By: Eric Yin
Since the Raptors won the championship in 2019, there have been no repeat Champions. There have also been no teams to make the finals in back to back years. Hell, there hasn’t even been a Champion that has made it back to the conference finals. The league has entered a period of unprecedented parity, something that has rarely existed in NBA history. Most NBA fans are rejoicing, taking this as a sign of the new NBA. With harsher salary caps rules and the prevalence of the internet, we’ve entered a world where even “small markets” can be as socially relevant as household names like the Lakers. Big name players no longer flock to big markets, perhaps contributing to league parity. What I would argue, however, is not that the league has entered a period of parity. Rather, the league has just become extremely, extremely, weak.
Unlike the NFL, the NBA can never reach true parity unless there is no apex predator present in the league. There are only five players on a court at a time. In the playoffs, the best players can play every minute, and affect every single possession on offense and defense. The best players can orchestrate an offense and lock down the other team’s best players, dominating the scoreboard (i.e: Michael Jordan). Therefore, the NBA is extremely prone to dynasties. If a top 15 player is in their active prime, you can be certain a dynasty is brewing. Michael Jordan, 6 out of 8 years winning a championship. Kobe winning 5 championships in ten years. Curry winning 4 in 6. LeBron going to 8 straight finals, winning 4. The list could go on for much longer (Magic, Bird, Kareem, etc.). The point is, if one of the best NBA players to walk the earth is in their prime, they will dominate. At nearly every single point in NBA history, one of the top-15 players was in their prime and winning championships. Except for right now,
For the first time in modern NBA history, no player or team has claimed this era for themselves. Jokic, Embiid, Luka, Tatum, none of them have been able to do it. No player has dominated the league like the legends of the past have. Some argue this is due to parity, but I would argue that this is rather an indicator that none of these players are on that level yet. For instance, let’s look at some of Kobe’s Championship teams. They are just solid all around teams, none of them were all-timers. Yet they took down a top heavy Celtics team with Garnett, Allen, Rondo, and Pierce. Look at the greatest dynasty ever, the Jordan Bulls. After Pippen, they just had a bunch of solid role players. Jordan’s team was not an all-time stacked team, it wasn’t the greatest roster ever built. It was a pretty good team, that became legendary because they had a GOAT contender spearheading the way. Even look at some of LeBron’s rosters. He carried a 2018 Cavs team to the finals, a team that probably would’ve gone down in history as the weakest roster ever to make a finals if it wasn’t for the 2007 Cavs, that LeBron ALSO carried to the finals. What’s the point of all of this? Legendary players supersede their circumstances. As long as they have even a competent roster around them, the greatest players will reach finals and win them more often than they lose. In this era, that simply hasn’t happened. Which simply means none of these players have the talent to be a top-15 player.
The time to strike is now for Seattle. The league has entered a period of immense weakness, where no apex players are present. With LeBron, Curry, and KD fading out of their primes, and no other players truly rising to that level, the opportunity is there. We may never get an opportunity like this again. Typically, championship rings are reserved for a select few. Right now, they are on bargain sale, and it’s time for Seattle to push for a franchise and try to sneak out the backdoor with a ring before the next all-time greats enter and dominate the league.