The 2015-2016 NBA Season Has Been Historically Stacked
Despite their disappointing loss in the Western Conference semifinals to the Thunder, the Spurs still rank as the sixth-best team in NBA history(!), behind only Michael Jordan’s Bulls, Steph Curry’s Warriors and Larry Bird’s Celtics. (Based on Elo ratings.) Playoff success rightfully counts for a lot in NBA lore, so this Spurs team may very well be forgotten — or remembered only as a historic playoff disappointment. But a team that went 40-1 at home and led the league in point differential for most of the season, despite playing in the same conference as the Warriors, deserves credit. Unless the Warriors stumble, this season’s Spurs will go down as the best team in history to not win a title.
San Antonio’s exit was disappointing in part because the Thunder — currently rated third in the NBA by blended Elo — seemed so far behind the Spurs and Warriors for most of this season. Same goes for the fourth-ranked Cavaliers, whose most memorable regular season moment was probably firing their head coach. These are two great squads though — together, they won 112 games and have three of the NBA’s best players. It’s rare for the third- and fourth-best teams in a single season to be as good as the current Thunder and Cavs. In fact, it’s never happened before:
The Thunder’s 1714 blended Elo — as of now — ranks No. 38 all-time. If the rating holds, this year’s squad would be the best team in Thunder/SuperSonics history and also the best third-ranked team ever, edging out the 2012-13 OKC squad. If the Thunder end up winning the NBA championship — knocking out two of the 10 best teams ever along the way — their rating could end up much, much higher. Currently, the Cavs’ Elo falls into the top 100: As of now, they’re the best fourth-ranked team ever, ahead of the 2008-09 Orlando Magic team that knocked that season’s Cavs out in the Eastern Conference finals. And they’re 9-0 in the playoffs.
Simply put, we’ve been spoiled this year. Spurs-Warriors gave us some of the strongest regular season matchups of all time, and we rated Thunder-Warriors as the strongest conference final since 1984. A Cavs-Warriors NBA Finals wouldn’t quite rise to the same historical level (the 1997 finals currently has that spot), but at least it would, like last year, feature two of the greatest players in history. When the league inevitably dips in quality — like the late-1990s NBA did after Jordan’s second retirement — we’ll look back fondly on how stacked this season was.
Despite their disappointing loss in the Western Conference semifinals to the Thunder, the Spurs still rank as the sixth-best team in NBA history(!), behind only Michael Jordan’s Bulls, Steph Curry’s Warriors and Larry Bird’s Celtics. (Based on Elo ratings.) Playoff success rightfully counts for a lot in NBA lore, so this Spurs team may very well be forgotten — or remembered only as a historic playoff disappointment. But a team that went 40-1 at home and led the league in point differential for most of the season, despite playing in the same conference as the Warriors, deserves credit. Unless the Warriors stumble, this season’s Spurs will go down as the best team in history to not win a title.
San Antonio’s exit was disappointing in part because the Thunder — currently rated third in the NBA by blended Elo — seemed so far behind the Spurs and Warriors for most of this season. Same goes for the fourth-ranked Cavaliers, whose most memorable regular season moment was probably firing their head coach. These are two great squads though — together, they won 112 games and have three of the NBA’s best players. It’s rare for the third- and fourth-best teams in a single season to be as good as the current Thunder and Cavs. In fact, it’s never happened before:
The Thunder’s 1714 blended Elo — as of now — ranks No. 38 all-time. If the rating holds, this year’s squad would be the best team in Thunder/SuperSonics history and also the best third-ranked team ever, edging out the 2012-13 OKC squad. If the Thunder end up winning the NBA championship — knocking out two of the 10 best teams ever along the way — their rating could end up much, much higher. Currently, the Cavs’ Elo falls into the top 100: As of now, they’re the best fourth-ranked team ever, ahead of the 2008-09 Orlando Magic team that knocked that season’s Cavs out in the Eastern Conference finals. And they’re 9-0 in the playoffs.
Simply put, we’ve been spoiled this year. Spurs-Warriors gave us some of the strongest regular season matchups of all time, and we rated Thunder-Warriors as the strongest conference final since 1984. A Cavs-Warriors NBA Finals wouldn’t quite rise to the same historical level (the 1997 finals currently has that spot), but at least it would, like last year, feature two of the greatest players in history. When the league inevitably dips in quality — like the late-1990s NBA did after Jordan’s second retirement — we’ll look back fondly on how stacked this season was.
