From 1959 until 1966, the Boston Celtics won every single NBA championship. Eight Championships, eight years in a row. That is the only time in history where the same champion was victorious for eight years in a row. In fact, no other team has ever won four in a row. That record will probably never be broken. Why? The modern NBA is different, and the game is better for it.
How many teams won over the course of x seasons?
In 2024, for the second time in NBA history, the NBA Champion will be different for the sixth year in a row. The remaining 4 teams — Celtics, Pacers, Mavericks, and Timberwolves, haven’t celebrated a championship since 2011 (Dallas) and 2008 (Boston). The Pacers and Timberwolves have never won, though the Minneapolis Lakers won in 1954 before moving to LA in 1960. And six distinct winners has happened only one other time in history: 1975–1980.
The league has never celebrated seven straight unique champions, but I am predicting that 2025 will be the first. And I wouldn’t be surprised if 2026 celebrated eight different winners. Why? The Play-In has increased competition, new competitors are entering their primes, and the collective bargaining agreement prevents stacked teams.
The Play-In
In the 2020–2021 NBA Season, it was announced that the top 8 seeds would no longer be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. Instead, the Top 6 teams would automatically qualify. Seeds 7–10 would then play single elimination games to determine who would qualify as the 7 and 8 seeds.
The trend line is impressive, indicating that there’s now a smaller difference between top seeds and lower seeds. Competition is better.
And in case there’s any doubt that this trend was alive prior to the play-in being incorporated, we’ll let this chart do the talking.
It’s slightly down, but basically flat.
New Wave of Competitors
From 2012 to 2020, every single championship team had either Lebron James, Steph Curry, or Kawhi Leonard on the team. Prior to that, 9 out of 13 championship teams from 1999–2011 had either Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan. In the 2024 playoffs, none of the Top 10 Playoff Point Leaders made it to the second round. These are active players and guaranteed hall of famers. But none of them made it to the second round of the playoffs.
Instead, new talent like Tatum, Luka, Ant, Halliburton, Jokic, SGA, and Brunson are taking the league by storm and taking the crown away from the established legends.
Collective Bargaining Agreement
I don’t have any charts here because the CBA is mostly legal jargon. But basically, the NBA has made it more difficult for teams in big cities or with bigger checkbooks to stack their teams with the best players. It has made a more level playing field.
What happens Next?
There are two possible outcomes here. First, like what happened in 1980, another team dynasty might come along. Any of the final four teams could put their stamp on the league and dominate the next five years. You could also include a few others — Nuggets, Bucks, Knicks, or Thunder. Plus the Clippers and Suns who have big name all stars and have risked their future to win in the present.
But that’s the point. There are so many great teams. And the structure is designed to be fair to every team. The margin of error is so slim that the probability of another team creating a dynasty is drastically reduced.
Business Lessons Learned
The NBA is obviously a unique business who has a vested interest in creating a fair playing field. In normal businesses, it’s important to build a moat that differentiates you. Your moat doesn’t have to be the same as others. Your moat could be great culture. Another moat could be market share (Hello, Google).
You’re going to win some and lose some. Don’t lose hope because this might not be your year to win big. Focus on the victories that you do get. You can be insanely successful even if you’re not a unicorn.
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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_champions
https://espn.com/nba/standings
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/07/nba-players-lebron-playoff-points
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