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NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000

By Luke Duffy

Kobe Bryant (L) of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the Larry O'Brian trophy as teammate Shaquille O'Neal (L) hold the MVP trophy after winning the NBA Championship against Indiana Pacers 19 June, 2000, after game six of the NBA Finals at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers won the game 116-111 to take the NBA title 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant (L) of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the Larry O'Brian trophy as teammate Shaquille O'Neal (L) hold the MVP trophy after winning the NBA Championship against Indiana Pacers 19 June, 2000, after game six of the NBA Finals at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers won the game 116-111 to take the NBA title 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images) /
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NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000
AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Tim Duncan (R) of the San Antonio Spurs tries to talk with offical Joe Crawford (C) as head coach Gregg Popovich (L) listens during their game against the Detroit Pistons during the first half of game three of the NBA Finals 14 June, 2005 at The Palace in Auburn Hill, Michigan, NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000, NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 2000. The Spurs lead the best-of-seven game series 2-0. AFP PHOTO/JEFF HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images) /

NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 NBA franchises since the year 20002. San Antonio Spurs

The most controversial call of all sees the San Antonio Spurs leapfrog the Lakers into second place. Why? Two reasons. The first is that the Spurs have the most playoff wins (151) in the timeframe we are speaking about. The Lakers are second, with 141. Bonus points for the fact they were the model of regular season consistency in Texas for nearly 20 years.

The second reason? Tim Duncan was better than Kobe Bryant. More consistent and at the top for longer, he won two regular season MVPs to Bryant’s one. The Lakers are the most successful team on this list in terms of championships with six, while the Spurs managed four. But there was never any drama down in San Antonio.

Save for one minute where it looked like Duncan might join the Magic, of all franchises, head coach Gregg Popovich kept it rolling with Timmy, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and some of the most memorable bit-part players of the last 22 years. Their improbable championship win over the Heat in 2014, after the heartbreak of losing to that Ray Allen shot in 2013.

That was iconic in its own right, but take a look at the players that got meaningful minutes in that game for the Spurs. The aforementioned Big 3, their heir apparent in Kawhi Leonard, Boris Diaw, Thiago Splitter, Danny Green, Patty Mills, and Matt Bonner. Marco Bellinelli and Cory Joseph saw some time as well.

Most of these guys had solid NBA careers, but only in San Antonio could the whole be greater than the sum of its parts. Duncan was on his last legs, and Ginobili was getting on too. Yet, they beat a team featuring LeBron in his prime and did it by dismantling them 4-1. The Spurs have fallen far in the last several years, mostly because Leonard deviated from the plan and wanted to leave. But the Spurs were the IT team there for a while, winning titles in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014.