What are the Relevant NBA Teams?

Let me be clear about what this exercise is. I am attempting to discern which teams have made a difference throughout the course of NBA history. This is not who is relevant in the moment, but rather which teams have stood out in the tapestry of basketball history. So I will slot teams into the categories of relevant and not relevant. I'm primarily doing this to piss off as many fan bases as possible, so lets get to it. 

In the Category of Relevant: 
  • Milwaukee Bucks: Just barely, but they have a passionate fanbase and have had multiple all time great players including Oscar Robertson. 
  • Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers are a classic NBA franchise with a storied history. This is an easy call. 
  • Indiana Pacers: Indiana loves basketball and the Pacers are no exception.    
  • Boston Celtics: No discussion needed. 17 championships and a bevy of iconic players, the Celtics are obviously relevant. 
  • Detroit Pistons: The Bad Boys era alone makes them relevant, but they need to start filling their stadium again because this is getting a little sad.  
  • New York Knicks: New York is still the mecca. The Knicks are an iconic franchise, unfortunately part of the iconography now includes endless incompetence and terrible seasons. 
  • Chicago Bulls: Chicago is a great sports town, and the Bulls boasted the greatest modern NBA dynasty during the Jordan era.  
  • OKC Thunder: They sneak into relevancy because of how much the town loves this team. Every game is supposedly like a college atmosphere. 
  • Golden State Warriors: Some of the best fans in the NBA, modern NBA dynasty, and a storied history of sucking. The Warriors were always a relevant franchise, but their turn from perennial laughingstock to nigh invincible only cements that further. 
  • LA Lakers: One of sports most beloved franchises, not just basketball. Could not be more relevant.  
  • Portland Trailblazers: They ride or die in Portland. Relevant.   
  • Dallas Mavericks: Barely, but they're relevant. They have the Dirk factor not to mention Mark Cuban. 
  • San Antonio Spurs: Don't need to talk about it. They have sustained success for so long that they forced themselves into relevancy. 
  • Utah Jazz: They're relevant because of how much the fans care. They also had the iconic one-two punch of Stockton and Malone. 
  • Houston Rockets: All Texas NBA teams are relevant, the Rockets one two championships in the nineties and have had players who were global icons like Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming.   
  • Miami Heat: I think the LeBron era thrusts the Heat into relevancy. If just barely. 
Not Relevant:   
  • Toronto Raptors: They have passionate fans, but haven't even played in an NBA finals. Also basketball will never eclipse hockey in Canada.  
  • Charlotte Hornets: The Hornets have simply been to dull over the years to be relevant. 
  • Orlando Magic: Nope.  
  • Washington Wizards: They should be but complete dysfunction has made them irrelevant. Also they need to change the name back to Bullets if they want to be relevant. 
  • Brooklyn Nets: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. 
  • Atlanta Hawks: No, no-one cares in the ATL. 
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: They stopped being relevant the moment LeBron left. 
  • Denver Nuggets: They should be because there is something old-school and iconic about the Nuggets. However, it feels like the Broncos own Denver to such a degree that the Nuggets aren't truly relevant. 
  • LA Clippers: The Lakers JV squad isn't relevant sorry. They've been the biggest joke of the NBA for literal decades. 
  • Memphis Grizzlies: This franchise's best player (historically) is arguably Zach Randolph. Denied relevancy. 
  • Sacramento Kings: Being an eternal dumpster fire hurts one's chances of achieving relevancy. 
  • New Orleans Pelicans: Its a Football town and the Pelicans just don't capture the heart of the city the way the Saints do. 
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: Nope. 
  • Phoenix Suns: Steve Nash gets them close but not close enough. Not relevant.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Unwritten NBA Rules

Basketball fans will likely have a pretty thorough understanding of the rules of the game, or at the very least a tacit understanding of how the game is played. However, there are some "rules" exclusive to the NBA game that are not in the actual rulebook. These are what I like to call the unwritten rules of the game, they are aspects of the sport that are implicitly understood but never explicitly referenced or officiated. You may even hear some of them brought up in a broadcast. So without further adieu, I present five of the key unwritten rules of the game. This list is not comprehensive and I reserve the right to change and amend it at a later date. THE UNWRITTEN NBA RULES  Rule #1 Superstars Get Star Treatment:  NBA superstars like LeBron James, James Harden, Kevin Durant, and so on receive calls that would not be afforded to lesser role players. The NBA is a star driven league and the stars get foul calls that your day-to-day role player doesn't. At this point y
Read more

Ranking the NBA Mascots

Image
Why the hell not? If you disagree with these rankings comment below. There is a system to determining which mascot is better than which I just refuse to reveal it. Final note: some NBA clubs don't have mascots. We are going best to worst in this list: 1. Benny the Bull 2. Stuff the Magic Dragon 3. Hugo the Hornet 4. Rumble 5. The Raptor   6. Jazz Bear 7. Bango 8. The Coyote   9.  Rocky 10. Slamson 11. Hooper 12. Crunch 13. Harry the Hawk 14. Champ   15. Moondog 16. Boomer 17. Franklin 18. Pierre the Pelican 19. Grizz 20. The Gorilla 21. Clutch 22. G-Wiz 23. Burnie 24. Blaze 25. Chuck 26. Lucky
Read more

Reflecting on LeBron's Move to LA

Image
LeBron's move to LA signified the end of his chapter in Cleveland, and now that we've seen a little of the King in the purple in gold I'm glad he took the plunge. The NBA is better when its marquee franchises are better. And make no mistake, the Lakers are the marquee franchise. While they probably aren't true title contenders this year, the possibilities of this new look Laker team are super exciting. For one we will hopefully get to see another great Bay Area-Los Angeles rivalry take shape. The Warriors and Lakers have played in the same division for a long time but their games have never captured the hearts of the respective fanbases the way Dodgers vs. Giants has over the years. Now it might be able to if the Warriors dominance and Lakers ascendence can meet somewhere in the middle. There is already some tension there considering LeBron has lost three of his last four finals appearances to the boys in the Bay. Also, what if Durant signs with the Lakers, and Cousin
Read more