When it comes to trying to decide who the most successful franchise of any given NBA era is, everybody has their own opinions and tinted glasses with which to approach the subject. If we’re talking about winning titles straight up, then it is the team with the most championships.
Oh, there is a tie? Then how many era-defining players, or greats of all time, were on a roster at that particular time. Better yet, a championship in New York (sorry Knicks fans…) or Cleveland has to count for more than Los Angeles, where it is a foregone conclusion, right? How about the improbability of a dynasty and the ability of an organization to draft properly? All of which is to say, there is no right way to approach ranking the five best teams of the last 22 years.
NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000
But because this writer just contracted Covid for the first time, and is clearly up for the punishment sure to come his way on social media, he sat down to give it a try. To try and decipher who should sit atop the mountain. You know what? For four of these spots, it wasn’t actually that hard. Picking the fifth team to add to the list was the toughest part of all.
Beyond that, deciding which franchise sat in third and which in second came down to making a call on two top-10 players that is going to be unpopular with many, many fans. So without further ado, here it is, the top five teams since the year 2000. Honorable mention goes to the Boston Celtics, who just missed the cut. Yeah… maybe this list won’t be for you.