Call it the NBA's Ultimate Bridesmaid Award. Starting from 1980 on, which team was the greatest to never win it all? Winning a championship (at any point) after 1980 disqualifies a team from consideration (such as the Rockets falling short in 81 and 86, since they got two in the 90s). We've got: Portland - Lost in the Finals twice with the Drexler-Keresy-Robinson incarnation, nearly took the Lakers with the Sabonis-Wallace-Pippen supersquad. Phoenix - Lost in the Finals at the end of the Bulls first three-peat, Barkley/KJ tandem was a Western Conference (regular season) juggernaught for 4 years. New York Knicks - Lost in the Finals to the Rockets and Spurs. Patrick Ewing/John Starks/Pat Reilly era was famous for being perpetual victims to the Bulls. Orlando Magic - Penny/Shaq era was expected to be a dynasty, but fell apart one year after their unforgettable collapse in the 95 finals. Seattle Supersonics - The Reignman, Detlef, and Glove got a chance at a ring against the 96 Bulls, but never again returned. Utah Jazz - After nearly a career of disappointment, Malone and Stockton became 2-time Western Conference champs, only to be denied rings by the Bulls twice. Indiana Pacers - Another franchise with the misfortune of being great during Michael Jordan's prime. Over the last decade, no team as been more of a fixture in the Eastern Conference Finals. Miller's chance at a ring was denied by the Lakers. Evan
I'm going with Utah. The Stockton/Malone era made 18, 19 consecutive playoff appearances??? what do they have to show for it?
I'd go with Phoenix. They've been consistently great since Neal Walk left town. Portland won, Indy won in the ABA quite a bit. Utah is close, they were a solid team even before Stock and Karl showed up. Actually, probably a coin flip between PHX and UTA.
Golden State TMC Baby Tim Hardaway Mitch Richmond Chris Mullin and Sarunas too hahaha nah that team couldnt play D but they were fun to watch as a kid. they had alot of offense with no D but strangely I wouldnt compare them with the mavericks of today. i dunno
Both Portland and New York had won NBA championships. Portland won one when Bill Walton was the MVP and NY won twice with Willis Reed, Walt Frazier etc. I think this title goes between Utah and Phoenix. Utah of course with Sloan, Malone and Stockton went to playoffs for I think 18 years straight. And Phoenix always seemed to make great draft choices and build some talented teams but hardly caught any breaks. I am probably going with the Jazz.
i went seattle. that 96 team was a really, really good team. maybe the best team that the bulls beat... but i'm torn...the blazers of the early 90's were awfully good, too. oh, well...i voted sonics, so i'm sticking with it.
