Ranking the Most-Talented NBA Playoff Series of the Past Decade
"I can't control myself, 'cause I'm watching NBATV, and I'm watching the 2000 Western Conference Finals." LeBron James recently told Bleacher Report on Uninterrupted. "The lineups on the floor right now...there are so many great players in this game. It's ridiculous."
The four-time MVP—who has played in plenty of series featuring remarkable levels of talent—went on to list the many stars who were suiting up for the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers.
But he's not the first to engage in such an exercise. And he won't be the last, especially at this time of year. The 2015-16 season is nigh approaching, carrying with it hopes and expectations that memorable playoff series will arise as the weather gets hotter next spring. In order to fully appreciate what's to come, sometimes we have to peer back into the past.
It's only natural to look back, and some series just happen to feature loads of recognizable names. Those, above all else, are the ones we're interested in. We want to find the other battles that would make James—or other stars in the future—feel similar levels of excitement, so long as they took place in the last 10 years.
In order to do that, we used the following scoring system, assigning players points for awards and accolades they racked up at any point during their careers:
- All-Star selections (one point)
- All-NBA selections (three points for First Team, two for Second Team, one for Third Team)
- All-Defense selections (one point, regardless of which team)
- MVPs (five points)
- Finals MVPs (four points)
- Defensive Player of the Year (four points)
- Sixth Man of the Year (three points)
- Most Improved Player (two points)
- Rookie of the Year (one points)
A series' score was determined simply by summing up the individual scores of all involved players. It doesn't matter what stage of his career the star in question is at, because years and years down the road, those looking back are just going to see the recognizable face and marvel.
For perspective, that series between Portland (Scottie Pippen, Jermaine O'Neal, Detlef Schrempf, Rasheed Wallace, Steve Smith and Damon Stoudamire) and Los Angeles (Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Glen Rice and A.C. Green) resulted in a score of 216. Amazingly enough, that would only be good enough for the No. 4 spot among the last decade's clashes in the penultimate round of the playoffs.
1st-Round Series: Honorable Mentions
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Both teams entered this clash fresh off a regular season that featured at least 50 wins in an unsurprisingly perilous Western Conference, and that really shouldn't come as much of a shock. With Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan leading the charge for the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs, respectively, each organization boasted a future Hall of Famer in the fronctourt.
On the Mavericks, a 35-year-old Jason Kidd manned the point, while Jason Terry and Josh Howard joined him as fellow award-winners. And on the Spurs, the talent was even more significant, despite Manu Ginobili not appearing in the series due to a stress fracture in his right ankle and fibula.
San Antonio still boasted Tony Parker, Michael Finley and Bruce Bowen, so it was just fine. But had the Argentine 2-guard suited up, this series would have risen up one more spot in the first-round rankings.
The differences between 2009 and 2010?
With a healthy Ginobili in the picture, the Spurs emerged victoriously in six games, rather than falling in five for the second consecutive season. Beyond that, there were only slight changes to the two rosters.
San Antonio no longer gets credit for a retired Bowen's defensive prowess in this competition, but it does receive the aid stemming from Ginobili's presence, as well as Antonio McDyess' glory days earlier in his career. On the other side, Dallas added a veteran Caron Butler into the mix, and the wing player contributed 19.7 points per game during the first-round competition.
This was a more competitive series than the one that took place 12 months earlier, and it should have been. After all, there was just a bit more recognizable talent on the court.
3. Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat, 2007 (218)
During the 2006-07 campaign, divisions came into play rather significantly. The Chicago Bulls actually won five more games (49) than the Miami Heat did, but they were forced to play as the No. 5 seed to Miami's No. 4 in the topsy-turvy Eastern Conference. It didn't matter, though, as the Windy City representatives only needed four outings to advance.
In support of a young Dwyane Wade, the Heat were all about veterans in 2007. Shaquille O'Neal, Udonis Haslem and Jason Williams consistently joined him in the starting lineup, while Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning and Antoine Walker spelled the opening group. Plus, Eddie Jones bounced between the starting five and the bench throughout the four-game series.
The aged former superstars couldn't stand up against Ben Wallace, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, P.J. Brown, Thabo Sefolosha and Kirk Hinrich, but they certainly made for a retrospective who's who in the first round of the 2007 postseason.
1st-Round Series Runner-Up
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Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs, 2013 (252)
Though the 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers will not be remembered fondly, they were undeniably loaded with recognizable names. Some (Steve Nash) were far past their prime, while others (Dwight Howard) didn't fit in with the schemes and other roster members whatsoever.
Perhaps no team better underscores the dichotomy between on-paper talent and actual on-court ability, and that's vitally important to this competition. We don't care about how players mesh together or how successful they were. We don't care how long ago their primes fell or how young they still were when entering into the relevant fray.
It's all about looking back decades from now and saying to yourself, "Wow! I recognize so many players on that roster! He was on this team's bench!?!?"
And even though the Lakers were an abject disaster that barely made the playoffs and were quickly swept out of them, you're going to remember Nash, Howard, Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace and Antawn Jamison. On the Spurs roster, you'll surely remember the Big Three, as well as Kawhi Leonard and a version of Tracy McGrady who was just happy to be along for the ride and finally get out of the first round.
Just imagine if Kobe Bryant had been healthy enough to play. This series had so much talent that it didn't even need the aid of one of NBA history's most award-laden superstars in order to finish as the first-round runner-up.
Top 1st-Round Series
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Lo and behold, we have another entry from the vaunted Western Conference.
During the last decade, the average first-round score from the NBA's tougher half was a strong 120.38, while the Eastern Conference produced a more mediocre 92.53. That massive a difference could only be overcome by putting a player of Kevin Durant's caliber on every Eastern squad for the last 10 years.
Things evened out in the later rounds—it's the depth of talent, not the superiority of the front-runners that traditionally makes the West so much better—but it shouldn't be even remotely surprising that another Spurs team is showing up in the No. 1 spot.
This series only went five games before the Phoenix Suns were eliminated at the hands of their rivals, but it wasn't for a lack of talent. Though Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal and Amar'e Stoudemire led the charge, the desert-dwelling franchise actually boasted four other players who earned accolades at some point in their careers—Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw.
However, that depth still wasn't enough to overcome the Spurs. Not with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili pacing the team and being spelled by Bruce Bowen, Damon Stoudamire and Michael Finley, among others.
"I guess they're not going to go easy," Phoenix head coach Mike D'Antoni said after a two-point loss to open the series, per Thayer Evans of the New York Times.
They didn't.
Conference Semifinals: Honorable Mentions
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5. Miami Heat vs. New Jersey Nets, 2006 (221)
The Miami Heat were Dwyane Wade's team during the 2006 playoffs, which included this 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Nets, but that won't prevent basketball historians from looking back in awe at the number of Hall of Fame talents on the roster. Antoine Walker might not qualify as such, but Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton will all have busts in Springfield, Massachusetts, before too long.
That's a ridiculous amount of talent, to the point that the Nets' troika of Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson pales in comparison. Throwing in a 39-year-old Clifford Robinson doesn't exactly help even out the disparity, whether in terms of on-paper talent and on-court ability.
LeBron James has been rivals with Paul Pierce for quite a long time, and this was actually the first time the two met in the postseason. Get used to seeing them litter these rankings, though.
After averaging 19.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in the 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Pierce got the last laugh when his team advanced to the penultimate round. James was the superior individual, posting 26.7 points, 6.4 boards and 7.6 dimes per contest, but he just didn't have enough help.
While Pierce was joined by Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Sam Cassel, P.J. Brown and Tony Allen, James had a 33-year-old Ben Wallace to go along with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wally Szczerbiak and Anderson Varejao.
There's only so much one man can do.
3. Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat, 2014 (233)
Six years later, James would get a bit of revenge against his nemesis.
Alongside Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen, Shane Battier and Rashard Lewis, the four-time MVP led the star-studded Miami Heat to a five-game victory over Pierce and the Brooklyn Nets. The overmatched opponent was one of those squads who fares quite well in this competition even without standing much of a chance to advance deep into the postseason.
Though Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson, Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko were on the uber-expensive roster, they were all past their primes by varying degrees. Unfortunately, all of those degrees were significant ones.
Conference Semifinals Runner-Up
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And it's James vs. Pierce again.
This time, the scene takes place in 2010, while James was making his final stand with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The ending was an unhappy one for the superstar from Akron, Ohio, because it featured the C's winning Game 6 and finishing the second-round series before James stripped off his Cleveland jersey in the Boston Garden tunnel.
"Perhaps the Cavaliers simply lost to a better team, one where the core players all wear championship rings from just two years ago. The Celtics may prove to be all the Orlando Magic can handle, and if they make it all the way back to the NBA Finals, perhaps we'll have to reconsider all the conclusions we're drawing now," Michael Wilbon wrote for the Washington Post, focusing on the uncertain future of James—and the crushing disappointment—after he and his team appeared to quit down the stretch.
At least in terms of recognizable talent, Wilbon's initial claim is correct.
The Cavs had James, sure. But beyond him, the biggest award-winners were Shaquille O'Neal, Antawn Jamison, Zydrunas Ilgausakas, Anderson Varejao and Mo Williams. On the flip side, the Celtics boasted the services of Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Tony Allen, Michael Finley and Rasheed Wallace.
That's quite the disparity, even if Boston only had one more listed player.
Top Conference Semifinals
6 of 12One year later, LeBron James got his vengeance.
Backed by Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Mike Miller, Juwan Howard and Zydrunas Ilguaskas, the Miami Heat featured a much stronger core than the Cleveland Cavaliers ever did.
They needed it against a Boston Celtics roster that boasted many of the same pieces it did in 2010. Tony Allen, Michael Finley and Rasheed Wallace were gone, but Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal stood in their places, adding even more accolades to the already hefty collection.
Even with that boost, the Celtics couldn't overcome Miami's vaunted Big Three. It only took five games before the South Beach representatives were through to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they'd eventually take down the Chicago Bulls.
Now, it's also worth noting that James is showing up quite often in these rankings, and it's for a reason.
Though talent is needed on both rosters in order to finish with one of the top spots, a single legendary player can make a world of difference. Thanks to his 11 All-Star appearances, 11 All-NBA finishes (nine on the First Team, two on the Second Team), six All-Defense honors, his Rookie of the Year selection, four MVPs and two Finals MVPs, James alone earns 77 points for our competition.
Out of everyone who suited up during a playoff game in the last decade—a whopping 683 players—only Tim Duncan (91) and Kobe Bryant (81) have more impressive individual scores.
Conference Finals: Honorable Mentions
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It's time for a Kevin Durant sighting.
Chances are, this series will only move up the rankings as the young members of the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder continue their careers. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden were all on this roster together, but they're still firmly in the midst of their primes, allowing them more opportunities to become even better on-paper talents.
When looking at the last decade, it's an inherent flaw that young players haven't yet played out the entirety of their careers while the veterans often have.
That aside, the Spurs are doing the heavy lifting, thanks to their longstanding Big Three, as well as Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw. But they were stopped in their tracks during the 2012 Western Conference Finals. After sweeping the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers, they won the first two games against OKC but lost each of the next four en route to an unexpectedly early elimination.
Doesn't it seem as if every battle between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns in the last decade emerges as a notable one? The Purple and Gold stood in the way of Phoenix's success for a long time, and there was always plenty of talent on display when the two rivals met in the postseason.
Such was the case in 2010, when the Lakers eliminated the Suns in six games, ending one of Steve Nash's best shots at getting that elusive piece of jewelry that can so often define a career. The Canadian point guard was joined by Amar'e Stoudemire, Grant Hill, Goran Dragic and Leandro Barbosa, but it still wasn't enough.
After all, the Lakers were loaded with talent yet again.
Only five different members of the organization won awards during their careers, but that doesn't matter when Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are two of them. Metta World Peace, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom didn't exactly need to do anything of extreme significance with that duo running the show.
This could've been an absolute barnburner of a series, but the No. 1-seeded Spurs couldn't muster up enough of a challenge against a Lakers squad that was rolling through the Western Conference.
Interestingly enough, this series doesn't have as many notable names as plenty of others that have taken place one round before the NBA Finals. The only award-winners on the Spurs were the members of the Big Three, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley and Damon Stoudamire, while the Lakers boasted just three players with accolades—Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.
But when the two most decorated players of this era are squaring off, that doesn't matter much. Even if Bryant and Duncan headlined two teams with nothing but benchwarmers joining them, their combined score of 172 would trump all but 36 of the 150 playoff series in the last decade.
Somehow, this is their only playoff clash since 2004.
Conference Finals Runner-Up
8 of 12We've already hit every other time LeBron James and Paul Pierce have squared off in the playoffs. It doesn't matter if James is with the Cleveland Cavaliers or Miami Heat. Whether Pierce plays for the Boston Celtics or Brooklyn Nets is ultimately irrelevant.
If these two play—something that can only happen in 2015-16 if the Cavs and Los Angeles Clippers advance to the NBA Finals—it's going to be a memorable series.
The score here isn't quite as elevated as some of their battles in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but the stakes were higher. After all, the winner of this clash—which ended up being Miami in seven games—got to advance to the NBA Finals and participate in a showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And, as you might have expected, the usual suspects were out to play.
For Miami, that meant the Big Three of James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, along with plenty of veteran contributors off the pine. For our purposes, the notable ones were Shane Battier, Mike Miller and Juwan Howard, even if all three were well past their primes.
For Boston, only four names mattered: Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. Though the rest of the roster was littered with players capable of contributing, only the members of that quartet have managed to earn any individual awards of significance.
There's also a strong chance this series keeps moving up the rankings and eventually takes over the No. 1 spot. All it will take is one more All-NBA First Team appearance from James, and it'll close the gap.
Top Conference Finals
9 of 12Usually, the series finishing at the top of the talent leaderboard feature teams rostering some combination of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan. But that wasn't the case during the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals, although it's not like Shaquille O'Neal was too far behind that aforementioned trio.
It was the sheer wealth of award-winning players that made this clash—one that ended in a 4-2 victory for Miami—special.
The world watched as O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning and Antoine Walker all represented South Beach. Some of those standouts were well beyond their best days in the Association, but again, that's not relevant to our purposes. Sadly, neither are players such as Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem and James Posey, even if they contributed to Miami's success.
On the other bench, the Pistons weren't exactly short on talented players. During the mid-2000s, the Motor City boasted plenty of high-quality teams that thrived because they were, well, teams, not star-driven machines. And this squad was no exception.
Ben Wallace, thanks to his four Defensive Player of the Year selections, was the No. 1 earner in our talent contribution. But he was joined by Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, Antonio McDyess and Dale Davis, making these Pistons one of the very few teams in the last decade to have rostered seven players with major accolades on their resumes.
NBA Finals: Honorable Mentions
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This was the second time the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers met in a three-year span, and it edges out the first matchup by two slots in the NBA Finals rankings.
Though the Lakers ultimately won the title in Game 7, this was an incredibly even matchup highlighted by some transcendent talents on both sides. In purple and gold, Kobe Bryant led the charge, with Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum in support. But of the 216 talent points this matchup earned, there was almost a dead-even split between the two squads.
After all, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Rasheed Wallace, Tony Allen and Michael Finley were all on the Boston roster. Though the Celtics lacked a singular superstar such as Bryant—not that certain members of the Big Three were far off—they made up for that absence with their remarkable depth of talent.
Regardless of how you felt about the whistle-happy referees and their penchant for sending Dwyane Wade to the free-throw line every time he hit the floor, the first title battle between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat was an epic one.
The eventual champions had the same roster that's been popping up throughout the rankings for earlier rounds, one highlighted by Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton. But the Mavericks were similarly loaded, boasting the services of Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard and Devin Harris.
After the Heat won Game 6 and got to hold up the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the Finals MVP explained that this was more than a one-man accomplishment.
"I don't want to say I put the team on my shoulders. We did it as a team," the 24-year-old Wade told reporters, per USA Today's David DuPree. "They gave me the opportunity by putting the ball in my hands."
In this competition, Wade didn't put the series on his shoulders either. In fact, his contributions lagged behind those provided by O'Neal, Payton and Nowitzki.
Five years later, the teams were the same, but a lot had changed.
O'Neal and Payton were long gone, replaced by LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Veterans such as Alonzo Mourning and Antoine Walker had already left in favor of Mike Miller and Juwan Howard. Oh, and as talented as the Heat may have been, they couldn't get past the Mavericks for the second time in half a decade.
Nowitzki remained a constant in Dallas, just as he has throughout the entirety of his career. But Terry was the only other award-winning member of the 2006 Mavs to return for a second run at a title. The others had become Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion and Peja Stojakovic.
Just as Wade had carried the 2006 Heat to victory, so too did Nowitzki with the 2011 Mavericks. And just as Wade wasn't solely responsible for the talent levels of his team in this competition, so too were the champions about far more than the German 7-footer.
Whether they were pushing James into the corners or watching as Terry refused to miss his open threes, this was a well-oiled machine during the Finals. And as is the case with most every title-winning machine, it relied on plenty of different pieces.
NBA Finals Runner-Up
11 of 12The result is usually going to be special when two of the league's proverbial Big Threes meet on the sport's biggest stage.
This time, it involved the San Antonio Spurs adding to their ever-growing collection of trophies after denying the Miami Heat a three-peat and playing some of the most beautiful basketball the NBA has ever witnessed. In particular, the rock moved with unbelievable crispness during the tail end of the series—the result of plenty of highly esteemed players understanding their roles to the point of perfection.
As it turns out, the combination of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili is unfair, especially when joined by a surging Kawhi Leonard and a motivated Boris Diaw. The latter engineered some unstoppable offensive sets with his unique versatility, while the two-way dominance of the former led to a Finals MVP trophy and the beginning of a career seemingly destined for superstardom.
And it's not like the opponents were pushovers. That's about the last way you'd describe a Miami roster featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Shane Battier, even if the final two names there were remarkably far past their primes.
How often do you get to see at least seven future Hall of Famers sharing the court and competing for the Larry O'Brien Trophy?
Top NBA Finals
12 of 12As it turns out, you also got to watch seven future Hall of Famers go head-to-head one year earlier. Eight, in fact, and that number could grow even higher if Kawhi Leonard continues on his current trajectory.
The 2013 NBA Finals also featured the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs, but the results were quite different, thanks to the remarkable corner three from Ray Allen that sent Game 6 to overtime and turned sweet victory into bitter defeat for Gregg Popovich's troops.
Thanks to the presence of two veteran players, the rosters were also slightly altered in ways that were favorable for this competition.
Miami had Mike Miller serving as an off-the-bench sharpshooter, which allows it to get credit for the Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year awards he won way back in 2001 and 2006, respectively. As for the Spurs, they benefit from Tracy McGrady and his earlier dominance, even though he played just 14 total minutes during the seven-game series.
Again, we're not concerned with playing time. Decades down the road, some NBA superstar might be watching film of the 2013 NBA Finals and pause to think about the ridiculous level of talents on these two rosters.
When he sees McGrady on the bench, he's not going to stop and wonder about how much he played. He's still going to recognize one of the sport's transcendent talents.
