NBA Tournament of Champions: First Round (Part 2)
A quick refresher in case you’re new here or you already forgot how this works:
- The Tournament of Champions is a 64-team bracket of NBA champions to determine the best team of all-time.
- Teams play by the rules of the higher seed’s era. This affects the existence of a 3-point line, the width of the lane and even the way the game is officiated.
- All outcomes are decided on the premise that the lower-seeded team is put in a time machine and transported to the higher seed’s era. This means that if the 90s Bulls play the modern-day Warriors, arguments like “Jordan would’ve shot more 3s if he played today” are not considered.
- We’re assuming each team has a week off between winning the NBA championship and beginning the Tournament of Champions.
- Each series is best-of-seven with a 2–2–1–1–1 homecourt format.
- The teams are seeded by regular-season record. I scrapped the teams who won titles prior to the shot-clock era. Apologies to the ’47 Warriors, ’48 Bullets, ‘49–’50 Lakers, ’51 Royals and ‘52-’54 Lakers, but you suck and would’ve lost in the first round anyway. That leaves us with 65 teams, so the ’78 Bullets — the shot-clock era champion with the worst regular-season record (44–38) — are gone, too.
- Click here to view the full bracket.
- Click here for Part 1.
Quadrant 3
(1) 1967 Philadelphia 76ers vs. (16) 1975 Golden State Warriors
Led by Wilt Chamberlain, the 76ers have more firepower and a more talented bench, so they send Rick Barry and his wig home early.
’67 76ers win, 4–1.
(8) 1980 Los Angeles Lakers vs. (9) 2005 San Antonio Spurs
Something has to give between the Lakers’ top-ranked offense and the Spurs’ top-ranked defense. Let’s start by presenting the case for L.A.
Kareem, 32, wins the MVP this season and is the best player in this series (a slight edge over Tim Duncan). He tosses up 32 points per game on 57.2 percent shooting in the playoffs, plus 12 rebounds and four blocks to boot. He injures his ankle and misses Game 6 of the Finals, but rookie Magic Johnson fills in at center and famously drops 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists to kickstart the 80s Lakers’ dynasty. (Kareem’s ankle would be good to go with a week off between the Finals and the Tournament of Champions.)
Between Kareem, Magic, Jamaal Wilkes (20.3 points per game in the playoffs) and Norm Nixon (16.9 PPG), L.A. features four players capable of getting 20 on any given night.
The counter for the Spurs is that Duncan (28) and Manu Ginobili (27) are squarely in their primes. San Antonio has quality veterans in Robert Horry and Bruce Bowen, specialists like Brent Barry, and a young Tony Parker (22).
It’s interesting to imagine the chess match of defensive assignments and play styles. The Spurs would try to slow the game down and make it ugly in order to counteract the Showtime offense. They can put Bowen on Magic, Duncan on Kareem, Parker on Nixon and Ginobili on Michael Cooper, but who is guarding Wilkes? I’m assuming Nazr Mohammed would cede his starting spot to Horry, but Horry on Wilkes is not a great matchup for the Spurs. Kareem and Magic get it done in L.A. in Game 7.
’80 Lakers win, 4–3.
(4) 1983 Philadelphia 76ers vs. (13) 2004 Detroit Pistons
The 76ers interrupted the dueling Lakers and Celtics dynasties with their ’83 title, and for good reason; they were loaded.
A quick rundown of Philadelphia’s starting lineup: the MVP (Moses Malone), an All-NBA selection (Julius Erving), two All-Stars (Andrew Toney and Maurice Cheeks) and an All-Defense choice (Bobby Jones). Malone and Cheeks joined Jones on the All-Defense First Team. The 76ers nearly completed Moses’ famous “Fo Fo Fo” prediction, falling only once in the playoffs as Malone averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds.
While the Pistons had a cohesive unit, they lack the horsepower (pun!) to compete. Chauncey Billups was good in the ’04 Playoffs (16 points, six assists per game), but Detroit needs him to be great in the Tournament of Champions. His 38.5 shooting percentage and 34.6 clip from deep in the playoffs don’t bode well. Outside of Billups, Detroit’s best offensive option is watching Rip Hamilton run the Pacer Test off screens along the baseline.
Ben Wallace is about as good as it’s going to get in terms of Moses stoppers, but great players like Moses are going to produce no matter their defender. Shaq averaged 27 and 11 against Wallace in the ’04 Finals.
’83 76ers win, 4–1.
(5) 1998 Chicago Bulls vs. (12) 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers
*Prepares popcorn*
The Last Dance has provided us with conflicting truths that affect the Tournament of Champions: 1) The Bulls were completely exhausted following the ’98 Finals, and 2) Jordan was homicidally competitive and would’ve taken the matchup with LeBron personally. So how would this series play out?
(Fun fact: Jordan green-lighted The Last Dance the day of the Cavaliers’ championship parade. I’m going out on a limb and saying that wasn’t a coincidence.)
Let’s start with some context; both teams are coming off emotionally and physically draining runs. Chicago was fracturing after three years of intense media scrutiny, Beatles-esque receptions in every city and playing 100 games every season. Cleveland had just celebrated LeBron’s coronation and overcoming a 3–1 deficit against a 73–9 team.
Put simply, both sides will be operating below peak capacity because of their emotional hangovers. A slight advantage goes the Cavaliers’ way because of age: LeBron is 31, Jordan is 34; Kyrie Irving is 23, Scottie Pippen is 32; Kevin Love is 27, Dennis Rodman is 36. Cleveland’s legs will hold out longer than Chicago’s as the series progresses.
The Cavaliers have another edge in 3-point shooting, not only in volume but in accuracy; Irving, Love and JR Smith — Cleveland’s top gunners — all connected at above a 41 percent clip in the playoffs.
The dilemma for Cleveland: the Bulls have Pippen for LeBron, and the Cavs have … JR Smith for Jordan? Iman Shumpert? Matthew Dellavedova? That’s a problem.
I keep coming back to how tired and beat up the Bulls were. Pippen was slowed by a bad back throughout the Finals, and he spent a large portion of Game 6 in the locker room after tweaking his back in the opening minutes. That injury could easily flare up again under the rigors of guarding LeBron.
Jordan rested on defense throughout the Jazz series (if you don’t believe me, watch Game 6). His jumpers routinely came up short; he shot 42.7 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from deep in the Finals. He was running on fumes.
Jordan is the GOAT, but 34-year-old MJ is inferior to 31-year-old LeBron, especially when considering the mileage on their odometers. Take a look at their playoff numbers from these seasons:
Jordan: 32–5–4, 46/30/81
LeBron: 26–10–8, 53/34/66
Jordan had the edge in scoring, but LeBron created more offense for his team and was more efficient in doing so. LeBron orchestrated the Cavaliers’ third-ranked offense (110.9 offensive rating) while Jordan spearheaded the Bulls’ ninth-ranked attack (107.7).
Like I wrote earlier, Jordan had to take plays off to conserve his energy in the Finals — by all accounts something he never did. That should underscore how shot his legs were. The Bulls were exhausted and spent their final energy deposits to beat the Jazz; they don’t have enough left in the tank to overcome LeBron.
’16 Cavaliers win, 4–3.
(3) 2008 Boston Celtics vs. (14) 1976 Boston Celtics
A word of advice if you’re filling out a March Madness-style bracket for this: 70s teams probably aren’t gonna do so hot.
’08 Celtics win, 4–0.
(6) 1981 Boston Celtics vs. (11) 1993 Chicago Bulls
This series is similar to the ’16 Cavs-’98 Bulls, except the roles are reversed. The fundamental question, again: Chicago has Pippen for Bird; Boston has … Chris Ford for Jordan?
The difference this time around is that Jordan (29) and Pippen (27) are in their absolute primes, whereas their opponents (Bird is 24, McHale is 23) are a few years away.
’93 Bulls win, 4–2.
(7) 1964 Boston Celtics vs. (10) 2007 San Antonio Spurs
Remember the advice about 70s teams? Ditto for 60s squads.
’07 Spurs win, 4–0
(2) 2017 Golden State Warriors vs. (15) 1955 Syracuse Nationals
Lol.
’17 Warriors win, 4–0.
Quadrant 4
(1) 1997 Chicago Bulls vs. (16) 1969 Boston Celtics
After reading Part 1, my dad said, “Boy, you really don’t like the old teams.” I told him that’s not true; I think I’m more accepting of older teams than most people. But it’s unequivocally true that players and teams now are better than they were then.
It comes down to “greater” versus “better.” Let’s use sports cars as an example— the ’64 Porsche is regarded as the greatest Porsche ever, but the ’19 Porsche is a better vehicle. The newer models have better handling, more powerful engines, sleeker designs. The same premise applies to basketball — the 60s Celtics are the greatest dynasty ever, but the 90s Bulls are a better team.
’97 Bulls win, 4–0.
(8) 2003 San Antonio Spurs vs. (9) 1990 Detroit Pistons
This series is a rock fight between two well-coached, defense-oriented teams. Despite MVP Tim Duncan being the best player on the court, the Pistons advance to the second round.
Duncan averaged a monstrous 24.7 points and 15.4 rebounds per game in the playoffs, but his supporting cast isn’t good enough for the Spurs to make a run in the Tournament of Champions. Tony Parker is only 20. Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili both shot under 40 percent from the field in the playoffs. Stephen Jackson was San Antonio’s third-leading scorer. David Robinson is washed and calls it quits after the season.
Meanwhile, Detroit’s two best players, Isiah Thomas (28) and Joe Dumars (26), are in their primes, as is Dennis Rodman (28). The Pistons’ depth and athleticism is too much for the Spurs.
’90 Pistons win, 4–2.
(4) 1987 Los Angeles Lakers vs. (13) 1966 Boston Celtics
Cars improve as time goes on.
’87 Lakers win, 4–0.
(5) 1985 Los Angeles Lakers vs. (12) 2011 Dallas Mavericks
The best way to describe Kareem’s incredible longevity in one sentence: he won Finals MVPs 14 years apart (1971 and 1985).
The Lakers had incredible offensive capabilities with Kareem (21.9 PPG on 56.0 percent shooting in the playoffs), James Worthy (21.5 points, 62.2 percent), Magic (17.5 points, 51.3 percent) and Byron Scott (16.9 points, 51.7 percent). Those four were capable of scoring 20 points on any night, and that doesn’t mention L.A.’s three other double-figure scorers (Bob McAdoo, Mike McGee and Michael Cooper).
Even if Dirk continues his supernova run from the playoffs, Dallas’ offensive ceiling is significantly lower than the Lakers’.
’85 Lakers win, 4–1.
(3) 2013 Miami Heat vs. (14) 1968 Boston Celtics
The 2013 version of LeBron was otherworldly.
’13 Heat win, 4–0.
(6) 2014 San Antonio Spurs vs. (11) 1982 Los Angeles Lakers
You know when you’re playing pickup basketball and your team works the ball around for an open corner 3, and as you’re running back down the court someone on the other team says, “Dude, that was like the Spurs’ ball movement!” That guy is referring to the ’14 Spurs, a team that reached a rarely-seen level of synergy and cohesion on both ends of the floor.
San Antonio will need its chemistry to defend another high-powered Lakers team, with this iteration featuring three 20-point scorers (Kareem, Jamaal Wilkes and Norm Nixon), plus Magic (17.4 PPG) and Bob McAdoo (16.7).
The Spurs were on a mission to avenge their crushing 2013 Finals loss, and that mental fortitude shines through on their home court in Game 7.
(Popcorn Alert: 2014 Spurs vs. 2013 Heat in the second round.)
’14 Spurs win, 4–3.
(7) 1999 San Antonio Spurs vs. (10) 2002 Los Angeles Lakers
The Spurs went 37–13 in the weird, lockout-shortened 1999 regular season behind the strong play of Tim Duncan (All-NBA First Team, All-Defense First Team) and his twin-tower companion, David Robinson. The latter is 33 and was good, not great, in the playoffs — 15.6 points per game and 9.9 rebounds.
Duncan and Robinson are formidable, but they don’t hold a candle to Shaq and Kobe. With neither side sporting a particularly great bench, I’m siding with L.A.’s duo over San Antonio’s.
’02 Lakers win, 4–2.
(2) 1986 Boston Celtics vs. (15) 1977 Portland Trail Blazers
The most interesting subplot of this series is ’77 Bill Walton, the Finals MVP, going toe-to-toe against ’86 Bill Walton, the Sixth Man of the Year. We can expect two things to come from this: 1) ’86 Walton providing pointers on how to defend ’77 Walton, and 2) ’86 Walton and ’77 Walton meeting at a dive bar for post-game brews and a bowl.
’86 Celtics win, 4–0.