Wizop wrote:Topofthekey wrote:So while no, you don't need the league MVP on your roster in order to win it all, you still need at least one player who is at least at All NBA second team level
have to think about this as I'm a big advocate for team ball and wish the league didn't market stars over winning teams. they always say something like "coming up it'll be A and the B's followed by X and the Y's." anyway, this could be a chicken and the egg question. does a top team need an all NBA player or is the best player on a top team pretty much guaranteed an all NBA slot?
I'd add that in the past 30 years, among the 60 teams that won their conference and made it to the finals, only 5 teams managed to do it without at least one All NBA 2nd team or better player
'10 Celtics, '05 Pistons, '00 Pacers, '99 Knicks, and '94 Knicks (all of them lost in the finals btw)
Among the five, the Celtics and Pistons team stand out because they had won in the previous one or two seasons with largely the same roster, so you might say they had championship experience to rely on
And if you want to entertain the conspiracy theory idea that the league actively tries to help a team like the Knicks (large market team) go as far as they can in the playoffs, then the list really just boils down to the '00 Pacers
So yea, without at least one All NBA 2nd team or better player, even winning the conference is a challenge, let alone the championship
I've thought about the chicken and egg thing, and maybe there is some of that at work - perhaps if the Pacers won, they'd reserve a spot on the 2nd team for either Vic or Domas
Let's hope it's that