The 2012 San Antonio Spurs and the Greatest One All-Star Teams in NBA History

The San Antonio Spurs are doing their best to negate the notion that in order to win a title in today's NBA, you need to have multiple all-stars.

Sure, Tim Duncan is historically an all-star and Manu Ginobili can certainly play well enough to be considered an all-star, but the only guy who represented the Spurs in the all-star game this season was Tony Parker, who had his best season of his career this year.

What they've done has made people rethink whether or not the mash-up of huge free agents is actually the best way to create a good team, bringing it all back to superb coaching, solid drafting and smart free agent pickups.

The success of the Spurs this year has got me thinking about great teams in the past, and it's made me wonder exactly what the best teams are who had just a single all-star.

10. 1995 Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets should thank Michael Jordan for retiring; otherwise, the Chicago Bulls would have won eight straight titles in the 1990s. However, with the retirement of Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwan's Rockets were able to steal two titles, first in 1994 and again in 1995.

1995 was a tougher season because Clyde Drexler played in just 35 games, meaning the only all-star the team had to rely on was The Dream.

In fact, the only other player on the Rockets that even cracked the top 10 in voting in their position was Vernon Maxwell, who got the eighth most votes at guard.

The Rockets finished 47-35 that year, rolled through the playoffs with wins over the Jazz, Suns, Spurs and a sweep of the Magic in the finals.

9. 2003 San Antonio Spurs

The 2003 San Antonio Spurs finished the season hoisting a trophy over their heads, bookending the Spurs dynasty with wins over the Suns, Lakers, Mavericks and Nets, winning in six games against each team.

The only representative they sent to the all-star game that year was Tim Duncan, with Tony Parker the only other player who cracked the top 10 in their position.

San Antonio finished with a record of 60-22 in '03, which happened to be the year that Tim Duncan won his second straight MVP Award.

8. 2004 Detroit Pistons

Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups both got into the top 10 in all-star voting for guards, but were nowhere near close enough to make it into the game. The only representative they sent to the all-star game that year happened to be Ben Wallace.

Wallace, while not the best all-around player on the team, happened to be the heart and soul of their defense, which was the real reason they ended up winning a title that year.

Detroit finished with a 54-28 record in '04, followed by them rolling over the Bucks, Nets, Pacers and finally the Lakers with a 4-1 win in the finals.

7. 1977 Portland Trail Blazers

While they had one of the most intriguing future hall of famers on their team in Bill Walton, the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers sent just one guy, Maurice Lucas, to the all-star game that year.

Lucas' 20-11 average for the Blazers led them in scoring and made him their second-best rebounder, just behind Walton.

The 49-33 Blazers burned through the Bulls in the first round and then took down the Nuggets, Lakers and the 76ers in the finals.

6. 2011 Dallas Mavericks

While nobody saw the 2011 Dallas Mavericks as a huge title threat at the beginning of the playoffs, they got hot at the right time, and they played such good team ball that they ended up taking down the Miami Heat in the finals.

A six-game win over the Blazers, a sweep of the Lakers and a five-game win over the Thunder set them up for a six-game win over the Heat.

With Dirk Nowitzki as their only all-star representative, the Mavericks finished third in the Western Conference with a record of 57-25.

5. 1998 Utah Jazz

The 1998 Utah Jazz may very well be the best team to never win a championship, but they also happen to be one of the best teams with only one all-star on their squad.

With John Stockton experiencing a down year due to some nagging injuries here and there, only Karl Malone was sent to the all-star game out of Utah before the Jazz found their way into the playoffs.

The 62-20 Jazz looked like the team that could finally dethrone the Bulls after taking down the Rockets, Spurs and Lakers, with the last two series showing off victories of five and four games. 

They went into the finals to meet Jordan's Bulls, but they ended up losing the series in six games in one of the most memorable NBA Finals of all time.

4. 2012 San Antonio Spurs

These 2012 San Antonio Spurs are looking like one of the greatest teams of all time, and they could very well rocket themselves up to the top of this list if they end up winning a title, but at this point they're going to have to settle for fourth.

Although they boast three all-star-caliber players, only Tony Parker was named to the all-star team for the Spurs with Tim Duncan being left off the team for the first time in his career.

With a 50-16 record during the regular season and a current undefeated streak in the playoffs, the Spurs won 20 straight games before losing last night to the Thunder in blowout fashion.

3. 1998 Chicago Bulls

The 1998 Chicago Bulls were the last go-around of Michael Jordan's dynasty, but it was also the second time in eight years a Bulls championship team only had one all-star representative.

Scottie Pippen, having been hampered by injuries in 1998, was left off the final roster while Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Luc Longley and Dennis Rodman all ended up in the top 10 in voting for their position.

The Bulls finished with a 62-20 record in 1998 and took down the Nets, Hornets and Pacers in the East with just four losses, and finally beating the Jazz for the second straight season with a six-game win.

2. 1991 Chicago Bulls

Although the 1991 Chicago Bulls finally had their number two man in Scottie Pippen, only Michael Jordan ended up making it to the all-star game.

Jordan's Bulls ran off to a 61-21 record during the regular season before taking down Patrick Ewing's Knicks, Charles Barkley's 76ers, Isiah Thomas' Pistons and Magic Johnson's Lakers.

In one fell swoop, these Bulls ended two dynasties and showed two other very good teams why they wouldn't be winning any titles over the next eight seasons, culminating with a sweep of the Pistons and a five-game win over the Lakers.

1. 1989 Detroit Pistons

While the two Bulls teams bookended Michael Jordan's tenure as the dynasty leader in Chicago, the 1989 Pistons are one of the five greatest teams of all time.

Isiah Thomas was the only member of the Pistons to end up on the all-star team while Bill Laimbeer was the only other player on the Pistons who ended up with enough votes to register in the top 10.

The Chuck Daly-coached Pistons won 63 games in 1989 and bullied their way through the playoffs, accumulating three sweeps along the way (over Boston, Milwaukee and Los Angeles) and a six-game win over the Chicago Bulls, holding off a monstrous performance from Michael Jordan.