a superstar on one team just beating the opponent in the finals along with Giannis in 2021 but that was against the Suns and the Suns experienced a similar implosion against Doncic the following year despite being an even bigger favorite. Doncic and the Mavs would go on to lose in 5 against Steph and the Warriors the next round.

If the box score stats LeBron and AD put up were that impressive one would have expected them to have an easier time in the finals. They were also playing together. How does that make either of their performances better than one where Andrew Wiggins was the second option? The Lakers title was also during the bubble playoffs with really weird performances like Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell putting multiple 50-point games.

Really these attempts to downplay Steph's performance shows you don't watch or remotely understand his effect on a game, that or you're intentionally gaslighting.

[iggymcfrack]

since it happened 3 times in like the first 7 posts, where do people get this weird elevation of steph's 2022 playoffs from? the warriors were the favorites heading into the playoffs, even after being injured all season, so it's not like they weren't viewed well going in or it was some miracle run or carry job.

steph didn't start half of the first round and wasn't particularly good in either the 2nd round (26/5/6) or WCF (24/7/7) and even his 31/6/5 finals is very good but hardly legendary.

like overall playoffs he's at:

24.4 PER
0.203 WS48
7.7 BPM
+6.5 on/off

lebron 2020 is at:
30.2 PER
0.267 WS48
10.7 BPM
+15.3 on/off

and AD has an argument for being better overall than even lebron with:
29.6 PER
0.284 WS48
8.7 BPM
+17.4 on/off

kawhi is at:
28.0 PER
0.254 WS48
10.1 BPM
+16.7 on/off

those are all time playoff runs by those 3 (as well as jokic obviously) with massive numbers and massive lift.



even giannis is decent bit ahead at:
27.6 PER
0.224 WS48
9.9 BPM
8.0 on/off

and was his team's best offensive and defensive player, even if he had an easy path.


steph looks much more like a battle for 6th with shai than top 2.

Seriously. Super weird. I’d go:

1. Jokic
2. Giannis
3. SGA
4. Kawhi
5. LeBron
6. AD
7. Steph
8. Tatum

Where do people get it? By understanding box score stats alone have never been able to fully explain Steph's impact on a game. Steph solved a historic Celtics defense with the DPOY and multiple All-Defensive selections that swept KD and Kyrie. It was the clearest case of a superstar on one team just beating the opponent in the finals along with Giannis in 2021 but that was against the Suns and the Suns experienced a similar implosion against Doncic the following year despite being an even bigger favorite. Doncic and the Mavs would go on to lose in 5 against Steph and the Warriors the next round.

If the box score stats LeBron and AD put up were that impressive one would have expected them to have an easier time in the finals. They were also playing together. How does that make either of their performances better than one where Andrew Wiggins was the second option? The Lakers title was also during the bubble playoffs with really weird performances like Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell putting multiple 50-point games.

Really these attempts to downplay Steph's performance shows you don't watch or remotely understand his effect on a game, that or you're intentionally gaslighting.

That “second option” thing gets a lot of mileage when Draymond was still there as the Warriors clear second best player and the best defensive player of the entire playoffs while Golden State had a positive point differential for the playoffs as a whole with Steph on the bench.

‘22 Steph: +7.1 net rating, +6.5 on/off
‘22 Dray: +8.9 net rating, +10.6 on/off
‘20 Bron: +11.4 net rating, +15.3 on/off
‘20 Davis: +11.7 net rating, +17.4 on/off

[WarriorGM]

Seriously. Super weird. I’d go:

1. Jokic
2. Giannis
3. SGA
4. Kawhi
5. LeBron
6. AD
7. Steph
8. Tatum

Where do people get it? By understanding box score stats alone have never been able to fully explain Steph's impact on a game. Steph solved a historic Celtics defense with the DPOY and multiple All-Defensive selections that swept KD and Kyrie. It was the clearest case of a superstar on one team just beating the opponent in the finals along with Giannis in 2021 but that was against the Suns and the Suns experienced a similar implosion against Doncic the following year despite being an even bigger favorite. Doncic and the Mavs would go on to lose in 5 against Steph and the Warriors the next round.

If the box score stats LeBron and AD put up were that impressive one would have expected them to have an easier time in the finals. They were also playing together. How does that make either of their performances better than one where Andrew Wiggins was the second option? The Lakers title was also during the bubble playoffs with really weird performances like Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell putting multiple 50-point games.

Really these attempts to downplay Steph's performance shows you don't watch or remotely understand his effect on a game, that or you're intentionally gaslighting.

That “second option” thing gets a lot of mileage when Draymond was still there as the Warriors clear second best player and Golden State had a positive point differential for the playoffs as a whole with Steph on the bench.

‘22 Steph: +7.1 net rating, +6.5 on/off
‘20 Bron: +11.4 net rating, +15.3 on/off
‘20 Davis: +11.7 net rating, +17.4 on/off

Draymond who led the team to the worst record in the league without Steph two years earlier and was benched during critical minutes of the pivotal Game 4 in the finals?

If those metrics for 2020 LeBron and 2020 Davis mean anything then put them up for comparison against the best duos of all-time. Go ahead and argue they are greater than Curry and Durant for example. But we have seen this repeatedly from LeBron where the teams he's been on turn into a heliocentric one dependent on him and his teams while successful enough have underwhelmed from a historic standpoint.

[iggymcfrack]

Where do people get it? By understanding box score stats alone have never been able to fully explain Steph's impact on a game. Steph solved a historic Celtics defense with the DPOY and multiple All-Defensive selections that swept KD and Kyrie. It was the clearest case of a superstar on one team just beating the opponent in the finals along with Giannis in 2021 but that was against the Suns and the Suns experienced a similar implosion against Doncic the following year despite being an even bigger favorite. Doncic and the Mavs would go on to lose in 5 against Steph and the Warriors the next round.

If the box score stats LeBron and AD put up were that impressive one would have expected them to have an easier time in the finals. They were also playing together. How does that make either of their performances better than one where Andrew Wiggins was the second option? The Lakers title was also during the bubble playoffs with really weird performances like Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell putting multiple 50-point games.

Really these attempts to downplay Steph's performance shows you don't watch or remotely understand his effect on a game, that or you're intentionally gaslighting.

That “second option” thing gets a lot of mileage when Draymond was still there as the Warriors clear second best player and Golden State had a positive point differential for the playoffs as a whole with Steph on the bench.

‘22 Steph: +7.1 net rating, +6.5 on/off
‘20 Bron: +11.4 net rating, +15.3 on/off
‘20 Davis: +11.7 net rating, +17.4 on/off

Draymond who led the team to the worst record in the league without Steph two years earlier and was benched during critical minutes of the pivotal Game 4 in the finals?

If those metrics for 2020 LeBron and 2020 Davis mean anything then put them up for comparison against the best duos of all-time. Go ahead and argue they are greater than Curry and Durant for example. But we have seen this repeatedly from LeBron where the teams he's been on turn into a heliocentric one dependent on him and his teams while successful enough have underwhelmed from a historic standpoint.

Well, LeBron and AD were both better in the 2020 playoffs than Durant ever was for any playoffs in his career so they’d probably fare pretty well in that comparison.

[Ill News]

What's interesting is the Celtics are the clear poll winners here, yet they are also the team on that list many said had the easiest path to win the ring.

I guess those scenarios both could be true. They had it easy, but also would have beat all the other teams.

People who say the 2024 Celtics had an easy path to the ring because of key injuries to their opponents conveniently forget that Porzingis only played 5 playoff games during their run, and missed the 2nd and 3rd rounds entirely. So they weren't exactly fortunate with injuries either, it's just that their team was simply too good that it managed to withstand a major piece missing. Honestly, it was a perfectly and beautifully constructed team.

On to the poll topic, my ranking would be:
'24 Celtics
'19 Raptors
'20 Lakers
'23 Nuggets
'22 Warriors
'25 Thunder
'21 Bucks

[UglyBugBall]

Anyone who votes Denver outs themselves as a delusional Jokic stan. That's inarguably one of the easiest paths to the championship in history.

Don't insult/bait posters for voting differently in the poll than you did. It just makes the board needlessly hostile. -b

No the easiest path was the 2024 Celtics and it’s not even particularly close. The nuggets weren’t even favorites in every series they played. The suns were heavy favorites to win the west going into the playoffs and were undefeated in the regular season (8-0) with Durant in the lineup heading into the playoffs. They were 12-1 with Durant in the lineup including playoffs before they faced the nuggets in round 2.

There is SO much revisionist history with the nuggets title run that year. Durant and the Suns were seen as a powerhouse and many had them as their title pick until they faced the nuggets. The Lakers were also pick by most experts to beat the Nuggets in the WCF because they were on fire after their mid season trades. Both he Suns and Lakers had huge mid season trades that made them far better than their seeding suggests, but simple minded NBA fans (which is most of them) just look at seeding and think they sucked. Denver went 16-4 in the playoffs, they steamrolled everyone. They beat LeBron, AD, Durant, Booker, Ant, KAT, and Jimmy Butler all in one playoff run. Who did the Celtics beat last year? Luka? Anyone else? No, everyone else was hurt and they had a cakewalk.

While I agree the Celtics path was easier and I voted Denver as the best, no way the Suns were heavy favourites. Those Durant games that they won to close out the RS were super easy games. Denver was favored and should have been because they had proven they were a much better team.

Why did you vote Denver the best?

[Calvin Klein]

Why did you vote Denver the best?

It was between that and Mohammed.

[LeBronSpaghetti]

Anyone who votes Denver outs themselves as a delusional Jokic stan. That's inarguably one of the easiest paths to the championship in history.

Don't insult/bait posters for voting differently in the poll than you did. It just makes the board needlessly hostile. -b

No the easiest path was the 2024 Celtics and it’s not even particularly close. The nuggets weren’t even favorites in every series they played. The suns were heavy favorites to win the west going into the playoffs and were undefeated in the regular season (8-0) with Durant in the lineup heading into the playoffs. They were 12-1 with Durant in the lineup including playoffs before they faced the nuggets in round 2.

There is SO much revisionist history with the nuggets title run that year. Durant and the Suns were seen as a powerhouse and many had them as their title pick until they faced the nuggets. The Lakers were also pick by most experts to beat the Nuggets in the WCF because they were on fire after their mid season trades. Both he Suns and Lakers had huge mid season trades that made them far better than their seeding suggests, but simple minded NBA fans (which is most of them) just look at seeding and think they sucked. Denver went 16-4 in the playoffs, they steamrolled everyone. They beat LeBron, AD, Durant, Booker, Ant, KAT, and Jimmy Butler all in one playoff run. Who did the Celtics beat last year? Luka? Anyone else? No, everyone else was hurt and they had a cakewalk.

While I agree the Celtics path was easier and I voted Denver as the best, no way the Suns were heavy favourites. Those Durant games that they won to close out the RS were super easy games. Denver was favored and should have been because they had proven they were a much better team.

Heading into the playoffs the Suns were easily the favorites in the west, almost double the odds of the Nuggets. This is not my opinion it’s a fact:

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-futures-odds-2023-nba-finals-predictions-top-picks-basketball-best-bets-by-proven-computer-simulation/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/nba/futures/championship-odds/2023-season/?utm_source=chatgpt.com#:~:text=April%2010%2C%202023:%C2%A0The%20Bucks%20will%20head%20into%20the%20postseason%20as%20NBA%20title%20favorites%20over%20the%20Celtics%20with%20the%20Suns%2C%20Warriors%2C%20and%2076ers%20rounding%20out%20the%20top%20five.

Right here it specifically states that the Suns were the #2 title favorites behind Boston until Denver beat them in game one of their series:

https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/nba/futures/championship-odds/2023-season/?utm_source=chatgpt.com#:~:text=April%2030%2C%202023:%20The%20Denver%20Nuggets%20(+508)%20moved%20to%20second%2Dfavorite%20after%20dominating%20Game%201%20(125%2D107)%20against%20in%20their%20best%2Dof%2Dseven%20matchup%20with%20the%20Phoenix%20Suns%2C%20who%20fell%20to%20third%20at%20+575.


So as I said before, there is some major revisionist history going on with this Nuggets run. The Suns were picked by so many to win the west or even win it all. This was a team that recently went to the finals then added Kevin Durant and was literally unbeaten with him in the lineup.

[JLei]

Tier 1
24 Celtics
19 Raptors
20 Lakers

Tier 2
24 Thunder

Tier 3
21 Bucks
22 Warriors
23 Nuggets

Thunder are closer to Tier 1. I need to rewatch some of these playoff games. Them getting taken to 7 twice by teams not as good as them is what makes me lower than them than the Lakers for example.

I don't think the last 3 teams were very strong relatively speaking. Got their titles due to some favorable injury luck.
52 win (equivalent), 53 wins, 53 wins. 4th to 6th SRS ranking.

Compared to say Tier 1 and 2
64 wins, 58 wins (while load managing Kawhi), 60 win equivalent, 68 wins.