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2015 NBA Playoffs Offer a Change of the Guard

By Maxwell Ogden

May 4, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) dribbles against Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) in game one of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Los Angeles Clippers won 117 to 101. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
May 4, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) dribbles against Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) in game one of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Los Angeles Clippers won 117 to 101. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 2015 NBA Playoffs are unlike any other in the past 17 years. This isn’t necessarily due to the competitiveness or importance, but instead the historic nature of what we’re seeing.

Of the eight remaining teams, zero have won a championship since the turn of the century.

The eight remaining teams are the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards.

The last memory you likely have of those teams striking gold is Michael Jordan sinking an iconic jump shot over Byron Russell. That happened in 1998.

In the 17 years that have followed, not a single one of the teams remaining has been able to hang a championship banner. Seven of those eight, sans Chicago, has gone without a title for at least 20 years.

Before the Bulls’ three-peat from 1996 to 1998, the Rockets won titles in 1994 and 1995. Chicago also won every title from 1991 to 1993.

That’s where the dry spell becomes more of a mass dehydration.

The Wizards last won a title when they were known as the Bullets in a distant 1978. The Golden State Warriors’ most recent championship was won in 1975.

The Atlanta Hawks took home the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but that was in 1958 when Bob Pettit led the team in St. Louis. Believe it or not, that’s not even the longest drought.

Three of the top contenders in 2015 have never won it all.

The Cavaliers, Angeles Clippers and Grizzlies have a grand total of zero championship banners hanging in their respective arenas.

Doc Rivers put up images of his players to cover the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship banners. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Doc Rivers put up images of his players to cover the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship banners. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

Not unless you include the Los Angeles Lakers’ 16 titles at Staples Center, that is.

The Bulls and Rockets dominated the 1990s, but neither has made an NBA Finals appearance since. The Wizards haven’t reached that point in the postseason since 1979, and the Warriors haven’t since 1975.

The Hawks haven’t been back to the NBA Finals since 1961, and once again, that’s not the longest cold stretch.

Neither the Clippers nor the Grizzlies have reached the Finals. Not a single time.

Of the remaining teams, the most recent squad to go that deep was the Cavaliers. LeBron James led Cleveland to the Finals in 2007, but they were dominated and swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

Other than that, it hasn’t happened for one of the remaining eight since Jordan and the Bulls won in 1998.

Thus, the NBA has a golden opportunity to put an end to what we’ve come to expect as basketball fans. Rather than watching the same teams dominate year-after-year, new contenders have emerged.

Even the Bulls, with six championship banners, are fresh faces when one considers that all six were won in the same decade with the same star player—17 years ago.

Perhaps most significantly, there’s a new group of superstars leading the charge.

LeBron James is still at the heart of the championship discussion, but teammate Kyrie Irving is a 23-year-old rising star. Pau Gasol can tell the same story with the 25-year-old Jimmy Butler and 26-year-old Derrick Rose by his side.

With young superstars in the 27-year-old Stephen Curry, 26-year-old Blake Griffin, 25-year-old James Harden and 24-year-old John Wall, the NBA has a chance to usher in its new era in a powerful way.

The most compelling story is that of the established star pursuing an elusive championship.

The likes of Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard and Joakim Noah have won Defensive Player of the Year, but are in search of a championship ring. Respected veterans such as Andrew Bogut, Nene Hilario, Andre Iguodala and Zach Randolph are doing the same.

The story has been told a hundred of Chris Paul and his pursuit of an elusive ring. This year may present him with his best chance yet, albeit with the least depth of any remaining team.

And then there’s the Hawks.

The Hawks are the new-age Spurs, if San Antonio isn’t reinventing itself as such. Atlanta had four All-Stars this year, but lacks a household name and plays without a true go-to player who requires significant touches.

If Mike Budenholzer and company were to shock the field, it would be as appropriate an introduction to the next generation as any after San Antonio defied conventional standards to win five championship in the previous one.

Regardless of which team is crowned champion, it will be a fresh and somewhat unfamiliar face. Of the remaining big-name stars, only Pau Gasol and James have won titles already.

The question is, which team will welcome the NBA to the new era in professional basketball? Will it be one led by a new-age superstar, a hungry veteran or a system-oriented success story?

One way or another, it will signal a changing of the guard in the modern NBA.

Next: For the Chicago Bulls, it's NBA Finals or bust

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