The OtherArena

[jdw]

There is that. :)

Spurs have been around since 1968. In that time in Finals of teams that have made at least three trips:

11-10 Lakers
8-3 Celtics
6-0 Bulls
4-0 Spurs
3-3 Pacers (3-2 in ABA)
3-2 Pistons
2-3 Knicks
2-3 Nets (2-1 in ABA)
2-2 Rockets
1-3 76ers
1-3 Bullets
1-2 Blazers

Spurs and Bulls are the undefeated teams in that stretch (Bulls lost a Finals before that).

I know Celtics Fans will point to how they win at a higher % when they get there... but deep down, they hate that the Lakers have won more titles in that stretch and are closing in on the Celts all-time records. :)

John

[JAG]

So who's going to drag over Simmons 20 NBA champs with a footnote story to punt around? Or is it too repetitive this week?

Tries to negate a few Laker titles, while giving the C's a few more. Predictable, but the omissions are the worst part.

Jagdip

[jdw]

The Footnote Title: The Sports Guy ranks the 20 most fortunate breaks an NBA champion ever received

He wasn't overly killer on the Lakers:

HONORABLE MENTION
1993 Chicago Bulls
1983 Philadelphia 76ers
1989 Detroit Pistons
1987 Lakers

We always knew the 1987 team would be on that list. But in turn, the 1983 & 1989 ones are bones to the Lakers teams due to injuries. That washes out.


TINY FOOTNOTES

20. 1976 Celtics
19. 2008 Celtics
18. 2010 Lakers
17. 1974 Celtics

The 2008 & 2010 ones wash out. Of course he's still hurt over the 2010 title. :)

INJURY-RELATED FOOTNOTES

16. 2009 Lakers
15. 1965 Celtics
14. 2003 Spurs

The 2009 is tossed out because he still dreams of a Celtics three-peat. On the other hand, the 1965 one would take away a Celtics title... and it's possible that's the year where West & Baylor could have bagged it.

NEFARIOUS FOOTNOTES

13. 2007 Spurs
12. 2002 Lakers
11. 2006 Heat

I think folks get too wrapped up in Game 6 of the Lakers-Kings series, and forget that the refs swung wildly between the two extremes of Reffing Shaq. In Game 5, Shaq went to the line once. 1 time. ONCE. :) That was clearly bullshit. The Lakers made a lot of noise about it. The refs went to the other extreme. That happened *all the time*.

We use to have a lot of discussions on the board about how impossible it was to ref Shaq because he was literally fouled on every possession. If you called it correctly, he'd Foul All The Motherfuckers Out... in every game. So there was usually a "deal" with him:

* They can foul you all the time
* You can run them over

To get a call, they hard to really foul Shaq hard and completely disrupt his shot. To get a call on Shaq, he had to pretty much kill a guy going through them.

The Kings series saw the refs call things tight on Shaq, then tight on the Kings, then call games under the "deal" rule, then flip to one of the extremes. After Game 5, you just knew given how hard it was pointed out that the Kings mugged Shaq that the Kings were going to have going to be watched and called. Which is what happened.

I have no sympathy for the Kings. Can any Kings Fan pop in the Game 5 tape an honestly say that Vlade and Pollard committed a combined 3 fouls on Shaq in that game, while Shaq was called enough to be limited to 32 minutes and eventually foul out? Game 6 was payback, and fuck 'em. :)


MEDIUM-SIZE FOOTNOTES

10. 2005 Spurs
9. 2012 Champ X
8. 1995 Rockets
7. 1973 Knicks
6. 1968 Celtics
5. 1988 Lakers

1968 actually takes one away from the Celts. 1973 gives one to the Celts. What's kind of funny is that Hondo getting hurt > than Magic + Scott getting hurt in 1989. Granted... we were going to lose in 1989, but still... Bill has Magic ranked quite a bit higher in the Pyramid than Hondo and Scott was averaging a career high 19.6 points a game. We swept the Blazers, Sonics and Suns heading into the Finals: 11-0.

I don't think we would have won in 1989, but we warrant more of an Footnote in 1989 than the Pistons did in 1988.

THE MACK-DADDY FOOTNOTES

4. 1978 Bullets
3. 1958 Hawks
2. 1999 Spurs
1. 1994 Rockets

No Lakers in there. He does give the Celtics an extra one in 1958.

John

[JAG]

How about the 2004 Pistons (Karl injury leaving Slava Medvedenko to cover Rasheed)?

1969 Celtics (with the Wilt/Brenda Kolf beef in Game 7)?

The list should be 10 at the most, having any teams with multiple championships on there is silly. There's a reason they won all those titles. It takes away most of his list.

As for Pop and the Spurs, 1.000 in the Finals is nice, but I'd rather have a 3-peat and Repeat then never be able to muster up consecutive Finals trips. You know, the true measure of dominance.

Jagdip

[Rian]

Sort of like counting franchise wins from another city? I don't think OKC considers themselves a past NBA Champion. :)



Oh yeah, goodbye Dallas...that was a horrible game by them, actually horrible is too nice of a word.

[JAG]

[jdw]

Teams have always taken their titles with them... except for that idiot Modell when leaving Cleveland. Are we to use that jackoff as a role model? :)

I grew up in Los Angeles where Vince Scully waxed poetically about the Boys of Summer as part of the Dodgers legacy. Look at the 1959 World Champs: Gil Hodgers, Jim Gilliam, Duke Snider, Don Zimmer, Johnny Podres, Sandy Koufax, Roger Craig, Clem Labine... these were all guys on the 1955 World Champ team. The city just changed.

It's not our fault whether OKC cares about their history in Seattle or not. In Los Angeles, we cared about the history of the Lakers and the Dodgers.

John

[Rian]

So which is it, everyone except Modell or everyone except Modell and OKC?
I don't even think the Kings count their two championships from way back when, do they JAG? Why wouldn't Boston count anything from before Russell, are they not located in the same city still?



Totally do agree with JAG's point about 1979 being a good cut-off point though, it's the distinction from the NBA being a "minor" league beforehand to a "major" league afterward. 4-0 looks better than 4-3.

[jdw]

[jdw]

I'd add that when the Raiders won their Super Bowl in LA, they became a "three time" Super Bowl winner. When they went back to Oakland, they didn't leave that one behind and start calling themselves a two-time Super Bowl winner.

John

[Rian]

Al Davis is your example?

And does Sacramento have a banner hanging in the New Balance/Arco Arena?

[jdw]

http://basketball.ballparks.com/NBA/SacramentoKings/index.htm

[jdw]

[Rian]

Doesn't look like they acknowledge the title at all to me (Kings). Figured they would keep the retired numbers even though most people haven't ever heard of Bob Davies (and not the shitty ND coach who's now at UNM or NMSU).

[jdw]

Banner: No
Media Guide & Record Book: Yes

The Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants recognize them. Dodgers do. The Colts do. Suspect the Rams do (Cleveland and Los Angeles). Raiders do.

Hawks have banners for St. Louis players, but I'm not sure about the 1958 championship. They certainly claim it in their media materials.

The Braves did recognize the 1914 and 1957 titles at Fulton County when they were celebrating history. I don't think they do at Turner, though that opened in the middle of their historic run, and perhaps they focused on current history (rather than earlier when all their history had been in Boston and Mil). They certain recognize the Boston and Mil parts of the franchise in many ways.

Chose your poison.

I grasp the concept when it's teams that have no history in their prior city, or are insecure about their prior history relative to the current city. But it's different in a number of cities: the acknowledge, accept and honor the past. Los Angeles was one of those places, even when we ripped off teams from other cities. :)

John