FanNation

The NBA Title.  The peak of basketball.  The most famous teams have been there dozens of times.  The Celtics with their eight in a row.  The Lakers winning five in the 1980s.  The Bulls with double three-peats in the 1990s.  And yet somehow, team that get there once almost get more press than those who make a habit of it.  Below are the five one title teams of the common era, how they got there, what they did after, and their current chances to add title #2.

1971- Milwaukie Bucks.  This team featured two of the greatest players in history: a young Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and an agin Oscar Robertson.  Both were hungry.  Lew wasn't used to losing, Robertson was too used to it.  Both wanted the title.  They stormed through the regular season, winning a then-record 20 in a row.  In the Finals they met an inspired Baltimore Bullets team, and crushed them in a four game sweep.  Robertson won his only ring, Alcindor the first of six.  The Bucks remained competitive, ending the Lakers 33 game streak the following year and eventually returning to the Finals in 1974, falling to the Celtics in a seven game thriller.  That offseason Kareem demanded a trade and the team has been largely irrelevant since.

        Current title chances: About zero.  Few tradable assets, few talented players, turmoil in the front office.  It will be some time before they are a real contender.

1977- Portland Trail Blazers.  Perhaps the most popular of the one title teams, led by Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas.  Walton finally shook off the inury bug for a year and the entire team followed coach Jack Ramsay, gelling as one of the greatest TEAMS in history.  After crushing the Lakers in the West Finals, they ran into a supremely talented 76ers team with big names like Dr. J and World B. Free.  After dropping the first two games, the Blazers stormed back to win the title in six games.  The next year the Blazers were buzzing along at 50-10 when Walton once again was injured.  It al unraveled from there: Walton left town and Portland missed the playoffs.  Though they remained competitive until 2005, the second title eluded them.

        Current title chances: Decent.  They were a surprise this year at .500 without top pick Oden and can only grow up.  Will be a force in the West in a few years.

1978- Washington Bullets.  In an intersting two year span in NBA history, the Bullets and Supersonics squared off in back to back Finals, with each winning their only titles in those two years.  In 1978 in was Washington's turn, led by coach Dick Motta and inside enforcer Wes Unseld.  Incidentally, I roomed with coach Motta's grandson, Kyle, in college and he remains one of my closest friends.  In the Finals, the Bullets and Sonics played a competitive seven game series with the Bullets coming out on top.  The following year the Bullets returned to the Finals for the last time.  In the 1990s they became a force again, and eventually changed their name to the Wizards. 

        Current title chances: slim.  Though they frequent the East playoffs, as long as they keep meeting Lebron in the first round it will be difficult for them to advance.

1979- Seattle Supersonics.  The other side of the coin.  Much more team oriented than their Bullet counterparts, the two met once again in the 1979 Finals.  This one was much more one sided, with the Sonics exacting revenge to the tune of a 4-1 series victory.  The late Dennis Johnson was named MVP and won the first of four rings.  The Sonics would return to glory in the 1990s, making the Finals in 1996.  However, recent events have pretty much killed basketball in Seattle.

        Current title chances: very bad.  They are in a strong position to rebuild around Kevin Durant and Jeff Green and have a glut of first rounders, but it will again be some time before they are relevant.  Their is bright, however.

2006- Miami Heat.  Shaq and Wade joined up with a band of aging role players seeking their first ring and emerged out of a competitive East to face the Dallas Mavericks.  The Heat looked doomed, trailing 2-0 and down in the 4th of game three.  Then Wade took over and put on one of the greatest performance in Finals History, leading the Heat to the title in six games.  The next year the Heat were swept in the first round of the playoffs and now the wheels have come off.

        Current title chances: zero.  The most dysfunctional franchise this side of New York, it would take a miracle for the team to make the playoffs in the next five years.