Are the 2020 Lakers the greatest 1 year wonder in NBA history?

[OhayoKD]

2019 Raptors.

The 2021 Lakers were great too, they would likely have won championship in 2021 if healthy based on how well they did against the Suns. They were great in the 20-21 season up until the LeBron and Davis injuries

You kind of have to pretend 2020 didn't happen for that to work.

[tone wone]

About 2 weeks away from this being 2022 Warriors. At no point this season we're they as good as the 2021 Lakers were the first 35 games of that season.

[PhiEaglesfan712]

About 2 weeks away from this being 2022 Warriors. At no point this season we're they as good as the 2021 Lakers were the first 35 games of that season.

You did not just say that. Prior to 2022, the Warriors played in 5 straight NBA Finals, winning 3 titles, from 2015-2019. The Lakers didn't win another playoff series in the decade surrounding their Championship.

[jalengreen]

2019 Raptors.

The 2021 Lakers were great too, they would likely have won championship in 2021 if healthy based on how well they did against the Suns. They were great in the 20-21 season up until the LeBron and Davis injuries

You kind of have to pretend 2020 didn't happen for that to work.

I could be misinterpreting your comment, but I don't think they're posing the 2021 Lakers as a one year wonder - they're arguing that the 2020 Lakers aren't a one year wonder.

[SK21209]

2016 Oklahoma played the 67 win spurs and the 73 win warriors

Imho 15-16 the Spurs weren't as good as either 85-86 Boston or Los Angeles despite their impressive regular season record.

That was Duncan's last season. He wasn't even half the player was Kareem was at the same age of 39. Kareem was still the best offensive Center in the league prior to the WCF. Gonobili was at the end too. Byron Scott was better than him.

Both 85-86 Magic and Worthy were at their near apex's as players individually would go on to win the next 2 Finals MVPs with Magic also winning league MVP.

I agree the 86 Celtics were a step up but not the Showtime Lakers. Truth be told Showtime was similar to the Russell Celtics, Lebron Heat or Aughts Spurs. They played at a very high level for a championship club for a very long time, better than typical title team but they never really reached ATG level (92/96 Bulls, 86 Celtics, 71 Bucs, 15-17 Warriors come to mind as examples).

The teens Spurs were the classic sum is greater than the parts. They had a 10 SRS which is off the charts good. They won their 1st round series by 22ppg. They were only 2 years removed from a title and hadn't been outscored in a series since 2012. All the data points to them being a monstrous team that in a normal season would have been the story of the basketball community.

The 2016 Spurs are fascinating in hindsight. Like you said, the metrics paint them as one of the greatest teams of all time and yet they went out in the second round. I remember that series against the Thunder vividly, what most people don’t recall that the Spurs were up 2-1 and had double-digit leads in Games 4 and 5. The Thunder just put it all together for a two week stretch with all that talent, size and athleticism that they overwhelmed the Spurs and the Warriors for a while. People also don’t remember that Duncan got hurt in January I think. Before the injury he was the same excellent big we’d seen the prior few years, afterward he was pretty limited and got benched for West in that Thunder series.

By 2016 the Spurs had mastered regular season basketball but didn’t have the individual talent to beat teams like the Thunder or Warriors in a series. They’d maxed out the mental and technical aspects of the game, but just couldn’t keep up with the talent of those teams.

[dooki667]

as a Knicks fan throwing in the 2012-13 Knicks as an honorable mention. they weren't horrid the year before at 36-30 but nowhere near 54-28. followed it up with 37-45 and than 17-65 ouch.

[OhayoKD]

2019 Raptors.

The 2021 Lakers were great too, they would likely have won championship in 2021 if healthy based on how well they did against the Suns. They were great in the 20-21 season up until the LeBron and Davis injuries

You kind of have to pretend 2020 didn't happen for that to work.

I could be misinterpreting your comment, but I don't think they're posing the 2021 Lakers as a one year wonder - they're arguing that the 2020 Lakers aren't a one year wonder.

I was referring to the raptors

[jalengreen]

Similar to Owly's post, out of curiosity I calculated the biggest one year wonders based on regular season SRS in different windows. And I assume the '20 Lakers wouldn't be mentioned, so I only list teams that made it to the Finals at minimum. In bold is the team's SRS in the given season, the surrounding values represent the SRS in the surrounding seasons.

Three year window:

1. '69 Oaks (-6.20, 7.60, -0.29)
2. '64 Warriors (-1.86, 4.41, -5.49)
3. '19 Warriors (5.79, 6.42, -8.12)

For a five year window:

1. '64 Warriors (2.63, -1.86, 4.41, -5.49,- 2.36)
2. '20 Lakers (-1.44, -1.33, 6.28, 2.77, -3.08)
3. '67 Warriors (-5.49, -2.36, 2.58, -0.66, -1.53)

And finally a seven year window:

1. '20 Lakers (-6.29, -1.44, -1.33, 6.28, 2.77, -3.08, 0.43)
2. '16 Cavaliers (-4.87, -3.86, 4.08, 5.45, 2.87, 0.59, -9.39)
3. '56 Warriors (-7.75, -1.89, -0.19, 3.82, 1.54, 0.21, -2.29)

So, I'd say there's a case to be made if you aren't making any excuses for them (injuries)

[Dr Positivity]

Imho 15-16 the Spurs weren't as good as either 85-86 Boston or Los Angeles despite their impressive regular season record.

That was Duncan's last season. He wasn't even half the player was Kareem was at the same age of 39. Kareem was still the best offensive Center in the league prior to the WCF. Gonobili was at the end too. Byron Scott was better than him.

Both 85-86 Magic and Worthy were at their near apex's as players individually would go on to win the next 2 Finals MVPs with Magic also winning league MVP.

I agree the 86 Celtics were a step up but not the Showtime Lakers. Truth be told Showtime was similar to the Russell Celtics, Lebron Heat or Aughts Spurs. They played at a very high level for a championship club for a very long time, better than typical title team but they never really reached ATG level (92/96 Bulls, 86 Celtics, 71 Bucs, 15-17 Warriors come to mind as examples).

The teens Spurs were the classic sum is greater than the parts. They had a 10 SRS which is off the charts good. They won their 1st round series by 22ppg. They were only 2 years removed from a title and hadn't been outscored in a series since 2012. All the data points to them being a monstrous team that in a normal season would have been the story of the basketball community.

The 2016 Spurs are fascinating in hindsight. Like you said, the metrics paint them as one of the greatest teams of all time and yet they went out in the second round. I remember that series against the Thunder vividly, what most people don’t recall that the Spurs were up 2-1 and had double-digit leads in Games 4 and 5. The Thunder just put it all together for a two week stretch with all that talent, size and athleticism that they overwhelmed the Spurs and the Warriors for a while. People also don’t remember that Duncan got hurt in January I think. Before the injury he was the same excellent big we’d seen the prior few years, afterward he was pretty limited and got benched for West in that Thunder series.

By 2016 the Spurs had mastered regular season basketball but didn’t have the individual talent to beat teams like the Thunder or Warriors in a series. They’d maxed out the mental and technical aspects of the game, but just couldn’t keep up with the talent of those teams.

I'm amazed they got foiled by playing Kanter at PF beside Adams. There's got to be a way to play that lineup off the court.

[prolific passer]

One year wonder? I'm thinking of the 75 Warriors. 76 squad was a monster who lost to a 40 something win Suns team with a rookie center.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Both Lebron and AD were injured for the majority of the 2021 season. Lebron especially had that freak Solomon **** injury that messed us up majorly. Still when healthy we looked ready to beat the Suns until AD went down and tghat was that.

2021 season is the biggest what if because we upgraded from 2020. Healthy 2021 team is finals bound i have no doubt.

[dcstanley]

Both Lebron and AD were injured for the majority of the 2021 season. Lebron especially had that freak Solomon **** injury that messed us up majorly. Still when healthy we looked ready to beat the Suns until AD went down and tghat was that.

2021 season is the biggest what if because we upgraded from 2020. Healthy 2021 team is finals bound i have no doubt.

I thought so too at first but it's hard to consider a center rotation featuring Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell an upgrade. Insane that Drummond started multiple playoff games.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Both Lebron and AD were injured for the majority of the 2021 season. Lebron especially had that freak Solomon **** injury that messed us up majorly. Still when healthy we looked ready to beat the Suns until AD went down and tghat was that.

2021 season is the biggest what if because we upgraded from 2020. Healthy 2021 team is finals bound i have no doubt.

I thought so too at first but it's hard to consider a center rotation featuring Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell an upgrade. Insane that Drummond started multiple playoff games.

I'd say yeah we missed Mcgee and Dwight that year. But i still say finals bound. Had we beaten Phoenix i'd say we'd cruise towards the finals.

Who did they face after us? Nuggets and Clippers without Kawhi?

Now i know PG loves to go off against the Lakers but i think we'd stomp them without Kawhi.

I also think we had way too high of hopes in regards to Gasol. He had regressed noticeably from his time with the Raps.

[tsherkin]

About 2 weeks away from this being 2022 Warriors. At no point this season we're they as good as the 2021 Lakers were the first 35 games of that season.

What? This isn't even remotely sensible. Steph was less healthy, Wiggins missed more than half the season, they had a pile of problems with their frontcourt, they lost Gary Payton II and OPJ and their defense fell apart. They got Klay back for most of the season, but the D was rough.

Moreover, as others have mentioned, it's ridiculous to call that team a one-year wonder. They won 53 games in 2022 and 44 this year. It isn't a huge drop-off, and the team has 6 Finals appearances and 4 titles in the last 9 years. If you were going to say anything, your moment was to talk about the 2019 Warriors, who won the title and then subsequently went 15-50 during the bubble year, and then went 39-33 and missed the playoffs in 2021.

But that wouldn't have been a coherent platform either.

[tone wone]

About 2 weeks away from this being 2022 Warriors. At no point this season we're they as good as the 2021 Lakers were the first 35 games of that season.

What? This isn't even remotely sensible. Steph was less healthy, Wiggins missed more than half the season, they had a pile of problems with their frontcourt, they lost Gary Payton II and OPJ and their defense fell apart. They got Klay back for most of the season, but the D was rough.

Moreover, as others have mentioned, it's ridiculous to call that team a one-year wonder. They won 53 games in 2022 and 44 this year. It isn't a huge drop-off, and the team has 6 Finals appearances and 4 titles in the last 9 years. If you were going to say anything, your moment was to talk about the 2019 Warriors, who won the title and then subsequently went 15-50 during the bubble year, and then went 39-33 and missed the playoffs in 2021.

But that wouldn't have been a coherent platform either.

The hell are you babbling about?

Wiggins played in 22 of their first 24 games....they were 13-11 with a pitiful 2-10 road record.

Steph played in 26 of their first 29 games...they were 14-15 with a 2-13 road record.

The Warriors are 30-26 with Steph this season. For comparison the 2021 Lakers were 30-15 with Lebron.

The 2021 Lakers lost 3 starters from their title team and looked every bit a championship level team before Lebron freak ankle injury. And this was despite AD being noticeable banged up and worse.

Then 2023 Warriors wouldn't even be playoff team if they played in the East

So we have a 2020 team that's one of the worst in the league. A 2021 middling play-in team. A 2022 team that rode an elite defense to a championship. And a 2023 mediocre play-in level team.

Yes the 2022 Warriors look like a one-year wonder

[tsherkin]

Wiggins played in 22 of their first 24 games....they were 13-11 with a pitiful 2-10 road record.

And missed 45. Yes, they were 19-18 with him, but if you don't think consistently having him their for his defense and set 3pt shooting would have helped as the team went through it's rounds of issues, then I don't know what to tell you.

Yes the 2022 Warriors look like a one-year wonder

That... doesn't make sense. You in no way addressed the defensive drop-off, defense being a primary factor for the team during it's entire run since their first title. Also, you haven't addressed how ludicrous it is to call them a one-year wonder when they have history spanning most of a decade, or when key contributors to the very thing that helped propped them up last year are gone. Or their general lack of health, and thus lack of consistency.

Yeah, the Lakers had their own issues, so it's perfectly explicable why they fell off, but going off on the Warriors doesn't make a lot of sense.

[tone wone]

Wiggins played in 22 of their first 24 games....they were 13-11 with a pitiful 2-10 road record.

And missed 45. Yes, they were 19-18 with him, but if you don't think consistently having him their for his defense and set 3pt shooting would have helped as the team went through it's rounds of issues, then I don't know what to tell you.

Yes the 2022 Warriors look like a one-year wonder

That... doesn't make sense. You in no way addressed the defensive drop-off, defense being a primary factor for the team during it's entire run since their first title. Also, you haven't addressed how ludicrous it is to call them a one-year wonder when they have history spanning most of a decade, or when key contributors to the very thing that helped propped them up last year are gone. Or their general lack of health, and thus lack of consistency.
.

The guy who started this thread only referenced Lebrons time in LA starting in 2019. Not the tanking season that preceded it. What the Warriors did back when Dwight Howard was a Rocket and Kobe, KG & Duncan were active players is completely irrelevant.

Since Durant left what have they done? If they don't have a deep playoff run this year that 2022 title is a one-year wonder.

[tsherkin]

Since Durant left what have they done? If they don't have a deep playoff run this year that 2022 title is a one-year wonder.

They had a 5-game season from Steph in 2020, so that one should be self-explanatory. In 2021, they won at a pace similar to 2023, around 44-win pace. No Klay. Weren't play GPII or Poole as much as they are now, and they didn't have Porter apart from 2022. But again, still tons of injuries. So 2022 comes around. Klay comes back. They add Porter, they're playing GP2 more, Poole breaks out. They win 53 games and go on a run to the title. They were the best defense in the league. That's what has evaporated on them this year. In 2021, they were 5th. In 2020, they were 26th. In 2019, they were 13th, but they were a wild monster on O, so it didn't matter as much. When they beat the Cavs in 2017, they were 2nd.

There's a trend here.

Draymond played 46 games this season. They were 34-12 with him, which is close to 61-win pace and a major reason their D wasn't in order.

So again, you can talk about them however you like, but major injuries have played a significant role. It isn't accurate to call them a 1-year wonder, most especially since again, they have a decade of dominant history.