NBA: 10 Recent Dynasties That Never Were

10 Recent NBA Dynasties That Never Were

Basketball: Orlando Magic Shaquille O'Neal (C) happy and pointing with Anfernee Penny Hardaway (R) on bench during game vs Denver Nuggets at Orlando Arena. Orlando, FL 12/14/1994 CREDIT: Ben Van Hook (Photo by Ben Van Hook /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (Set Number: X47547 ) /

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(Photo by Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) /

6. Phoenix Suns (2004-05, 2005-06)

Fast paced, high scoring and very exciting. Those are words that come to mind when I think of the Phoenix Suns. They were the Warriors before the Warriors were the Warriors. The Suns were seemingly deemed unstoppable. Taught by their head coach Mike D’Antoni, they scored under the workings of a seven seconds or less strategy. And boy did it work wonders for them.

Many players contributed to their style of play working against the rest of the league. Amar’e Stoudemire running the floor and powering home dunks. Shawn Marion‘s grasshopper shot that still went in, along with other impressive parts of his game. The defensive tandem of Boris Diaw and Raja Bell who gave Kobe early problems post Shaq era. And the wizard passing and three-point shooting style of the back-to-back league MVP, Steve Nash. The Suns were destined a title at some point. All they needed to do was getting over the hump.

As it would turn out, fate was not on their side. Western Conference Finals appearances were all that were in the cards for this team. They never even made it the NBA Finals during those years and saw D’Antoni’s run-and-gun style become a thing of the past. It kind of makes me wonder how the team would’ve thrived if they were this era of small-ball dominance. Would they be as good as the Warriors?

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