Favorite Finals series you've watched live?

[70sFan]

2013 and 2014, for obvious reasons.

[scrabbarista]

2014 is my favorite. Then 1995. Seeing "your team" demolish its opponent is the best. Hoping 2023 joins these.

1991 was pretty sweet, too, partly because it was my first one. Also 1994, obviously. 2011 was satisfying. 2008 was exciting. Last year was enjoyable because the teams felt pretty evenly matched. I was happy for Giannis in 2021. That's most (not all) of the good ones from the last 32 seasons.

Oh! 2005 was pretty good, too, low scores notwithstanding.

And 1998 provided an obviously magical moment, so it deserves a mention.

I guess I could toss in 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2003, and 2007 (also 2023) because they included one of my four favorite players ever, but I don't think any of them (we'll see about 2023) were particularly evenly matched, which is why I left them out originally.

Oh, I forgot 2019. That was suuuuuper enjoyable from the perspective of a neutral fan who wanted to see some high-level, competitive games. Just great, evenly matched teams. I have to put it last here, though, because it was so obviously marred by injuries.

[scrabbarista]

None of the teams i've rooted for have gotten farther than the 2nd round. So I don't have a favorite

Which teams are those?

[Amare_1_Knicks]

2006, 2008-2010, 2016,

[wojoaderge]

None of the teams i've rooted for have gotten farther than the 2nd round. So I don't have a favorite

Which teams are those?

1982-83 Sonics
1984-85 Jazz
1985-86 Warriors
1986-87 Warriors
1987-88 Bullets
1989-90 Clippers
1990-91 Sonics
1991-92 Sonics
1992-93 T-Wolves
1994-95 Nets
1995-96 Bucks
1996-97 Blazers
1997-78 Blazers
2009-10 Grizzlies
2010-11 Grizzlies
2010-12 Grizzlies
2013-14 Kings
2014-15 Kings
2015-16 Kings
2016-17 Pelicans
2018-19 Spurs
2021-22 Bulls
2022-23 Bulls

[scrabbarista]

None of the teams i've rooted for have gotten farther than the 2nd round. So I don't have a favorite

Which teams are those?

1982-83 Sonics
1984-85 Jazz
1985-86 Warriors
1986-87 Warriors
1987-88 Bullets
1989-90 Clippers
1990-91 Sonics
1991-92 Sonics
1992-93 T-Wolves
1994-95 Nets
1995-96 Bucks
1996-97 Blazers
1997-78 Blazers
2009-10 Grizzlies
2010-11 Grizzlies
2010-12 Grizzlies
2013-14 Kings
2014-15 Kings
2015-16 Kings
2016-17 Pelicans
2018-19 Spurs
2021-22 Bulls
2022-23 Bulls

Who you going for next season?

[wojoaderge]

Which teams are those?

1982-83 Sonics
1984-85 Jazz
1985-86 Warriors
1986-87 Warriors
1987-88 Bullets
1989-90 Clippers
1990-91 Sonics
1991-92 Sonics
1992-93 T-Wolves
1994-95 Nets
1995-96 Bucks
1996-97 Blazers
1997-78 Blazers
2009-10 Grizzlies
2010-11 Grizzlies
2010-12 Grizzlies
2013-14 Kings
2014-15 Kings
2015-16 Kings
2016-17 Pelicans
2018-19 Spurs
2021-22 Bulls
2022-23 Bulls

Who you going for next season?

Depends on if they Bulls keep DDR and Vuc. If those two are gone, i'm moving on, even though they're my local team. I love the midrange game and the low post game. Doesn't matter to me how it affects a team's W/L.

[HeartBreakKid]

Hm..2016. Always great to see an upset like that and a lot of people got salty about it which is cool too.

Other finals that are relevant to me was 98 (Jordan in the 90s), 04 (upset and love defensive stars), 10 (homer team going to game 7 in a tight one).

[prolific passer]

1997 was an underrated season. It was the last all star season for Ewing, Hakeem, and Pippen off the top of my head and the last season of the Payton/Kemp duo and the first of Kobe/Shaq.

[eminence]

I enjoyed '08 most, competitive first 5 games, and then a romp to get KG his title in game 6. The pure mastery Pop showed in '14 was of course excellent. '22 my favorite recently, feeling of a bit of a last ride from the Steph/Dray duo.

Starting in '97.

[sp6r=underrated]

As a Knicks fan even though I hated the ending 94 Finals is the one I enjoyed watching the most. Tabling my fan interest here are the finals I enjoyed the most. As background, I have pretty good memories of the finals dating back to 91 & save 2021 Finals I've watched almost all the finals. I missed 2021 due to my father's death just derailing my interest in anything.

1. 2013 Finals: Like almost all the finals on the list it featured extremely high level clubs going head to head. The series had for my time as a fan the greatest shot in history. Both clubs were loaded with HOFers at various stages of their career and extremely high level coaching. It wasn't necessarily his best game but G7 was my favorite Lebron performance.
2. 2016 Finals: One of the great upsets in the history of professional sports.
3. 2006 Finals: one of the more controversial NBA finals but one I enjoyed thoroughly.
4. 97 Finals: this series was at the beginning of the deadball era but it featured extremely close games between two extremely high quality teams.
5. 93 Finals: I was still a kid for this one. Most people prefer it to the 97 Finals but being older I had a much better understanding of what was going on for the 97 Finals.

Out of these series, I rooted very hard for the 93 Suns, 13 Spurs & 97 Jazz. I watched 2006 & 2016 from a neutral perspective.

[GSWFan1994]

Been watching the finals since 1991.

It's difficult... it's like picking a favourite dog you had... very difficult.

[Dr Salad Bowl]

By "live" I assume live on TV counts (not "live" in person)

I've been watching since early 90's - and it's 2011 hands down.

David v Goliath (yeah yeah that Dallas team was better than given credit for), good v evil, one team v multiple individuals, the Dirk redemption arc, Mavs 2006 PTSD, "cough"-gate... coming off the back of The Decision, "Not 1..."...

I've never ridden every shot in a series like that one - unforgettable.

The only downside was their cue going in the rack afterwards. Game 1 of the next season Miami punched them in the teeth and you kinda knew it was one-and-done.