Rank the top 3 teams by decade and then make an overall top 12 teams of all times ranking

[Gibson22]

So, you can only pick one iteration of each team, for example you cannot pick the 2017 and 2018 warriors, but you can pick the 15 or 16 warriors because they were a different team without kd, you can obviously pick both the 2001 lakers and the 2009 lakers since they are two totally different teams, but you can't pick both the 2012 and 2013 heat or the 2013 and 2014 spurs. I'd also say just pick one out of all the showtime lakers, 90s bulls and larry bird celtics, and also 60s celtics. About the 00s spurs, only pick one. Lol I know it sounds a little arbitrary but it's just to not have always the same team for each decade and not pick teams that were basically the same
Maybe start from the 60s, add 50s if you want

10s
2017 warriors
2014 spurs
2016 Cavs
missed the cut: heat

00s
2001 Lakers
2007 Spurs
2009 Lakers
missed the cut: celtics

90s
96 Bulls
95 Rockets
97 Jazz
missed the cut: 90s pistons, 99spurs, the other bulls finalists

80s
83 76ers
85 lakers
86 celtics
missed the cut: 89 pistons

70s (can't claim to know these teams very well)
71 Bucks
72 Lakers
77 Blazers
missed the cut: 70 or 73 knicks, 74 or 76 celtics, other teams

60s
65 Celtics
67 76ers
Maybe 66 Lakers


Now my ranking

1) 2017 Warriors: I can't say that this team was CLEARLY better than the 96 bulls, just because they lack a bit in the athleticism department (compared, for example, to a team with 3 freaks like jordan pippen and rodman), and they didn't have a great big (compare to the celtics frontline, and with all those other teams with wilt, russell, bill walton, jabbar, shaq, moses, hakeem, duncan) and also, while they had a #1 defense, I'd say it was an elite, but not goat level defense, I wouldn't put them at the level of the bulls, spurs or 86 celtics defensively, but they still definitely take the first spot, because:

-Their offense was just unplayable, and the defense was still elite. When you add to a well oiled offensive and defensive machine, an all time talent like kevin durant, in a team full of shooters who play that brand of motion basketball, you just can't be stopped. Curry, durant, thompson, green, iguodala. And also some decent role players like livingston, mcgee, pachulia, west... This team would just run amock offensively against anybody and also do a good job defensively, with stoppers like green, iguodala and klay. I also don't think that those bigs (jabbar, o'neal, etc.) can compensate the overall disparity in two way talent

2) 96 Bulls. I'm just flabbergasted at the athleticism and defensive ability of this team. I really think that michael jordan didn't have that much talent around him in the first 3 peat (but, in fact, he didn't have to beat any superteam either in his road to the titles), but the second three peat bulls were just crazy. You have these 3 athletic freaks, all time defenders in rodman, jordan and pippen. Two of those also being pretty decent offensively. And you also have a goat level euroleague player in kukoc, another great two way player in ron harper (who averaged 20/5/5/2/1 in his career up to that point), a great shooter in steve kerr, and a couple of other, meh, not great, but still serviceable guys. Had to that an incredible coach and offensive system. Also, look at the size of these guys. Even if jordan was, offensively, just as good as clyde drexler or reggie miller, the team would still be unfair.

3) 83 76ers. I don't know if it's controversial or not to put this team above the showtime lakers and the larry bird celtics but I'm pretty comfortable with this. I've always felt like this team was the most OP superteam of all time, especially relative to era. This team went 65-17 in the RS and 12-1 in the PS, sweeping the showtime lakers winning each game by at least 6 points. This team had two all time level, mvp caliber players in moses malone and julius erving (maybe slightly past his prime but still first team all-nba), but also mo cheeks, bobby jones and andrew toney. Look at this lineup! Bobby Jones was an amazing defender (like, one of the best non-center defenders ever) and athlete, a shawn marion, kirilenko type of player but better. Mo Cheeks was one of the best defensive pgs ever (4 time all star too). Andrew Toney was an all star talent guard. Just a perfect starting five, it doesn't get any better than that.

4) 85 Lakers. I originally picked the 87 lakers, but then I switched it up, just because I figured I wanted all-nba, finals mvp kaj, not 39 yo KAJ. Generally speaking I feel like the Showtime Lakers had the greatest talent depth. You know, apart from Magic Kareem and Worthy, you have michael cooper, byron scott, ac green, wilkes, thompson, the INCREDIBLE norm nixon, bob mcadoo. The 85 team had the big 3, + scott who was a great all around player, michael cooper who was an all time great 3andD guy who was also an excellent playmaker and passer, two great scorers in mcgee and mcadoo, and some other serviceable guys in rambis, kupchak... This team was goat level in terms of depth and offense, they lack a bit defensively but they are still solid (#5 defense) with cooper and kaj who was still a great interior defender. They also have a lot of size. KAJ 7'2, Magic 6'8, Worthy 6'9, McAdoo 6'9, scott and cooper had good size for guards, Rambis 6'8, etc.

5) 86 Celtics. The main thing about the Boston Celtics was their size. You know, the ability of larry bird to shoot and play far away from the basket, and the ability of kevin mchale to be effective some feet away from the basket, made it possible for the boston celtics to have a frontline that was 6'9, 6'10 and 7'1. The defensive prowess of all time great defending guard dennis johnson (6'4) and solId defender and athlete Danny Ainge (6'5) made up for their lack of foot speed. Offensively, they played their brand of super beautiful basketball, and obviously they had great talent, with larry bird who was an incredible shooter and passer and obviously one of the greatest players ever, kevin mchale was an all time great post scorer and averaged 25 ppg in the playoffs, dennis johnson was, already before arriving to the celtics, a fmvp, all star, all-nba and all defensive player, danny ainge was really solid overall, and they also had bill walton who won 6MOTY.
The team was Just an incredible mix of size, defense and offense

6) 1971 bucks. I'm not gonna lie. The 71 bucks and the whole 60s celtics were as dominant as any other team, so I can't fight you if you put those two way higher than me. Anyway, this team was just dominant, 66-16 #1 offense and #1 defense, 12-2 in the PS, this team had one of the best versions of one of the best players ever in KAJ, who averaged 32/16/3 on 57,7% and 69% from the line and god knows how many blocks, obviously an incredible scorerer and defender, and also had oscar robertson, altough past his prime, still an all nba player, but the main thing about this team is that it was a well constructed roster, they had really good shooting etc, and, you know, other really good players in dandridge, lucius allen, bob boozer, mcglocklin, greg smith etc.

7) 65 Celtics. A team who wins so many titles in a row must have been as good as any other team or more. About this team: You know, the 60s celtics never had the best offensive rating, and they only were in the upper half of the league once (!!!!!) when they were 4th out of 10, but they always had a world beating defense, so much better than the #2 defense in the league. In the year that I've chosen (I can't say it's a particularly educated pick) they had bill russell, all time great defender havlicek entering his prime, sam jones averaging 26 ppg, heinshon, sanders, k.c jones. I don't have much to say about this team, tbh.


I feel like that's the tier 1 of teams.

Tier 2:

8) 2001 Lakers. Struggled between the 2000 lakers who were better in the rs and defensively, and the 2001 who were better in the postseason and had kobe making a big jump. Anyway. Maybe someone will be offended with the lakers being so low or in a tier 2, but I think that the lakers get a bit overrated when I see em compared to the 96 buls or the 2017 warriors. I just don't find the "shaq is too big and nobody can guard him, therefore lakers win" argument too compelling. Also, it's not like he was never beaten or swept before. Anyway, the team was obviously great, having shaq, an arguable top 5 player of all time at his goat level peak, an unstoppable scorer with great gravity. and an mvp caliber, incredible two way guard in kobe bryant. The team obviously threepeated, so that speaks volumes about the lakers, but they lacked depth and superior defensive ability

9) 2007 spurs. The spurs dinasty was built on their goat level defense more than anything else. The team was great both ways, with duncan parker and ginobili in their prime, all time great 3 and D Bruce bowen, michael finely, and a couple of other serviceable players. The team just lacked the all-time level of talent some other teams had.

10) 72 Lakers. Another team that you could argue higher than this. Again, I can't deny the possibility that I'm biased towards 3 point era teams and dinasty teams (as opposed to this team who only won once).t Anyway this team had #1 offense and #2 defense, they went 69-13 and still have the record for most consecutive wins. They went 12-3 in the ps beating some great teams like the bucks and the knicks. They had plenty of talent with Wilt who was still an incredible defender and rebounder, west who still averaged 26 and 10, goodrich who was an all star and averaged 26 ppg, and other two borderline all star talents in happy hairston and McMillian.

11) I've always been fascinated by alex hannum and this version of wilt. This team went 68-13, #1 offense and #3 defense, 11-4 in the ps, finally being able to beat the celtics. They are known to be an incredible well constructed team who played really well, and obviously having amazing great talent with arguably the best version of wilt who averaged 24/24/8 on 68,3% from the floor (and 44 from the line lol) and incredible defense and just team play. But beside him they also had a 10x all star and x7 all nba player in hal greer, a x7 all star in chet walker, an mvp (!!!), x5 all star and x5 all nba in billy cunningham, a really solid two way player in wali jones, a x1 all star in luke jackson, a x6 all star in larry costello. Obviously it was much easier back then to be an all star or all nba player, but this roster was just so deep and well constructed.


12) 2014 Spurs. I get it, this team lacks talent. The big 3 were kinda past their prime and kawhi leonard hadnt't entered his yet. Anyway, all 4 of them were already/still pretty darn good players, and they also had an elite 3andD player in danny green, a key piece in boris diaw and some serviceable guys like patty mills, belinelli, splitter. Besides that, the team was so much more of the sum of their parts. A really solid team defensively (#3 defense) with 2013 and 2014 kawhi leonard imho being the best non big defender ever, the team was the apex of coaching and team ball. Fully coming into their own deep in the playoffs, they beat the thunder and destroyed the miami heat.

[falcolombardi]

60's
-67 sixers
-64 boston
-69 lakers
(hm: 69 knicks)

70's
-71 bucks
-72 lakers
-70 knicks

80's
-86 celtics
-85 lakers
-83 sixers
(hm 82 sixers, 86 bucks, 89 pistons)

90's
-91 bulls
-96 bulls
-94 rockets (may as well go with suns, seattle or utah tbh)

00's
- 2001 lakers
-2009 lakers
2008 celtics
hm: 2007 spurs, 2004 pistons

10's
-17 warriors
-14 spurs
-16 cavs (heat, dallas, toronto and even thunder or rockets that didnt win a ring deserve a HM)

[ardee]

60s

'67 Sixers
'65 Celtics
'62 Celtics

70s

'71 Bucks
'72 Lakers
'77 Blazers

80s

'86 Celtics
'87 Lakers
'83 Sixers

90s

'96 Bulls
'91 Bulls (I consider 1st and 2nd threepeat to be different teams)
'99 Spurs

00s

'01 Lakers
'09 Lakers
'08 Celtics

10s

'17 Warriors
'16 Cavs
'16 Warriors

Top 12 all time:

1. '17 Warriors
2. '96 Bulls
3. '86 Celtics
4. '01 Lakers
5. '91 Bulls
6. '71 Bucks
7. '87 Lakers
8. '72 Lakers
9. '67 Sixers
10. '16 Cavs
11. '09 Lakers
12. '99 Spurs

It is very weird for me not to have the 2014 Spurs on here, I think they were truly tremendous, but if I imagine them against the 2016 Cavs or Warriors at full health, I don't see them coming out on top.

I admit my own criteria is a bit vague here. If we're talking about which teams would straight up win against all the others, then the 60s-80s teams would fare pretty poorly. This is basically just which team was most impressive in their own era but also I consider how teams would perform against each other within their own era.

[Doctor MJ]

Cool, thread, I'm just going to focus on the decade stuff right now.

One thing that I fond myself pondering is the progress of basketball through any given decade.

If we go by the most dominant team of the 1950s for example, I'd say it's the '49-50 Lakers, but I definitely think that the Russell Celtics coming in a half decade plus later were better teams. I ended up deciding to go with best rather than most dominant in part because I think it shows where there was progress, and where there was not.

Going forward in time, one team from the '20s & '30s, but also shout outs particularly for usurped early parts of decades.

1920s - 1927-28 Original Celtics (Dutch Dehnert, Nat Holman, Joe Lapchick)

1930s - 1932-33 New York Renaissance (Tarzan Cooper, Fats Jenkins, Willie Smith)

1940s - the post World War II arms race begins...

1. 1948-49 Minneapolis Lakers (George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Herm Schaefer) - would get better in the '50s
2. 1948-49 Rochester Royals (Bob Davies, Arnie Risen, Bobby Wanzer) - would get better in the '50s.
3. 1949 Harlem Globetrotters (Marques Haynes, Sweetwater Clifton, Goose Tatum) - Clifton leaves for the New York Knicks in 1950.

Shout outs:
1941-42 Oshkosh All-Stars (Leroy Edwards, Gene Englund, Charley Shipp) - Edwards probably strongest basketball player pre-Wilt.
1942-43 Washington Bears (Pop Gates, Dolly King, Johnny Isaacs) - went undefeated over the entire run
1943-44 Zollner Pistons (Bobby McDermott, Buddy Jeannette, Jerry Bush) - beginning a 3-year run of great dominance.
1945-46 Rochester Royals (Al Cervi, Bob Davies, Red Holzman) - played with a speed that just ran circles around everyone.
1946-47 Chicago American Gears (George Mikan, Bob Calihan, Bobby McDermott) - the start of a dynasty that wasn't

1950s:

1. 1958-59 Boston Celtics (Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman) - no stopping Russell.
2. 1955-56 Philadelphia Warriors (Paul Arizin, Neil Johnston, Jack George) - Arizin best offensive player of the era.
3. 1957-58 St. Louis Hawks (Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, Slater Martin) - Pettit & Hagan hell of a 1-2 punch.

Shout outs:
1949-50 Minneapolis Lakers (George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Vern Mikkelsen) - probably peak MPLS Lakers
1949-50 Rochester Royals (Bob Davies, Arnie Risen, Bobby Wanzer) - probably peak Rochester Royals

1960s:
1. 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers (Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker) - everything came together.
2. 1945-65 Boston Celtics (Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek) - hard to pick a year, but this was peak Jones
3. 1967-68 Los Angeles Lakers (Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Archie Clark) - peak '60s offense.

Shout out:
1961-62 Los Angeles Lakers (Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Rudy LaRusso) - most dominant Laker team of the era

1970s - notice the reversal of the trend, best teams come early in the decade)
1. 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich) - everything came together.
2. 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge) - everything came together.
3. 1969-70 New York Knicks (Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dick Barnett) - everything came together.

Shout outs:
1975-76 New York Nets (Julius Erving, Brian Taylor, John Williamson) - the ABA's crescendo, a one-man army
1977-78 Portland Trail Blazers (Bill Walton, Mo Lucas, Lionel Hollins) - what might have been

1980s
1. 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers (Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) - apex '80s
2. 1985-86 Boston Celtics (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish) - right up there
3. 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers (Moses Malone, Mo Cheeks, Julius Erving) - everything came together

Shout out:
1988-89 Detroit Pistons (Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer) - got away with so much on defense

1990s - I'm going to insist on separating out the 2 Bulls 3-peats because I don't see them as the same thing
1. 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman) - everything came together
2. 1991-92 Chicago Bulls (Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant) - peak Jordan era
3. 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs (David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Avery Johnson) - deserves way more respect

Shout outs:
1994-95 Houston Rockets (Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Robert Horry) - at their best, best team other than Top 3.
1996-97 Utah Jazz (Karl Malone, John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek) - Jazz became serious when Hornacek arrived

2000s
1. 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Derek Fisher) - really only beatable with more modern strategy
2. 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom) - most consistently elite Laker team since Magic.
3. 2007-08 Boston Celtics (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen) - held back by head coach in the playoffs

Shout outs:
2006-07 San Antonio Spurs (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker) - peak Spurs in this era
2006-07 Phoenix Suns (Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Amar'e Stoudemire) - probably beat the Spurs in the playoffs >50% of universes

2010s:
1. 2016-17 Golden State Warriors (Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green) - greatest team in history
2. 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson) - not the best in the playoffs, but earned 73-9
3. 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs (Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili) - beautiful, beautiful basketball

Shout outs:
2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers (LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, JR Smith) - earned their chip over Warriors, but not overall better
2017-18 Houston Rockets (James Harden, Chris Paul, Trevor Ariza) - actually scared the Curry-Durant Warriors.