Since the Bulls' reign ended in 1998 with Phil Jackson riding his motorcycle into the sunset, two great champions have emerged: Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan. Of the past 10 championship teams, a full 8 have had either TD or Shaq on them. The Spurs have won intermittently 4 times in the past 10 years, while Shaq won three in a row with LA and then won a few years ago with the Heat. In the first five years of the post-Jordan era, it was TD, Shaq, Shaq, Shaq, TD.
In the past five years, its been Pistons, TD, Shaq, TD, Celtics. In the past 10 years, the Lakers have been to 5 NBA Finals and the Spurs (all wins) to 4. Only the Heat-Mavs Final of 2005-06 featured neither team. And only this past Finals--between the Lakers and Celtics--featured neither Tim Duncan nor Shaquille O'Neal. We are talking 10 years of dominance by two franchise players largely playing for the Spurs and Lakers. Kobe has not won anything without Shaq.
What do we learn from this dominance? First, the Jordan Era was clearly proceeded by today's Shaq-Duncan Era. Second, that means that we are moving into a new era in the NBA as Shaq ages considerably and Duncan leaves his prime. Third, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan have clearly been the best two players in the NBA over the past 10 years.
The next post will analyze the past 10 NBA champions...
1 comment:
Jordan's Bulls aside (because, afterall, they had the greatest player of all time), teams featuring dominating big men wins titles. Kobe is not Jordan -- more from a leadership perspective than anything else. Thus, Kobe needs Bynum. Kobe and Bynum = titles.
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