RealGM All-Time Franchise Ranking - #5

[giordunk]

Let's call it the Bulls.

1. Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Dallas Chaparrals, San Antonio Spurs
4. Chicago Bulls

[giordunk]

I think just by virtue of having a dynasty and a few extra championships locks this in for the Warriors, but I could be wrong.

My vote goes to the Warriors.

I want to start making a case for the Pistons:

The Bad Boy Pistons made 5 Conference Finals, 3 Finals, and won 2 Championships

They also had the 04 Pistons based team that made the Conference Finals 6 years in a row, making the Finals twice and winning once with one of the most memorable championship teams.

Outside their two most successful periods they had a decent collection of Top 100-caliber players including Bob Lanier, Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, Blake Griffin, Bob McAdoo, Adrian Dantley.

Grant Hill's injury is unfortunate and probably would have helped bump their ranking a little higher.

[Odinn21]

Well, I can see case for the Warriors. 11 NBA Finals, 6 rings (tied with the Bulls for 3rd most).
But their RS record isn't good (.484) and their playoffs/seasons ratio isn't even .500.

Warriors; 73 completed seasons, .484 win rate, 35 playoffs appearances (.479), .544 win rate in playoffs, 11 NBA Finals, 6 NBA Championships
Heat; 31 completed seasons, .520 win rate, 20 playoffs appearances (.645), .554 win rate in playoffs, 5 NBA Finals, 3 NBA Championships
76ers; 70 completed seasons, .515 win rate, 49 playoffs appearances (.700), .511 win rate in playoffs, 8 NBA Finals, 3 NBA Championships
Rockets; 52 completed seasons, .529 win rate, 33 playoffs appearances (.635), .494 win rate in playoffs, 4 NBA Finals, 2 NBA Championships

Well, I feel like the Sixers is the answer here. But when the goal is to win championships, it's hard to ignore that the Warriors have at least double of the closest competition.

Voting for the Warriors.

---

Unrelated note; I know they are already voted in but I realized something insane. The Lakers won 437 playoff games. The only teams that played (not won, played) more than 437 playoff games are the Celtics and the Sixers. That's all.

[Dr Positivity]

For me this comes down to Warriors, 76ers, Bulls and Pistons

- The Warriors have twice the titles as the 76ers, but have several I do not weight as highly. They have a BAA title, and won one sneaking in between Mikan and Russell in 56. I also think 75 was a low point for competition and one of the weakest overall champions, and in 15 they had some fortunate injury luck. On the other hand, the 76ers also have the 55 title which is no better than 56. Between them the Warriors have the most dominant era in the Curry teams. Up until the early 80s the 76ers and Warriors were pretty close overall, then after that the 76ers made the playoffs more while the Warriors have utter failure, then utter success. So I'll side with the Warriors.

- The Heat are an interesting choice as they've had close to the same success as the Warriors the last 30 years with 3 titles and 4 finals, although you could say 06 isn't any stronger than 15. They have been a more consistent playoff team doing well in the Mourning era and being more competitive in recent years than the Warriors down years. The question therefore is how much to value the Warriors stretch before the Heat came into existence. I'm of the mind that if you're an older franchise and were well accomplished like having 3 titles and 6 finals, that makes you the greater franchise overall than not existing.

- The Pistons have 3 titles and 5 finals, however their first 30 years of existence is one of the butts of the league, and also just ripped off an inept decade. Considering the Curry era has been as successful than the Bad Boys and Billups era combined, and from 50-80 they have the decided edge, I think this is clearly Warriors

Vote: Golden State Warriors

[penbeast0]

This is the first one I have to think about. Hard to support the Warriors too strongly as they were a badly run franchise most of their history and despite having Wilt, then Barry, and now Curry, they are under .500 for their history. Don't really penalize the Heat for their shorter history; as I say about dominating in a weaker era, you can only play the teams you face.

The Nats/Sixers have the Dolph Schayes 55 team, the Wilt 67 team, and the Moses/Dr. J 83 team in their resume though each only won one title. Although they do have the worst team in NBA history, they were one of the earliest teams in the league and unlike the Warriors and Pistons, they have a winning overall record. By Odinn's numbers, they make the playoffs 70% of their history, unlike the Warriors who again are in the playoffs less than 50%. AS a fan, I'd rather have been a Sixers fan for the last 70 years than a Warriors fan.

Detroit has multiple title teams like Miami without the personnel overlap. Like the Warriors though, they sucked bad for a long time and are below .500 for their history.

The other team I'd suggest looking at is Seattle/OKC. Only one ring but competitive across several eras. Best RS win% of any remaining franchise.

Tentative vote for the Philadelphia 76ers but will listen to arguments.

[SkyHookFTW]

The Sixers have two teams that are in the "best team ever" conversations. Hard to ignore that. Also, with Dr. J. and A.I., they have two players who were at the forefront of the way the game was played and/or culture of the game--you can argue that A.I.'s dress and style off the court affected society itself, influencing a generation of people in how they dressed and carried themselves.

Vote: Sixers.

[trex_8063]

Vote: Nationals/76'ers

While there are one or two other franchises worth consideration here who I will [for now] not mention, I am going to do a direct comparison to the Warriors, as they appear the only other franchise that has serious traction right now. In an all-time sense, I feel the 76'er franchise history is better by a small but clear margin, and I'll do my best to explain......


The Warriors go back to the BAA, been around since the very beginning of the time-frame we're considering, 73 years in existence. The Nats/Sixers go back nearly as long, with a 70-year history.

The Warriors have won 6 titles and been to the finals 11 times.
The Sixers have won 3 titles and been to the finals 9 times.
If era is a major consideration, though, it's important to note that half of the Warriors' titles and more than half of their finals appearances came pre-merger (1 title and 2 finals appearances were even way back in the BAA days [that is: pre-1950]).
With the Sixers, only 1 of their titles and 4 of their finals appearances came pre-merger (so they've actually matched the Warriors in post-merger finals appearances, and the gap in titles narrows to 2 if looking only post-merger). And unlike the Warriors, none of their titles came pre-shotclock, fwiw.

I'd also note that the Warriors have advanced as far as the conference/division finals a total of 17 times, whereas the Sixers have advanced as far as the conference/division finals 21 times (and they edge the Warriors 8 to 5 in post-merger seasons going as far as the CF).

The Warriors have made it to the playoffs 35 times (.479 of their existence).
The Sixers have made the playoffs 14 additional times (despite 3 years less existence), with 49 appearances (.700 of their existence, and third all-time behind only the Lakers/Celtics in total appearances).

And the Warriors cumulative rs win% is .485.
The Sixers' is .515.


When I scrutinize the Sixers close post-merger success in terms of finals appearances and titles, BETTER success in terms of total deep playoff runs (both all-time and especially post-merger), MUCH better success in terms of consistently making the playoffs, and generally better/more consistent rs performance.......well, I certainly feel it all tips the scales to the Sixers.

And even in terms of rosters/personnel, or all-time great teams......yeah the Warriors have their recent dynasty; but the Sixers have the '67 and '83 teams. The Warriors can claim significant chunks of Wilt, Steph, Barry, Arizin, Thrumond. But the Sixers can also claim significant chunks of Wilt, as well as Dr. J, Barkley, Dolph, Iverson, Greer. So I'm definitely not seeing a clear advantage to the Warriors in those terms, either.

[Fadeaway_J]

I'll give a vote to Miami here. As an expansion franchise so deep into the NBA's history, their proportion of relevant/contending teams is really impressive, and of course they have the three titles and five Finals appearances.

[giordunk]

Is there a way to tag or notify users to vote? This is the first one where it actually seems pretty divided.

[trex_8063]

Is there a way to tag or notify users to vote? This is the first one where it actually seems pretty divided.

You have to quote the parties you want to notify, but do so within a spoiler so it doesn’t take up so much room. See the r3cent peaks project or the last top 100 project (the OP’s) for examples.

[Colbinii]

I vote 76ers.

Warriors had too many down years while the 76ers were competitive with multiple iterations.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

[giordunk]

For the sake of moving this long, I'll let the Sixers win this one even though I would want victory margins greater than one vote.