NBA Playoffs 2011: 8 Reasons Why This Was the Best Playoffs in NBA History
This year's playoffs were likely the best in history.
Never before have we seen the combination of storylines that we saw during this year's edition. The stars came out and shone brighter than ever before. The ratings for the games were the highest that they've been in a very long time.
Why was this the greatest playoffs ever?
Upsets
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When was the last time we had this many upsets?
The No. 1 seed, the San Antonio Spurs, was taken out in the first round for only the second time since the NBA went to a seven-game first-round series. The only other team to do that was the Dallas Mavericks back in the 2007 season. And Memphis' run did not end there. The Grizz went on to push Round 2 to seven games against a team that far and away outperformed them during the regular season.
The defending champions were also swept right out of the playoffs by a team that had come up short for the last 11 years and who finally won the title this year in the Dallas Mavericks.
When was the last time we had such a competitive opening weekend?
Big Markets
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Like it or not, big markets are a huge part of the NBA's popularity. You can see that on websites like B/R in the comments when you make a disparaging comment against a team like New York or Los Angeles; the fans comment in droves. This year was the return of the major markets to the top.
The Boston Celtics played the whole year looking like they would be the No. 1 overall seed in the East. They faltered at the end, but gave Celtics fans reason to watch as they swept the Knicks and gave the Heat a challenge with a one-armed point guard.
The Chicago Bulls went from a borderline playoff team with a good young point guard to the top of the league with the best point guard in the league. I personally am a Chicago Bulls fan, and the city was electrified by the performance of their young team.
The New York Knicks made the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony have brought hope back to Knicks fans for the first time since Patrick Ewing walked the halls of Madison Square Garden.
The emergence of the big markets from obscurity only helped the NBA.
Close Games
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More than ever before, the games were close.
While games have been close before, we've never seen a playoffs where every single series was competitive.
If you even were to look back to a playoffs like last year, you could point out multiple series that just were not competitive by any stretch of the imagination.
This year, however, there was only one series that you could say was not competitive, and that was the defending champions being swept by the underdog Dallas Mavericks.
Even the series that lacked competitiveness actually worked out better for the NBA.
Intriguing Matchups
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How many series this year did you feel like you just had to watch at least a little bit?
For me, there were 10 series that were just fantastic matchups: San Antonio/Memphis, Dallas/Portland, Boston/New York, Oklahoma City/Memphis, Dallas/Los Angeles, Chicago/Atlanta, Miami/Boston, Chicago/Miami, Dallas/Oklahoma City and of course the Finals of Dallas/Miami.
Each of these series were intriguing to even the most casual fans and kept the interest in the NBA constant throughout the entire playoffs. Even though two of these matchups ended up being sweeps, the two sweeps were still two of the most exciting series of the last year.
The ability of the NBA to keep our interest contributed greatly to the incredible fan support.
Heroes and Villains
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Sports work best when there are specific roles that people can get into. For years, the Bad Boy Pistons of the late '80s were considered the villains of the NBA and Michael Jordan was marketed as the hero that could topple them.
Fast-forward 30 years and we have true heroes and villains again. Whether they embrace it or not, LeBron James and the Miami Heat have become the villains of the NBA. No matter who they go against, their opponent will garner most of the national support because people just don't like LeBron James and the Heat.
Then we hit the Finals. What team could be more likable than this year's Dallas Mavericks? You have the old veterans who had come so close before to winning a title in Shawn Marion, Peja Stojakavic, Jason Kidd and of course, Dirk Nowitzki.
The casual fans of the NBA were able to get behind the guys who had come so close but were never good enough, especially when they played against the "pretty boys" and "chosen one" because it made them feel like one of them won it all.
Young Teams
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Out of the four teams left in the conference finals, three of these teams will be around for a very long time. The exception of course is Dallas who won their title this year.
The Chicago Bulls' core of Rose, Deng, Boozer and Noah has an average age of 25.8 years. The Bulls' 10-man rotation that they run out has an average age of 26.6 years. The most important number is that their MVP is only 22 years old. Chicago could run out this roster and be elite or better for at least five more years without having to retool at all. They'll be around for a while.
The Miami Heat obviously have a pretty decent core made up of the best small forward in the league, LeBron James, the best shooting guard in the league, Dwyane Wade, and a top-five power forward, Chris Bosh. While they shrunk in the NBA Finals this year, they are a team that will be around for a while.
The Oklahoma City Thunder appear poised to take control of the Western Conference for the next decade. Their core of Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Perkins and Ibaka has a ridiculous average age of 22.4 years. While I don't know whether they will ever be good enough to win multiple titles against the likes of Chicago and Miami out of the East, the Thunder will have a stranglehold on the Western Conference for years to come.
With the exception of Dirk, the young guns started to take control of the league.
Redemption for Old Friends
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As I mentioned before, the Dallas Mavericks have led four of the old class of the NBA to an NBA title.
Kidd, Dirk, Peja and Marion were players at the beginning of the decade who played for very good teams who could never get over the hump.
While the NBA is a superstar-driven league, people like to see the underdogs come out on top, and the Mavericks were the ultimate underdog against the overdog Miami Heat.
Seeing guys who came short early in the decade made them the ultimate "America's Team" during the playoffs against the hated Miami Heat.
The Numbers
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The biggest reason that the playoffs is so huge this year is because of fans like us.
Even though only one series went seven games, the ratings have been through the roof. America is turning around and really focusing on basketball. We haven't seen such a basketball following perhaps even since the Jordan days.
With the rise of new and more dynamic players and teams, the ratings only get higher. As mentioned before, the four huge markets of the NBA all are in the thick of things, even if two of them are in their twilight years.
The rise of basketball throughout America and the world is the biggest reason that these NBA playoffs were the greatest playoffs ever.
