The Honorables Mentioned, Part III

Okay, now that the NFL season is over—and hey, what happened to that big Kobe tribute at the Super Bowl?—time to try to slog through the last week before P & C.

What better way to do it than with more on the just-missed in my Top Ten, North America, all-time professional sports dynasties list???  That is—the honorable mentions for basketball!

Our winning list, as you'll recall:

10. Chicago Cubs, 1906-1910.

9. Boston Red Sox, 1912-1918.

8. Los Angeles Lakers, 1980-1991.

7. New York Yankees, 1994-2003.

6. Green Bay Packers, 1960-1967.

5. Chicago Bulls, 1988-1998.

4. Montreal Canadiens, 1955-1979.

3. Boston Celtics, 1956-1969.

2. New England Patriots, 2001-2020.

1. New York Yankees, 1920-1964.


And the top two runners-up:

New York Islanders, 1975-1984.

San Francisco 49ers, 1981-1998.

And the other hockey honorable mentions:

Toronto Maple Leafs, 1941-1951.

Toronto Maple Leafs, 1961-1967. 

Detroit Red Wings, 1948-1956.  

Detroit Red Wings, 1994-2009.

Edmonton Oilers, 1982-1990.

New Jersey Devils, 1993-2003.


And now for the top basketball honorable mentions (drumroll please!)

Minneapolis Lakers, 1948-1954.

The NBA's original dynasty, featuring 6' 10'', bespectacled white goofus giant, George Mikan.  In fact, in its first season it wasn't even the NBA at all, but the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which had yet to merge with the National Basketball League (NBL).

Still Mikan was a force, leading the BAA-NBA in scoring 3 times, with as many as 28.4 a game, and in rebounding twice, with as many as 14.4 a game—in a league, mind you, that did not yet have a 24-second clock.

The Lakers who actually played in the land of lakes won 5 titles in 6 seasons.  They won 4 division championships, and never played less than .606 ball.  Two of those championships were won over your New York Knickerbockers—one of them in 7 games—and who knows how different Knicks history might have been, had they been an early champion in this front-running town?

Nonetheless, this was still an overwhelmingly white NBA (and pre-NBA), one in which teams played in places such as Anderson, Sheboygan, Tri-Cities, Fort Wayne, Waterloo, Providence, and even Rochester and Syracuse.  Hard to take it all that seriously, nostalgic as one might be for it in our overhyped age.

Los Angeles Lakers, 1999-2010.

Speaking of the dead...The last of Phil Jackson's (and really, Jerry West's) masterpieces, which won 5 championships in 11 years, and dropped 2 other finals.  These Lakers also won 6 division crowns, compiled 50 or more wins 8 times, and won as many as 65 and 67.

There was a definite slump in the middle of the dynasty, though, from 2004-2007, and I don't believe they played in as great an era for basketball as the 1980-1991 Lakers who made the list.

San Antonio Spurs, 1998-2016.

A weird dynasty, to be sure.  Won 5 titles (and dropped 1 final) in 18 seasons, with a changing cast usually anchored by Tim Duncan, and coached by Gregg Popovich.  They often came up just short against the other super teams of their time, but were always in it, always a threat:  13 division titles, 17 years with 50 or more wins, 6 with 60 or more.  Sustained, selfless excellence at its best.

Golden State Warriors, 2014-2019.

Transformed the game, if not necessarily for the better.  Still, a highly likable, very exciting team.  With 3 championships in 5 seasons (and maybe a 4th with a little help from the refs), the Warriors in this time never won fewer than 57 games in a season, took a record-breaking 73 wins in 2015-2016 (but a loss in the finals that year), and 207 over just 3 seasons.

Boston Celtics, 1979-1992.

Give the devil his due.  The Larry Bird Celtics did not quite measure up to the Bill Russell Celtics, but they were a smart, gutty team that won 3 titles and lost 2 other finals in an incredibly competitive era.  They took 10 division titles, won over 50 games 12 times, and won over 60, six times.

LeBron James, 2003-    .

Nine finals, 3 titles, with teams that he carried on his shoulders—if not outright created.  A one-man dynasty, now looking to do it for a third franchise.  His comments on China were sad and dumb.  But what a force!