Gregg Popovich's San Antonio Spurs and Most Underappreciated NBA Dynasties Ever

Some schools of thought hold that there really aren't any dynasties outside of the legendary teams fielded by the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. No other franchise has matched their title volume or repeated success in consecutive seasons.

The San Antonio Spurs pose an interesting case study whenever questions arise as to the constitutive elements of a properly defined dynasty.

Under Gregg Popovich's watch, Tim Duncan and his rotating supporting cast have claimed four championships since 1999. Despite never having secured back-to-back titles, no team in the four major professional team sports has had a better winning percentage during that span.

Of course, Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls won three consecutive championships on two separate occasions, and the most recent manifestation of a Lakers' dynasty has five rings to show for its efforts (along with a sixth trip to the NBA Finals).

Given this recent history of lofty accomplishments, it's not hard to understand why the Spurs and their smaller-market sensibilities are sometimes left out of the discussion.

Nevertheless, it may be time to lower the bar for what counts as a "dynasty." It's unlikely that we'll ever see a team so dominant as Jordan's Bulls or Magic's Lakers (much less the Boston Celtics of the 1960s). Whatever we choose to label them, there are a few more lesser dynasties worth remembering.

Houston Rockets (Champions in 1994 and 1995)

Sometimes derided as the team that took advantage of Michael Jordan's brief absence from the game, the Houston Rockets have faded into historical obscurity despite having fielded a very good team. Led by Hakeem Olajuwon in his prime, the Rockets made regular postseason appearances in the 1990s and had an especially successful run in 1994.

With the help of Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, Otis Thorpe and Sam Cassell, Olajuwon's Rockets won a franchise-best 58 games and beat the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals after trailing 3-2 in the series. Olajuwon was named the regular-season MVP, the NBA Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in one of the best seasons a center has had in recent history.

It was a well-deserved opportunity for "the Dream" to shine given Michael Jordan's all-around dominance in both prior and subsequent seasons.

The Rockets exchanged Otis Thorpe for Clyde Drexler the following season and followed a mediocre regular season with an against-all-odds sequence of successes in the playoffs, ultimately sweeping the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. It marked the first time a sixth-seeded team wound up winning a championship.

Detroit Pistons (Champions in 1989 and 1990)

The Detroit Pistons will forever be remembered by their "Bad Boy" toughness and physicality, but they're rarely mentioned among the NBA's all-time great teams. Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars formed one of the league's most electric backcourts in recent memory, and the physicality of Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman made the Pistons one of the most feared defensive units in history.

After coming up just short in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals and the 1988 NBA Finals, Detroit went on to win two consecutive titles in 1989 and 1990. It reached the Eastern Conference Finals once again in 1991 before descending into irrelevance as the Bulls came to prominence.

It took the Pistons about a decade to return to form with a completely new cast of characters, but Detroit's four consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals defined the East's transition from the Celtics' dynasty to Chicago's.

New York Knicks (Champions in 1970 and 1973)

The New York Knicks were one of the first teams to capitalize as the unbeatable Celtics of the 1960s began to come back down to earth.

Led by Walt Frazier and Willis Reed (and eventually Earl "The Pearl" Monroe), the Knicks won two championships in the early '70s, lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1972 NBA Finals and bowed out of the Eastern Conference Finals in 1971 and 1974.

Despite the several years of sustained success, the highlight of New York's run came in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals when team captain Willis Reed returned to action after tearing a leg muscle in Game 5. Though Reed didn't make a significant impact on the court, his gusty determination inspired his club to a 14-point victory and an NBA title to go along with it.

This franchise never quite got the kind of second wind that always seemed to rejuvenate teams like the Lakers and Celtics. It's instead faced a middling era of off-and-on success, culminating in a couple of ill-fated NBA Finals appearances in the 1990s.