Power Ranking the Most Exciting Teams in NBA History
The San Antonio Spurs are the best team in the NBA right now, looking at everything objectively. They have the best record in the NBA by quite a bit, they have not had any chemistry issues and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are having great years. Richard Jefferson is also having a career year shooting three-pointers and despite a down year, Tim Duncan is still effective.
Despite this, when you ask somebody what team they would be excited to watch, the Spurs are not going to be the team mentioned. Instead, it will be the Celtics or Heat, or possibly even the Clippers with how Blake Griffin is playing.
Here are the top 15 most exciting teams in NBA history. This list is not necessarily all-inclusive, as I likely missed a few that were before my time.
15. 07-08 Boston Celtics
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I wasn't sure what Celtics team to put on this list. The teams of the 60s and 80s were just overpowering, but as I've noted, winning title after title does not automatically make a team exciting.
When Doc Rivers brought together Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to go along with Paul Pierce and then-newcomer Rajon Rondo, that first year was just magic. They went from an afterthought to NBA champions, and watching how well all the pieces clicked was exciting. Rondo's still great to watch now, even if the others are getting old.
14. 70-71 Milwaukee Bucks
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When you have two of the top players in NBA history, that team is going to usually make a list of exciting teams and the Milwaukee Bucks were no exception. Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lit up the scoreboard as the team easily led the league in points scored.
Perhaps most surprising about this duo was that Robertson's point total on the season was under 20 a game. He concentrated more on making Kareem and Bob Dandridge look goodโand he did just that.
13. 94-95 Seattle Supersonics
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The Sonics of the 90s were one of the most dynamic teams out there, yet they were unable to turn it into a title thanks to Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. Nonetheless, the combination of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp was amazing while it lasted.
This was the team I liked to watch more than Michael Jordan's second trip through the NBA. Maybe I'm crazy, but they were just very enjoyable.
12. 73-74 Atlanta Hawks
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In the early-to-mid 1970s, if you wanted fast-paced, exciting basketball, rather than the more fundamental type, you watched the ABA. If you were an NBA fan but wanted that kind of action, the Atlanta Hawks were probably the team to follow.
Led by the dynamic duo of Pistol Pete Maravich and Sweet Lou Hudson, both of whom could put up over 25 points a game, they actually were not very good at winning games, but the way they played was enjoyable.
Once both players left the Hawks, it took them a decade before they found themselves another player that exciting.
11. 90-91 Atlanta Hawks
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There is a pattern here of many of the most exciting teams not being able to win a championship. That seems to be the way it works, as many uptempo teams don't have the defense to pull that off.
The Hawks of the late 80s, led by Dominique Wilkins, were primarily a defense-oriented team. When Bob Weiss was brought in for Mike Fratello, suddenly the team began to play offense. The "Human Highlight Film" had help from Doc Rivers and Spud Webb, making the team quite thrilling.
When you have two of the best dunkers in the league on your roster, of course watching them go to work will be great.
10. 06-07 Golden State Warriors
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Over the past few years, the Warriors' fast-paced team has been exciting to watch. They don't win many games, but the tandem of Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis is enjoyable nonetheless.
In the 2006-07 team's case, they actually managed to pull off a playoff win that no one thought they could. Led by Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and Ellis, the 40-42 Warriors faced the 67-15 Dallas Mavericks in the first round. They won the series 4-2 in one of the biggest upsets in playoff history.
9. 90-91 Golden State Warriors
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The Warriors are, surprisingly enough, our most frequent visitors to this list. Why is that? They may not win titles, but they throw defense out the window and just go out and score as often as possible. Such was the case of this early 90s squad led by Don Nelson.
The early 90s Warriors were among the league leaders in both pace and points scored and this was thanks to Run T.M.C.โthe backcourt of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, who could very well be three of the most underrated players in NBA history. All three could top 20 points a game without a second thought.
8. 86-87 Los Angeles Lakers
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There are many Lakers teams that could fit onto this list, in particular the Kobe and Shaq duo of the early 2000s. I limited it to two entries, though, and here is the first.
Despite nearing 40, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a sight to behold and Byron Scott was a solid fourth option to watch. What made this team exciting was not only the shooting of James Worthy, but the all-around greatness of Magic Johnson. Johnson is one of those rare players who could easily dominate a "most exciting" list, right up there with Michael Jordan.
7. 02-03 Dallas Mavericks
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In the early 2000s, the Dallas Mavericks looked to have an exciting roster that could actually win a title. Yet another Don Nelson team on this list, this squad was led by the dynamic duo of Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash.
While they could not topple the San Antonio Spurs and win a title of their own, the team also had exciting role players in Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. It even had Shawn Bradley, who you could at least enjoy for his tallness, if nothing else.
6. 76-77 Denver Nuggets
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The post-ABA years were able to turn a couple NBA teams into very exciting ones. The Denver Nuggets became one of these teams once they joined the NBA. Dan Issel, as the core middle man, always seemed to play hard, and he was a man to watch.
He is, of course, not the reason the Nuggets are ranked this high. The reason they are is due to David Thompson. Thompson was such a prolific scorer when he arrived in the NBA that people took notice. It may not have lasted, but for a while he made the Nuggets very exciting.
5. 04-05 Phoenix Suns
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The Suns of five years ago were that team that you watched, hoping that they would be able to break through with their combination of uptempo play, Mike D'Antoni and players who were willing to get bloodied up if that's what it took.
A starting lineup of Amar'e Stoudemire, Steve Nash, Joe Johnson and Shawn Marion just sounds like it would be great to watch, and it certainly was.
Nash again could not get past the Spurs, but it was great to watch this team try as they continually led the league in pace and points scored, completely forgetting about defense.
4. 61-62 Philadelphia Warriors
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The 1961-62 Warriors had a high-scoring phenom in Paul Arizin, who still had a couple good seasons left in him, and he was racking up the points for a team that led the league in scoring that year. The team lost to the Celtics, like almost every other one did, but they were nonetheless great.
Oh, and they had some guy named Wilt Chamberlain who averaged 50 points and 25 rebounds per game that season.
3. 95-96 Chicago Bulls
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There are so many options for a Michael Jordan team you can have on a list like this. I almost went with the original rising cast of Jordan, Pippen and Horace Grant, but can you really pick a different tandem than the MJ return team?
The 1995-96 Bulls were probably the best team in NBA history to start with, winning 72 games and winning the championship without much competition. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were great as always, but what made this team even more exciting to watch was the addition of rebounding master Dennis Rodman. Those three can make any team exciting.
2. 62-63 Los Angeles Lakers
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It's almost a shame that the Celtics were so dominant in the 1960s, because the Lakers may have had their most exciting team back then. The duo of Elgin Baylor in his prime and Jerry West as an up-and-comer was just a sight to see.
Baylor could put up 34 and 14 a night, while West could put down 25 points on top of that.
Perhaps the reason why they couldn't win is that they didn't have that great of a roster behind those two, while the Celtics were always loaded with Hall of Fame talent.
1. 77-78 Philadelphia 76ers
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Did you think I would forget Dr. J? I wish I was around for the 76ers teams of the late 1970s, since that had to have been the perfect storm of excitement. You had the energy in the backcourt with World B. Free, you had the up-and-coming playmaker in Darryl Dawkins and you had the ABA legend himselfโJulius Erving.
Even George McGinnis and Doug Collins had their moments of excitement, with McGinnis being one of the team's top scorers. It took them a couple years to win a championship and Free was gone by then, but for a few years they were the team to watch in the post-ABA era.
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