NSS One On One: Top Five Teams Of All Time

This Feature can also be seen at North Station Sports

Arguments provided by Nick Gelso and Matt Golden.

Rating the best teams of all time is often scrutinized, sometimes criticized,  most times bias and always over discussed. Yet, NSS has decided to take a journey down history lane one more time. Why? because the coverage, the stories, the quotes and the order of the list, is rarely duplicated. Everyone, regardless of age, comes up with a different list. Sometimes the same teams appear on lists, however, the order in which they appear rarely coincide.

Nick's Fav 5:

In the age old debate of which team is the best of all time, several names are usually mentioned. The 1996 Bulls, The 1969 Lakers, to name a few...

One team that is rarely mentioned but makes my "fav 5" list at number 5 is the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers.

#5 - 1983 Philadelphia 76ers (65-17)

The most under-appreciated and underrated team of it's era, the Philadelphia 76ers dominated the Eastern Conference in the late 70's and early 80's. Stacked with All-Stars such as Bobby Jones, Mo Cheeks, Andrew Toney and, of course, Julius Erving, the 76ers were the Eastern Conference champions in 1977, 1980, 1982, and 1983.

In 1982, one year prior to winning the title, Boston Garden was home to one of the more poignant moments in NBA history as, when it was evident the Sixers were going to beat the Celtics and advance to play the Lakers in the NBA Finals, the Celtics fans chanted "Beat LA, Beat LA", a rallying call previously reserved for the Celtics when facing the Lakers. Either the Celtics fans REALLY   hated LA or they were paying respect to this great 76ers squad.

Though after making the EC Finals three out of the previous five seasons, it was not until one year later, when Moses Malone joined the team, that the 76ers destiny seemed to be fulfilled. That year, the 76ers won 65 games and Moses was named league MVP. An undersized center, Malone gave the 76ers the toughness to defend Abdul-Jabbar and the consistency to offer Julius an offensive player that would ease the scoring burden often put upon him.

Speaking of scoring, let's not forget Andrew Toney. Toney regularly torched the Boston Celtics in the early 1980's and prompted Red Auerbach to pursue a defensive minded backcourt player to combat the scoring exploits of Toney. Eventually, Andrew Toney was the driving force behind Auerbach replacing Tiny Archibald with Dennis Johnson.

You cannot discuss the 1983 76ers without mentioning Moses Malone's prediction of "Fo, Fo, Fo" or "Four, Four, Four" , a reference to the 76ers sweeping their way through the NBA playoffs. Nearly correct in his prediction, the Sixers would only lose one game en-route to the championship and Malone winning the Finals MVP against the Los Angeles Lakers.

#4 - 1972 Los Angeles Lakers (69-11)

One of the winning-est team in NBA history, the Los Angeles Lakers of 1972 held the record for most wins in a single season for 23 years. This team won 32 consecutive games, a record that still stands, and was the home to the top two league scorer's Gail Goodrich and Jerry West.

Wilt Chamberlain, clearly passed his prime, managed to lead the league in field goal percentage and rebounds. The Lakers steamrolled through the regular season and routed the Bucks in the Western Conference finals. Chamberlain at 35 years old, showed his old form as he dominated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers beat the Bucks in six games. LA went on to face the New York Knicks in the Finals. As Willis Reed sat out with injuries, the Knicks had no answer for the Lakers explosive offense. After a decade of losing to the Celtics and two seasons of heartbreaking playoff losses, this Lakers squad finally found their Mo-Jo and were able to drop Jack Kent Cooke's balloons that were sitting in the Forum's rafters since 1969.

The Lakers time to celebrate didn't last very long, as they waited another eight seasons before competing in the Finals again.

This team's inability to win a title the previous 12 seasons made the 1972 championship bitter sweet. However, the talent level, athletic ability, depth and recognizable names on this team, combined with their inability to win championships, drops this teams standing in my fav 5. Being unable to win a championship with Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West is a mystery to me.

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