GOAT List: Top 25 Greatest Teams in NBA History

[G.O.A.T]

[FONT="Georgia"]The GOAT List:
The 25 Greatest Single Season Teams in NBA History[/FONT]

[FONT="Century Gothic"]These are the Top 25 teams in NBA history ranked in ascending order starting with today's post of the #25 ranked team. I'll give each team it's own post and delve into the players achievments and events that made it so great and so significant within the scope of history in the NBA.

The teams are limited to Championship Winners and are ranked using numerous criteria including their regular season and post season records, length and frequency of win streaks, margin(s) of victory, record relative to the rest of the leagues top teams, number of all-star and hall of fame players on the roster and their impact on the NBA as a whole.

My hope is that this thread will not turn into a bunch of lists of teams and arguing over who should be higher or lower and instead can be a thread that encourages discussion and the sharing of knowledge between passionate basketball fans. Enjoy and let the listing begin. [/FONT]

[FONT="Arial Black"]Index[/FONT]

#25 - The 1969 Boston Celtics (coach Bill Russell) - page 1
#24 - The 1950 Minneapolis Lakers (coach John Kundla) - page 3
#23 - The 1982 Los Angeles Lakers (coach Pat Riley) - page 4
#22 - The 2005 San Antonio Spurs (coach Gregg Popovich) - page 4
#21 - The 1962 Boston Celtics (coach Red Auerbach) - page 5
#20 - The 1984 Boston Celtics (coach KC Jones) - page 7
#19 - The 2008 Boston Celtics (coach Doc Rivers) - page 7
#18 - The 1991 Chicago Bulls (coach Phil Jackson) - page 10
#17 - The 1964 Boston Celtics (coach Red Auerbach) - page 11
#16 - The 1985 Los Angeles Lakers (coach Pat Riley) - page 11
#15 - The 1960 Boston Celtics (coach Red Auerbach) - page 11
#14 - The 1970 New York Knicks (coach Red Holzman) - page 11
#13 - The 2000 Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) - page 12
#12 - The 2001 Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) - page 12
#11 - The 1997 Chicago Bulls (coach Phil Jackson) - page 13
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#10 1987 Los Angeles Lakers (coach Pat Riley)
#9
#8
#7
#6
#5
#4
#3
#2
#1

[PowerGlove]

Mods sticky this.

Good to have you back man.

[griffmoney2084]

in before shaq/kobe lakers get vastly underrated even with the greatest playoff record of all time and 2 of the top 10 players ever

[PowerGlove]

in before shaq/kobe lakers get vastly underrated even with the greatest playoff record of all time and 2 of the top 10 players ever

Too bad you weren't in before teams were made up of more than two players.

GTFO here.

[Toizumi]

Good to have you back indeed.
This list should be good. Never mind the stuff some idiots might post in this thread. Please finish the list, ignore the trolls and have good discussions with the true NBA fans on this board

How did things go with the book? I tried to PM you for the rest of the articles for the top 100 players list btw. do you have a link to where you finished the list or something? would like to read the rest of it..

[G.O.A.T]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]#25 1969 Boston Celtics[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"]Head Coach: Bill Russell
Most skilled Player: John Havlicek
Most Important Player: Bill Russell
Other Starters: Bailey Howell, Larry Siegfried, Em Bryant
Key Bench Players: Sam Jones, Don Nelson, Satch Sanders

Regular Season Record: 48-34 (4th in Eastern Division)
Postseason Record: 12-6
NBA Finals: Beat the Los Angeles Lakers four games to three.
Longest Winning Streak: 5 games (three times)
Points Scored per Game: 111.0
Points Allowed per Game: 105.4[/FONT]

Season Stats



[FONT="Palatino Linotype"]-The only team on the list to win fewer than 50 games, the only team not to have home court advantage for a single playoff series. These were the last of the Celtics 11 Championship teams in Bill Russell 13 seasons. It was Russell’s final year as a player and final year as Celtics coach. He had made this decision before the season started but decided to keep it to himself. In 1966-67, Russell’s first season as a coach the Celtics, string of eight straight titles was halted by Wilt Chamberlain’s Philadelphia 76ers, the following year the Celtics got revenge en route to another title and Wilt demanded out of Philly. So before the 1968-69 season began he was traded to Los Angeles, the Lakers had lost to the Celtics four of the last five years in the NBA finals and had always cited their lack of an upper echelon center to compete with Russell as the principal cause. Now joining 1968 All-NBA first team selections Jerry West and Elgin Baylor was the two-time reigning MVP and his 7’1+”, 300 pound frame. The Celtics were old, their top eight players were all at least 28 when the season started, most were in their thirties. Couple that with the fact that almost all of Russell’s teammates from the earlier titles, save for Sam Jones also playing his final season in 1969, had retired or advance so far in age that they were relegated to the bench. Even Jones lost his starting spot during the season to Larry Seigfried who had been cut by multiple NBA teams prior to joining Boston. It wasn’t just Seigfried either, most of the Celtics now were cast-offs. Starting forward Bailey Howell was deemed over the hill by the Bullets and traded for pennies on the dollar. Joining Seigfried in the back court was Em Bryant who had scored right around five points a game in four seasons with the Knicks before being dealt to Boston by Phoenix who got him in that season’s expansion draft. Off the bench the Celtics main weapon was Don Nelson, Nellie had been cut by the Lakers a few years prior and Russell took the awkward forward under his wing and told not to worry about his weaknesses (defense and rebounding) and do what he did best (score).

Despite their depleted and aging line-up, the Celtics were able to get off to a hot start, a signature of their dynastic run in the 1960’s. They started the year 19-6 before fatigue and injuries began to befall them. Russell was so exhausted at one point that he collapsed during a game and began to convulse from extreme fatigue and dehydration. He routinely took IV’s before and after games to make it through the 82 game grind of a season. Still, as they always had, the Celtics played through injuries and even as the Knicks behind Willis Reed and Walt Frazier and the Bullets with Earl Monroe and rookie center Wesley Unseld began to pull away in the standings, the Celtics kept their focus on one thing, the same thing it had always been, winning a Championship. A huge key to their success during the season was the play of John Havlicek who had shed his sixth man role a few years prior and was now becoming on of the games best all-around players. A defensive star, Hondo also led Boston in scoring at 21.6 a night and assist at 5.4 justr ahead of Russell. Balance was always the Celtic way and this particular season was no different with seven Boston players chipping in double figure averages. Russell averaged 10-19-5 and finished 4th in the MVP voting (won by Unseld). He was a unanimous selection to the first ever All-Defensive team as well. Havlicek was all-NBA adding over seven rebounds to his other impressive numbers and Howell averaged 19 and 9 while shooting a team best 49% from the field. So as the regular season came to an end, Boston, at 48-34, found itself in fourth place, the final qualifying spot in the East. It was the highest win loss total of Russell’s career and it meant that Boston would be matched up against the 76ers in the first round. Philly had won 55 games during the regular season without Wilt. Their core of Billy Cunningham, Hal Greer, Chet Walker and Luke Jackson was still in tact. However they provided little resistance against Boston which advanced through the best of seven Eastern Semifinals in five games. In the Conference Finals the young and hungry Knicks were waiting, and they’d keep waiting. The Celtics steamrolled them in six and were back in the Finals where as expected, the Lakers and the most formidable trio in NBA history would be waiting.

The Lakers took the first tow games of the series at home behind 53 and 41 points from Jerry West. Havlicek was nearly his equal racking up 80 total points in the two games, but it was not enough. Russell who had focused the Celtic defense on Chamberlain, as always, for the first two games and had held the giant to just 19 points, switched the strategy late in game three to allow him to roam and help on West and Baylor, it worked as the Lakers perimeter duo went 1-14 down the stretch and the Celtics got back into the series. Game for was physical, sloppy and ugly. But like so many games in this great rivalry, it came down to the final play. Down by one with seconds to play, Boston called a time out and, as he had learned to do over his three years as a coach Russell asked “What do we do now?”. It was Larry Siegfried who spoke up and suggested a play from his Ohio State days that was called the picket fence. It was a triple screen for a shooter coming from the weak side toward the inbounder. Russell called on Sam Jones to deliver in the clutch as he so often had and took himself out of game, knowing there would be no time for a rebound if Jones missed. Jones came off the screens, took the pass and slipped as he began his shot, losing his balance and watching as Chamberlain came out after him, Jones hoisted the ball with extra arc and it bounced twice of the rim and backboard before falling in and evening the series. Back in LA for game five, the Lakers ran the Celtics out of the building, West leading the way with 39 more points. The Celtics too held serve at home in game six, winning 99-90 with Russell outscoring and rebounding Chamberlain and not missing a single shot from the field or the line. It set the stage for another game seven showdown. Russell was 10-0 in these games in his career, but never before did he have to get it done on the road against an opponent like this. The Lakers had won all three playoff games at home and had taken five of seven regular season games against Boston. So confident in his teams chances of winning, Laker owner Jack Kent Cooke placed balloons and confetti in the rafters and including a post game celebration program under the seats for the home fans. When Russell saw this he went into the Celtics locker room, showed it too his teammates and said simply “It’s a shame…all those balloons are going to go to waste”. The Celtics proceeded to stifle and stun Los Angles throughout the first three quarters and built a sizeable lead at 91-76 entering the final stanza. But Boston went cold and West got hot for the Lakers.

They steadily knifed into the Boston margin and had cut it to nine when Chamberlain grabbed a defensive rebound and landed awkwardly on his already sore knee. He took himself out of the game to rest his ailing knee and when he asked to return, he was told no by stubborn coach Butch Van Breda Kolf who had feuded with Wilt for control all season. Still the Lakers continued to close the gap with Wilt on the bench and his replacement Mel Counts shooting jumpers at center. A Counts jumper with 2 and half to play narrowed the margin to one and the teams went back and forth from there. With one minute remaining and Boston ahead by just one still, the Lakers nearly stole the ball from Havlicek in the corner, but the deflection instead found it’s way to Don Nelson who tossed a one hander from the foul line off the back of the iron. The ball bounced straight up in the air over the top of the backboard and back down through the net. On the next play a doubled team West forced a contested jumper Russell rebounded after another Celtic turnover, it was again Russell, this time blocking Mel Counts shot and taking the ball away, who saved the day. The Celtics held on for a 108-106 victory and another NBA title.
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[1987_Lakers]

Welcome back G.O.A.T

[artificial]

Man, you left me hanging for the damn mail of the GOAT players list

Anyway, good to see you back. Had barely been logging to this site, but I guess I'll check more often now.

[Yung D-Will]

Man, you left me hanging for the damn mail of the GOAT players list

Anyway, good to see you back. Had barely been logging to this site, but I guess I'll check more often now.

Me too lol been waiting for the email forever xD

[Mr Clutch Melo]

Can you PM me the Top 10 GOAT players? Been waiting on it for a while

[jlauber]

Glad to see you back. This Forum needs you!

[SCdac]

2005 Spurs are bound to be underrated... because they're not a "sexy" pick.

They were one of the most dominant team of the 2000's though, undoubtedly

The Spurs went 43-23 versus playoff teams that particular year.

Considering the way they were winning (point differential, etc), it was very impressive and indicative of their contending status.

Here's a good article on it (a part of it at least), by Neil Pane from Basketball Reference.com

Back in April, that result seemed surprising, perhaps even a glitch in WhatIfSports' programming... but maybe it shouldn't have. San Antonio simply dominated the league's good teams in '05: they had 43 wins over playoff teams, and 28 of them came by 10 or more points (by comparison, the 2000 Lakers had 6 fewer wins of 10+ pts despite winning 6 more total games; likewise, the '03 Spurs were even less dominant, winning just 19 of 48 by 10+). And along with the 4th-best scoring differential vs. playoff teams of any squad since 2000 (+5.4 PPG), in the playoffs San Antonio went through Phoenix (+7.8 SRS vs. playoff teams), Detroit (+5.9), Seattle (+4.0), and Denver (+3.6), one of the toughest gauntlets any team on this list had to run.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=7213

[rmt]

Welcome back!

[joyner82]

1999 Spurs will be underrated IMO. That's a top 6-8 team all time IMO.

[NY-Knicks]

Great to see you back, these lists are always a great read and it opens up a lot of discussions.

Couple of teams
1995-1996 Bulls (72 wins)
2003-2004 Pistons (one of the best defensive teams of all time)
2000-2001 Lakers (best playoff record of all time)
1971-1972 Lakers (33 game winning streak)