SIMOUN SAYS: Will We Ever See Another NBA Dynasty?
It’s been 125 days since the Boston Celtics won their 18th title at the conclusion of the 2024 NBA Finals. As this column sees the light of day, we’re just a couple of heartbeats away from the renewal of hostilities on the NBA hardcourt.
With the Celtics set to raise their latest banner on their highly decorated rafters, I can’t help but think of the word dynasty. In this day and age, does any NBA team stand a chance of achieving sustained dominance in the form of multiple championships?
Before we try to answer this question, we do have to recognize that there’s no consensus definition of “dynasty” in the NBA.
- In a 2014 piece for Bleacher Report, writer Kelly Scaletta gave three criteria for a team to achieve dynasty status: “two or three consecutive championships…at least four NBA Finals appearances with the same essential roster [and] no losing seasons in the span.”
- Nearly 10 years later, Zach Kram of The Ringer included the 2000s Spurs in his list of NBA dynasties. This indicates that, in Kram’s framework, consecutive championships are not a requisite to build a dynasty. Sustained success in adjacent years will do.
- Speaking of The Ringer, Bill Simmons said in 2022 that he recognizes just three dynasties: Russell’s Celtics, Magic’s Lakers, and Jordan’s Bulls. “I might be too strict. I’m willing to talk it out,” Simmons admitted.
Me? I agree with Kram’s list, if only to give San Antonio its flowers for winning rings in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Notwithstanding the “off years” in which the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat emerged on top, the 2000s Spurs—with their inimitable control of pace and Tim Duncan’s Hall of Fame attributes—deserve to be called a dynasty in my book.
The thing is, no NBA team in recent memory has come close to replicating the Spurs’ string of excellence—let alone the long-term supremacy of the Celtics, Lakers, and Bulls in decades past.
Since the Golden State superteam won the second of their back-to-back titles in 2018, no NBA franchise has won two consecutive championships. I’ll spare you the Google search and lay the last six title-holders here: the Toronto Raptors (2019), the Los Angeles Lakers (2020), the Milwaukee Bucks (2021), the Golden State Warriors (2022), the Denver Nuggets (2023), and the Boston Celtics (2024).
No back-to-backs, no three-peats, not even a reinforcement of the notion that the Western Conference is the stronger hemisphere in the league. Look more closely into that list I laid out, and you’ll see that the West and the East have equal representation on the champions’ podium over the past six years. It’s almost like the two conferences agreed to play “your turn, my turn.”
The unpredictable Finals series these past years don’t spell “dynasty” to me. What’s the word I’m looking for? Oh, right—the “P” word.
As far as the championship scene goes, the NBA has achieved an impressive streak of parity. Whether you like it or not—whether it’s good for the ratings or otherwise—the flurry of fresh faces hoisting the Larry O’Brien in mid-June is an indication of competitive balance not seen since the late 70s. If NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had his way, this “positive trend line in terms of competition” would be the norm for years to come.
And that’s exactly where things appear to be headed. Thanks to the provisions in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), NBA teams have to think long and hard before stockpiling marquee names. The CBA, then, is a safeguard against the formation of superteams; in Kram’s words, teams that have pricey core players are discouraged by the CBA “from adding high-caliber role players or trading for younger stars.”
This iteration of the CBA is in effect through the 2029-2030 season, though a clause allows either the league or the players’ association to opt out after the 2028-2029 season. In other words, there’s a good chance that the Republic of the Philippines—and possibly even its big bro, the United States—would have elected a new President before the superteam-hindering rules are altered in the slightest.
So, will we ever see another NBA dynasty? Simoun says: In the near future, it’s very unlikely.
Given the limitations imposed by the CBA and the preference of the Commissioner, I don’t think we’re going to see any NBA team apply a vice-like grip on the Larry O’Brien trophy for successive or adjacent years. And you know what? I like it that way.
Keep me guessing. Hold me in suspense. Don’t let me cast any season away as a foregone conclusion and predict the next champion like a fully functioning stoplight.
This is why we watch basketball—to see athletes bring their very best to the floor and let the chips fall where they may.
This, in short, is why I’m pumped for the return of the NBA. It’s a truly competitive league. Sana all. (Well, not all, if you catch my drift.)
By the Numbers
6.67
The average losing margin of the UST Growling Tigers in their last three games. They dropped their Round 2 debut to the UP Fighting Maroons by 10, lost by seven to the DLSU Green Archers in overtime, and dropped a three-point heartbreaker to the Ateneo Blue Eagles on their home turf. Though the Growling Tigers were off to a rousing start this season, they’ve clearly struggled to close out tightly contested games. Good news for UST: There’s time left in Round 2 and the race for the Final Four remains wide open.
51.9%
The three-point shooting clip of the TNT Tropang Giga in their series-clinching Game 5 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Against the swarming defense of RoS, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (39 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists) found open shooters all night long—and boy, did they feast. Roger Pogoy (19 points), Kim Aurin (12 points), and Calvin Oftana (10 points) got their offense going, thanks in large part to the play-making of RHJ. TNT brings a high-octane offense to the Governors’ Cup Finals.
65
The number of seconds that Justin Brownlee and EJ Anosike collectively spent on the bench during the heartstopping Game 6 between Ginebra and San Miguel. Brownlee sat for just one minute and five seconds, while Anosike did not come out of the game at all. Kudos to both imports for being so durable, but in the end, only one team could pick up the dub. In this case, it was Ginebra—thanks in large part to Justin Noypi, who hit a trey with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter to seal the deal for the Finals-bound Barangay.
Tweet of the Week
LOOK: LPU’s JM Bravo is now conscious after undergoing a CT scan at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center. He’ll be under concussion protocol for 48 hours before being cleared to play. | via Nico Waje / GMA Integrated News
— GMA Sports (@gmasportsph) October 19, 2024
📸: NCAA Philippines#NCAA100 #NCAASigloUno#GMASports pic.twitter.com/Wx7pV3nghe
This may be the best smile we’ll see all week. The entire PH basketball community saw what happened to Lyceum’s JM Bravo, and we’re all relieved to know that he’s in stable condition now. Rooting for you, JM!
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