The NBA is in a beautiful place right now. The Eastern and Western Conference Finals are about to begin with all four teams looking like they have a legitimate shot at making the NBA Finals and winning it all. After nearly a decade of seemingly sure-win dynasties walking this basketball-shaped earth (sorry, Kyrie) it ironically took the dinosaurs from Toronto to make them go temporarily extinct.

Any option between the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Meat, and Boston Celtics could be raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy when it's all said and done. But which team has the most compelling story?

As with any good sports league, the NBA is all about the narratives. Each team comes with its own set of characters, story arcs, and legacy-defining arguments as to why they should be the ones with a face full of confetti when the final buzzer sounds. Let's deliberate on which team has the best narrative behind them potentially winning the NBA Finals.

Best 2022 NBA Finals narratives, ranked

#4 – Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are witnessing their young stud in Jayson Tatum take that next-level leap from borderline superstardom to arguably a top-five player in the NBA. Tatum just went toe-to-toe against Giannis Antetokounmpo, the man who cemented his all-time legacy with last season's NBA Finals run.

JT has a chance to do the same this season. He has played a man determined to make it happen too, coming up with big-time performances when the Celtics needed them most. Awfully impressive for a guy who's still just 19 years old.

The Celtics would also be putting the gold-plated cherry on top of their insane mid-season turnaround. They stood at 25-25 through the first 50 games of the regular season and then finished 26-6 the rest of the way, looking like the best team in the NBA after the turn of the calendar year. Raising banner No. 18 would also break the tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for most NBA Finals wins in league history.

The only thing that somewhat diminishes the win is the very legacy that they'd be helping build. The Celtics are no stranger to winning championships. Boston is built to be at this stage. Winning another title won't be sweet, but surely won't be as significant to their big-picture franchise history compared to the other three teams ahead on this list.

#3 – Miami Heat

Pat Riley. Jimmy Butler. Erik Spoelstra. Heat Culture.

The Miami Heat are no Boston Celtics when it comes to collecting the hardware, but they aren't exactly starved of Larry O'Brien Trophies. They've won three championships in the past 16 seasons and made the NBA Finals just two seasons ago.

However, winning the NBA title would have a profound affect towards validating Heat Culture. They've developed an identifiable branding in South Beach that harps on extreme discipline when it comes to training as well as acquiring talented players who have a like-mindedness akin to their star player in Jimmy Butler.

In a way, they've become like the San Antonio Spurs of the East, with a culture that permeates from the front office to the coaching staff and manifests itself among all its players. While they've garnered success in recent seasons in the post-LeBron James era, nothing spells success in black and white like your team name on a banner hanging from the rafters.

There's also the added bonus of elevating Jimmy Butler into the conversation among the NBA's all-time greats. If he can be the alpha on a championship team, his place in league history climbs faster than the temperature does during Miami summers.

#2- Golden State Warriors

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Speaking of teams that aren't starved of the spotlight of the NBA Finals, it's the Golden State Warriors. The trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all own three NBA rings already. They made five straight NBA Finals appearances from 2015-2019 and are finally all healthy again in their quest to make it back.

Failing to win this championship doesn't take away from their legendary run in the 2010s, nor does winning another one necessarily do too much to add to their dynastic run.

However, as is the caveat for most Warriors-based arguments, Golden State has Stephen Curry. Just having the greatest shooter in the NBA and arguably the most exciting offensive player in the league back in the Finals is a massive win for TV ratings and entertainment value.

But it's also huge for his legacy. Steph Curry is almost definitively in the top 20 players of all time, but it's hard to rank him among the top 10. The Warriors icon does have three NBA championships, but the fact that he doesn't own any NBA Finals MVP trophies and that Kevin Durant was on his team for two of them slightly dampens his achievements to some of his critics.

A masterful Stephen Curry display while willing the Warriors to another championship win would not only be exciting as hell for us spectators, but also would be the career jolt he needs to move up the NBA's greatest. Four championship rings are hard to ignore, after all.

#1 – Dallas Mavericks

This is the one, folks. This is the dream scenario for the NBA bigwigs. This is what will move the needle for casual fans the most. Luka Doncic nearly single-handedly carrying his Mavs to the NBA Finals and winning the whole darn thing in dominant fashion.

We're already hearing parallels of this Dallas Mavericks run being similar to LeBron James' 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers run to the Finals. That was when King James truly ascended into the argument of the league's top player.

With all due respect to guys like young Ja Morant, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokic, or even the more established names like Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but there's just something about Luka Doncic that makes you think he has the potential to enter a tier above everyone else.

Doncic is not there yet now, but after what he showed in his demolition job of the top-seeded Phoenix Suns, he may very well have another gear to reach in the West Finals against the Warriors. Watching him try to access that against a much-deeper opponent with a championship pedigree is must-see viewing.

Any talk of being the next GOAT contender is obviously extremely premature. But if Luka Doncic can win a championship in his age-23 season, then that puts him way ahead of schedule. This season could be his springboard to try and get there.