The NBA has grown used in recent years to the dominance of certain teams and players in particular. From LeBron James in the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers to the San Antonio Spurs of Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker led by Gregg Popovich, passing, of course, by the amazing Golden State Warriors of Stephen Curry. However, this definition will offer a new picture.
It is that there will be, whatever the winner of the title, an unprecedented champion if the western conference wins or one “vintage” if whoever comes from the East wins.
Because on one side are the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers. Neither was champion. The Arizonans have been in the best basketball league in the world for 53 years. More than half a century without ever having shouted the highest cry, despite the fact that in 30 of those seasons he played the playoffs. He lost the final for the title in 1976 and, further back in time, in 1993 with the remembered team he led Charles Barkley and that he couldn’t against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Charles Barkley, star of the Phoenix Suns who failed to win the title against Michael Jordan. AP Photo / Roberto Borea
The Californians, meanwhile, have been almost as long as their rival in the NBA: 51 years if you take into account their old names (Buffalo Braves and San Diego Clippers). And their journey is even more “empty” than Phoenix’s: this conference final, which began last night with a 120-114 victory for the Suns, is the first in their history.
Until now, they had seven defeats in the semifinals (5 in the West and 2 in the East), three of them in the “Lob City” stage, with the remembered teams headed by Chris Paul (today, precisely, star of the Suns ), Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan directed by Doc Rivers and with Tyronn Lue, current Clippers coach, as an assistant.
The Clippers of Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Tyronn Lue in 2014. Photo AFP
On the other side, some Milwaukee Bucks arrived who suffered a lot from the series against Brooklyn Nets and who undoubtedly were favored by the physical problems that afflicted Steve Nash’s team: Kyrie Irving was injured, the same as James Harden (who returned, but in lousy form) and Kevin Durant’s astonishing individual talent was not enough to win Game 7.
The Bucks were probably one of the teams (if not “the” team) that had promised the most in recent seasons without meeting expectations, which raised doubts about their figure, the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo. In the previous two seasons, even being the best record of the regular phase, they said goodbye in the final and semifinal of the conference.
The only title of the franchise, in 53 years and with 33 appearances in the playoffs, dates from 1971, when the NBA’s all-time top scorer, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, shone in the deer jersey, accompanied by another legend like Oscar Robertson.
Kareem, cheered by the Bucks public in 2018. Photo EFE
That season they swept the playoffs: the San Francisco Warriors and the Lakers 4-1 each and a categorical 4-0 sweep in the championship final against the Baltimore Bullets, with Kareem averaging a whopping 31.7 points and 16 rebounds.
In 1974 they had the opportunity to repeat, but fell in the definition against the Boston Celtics in the seventh game. After that, five conference finals: 3 in the 80s, one in 2001 and the last one in 2019.
Atlanta Hawks, which dispatched No. 1 in the East in the regular season, Philadelphia 76ers (he beat him Sunday night 103-96), is the longest-running in the league: 72 seasons in which they were also known as the St. Louis Hawks, Milwaukee Hawks, and Tri-Cities Blackhawks.
His 47 years in the playoffs reached just one title, too long ago: 1958, when it was still St. Louis and the playoffs consisted of just two rounds. It was 4-1 to the Pistons in the division final and 4-2 to the Celtics in the championship final, with Hall of Famer Bob Pettit (2-time MVP and 11-time All-Star) as the most prominent.
Al Horford against Luis Scola’s Raptors. AP Photo
That was a golden time for the team, which could have put together a historic series but lost three other finals: 1957, 60 and 61. Since then it has had to wait a long time to fight again: in 2015, led by Mike Budenholzer (current DT of the Bucks) and led by Al Horford, Paul Millsap (now Facundo Campazzo’s teammate) and Jeff Teague, lost in the conference finals against LeBron’s Cavaliers.
Vintage or unpublished? There will only be one champion.
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