Winning an NBA championship is the ultimate goal of every NBA team. Given that it’s the pinnacle of basketball, teams utilize their resources in order to get there. While most teams assemble a super team (a team made up of two or more superstars joining together), others develop the drafted players to build a championship team. Although both methods seem to work, building your players from the ground up and winning a championship seems to earn more respect. Moreover it’s also more a rewarding route than paying superstars to play together given the amount of resources and time needed to build a championship team. For this piece, let’s take a look at 10 non-Super Teams to win it all in the NBA.
2009-2010 Los Angeles Lakers
Ever since Shaq’s departure from Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant has made it a mission to win an NBA championship without him. Supporting him were fringe All-Stars Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, alongside role players Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom. After winning one in 2008-2009, the Lakers faced a huge test against the Boston Celtics, a team that beat them in the 2008 NBA Finals. Despite facing a loaded super team, Bryant and the crew were able to pull off the back-to-back.
2020-2021 Milwaukee Bucks
In an era of super teams, it was next to impossible to win without assembling one. However, the Bucks became one of the teams to prove that wrong. Giannis Antetokounmpo, with the help of Khris Middleton, PJ Tucker, and Jrue Holiday helped the Bucks conquer the 2020-2021 season after going through the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and Phoenix Suns. It’s worth noting that Giannis wasn’t even 100%, but that didn’t stop him from making a 50-point explosion in the championship-clinching game.
2014-2015 Golden State Warriors
After LeBron James returned to Cleveland, it looked like The King was about to finally fulfill his promise to his hometown of winning a championship. However, original Warriors draftees Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, with the help of Andre Iguodala, stopped the Cavaliers in their tracks. This championship also marked the beginning of the Warriors dynasty.
2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks
With an aging Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, a lot of people didn’t expect the Mavs much more than becoming dark horses. Nevertheless, they pulled off the surprise after going through a tough Western Conference which had LaMarcus Aldridge and the Blazers, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, and KD and the Thunder. After getting the job done in the West, they also handled business by upsetting the Big Three super team in the form of the Miami Heat, which featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
2013-2014 San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs were popular for building championship teams from the ground up. The 2013-2014 is just one of the reasons why. While sporting the original trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs also unleashed first round draft pick Kawhi Leonard in the 2014 Playoffs. The Spurs eventually exacted revenge against the Big Three of the Miami Heat. ending their dynasty in the 2014 NBA Finals.
1998-1999 San Antonio Spurs
Aside from the 2013-2014 squad, the 1998–1999 Spurs was also a great example. Behind the leadership of Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and Avery Johnson the Spurs outlasted the Timberwolves, Lakers, Blazers, and the Knicks. Spurs’ first overall pick Tim Duncan would become the Finals MVP.
2003-2004 Detroit Pistons
In 2004, it looked like the Lakers were penciled to regain championship glory after assembling a super team of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton. But despite entering the Finals as favorites, it was the 2004 Pistons team that pulled off a monumental upset. The Pistons paraded Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, and Rasheed Wallace. Although these players were nowhere near the names that headlined the Lakers roster, the Pistons showcased excellent team defense and ball movement to beat the superteam Lakers.
2004-2005 San Antonio Spurs
If there was a team better than the 2004-2005 Pistons, it would be the squad that denied them back-to-back championships. Spurs great Tim Duncan, alongside the emergence of Spurs international draftees Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, exerted all their efforts to outlast the Pistons in seven games to win the coveted NBA championship.
2021-2022 Golden State Warriors
While the Warriors won a championship in 2014-2015 with their drafted stars, they won the next two as a superteam especially when Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins joined the fray. But with their departure from the Warriors, the reins of the team were back to its core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala. In the 2021-2022 season, the team would eliminate Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, and Jayson Tatum and the Celtics to win another chip.
Three-Peat Chicago Bulls (1991-1993)
If there was a non-superteam that dominated the NBA, it was Michael Jordan and the Bulls who went on to achieve a three-peat from 1991 to 1993. The Bulls were carried on the backs of the All-Star duo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Other than the two All-Stars, the Bulls made do with role players such as B.J. Armstrong, Bill Cartwright, and Will Perdue.
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