Single Greatest Moment in the History of Every NBA Franchise

In each every NBA franchise, there's always that one defining moment or time that you can precisely remember even to this day.

Those moments for these franchises range from either the selection of a future superstar, trading for a current superstar, taking home a title or even something as simple as making it to the postseason for some of the more unfortunate teams.

These significant moments have all played a huge part in the progression of each franchise as it has even defined their past, present and future.

Without looking too much into this now, why not just take a look at each NBA team's greatest moment in their history?

Atlanta Hawks: 1958 Championship

Good times have been hard to come by for the Atlanta Hawks franchise especially when they give their star player $120 million to lead the team as far as the second round before stalling.

The Hawks have seen marginal success over their 55-year run with no better moment than the one in 1958 when they took home their first and only NBA title.

Led by future Hall of Famer Bob Pettit, the Hawks would finish the season 41-31 as well as their first Western Division title. They would then go on to defeat the Detroit Pistons 4-1 in the division finals before ultimately winning the title with a 4-2 series win over the Boston Celtics.

Winning championships was a lot easier back then considering you only needed to win two series.

Boston Celtics: Trading for Bill Russell

Think about it: The Atlanta Hawks could have very well easily had a frontcourt consisting of Bob Pettit and Bill Russell had they not thought that Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley were the future of Hawks basketball.

I guess that's the reason why the Celtics currently have 17 championships and the Hawks haven't won one since 1958.

Russell was taken out of San Francisco University with the No. 2 pick by the St. Louis Hawks in 1956. The Hawks would trade him to the Boston Celtics the same day for two players that not many casual NBA fans have ever heard of.

As a result, Russell would become the league's most dominant defensive and rebounding center and would anchor a Celtics team that would dominate the 1960s. He would lead the team to 11 NBA titles between 1957 and 1969 while also taking home five MVP awards.

Charlotte Bobcats: Making It to the 2010 Postseason

The Charlotte Bobcats haven't had too much success of any kind since joining the league in 2005. They've only gone one season with a winning record and a postseason appearance and it turns out that was also the greatest moment in the history of the young franchise.

Led by sharpshooter Stephen Jackson and athletic, all-around player Gerald Wallace, the Bobcats managed a nine-game improvement from the season before to finish with a 44-38 record which was good enough for third in the Southeast Division and for their first postseason berth.

They would take on the highly touted Orlando Magic where they would get swept.

Chicago Bulls: Drafting Michael Jordan

He's certainly no Sam Bowie, but the Chicago Bulls had to make due with their selection of Michael Jordan.

Highly touted out of the University of North Carolina and taken with the third pick in the 1984 draft, Jordan was immediately thrown into the fire as the team's leader. He led the team to an 11-game improvement from the year before where he would win Rookie of the Year while also leading the team to their first postseason appearance since 1981.

Jordan would deal with injuries the next year, but would come back with a vengeance the following season by leading the Bulls to the postseason once again with a 63-point game against the Boston Celtics overshadowing the team's loss by way of sweep.

It was history from there as the Bulls would go on to win six championships between 1991 and 1998 with Jordan leading the team each and every time. He would win six Finals MVPs and would also lead the team to the best record in NBA history when they finished 72-10 in 1996 while also finishing with the second-best record in NBA history the next season when they finished 69-13.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Making It to the 2007 NBA Finals

The one shining beacon of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team's top moment came in 2007 when LeBron James led a less-than-stellar supporting cast to an unexpected NBA Finals appearance.

It was the first championship appearance for the franchise that had been an NBA team since 1970.

The Cavaliers finished the 2006-07 second in the Central Division and with a 50-32 record. They would sweep the Washington Wizards in the first round, defeat the New Jersey Nets in six games and would then go on to defeat the division rival and Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit Pistons in six games to earn their first finals berth.

However, they would lose in four games to the San Antonio Spurs. It turned out that teams are actually a lot better than an individual and four other players that stand around watching the said individual.

Dallas Mavericks: 2011 Championship

As much as it pains me to say it, the Dallas Mavericks deserved this one.

If you succeed so well in the regular season only to ultimately come up short every single year for a decade, something has to eventually give and sure enough it did in 2011 when the Dallas Mavericks upset the heavily favored Miami Heat and their Big Three.

The Mavericks avoided embarrassment once again as well. During their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers, they allowed the team to erase a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter that could have very well changed the momentum of the series. Instead, and very unlike the Mavericks, they recovered and would win in six games.

They would then go on to convincingly sweep the defending back-to-back champions in the Los Angeles Lakers before only needing five games to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference finals.

In the NBA Finals, they would erase a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 2 that would tie the series at one game apiece and give the Mavericks home-court advantage. The Heat only won one more game as the Mavericks took the final three games of the series to win the title.

Denver Nuggets: Back to the Conference Finals in 2009

By combining former Finals MVP Chauncey Billups with pure scorer Carmelo Anthony, the Denver Nuggets actually managed to find postseason success. When they reached the semifinals in 2009, it represented the first time since 1994 that the team had actually made it out of the first round.

The Nuggets didn't stop after a five-game series win against the New Orleans Hornets, however, which came equipped with a 58-point win, as the team would go on to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the semifinals. It was the first time since 1985 that the Nuggets would make it to the conference finals and coincidentally enough, their 2009 conference finals matchup was the same in 1985.

Denver would put up a fight against the Los Angeles Lakers, but it wouldn't be enough as they would lose to the eventual champions in six games.

Detroit Pistons: Completing the Back-to-Back in 1990

After impressing us with a 63-19 record and their first NBA Championship in 1989, the Detroit Pistons decided to show us up one more time with another NBA Finals date in 1990.

The Pistons were absolutely dominant in their first championship as they finished the postseason with a 16-2 record, with the only two losses coming in their conference finals matchup in Chicago. The team was just as dominant the next year as they finished the 1990 season with a 59-23 record and their third consecutive division championship.

Detroit would go on to win the title with an easy five-game series win against Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers. Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Bill Laimbeer would headline these dangerous Pistons teams as they team made it to three consecutive NBA Finals and five consecutive conference finals.

Golden State Warriors: 1975 Championship

This was actually a tough one to pick as the Golden State Warriors 2007 postseason upset over the No. 1-seeded Dallas Mavericks could deservedly be here as well.

You can't go against a championship however, especially when it's the only one in franchise history.

Led by sharpshooter Rick Barry, the Warriors weren't too dominant of a regular-season team as they only finished with a 48-34 record. They weren't expected to go too far, but they managed to defy the odds by making it to their first NBA Finals since 1967 with a six-game series win over Seattle and a seven-game series win over Chicago.

With all that trouble against lesser opponents, surely they wouldn't be able to beat out the likes of Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and the rest of the Washington Bullets.

They proved a lot of people wrong by not only beating the Bullets, but sweeping them as well.

Houston Rockets: Drafting Hakeem Olajuwon

It's a good thing the Houston Rockets went with the right center, otherwise they could have very well had Sam Bowie and his brittle legs.

The Rockets selected Nigerian product Hakeem Olajuwon out of the University of Houston with the first pick in the draft. He would lead the team to a 19-game improvement in his rookie year and would actually help lead the team to the NBA Finals in 1986 after finishing 51-31 in the regular season. The Rockets would consistently be considered title favorites with Olajuwon leading the way every season.

Olajuwon's defense and his footwork in the post allowed him to become one of the league's top centers while also leading the Rockets to their first championship in franchise history when they took it home in 1994. Next season would easily be one of the best moments for the team as they would defy the odds by winning their second consecutive championship despite finishing 47-35 in the regular season.

After needing seven games against the New York Knicks in 1994, they would sweep the Orlando Magic in 1995.

The Rockets haven't seen nearly the same amount of success since the loss of Olajuwon to retirement and the Toronto Raptors.

Indiana Pacers: 2000 NBA Finals Appearance

The lone NBA Finals appearance in the team's history, the Indiana Pacers won the Central Division and finished 56-26 before working their way through the East to get to an eventual date with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Led by Reggie Miller, the Pacers would defeat the Milwaukee Bucks in five games, the Philadelphia 76ers in six games and the New York Knicks in six games before running into a roadblock named the L.A. Lakers that would defeat them in six games.

The Pacers have only made it to one conference finals since then.

Los Angeles Clippers: Reaching the Second Round in 2006

There hasn't been much time for the Los Angeles Clippers to ever celebrate, so their 2006 postseason appearance easily represents the top moment in franchise history.

The team finished 47-35 which was good enough for their first winning season since 1992 while also making it to the playoffs for the first time since 1997. Not only did the team make the postseason however, they also defeated the Denver Nuggets in five games to move on to the semifinals for the first time since 1976.

When you go 30 years in between second-round appearances, maybe you should re-evaluate the look of your franchise overall.

Los Angeles Lakers: Drafting Magic Johnson

The Los Angeles Lakers have made a number of key moves resulting in postseason success with none more influential than their drafting of Magic Johnson.

Johnson was taken first out of Michigan State University and would immediately help lead the team to their first championship since 1972. They'd win it two years later with another win over the Philadelphia 76ers with Johnson leading the way once again at the point. The Lakers would be perennial championship contenders with Johnson leading the team at the point and it would result in three more titles over the rest of the 1980s.

Johnson's leadership skills were second to none and the court awareness he possessed was as well. He could see plays before they developed as the trickery and quick plays he made were key in the Lakers' countless postseason runs over his tenure with the team.

Memphis Grizzlies: 2011 Postseason Run

Before the 2011 postseason, the Memphis Grizzlies were a combined 0-12 in three postseason appearances.

They can now boast a 7-18 record after pulling off a huge upset and then making it to the semifinals for the first time in franchise history.

Despite losing Rudy Gay for the playoffs, the Grizzlies still secured an eighth seed with a date against the division-rival San Antonio Spurs set to happen. Rather than succumbing to the more powerful No. 1 seed like most eighth seeds do, the Grizzlies pulled off one of the most dominant performances by any eighth seed in the history of the game.

The Grizzlies beat the Spurs in six games and could have very well won in five games had Gary Neal not hit a miraculous buzzer-beater to keep the Spurs alive in Game 5. They would then take on the Oklahoma City Thunder, who they would push to seven games before dropping the final game on the road.

Miami Heat: Drafting Dwyane Wade

Since drafting Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat have had nothing but success except for one season that came as a direct result of Wade dealing with injuries the whole year.

After leading the team to a surprising 42-40 record and a semifinals appearance in his rookie season, the organization brought in Shaquille O'Neal to play alongside Wade. The two formed an extremely dangerous duo and would promptly make it all the way to the conference finals where they would get defeated by the Detroit Pistons due to Wade suffering from injuries.

The Heat would recover and would make it past the conference finals next year and would even take home their first title after Wade scored 35 points per game to help defeat the Dallas Mavericks in six games. The next two years would be tough for Wade as he would have to deal with injuries that greatly limited his production.

Since 2008, however, Wade has been playing the best basketball of his life and the Heat recently made it to the finals for the second time in franchise history thanks to Wade's influence in bringing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the team.

Milwaukee Bucks: 1971 Championship

You don't find awkward family photos as awkward as this picture. I'm not sure why the photographer asked head coach Larry Costello to act like he was drawing up a play.

It only took three seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks to win their first title and they can thank veteran Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge and newcomer Lew Alcindor for the dominant run the team had in the 1970-71 season.

After winning their first Midwest Division and finishing a league-best 66-16, the Bucks would only need five games to defeat the San Francisco Warriors and then the Los Angeles Lakers before making it to their first finals.

The finals turned out to be the easiest part as the Bucks swept the Baltimore Bullets. The team hasn't been back to that point since 1974.

Minnesota Timberwolves: 2004 Postseason Run

You could say drafting Kevin Garnett was the best moment in franchise history considering he brought the most success the team has ever seen, or even trading for Kevin Love because of the high possibility of future success.

Instead, we'll just go with the lone deep postseason run for the Wolves which came as a result of the MVP season of Garnett.

The Wolves had made it to the postseason every year after Garnett's rookie season from 1996 until 2004, but could never get the past the first round. The Timberwolves dealt with seven consecutive playoff runs ending in the first round before finally breaking through in 2004 with a five-game series win over the Denver Nuggets.

They continued deeper into the playoffs with a tight seven-game series win over the Sacramento Kings, but would ultimately be defeated by the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers in six games in their lone Western Conference Finals appearance.

Minnesota hasn't made it to the playoffs since.

New Jersey Nets: 2003 Championship Run

If we were talking about the ABA, the New Jersey Nets would then have more to be proud of considering they won two titles during their time in the league.

Instead, we'll focus on the team's best postseason run as a member of the NBA. The Nets hadn't seen much success from anywhere over their history, but managed to get in a groove with the trio of Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson. The three would help the Nets advance to the title in 2002 before being swept by the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers.

The Nets would finish 49-33 at the end of the 2002-03 season, but still managed to dominate by only dropping two games during the Eastern Conference playoffs with both losses coming in the first round.

Unfortunately for the Nets, they ran into a brick wall known as the San Antonio Spurs whose living was based on making Eastern Conference foes miserable.

New Orleans Hornets: 2008 Division Championship

The New Orleans Hornets had seen some solid seasons while based in Charlotte, but they can't even compare to the team's 2007-08 campaign.

Not only did the team finish 56-26, the best record in franchise history, but they also took home their first division crown. It might not be much, but that's huge considering it came in the Southwest Division where the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies could be considered possible playoff contenders any season.

The Hornets would defeat the division-rival Mavericks in only five games in the first round before falling to their other division rival in San Antonio in six games.

New York Knicks: 1970 Championship

After an MVP season that featured himself leading the New York Knicks to a 60-22 regular-season record, a division title and their first NBA Finals appearance since 1953, Willis Reed appeared as if he wasn't going to play in the team's decisive Game 7 against the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals.

Despite barely being able to get up and down the floor, Reed would score the first four points for the Knicks and they wouldn't look back as they defeated the Lakers to take home their first title. Reed's inspirational beginning to the game was enough to inspire the entire Knicks team in decisively defeating the Lakers.

The Knicks used a seven-game series win against the Baltimore Bullets and a five-game series win against the Milwaukee Bucks to reach that point.

Oklahoma City Thunder: 1979 Championship

This must have been a long time ago. Kevin Durant was still nearly a decade away from even being conceived.

After a disappointing 1978 postseason run that ended with a seven-game series loss to the Washington Bullets, the Seattle Super Sonics would come back with a vengeance that featured a Pacific Division title and a then-franchise-best 52-30 record. Led by Spencer Haywood, the Sonics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games and the Phoenix Suns in seven games before setting up a rematch with the Bullets in the finals.

It came a lot easier this time as the Sonics would win their first and only championship in franchise history with a five-game series win over Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and the Bullets.

Orlando Magic: Drafting Dwight Howard

This could get uglier than the falling-out between LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Orlando Magic better get their former No. 1 pick some help and fast before he decides to pack up and leave for a team that actually cares about contending for a title instead of faltering in the first round to a division rival.

The Magic had seen success with Shaquille O'Neal in the first half of the 1990s that included their first championship appearance. Unfortunately for Orlando, O'Neal would depart for Los Angeles and the team would never see nearly as much success as when they possessed him.

Since drafting Howard out of high school, however, the center's dominant influence has caused a great amount of success for the Magic franchise. Besides winning three consecutive Southeast Division titles, the Magic also have four consecutive 50-plus-win seasons, have made it to five consecutive postseasons and even made it to their second NBA Finals in history.

Orlando would lose to the Lakers in five games, but the team still continues to assert its authority over the majority of the Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia 76ers: Trading for Wilt Chamberlain

After not seeing too much postseason success while with the Warriors, Wilt Chamberlain found out that the only way he'd find a championship would be if he had teammates that could help him.

The Warriors traded Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann, Lee Shaffer and cash and the Sixers would immediately find success with the seven-footer on their team. They'd finish first in the Eastern Division for the first time in franchise history and would also finish a then-franchise-best 55-25.

It only got better from there, as the Sixers would go on to have one of the greatest seasons in NBA history after finishing 68-13 before defeating the Cincinnati Royals in four games in the first round, the Boston Celtics in five games and finally his former team in San Francisco in six games to help the Sixers take home their first title in franchise history.

The Sixers would make it to the postseason every season with Chamberlain, but wouldn't make it to another finals until 1983.

Phoenix Suns: Bringing Back Steve Nash

After giving up on him after only two seasons, the Phoenix Suns learned the errors of their ways by making sure to steal Steve Nash away from the Dallas Mavericks.

Nash had spent the first two years of his career with the Suns before refining his game for six years with the Mavericks. He'd rejoin the team as a free agent in 2004 and they would immediately win 62 games in the regular season before making it to their first conference finals since their last NBA Finals appearance in 1993.

The Canadian point guard would win MVP that year and would win it the next season after leading the Suns to a 54-28 record that came with another conference finals appearance. The Suns would make it to one more conference finals in 2010, but they would never obtain a berth in the finals.

You can't blame it on Nash either, as he has easily been the league's top facilitating point guard over the past five seasons. He and Amar'e Stoudemire supported a juggernaut offense that was the direct result of Nash facilitating the offense and leading the team to their most successful seasons since the Charles Barkley era.

Portland Trail Blazers: 1977 Championship

The Portland Trail Blazers didn't waste any time in obtaining their first and only championship.

In 1977, the Blazers made it to the postseason for the very first time in franchise history and would promptly win the title after defeating the Chicago Bulls in three games in the first round, the Denver Nuggets in six and sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers before going on to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

It was no coincidence either that this was the healthiest season of center Bill Walton's tenure with the Blazers. The 65 games he'd play was the most in his four seasons with the Blazers and the third-most in his decade-long career.

Sacramento Kings: 1951 Championship

When your top moment in franchise history was six decades ago, you might have to make some sort of personnel changes.

Despite having the likes of Oscar Robertson on their side for a while during the 1960s, the Sacramento Kings haven't seen any sort of postseason success since the 1950s when they were known as the Rochester Royals. It was only their second year in the league and they would finish 41-27, but the Kings managed to defeat the Fort Wayne Pistons and Minneapolis Lakers in the conference playoffs before taking on the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.

The Royals would defeat the Knicks in seven games for their one and only title. The team hasn't been to an NBA Finals since and only has two conference finals appearances since then as well.

San Antonio Spurs: Drafting Tim Duncan

The San Antonio Spurs have always drafted wisely with no better move than the obvious choice of taking Wake Forest power forward Tim Duncan with the No. 1 pick in 1997.

In Duncan's first year with the team, he would win Rookie of the Year and help the Spurs to a 36-game improvement from the year before. It would only be one more year that the Spurs would go on to win their first title in franchise history after defeating the New York Knicks in five games during a lockout-shortened season that also featured Duncan taking home Finals MVP honors.

The Spurs would consistently be at the top of the Western Conference and in the NBA overall thanks to Duncan's leadership and consistent 20-point and 10-rebound effort night in and night out. Between 2002 and 2007, the Spurs would win three more titles with Duncan taking home Finals MVP in two of those instances.

Duncan has won two MVPs with the team as they have yet to miss the postseason since drafting him.

Toronto Raptors: 2007 Division Championship

The Toronto Raptors haven't seen much success since joining the league in 1995, so they're going to have to do more in the future than just taking home division titles.

With the Boston Celtics possibly on the decline soon, maybe they can take advantage one more time.

The Raptors had All-Star Chris Bosh leading the team since drafting him with the fourth pick out of Georgia Tech in 2004, but had yet to see any significant improvement as the 27-55 record they suffered in 2006 was their worst since the year before they drafted Bosh.

However, the team would make a significant improvement as they would tie a franchise mark by finishing the season 47-35. More importantly, the Raptors won their first division title in franchise history by winning the Atlantic.

Unfortunately for them, that would be about it as they would lose to the New Jersey Nets in six games in the first round.

The Raptors have one conference semifinals appearance in franchise history.

Utah Jazz: Forming the Duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone

After selecting point guard John Stockton out of Gonzaga University in the 1984 draft with the 16th pick, the Utah Jazz immediately combined him with Louisiana Tech's finest in Kark Malone whom they selected with the 13th pick the very next draft.

What came as a result was the formation of one of the best duos in the history of the game. They never missed the postseason with the combination of Stockton and Malone, as the Jazz would constantly threaten the NBA with potentially taking home the title at the end of the season.

The Jazz would have three seasons where they won 60-plus games with their best season coming in 1997 when they finished 64-18. Unfortunately for Malone, Stockton and the Jazz, they would lose to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games for two consecutive seasons.

Malone would win two MVPs with the Jazz, but he and Stockton could never best the Bulls and therefore couldn't win a title for the franchise.

Washington Wizards: 1978 Championship

After going 0-8 in their two previous NBA Finals appearances, the Washington Bullets had to make completely sure not to get embarrassed one more time.

Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and the Bullets would finish the season 44-38, only good enough for second in the Central, but would dominate on their way to the NBA Finals with a sweep over the Atlanta Hawks and needing six games apiece to defeat the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers.

The Bullets would take on and defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games to take home their first and only title in franchise history.