Throughout the history of the NBA, we’ve seen many dynasties during that time frame. To qualify to be one of these dynasties, you have to sustain a large amount of success over a long period of time. This includes championships and appearances as well as the individual accolades. It’s hard to become a dynasty in the NBA, but many of them have some greatest teams and the greatest players in NBA History. Here are the top five best NBA Dynasties in NBA History.
Ranking the Best NBA Dynasties of All Time
2000’s San Antonio Spurs
This Dynasty is one that is built on an old school style of play in the modern-day NBA. It actually started in 1999 when the Spurs won their first NBA title led by the duo of Tim Duncan and David Robinson. This success would then carry on in the 2000s when the Spurs drafted Tony Parker in 2001 and Manu Ginobili in 2002. This resulted in the Spurs winning championships in 2003, 2005, 2007, and later on in 2014. Their style of play was based on their team played and fundamental basketball. With a lot of passing and unselfish play to help find the open shot. This resulted in Parker and Ginobili becoming multi-time All-stars, and Duncan becoming the greatest Power Forward of all time.
2010’s Golden State Warriors
The Warriors dynasty is one that’s most recent and one that’s revolutionary yet controversial. They started by building through the draft when they selected Stephen Curry in 2009, Klay Thompson in 2011, and Draymond Green in 2012. Their style of play highly relied on the three-point shot and spacing. This style gave Curry and Thompson the nickname “the Splash Bros” for their deadly three-point shot. This play gave them the championship in 2015 and gave the first of his back-to-back MVP seasons. In 2016, they added superstar Kevin Durant and they went on to win two more championships in 2017 and 2018. Now that Durant left, they’re still a title-contending team with Curry and Thompson recovering from injuries and potentially getting the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft.
1980’s Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers of the 1980s helped in being part of the rebirth of the NBA with the legends and their style of play. Their dynasty started when they won the NBA championship in 1980 with a rookie Magic Johnson winning finals MVP. Then their dynasty continued to grow when the won championships in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. Their style of play was revolutionary with relying on the fast break and team basketball. They created a lot of legends alongside Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, including James Worthy, Jamaal Wilkes, and Michael Cooper. They helped rebuild the NBA with their rivalry with the Celtics, as it rose the popularity of the NBA.
1960’s Boston Celtics
Throughout sports history, we may never see a dynasty as dominant as the Celtics of the 1960s. It started in 1956 when Red Auerbach acquired the draft rights for center Bill Russell in a trade with the St. Louis Hawks. They then would go to win their first championship in 1957 and then again in 1959. This then sparked the Celtics to winning championships for the duration of the 1960s, except for 1967. Their dominance also helped integrate the NBA into what it is today when the Celtics were the first team to have an all African-American starting lineup during the 1963-1964 season. That team consisted of legends like Russell, KC Jones, Sam Jones, and Satch Sanders. The team also had Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, and John Havlicek.
1990’s Chicago Bulls
Finally, we bring the greatest dynasty that we’ve seen in the three-point era of the NBA thus far. The Chicago Bulls of the 1990s were led by the greatest ever in Michael Jordan and one of the best small forwards of all time in Scottie Pippen. The first three-peat through 1991-93 was highlighted through Jordan and Pippen’s athleticism and their effectiveness as two-way players. Jordan retired in 1993 but returned the following season. After losing to the Magic in the 1995 playoffs, they came back in full force. The 1995-96 Bulls went 72-10 with Jordan, Pippen, and Dennis Rodman while also winning the first of their second three-peat. Their style of play was based on the triangle offense with tenacious defense. This led to Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan becoming the greatest in their respective roles.
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