It was minutes after the Denver Nuggets‘ reign as NBA champions ended last spring.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were celebrating, their music and screams loud enough to be heard in the room where Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was giving his final postgame press conference of the season.
At that point, it was official: another NBA season had passed without a team successfully defending its title. Malone had no choice but to point out the obvious.
“It’s hard. It’s hard to repeat that, Malone said. It’s difficult to win. »
He’s right. And there’s never been a time in NBA history when it’s been more difficult.
Here are the last six NBA champions, in order: the Toronto Raptors, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Golden State Warriors, the Nuggets, and now the Boston Celtics.
We’re talking about six different teams that have lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in six seasons. This parity had only been seen once in the league before, almost half a century ago.
The era of dynasties may be on hold for now, replaced by an era in which, for a variety of reasons, it’s harder than usual to reach the top of the NBA and stay there. It’s the Celtics’ turn to try to reverse this trend.
“It’s always tough to win one,” said Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, who won the title with the Bucks in 2021 and was part of the team eliminated in the second round the following year . But winning two titles in a row is even more difficult. »
The NBA doesn’t seem to care. We are in the era of parity, and the current collective bargaining agreement should make it even more difficult for teams to create dynasties – a rapid change from the four-year period spanning 2015 to 2018, when the Cavaliers Cleveland and the Warriors have made it to the Finals every year.
Simply put, the more teams spend, the harder it is now to make trades, especially trades involving players with big contracts.
For example, it recently took several days for the Timberwolves and New York Knicks to complete a trade, after agreeing to send Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The financial details had to be very precise.
“The new rules…some of the consequences are unforeseen, quite frankly,” said Tim Connelly, Timberwolves president of basketball operations. I don’t know if anyone intended to make trading this difficult. »
This is exactly what the NBA wanted.
“I don’t want to say that nothing is lost, but for me, I don’t think that our system, by definition, will prevent us from repeating as champions,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. I think, yes, it makes it less likely, but we didn’t want to have a different champion every year. I think it’s moving more towards equal opportunities. There is a real incentive for players to stay in their market. »
No one would say that the 30 teams that will start the season have a real chance at the title, but there are more real hopes than there were just a few seasons ago.
“The league is looking for parity,” said Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins.
None of the five previous champions, not counting the Celtics (the big favorites to win the title this season, according to bookmakers), even managed to reach the finals the following season. That ties the longest drought of its kind in NBA history.
A few years ago, most teams probably didn’t think they had a real chance of winning the title. Now it’s a different story.
“I just think all this sets up a more competitive environment and more teams give it a shot. That’s where it gets fun, when there’s not much difference between the teams, expressed Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. This will be how teams can deal with all these different emotions and the competitive spirit throughout a season. »
