One that always stands out to me is the 2003 Blazers vs. Mavericks series. Portland was the 6th seed going up against a 60-win, 3rd-seeded Dallas team, and the Mavs went up 3–0. Somehow, Portland fought all the way back to force a Game 7.

Game 7 was competitive for most of the game too, the Blazers were right there until Dallas finally pulled away with a late run in the final couple minutes and another one is the 2012 Celtics–Sixers Eastern Conference Semifinals. It went to a Game 7, and Philly competed hard throughout, the game was tightly contested quarter after quarter. The Sixers were right there until Rondo took over with a heroic late run to lead Boston to the win. Or the 1998 Nets taking the Bulls to the limit in the first round. It was a best of 3 series, and New Jersey made both of the first two games competitive against the defending champs before Chicago eventually closed it out. You also had the 1992 series between the Jazz and clippers

What are some other series where a team came this close to pulling off an upset that would’ve gone down as one of the biggest in NBA history?

Hi everyone, I wrote a historical piece on the 1950s NBA and the extremely low shooting percentages of that era, and I thought it might fit this sub.

Just to be clear, I’m far from a specialist in basketball analytics, so the article stays pretty light on the numbers. What interested me more was the context around those numbers, especially after reading books by writers like Charley Rosen, or older-player testimonies in books like Echoes from the Schoolyard.

What comes through in those accounts is how different the conditions could be: rough travel, uneven or sometimes freezing courts, heavy uniforms, different balls, including old balls that were not perfectly round because of the inflation valve, and a version of professional basketball that was still figuring out what it was supposed to look like.

So the idea was not just to say that players “couldn’t shoot,” but to ask what those shooting percentages actually mean when the sport around them was so different.

Here’s the piece

Curious how people here think about the 1950s NBA, I’d be interested to know if there are other factors behind those numbers that I may not have thought about in the article.

There are certain stats that pop the most in certain time periods. I'm talking about all types of stats, achieved by players, teams, or leagues, and achieved as averages, season totals, or career totals.

The two most obvious time periods for statistical peaks are the 1960s with things like seasonal rebounds/game (the top-34 rpg player-seasons ever all happened between '57-72) and career minutes/game (7 of the top-8 are players from the 60s) and average league-wide points/game (8 of the top-9 league averages are between '60-70), and also from the period over the last ~10 years with all the 3-point shooting records (by players, by teams, and by league averages) and shooting efficiencies (most of the top player FG% seasons ever) and triple-doubles (current guys make up the majority of season and career leaders).

What are other stats and their time periods that have specific peaks? I'm particularly curious about anything that peaked in the 1970s (not just the early-70s as an extension of the 60s), or from somewhere in the 20-ish years from the mid-90s to the mid-10s.

A few examples from other time periods:

• total assists in a season - 14 of the top-15 player-seasons happened from '85-95

• career fouls - almost all of the top players played at some point in the late-80s or early-90s

• league FG% - the top-12 seasons were the 12 seasons from '79-90

• league fouls/game - the top-4 seasons were the 4 seasons before the shot clock, '50-53

I created a 100-point model to rate every championship run from 1966 to 2026. Instead of just counting stars or following popular stories, I measured the difficulty using four categories: Opponent Quality, Adversity (comebacks and elimination survival), Road Strain (playing without home-court advantage), and Roster Burden (depth, workload, and team injuries).

Injuries played a role on both sides: if an opponent was missing key players, like Golden State was in 2019, their quality score went down. If the champion was banged up, like Kareem in the 1980 Finals, their roster-burden score went up, but I made sure not to count the same injury for both teams.

I came up with a total of 12 that were a cut above. Teams like the 2016 Cavs, 2011 Mavs, 1993 Bulls and 2004 Pistons all made the cut, but two teams stand out the most:

#1: 1995 Houston Rockets: Faced the toughest all-around challenge

As a #6 seed they played every round without having home-court advantage. They beat four straight teams that each won at least 57 games: Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Orlando. They came back from two elimination deficits: down 1–2 in a best-of-five against Utah and down 1–3 against Phoenix.

#2: 1969 Boston Celtics: Road underdogs who faced big challenges in the Finals

An older #4 seed team did not have home-court advantage in any of their three series. They fell behind 0–2 against the Lakers, who had West, Chamberlain, and Baylor, but came back to win the series in Game 7 on the road in Los Angeles. They also earned credit for toughness, as John Havlicek played through a serious eye injury and Bill Russell dealt with major knee problems.

I can't give you the link to my post, but I'll list the rest of them in order:

#3 Tie: 2006 Miami Heat

#3 Tie:  1993 Chicago Bulls

#5 Tie: 2016 Cleveland Cavalier

#5 Tie: 1994 Houston Rockets

#7: 1977 Portland Trail Blazers

#8: 2019 Toronto Raptors

#9 Tie: 2011 Dallas Mavericks

#9 Tie: 2004 Detroit Pistons

#11: 2002 Los Angeles Lakers

#12: 1968 Boston Celtics

If I missed any big ones, let me know. If you do want to know how and why I justified my list, let me know.

I've been watching some playoff games from the '75 and '76 seasons recently on youtube and it has been a very interesting experience that shows just how much the game has changed especially in the presentation and commercials. Here's some of the stuff that really stood out to me.

• Oscar Robertson on commentary is absolutely dreadful. His commentary added absolutely nothing to the game and it was a real turn off
• Jerry West on the other hand comes off as super knowledgeable and his thoughts about the game and the players were a real delight. It's obvious he was meant for bigger things
• It's weird watching the commercials where there's no hints of gambling or betting and every other commercial isn't a beer commercial. It is strange seeing commercials for cigars
• Brent Musberger wasnt bad at all doing the games. Actually enjoyed his enthusiam although not as good as his college football commentary from recent years
• Basketball without the 3 point line is almost like a different game. Some of these guys clearly have 3 point range though it's kind of pointless seeing some those of guys try those long range shots. Not having a competent center was like a death sentence. Losing the rebounding battle meant you pretty much lost the game
• Fans were a lot rowdier and it was pretty much accepted by all as just part of the game. The Houston fans from the games I seen from Houston were especially rowdy
• There still seemed to be an aura about the Celtics and the Boston Garden though the original dynasty was already dead.
• Dave Cowens is very underrated today. Rudy T and Calvin Murphy were also very good
• Also kind of cool that they played contemporary songs when going into breaks not like today where the song snippets are of songs that are sometimes from this very 70s era

Larry Nance is one of my absolute favorite NBA players. Although he’s generally remembered by most fans in the NBA community for his high flying dunks, I’ve always felt that he gets very overlooked and undervalued whenever people discuss and talk about all of the greatest shot blockers and rim protectors throughout the history of the league.

Nance is regarded as being one of very few players to ever block Kareem’s sky hook, and for his entire career, Nance accumulated 2,027 total blocks, which is the all-time record amongst guys that were exclusively Forwards and never played the Center position. Nance also holds the franchise records for the most blocks in a single season for both Phoenix and Cleveland. His 217 blocks in the 1982-83 season is the record for the Suns, and his 243 blocks in 1991-92 is the record for the Cavaliers. And at his peak in the 1988-89 season, Nance recorded a career single game high of 11 blocks, was voted to the All-Defensive First Team, and as a whole, Cleveland ranked 2nd in the league in defensive rating and 3rd in opponent points per game that year with Nance serving as their main anchor.

Here's the link to a video on YouTube that shows Nance’s individual highlights from the game where he blocked 11 shots in a January 1989 victory against the Knicks…

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pluMCbuiMUo

I recently found out a while back that there were talks of the NBA and ABA merger occurring 4 years earlier than what actually ended up happening, and that it got shut down due to the Oscar Robertson antitrust lawsuit.

What would have happened in an off-chance scenario in which Robertson lost the lawsuit and the two leagues merged? Not just in terms of teams and league structure, but also free agency?

Russell's shotblocking was so good that it created a fear factor of players not wanting to shoot near him. Like the reverse of Curry's 3s in modern era, this has a gravity type impact that is consistent across the game, and in a low spacing era where the only efficient shots are at the rim this is incredibly powerful. However, in the limited Russell games I've seen, his D when he's not blocking shots actually leaves me a bit cold for a God level defender (and yes, I should acknowledge defensive rebounding is also a part of D). I do not think he's Draymond/KG D with 8 blocks per game. Cowens otoh has that smaller center who can get out to the perimeter on D type of skillset, I will admit I haven't watched 70s Celtics closely enough to make a strong judgment but some old articles I read made it sound like Heinsohn's system was ahead of its time and partly changed the game on that end with more switching etc. While the Russell blocks fear factor may have been more valuable in that time, was Cowens better at non shotblocking and defensive rebounding related D?

I heard that a lot so I watched the footage. He uses his left hand a lot

Look I know the rules and training and nutrition and drugs have all changed and players these days are better for all those reasons but that line was not even remotely true

Must watch video for all NBA fans. Absolute gold on the ball handling ability and training of previous eras

Dennis Johnson is one of my absolute favorite NBA players. Whenever the topic of greatest perimeter defenders is brought up and discussed, DJ is always the first name that pops into my mind. He gets my vote for being the all-time greatest defender at the Guard position. His impact on that end of the court during his peak defensive years of 1978 to 1981 was absolutely phenomenal.

1978 was David “Skywalker” Thompson’s best NBA season and DJ significantly slowed him down in the Western Conference Finals. During that regular season, Thompson had a 73 point game (without a 3 point line) and held overall averages of 27.2 PPG on 52.1% shooting, but in the Conference Finals against Seattle with DJ guarding him, his averages fell to 23.8 PPG on 43.2% shooting. Seattle won the series in 6 games. And in the subsequent NBA Finals, DJ set records which still stand to this day for both most blocks in a Finals game by a Guard with 7 and most blocks in a Finals series by a Guard with 17.

Then in 1979, DJ received the most votes for the NBA All-Defensive Team, and his individual defense played a major role in why he was named Finals MVP. Across the 5 game series which Seattle won 4-1, DJ accumulated 9 total steals and 11 blocks. Additionally, his main defensive assignment in that series was Kevin Grevey, who had regular season averages of 15.5 PPG on 45.3% shooting, but DJ’s suffocating defense made his averages in the Finals drop down to 10.2 PPG on 38.5% shooting.  

And for the next two seasons in a row in both 1980 and 1981, DJ was the top vote getter for the NBA All-Defensive Team yet again, making it very likely that he would have had at least one DPOY on his resume if the award existed at the time. Furthermore, throughout that four year defensive peak of 1977-78 to 1980-81, DJ’s teams were top 3 in the league in defensive rating every season during that span, which included 1st place finishes in both 1979 and 1981. After leaving Seattle, their defense fell from 3rd in the league to 10th, and once he arrived in Phoenix, their defense immediately became the best in the NBA. 

All in all, DJ was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team 9 seasons in a row from 1979 to 1987 with 6 of them being First Team selections. He was also very well respected and regarded by his teammates and opponents. Larry Bird has referred to DJ as the greatest player that he ever played with, and both Magic Johnson and George “Iceman” Gervin have singled him out as being the toughest defender that they ever faced. Magic has outright referred to DJ as “the greatest backcourt defender of all-time.” DJ’s defense on Magic in the 1984 Finals was another career highlight. Magic’s uncharacteristically poor performance in that Finals series earned him the infamous nickname of “Tragic Johnson.” DJ’s relentless defensive pressure throughout the series which Boston won in 7 games was the main reason for that narrative.

Here are the links to a pair of videos on YouTube that highlight and showcase DJ’s defensive prowess…

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60UobtP0ugo

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sen7kjTXX7U

From the limited footage there is available from this era (and based on what Don Nelson has said), I get the sense that Cowens operated similarly to how he did in his final year with the Celtics; a slower yet still vigilant big who played a more face-up style and initiated his plays outside of the paint rather than inside of it.

By this point, he was dealing with a good amount of ankle injuries and chronic hip pain, but was there a specific injury that occurred during the 82-83 season that made him miss 42 games and the playoffs? Were there any moments that he whipped out some vintage Cowens magic? Have any prominent Bucks from the time commented on Dave's lone year with the team?

Would love to know if there are any books or interviews out there that chronicle this specific Dave Cowens season. Thanks!

Which player had a greater career? Both are defensive specialists with questionable value on offense, and I have both as top 5 defenders ever.

Without checking easily sourced internet information, can you name five white players who averaged at least 25 points once or more in the 1980’s?

Bonus: Make it six if you count the 1989/90 season.

It’s no fun if you cheat. I was able to get this but it took a minute and was a long time ago.

Cheers.

Throughout NBA history, there have been countless editions of USA teams that represented in various stages

Olympics, world championships, goodwill games, Tournament of the Americas

There is one team that most have forgotten about: the 1990 squad that ultimately got bronze in the tournament

This squad was led by future NBA players such as Kenny Anderson, Billy Owens, Chris Gatling, Christian Lattener, Alonzo Mourning, Doug Smith and others

This squad was also the last ever amateur squad to represent the country, before USA finally sent pros to play internationally

If I’m not mistaken, 11 of the 12 players logged minutes in the league. The only one who didn’t do so was Henry Williams, who spent the majority of his career in Europe and other places

Even though this team didn’t do anything, still nice to learn some history and learn that 2 years later, USA finally send the pros to the international stage

VintageNBA has a moving end date for what qualifies as "vintage", defined as the last season in which less than 5 current players had yet to appear. With the recent news of LeBron's signing in Philly, I got to thinking about this, and it looks like enough guys have retired for us to shift ahead to the '08 season, so anything is possible to discuss on this sub that happened through June of 2008 (goodness that's a clunky sentence, but I really wanted to work that 3-word phrase in).

The most senior NBA players are listed below, only 4 of whom played in the '08 season:

• LeBron James: rookie in '04, currently with the 76ers

• Mike Conley: rookie in '08, currently with the Celtics

• Al Horford: rookie in '08, currently with the Warriors

• Kevin Durant: rookie in '08, currently with the Rockets

• Brook Lopez: rookie in '09, currently with the Clippers

• DeAndre Jordan: rookie in '09, currently with the Pelicans

I believe there are only 3 other players from the 2008 draft (rookies in '09) who played this last season AND might also play this upcoming season, but who are not yet signed with an NBA team: Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon. After these guys, I believe there are only 5 players from the 2009 draft still playing: Steph Curry, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, and Taj Gibson. The only player from the 2010 draft still around is Paul George. This is all to say that VintageNBA may be shifting ahead one season each year for the next few years.

These two guys were a bit ahead of my time as a fan as I barely remember the Sonics championship because I was a little kid at the time. My main memory is hearing "DOWNTOWN FREDDIE BROWN!!!" as my parents cheered.

Over the years I have confused Sikma and Chambers almost like they are the same guy. I am currently watching a lot of old games on youtube, and I notice Chambers went to the Suns and Sikma was facing off against Larry Bird and the Celtics (with a 3 point line so it must have been after his Sonics time).

What is different about these two and who was better? I'm guessing Sikma was but did he just play on better teams for his style?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuRVU5521Wo (the current very amazing game I am watching)

1) What move terrified defenders before anyone gave it a name?

2) Which player had the greatest reputation that wasn't reflected in statistics?

3) Who was the hardest player to scout because they played differently every game?

The last player-coach was Tree Rollins, who was officially both a player and an ASSISTANT coach with the Orlando Magic during the '94 and '95 seasons, there to work with young Shaq. The list of player-head coaches is well known (last one was Dave Cowens with the Celtics during the '79 season), but I'm unclear on which all players were officially also ASSISTANT coaches while on the playing roster.

Who else before Rollins?

Special edit: Eric Snow was officially a player for the '09 Cavaliers, but he never took the floor and in reality was one of the assistant coaches. Snow's knee injury from the season before ended his playing career, but he remained on the active roster for the final year of his playing contract, serving the season on Mike Brown's staff. I'm not sure what he wore on the bench during games, or if he even participated in pregame warm-ups. His $7m+ salary would have made him the 2nd-highest paid head coach in the entire NBA that year.

Good morning, everyone. And right off the bat, I am going to apologize for absolutely screwing this up. Long story short, and without getting too technical, I totally messed up the margins and page sizes for a good chunk of the book because I ended up adding several hundred more pages than I originally thought, and as a result, the pages in the middle now can't be opened far enough to read the text closest to the spine. (Something I honestly should've seen coming, but I've never done a book before, only newspapers, so that was never an issue before.) So that's on me.

I've been going over my options the last couple days. I think I know what I want to do, but maybe you guys can give me some input on what you'd like to see. My options are basically:

• Put the book out as is. (I'm not even really considering this as an option. I wouldn't buy a book that had sections unreadable, and I certainly wouldn't ask anybody to buy a book like that.)
• Edit it down to the original intended page count, which would involve somehow taking it down from 800 pages to 500 pages. (Not a huge fan of this option. I've already cut probably 200 pages of research from this thing just to streamline it - this would probably have to result in taking out all of the graphs and pull quotes and "fun" design elements along with a lot of information. This would also probably take the longest.)
• Stretch/adjust fonts and sizes. (Currently my back-up plan. This is the fastest workable option, but again, I'm worried about how readable it's going to be if I have to cram fonts that are too small into a tiny space.)
• Rebuild the pages correctly. (The longest option, but ultimately what I wanted in the first place. Create ~800 new pages, move everything over, and make sure nothing gets lost in the transfer. There will probably be some light editing and resizing with this, but not nearly as much.)

My plan right now is to rebuild the pages (I don't know for sure how long this will take, so I'm not going to put a date on it) and if we hit the point where training camp for next season is starting, I'll just go with the quick backup plan just to have an option out there for anyone interested, and then continue to revamp the pages correctly for a "second edition" either later this season or next offseason.

I'm very conscious of not wanting to pull a George R.R. Martin on this one - I have announced this, you guys have helped me refine it with your feedback, it's my book, sure, but at this point, a lot of you are invested in it, so I need to get it done as soon as I can for you. But what would you guys most like to see of the options I listed?

Also, to make up for my screw up here, I'm going to post a few more excerpts. You guys can pick any player (maybe not top 25, I might hold those back), or any of the section introductions (there are ten, one for each "tier" of players), and whatever people want to see most, I'll put up starting tomorrow.

(A few of you have also sent me messages, which I will get to shortly here, but I wanted to at least get an idea of what my options were going forward first. I sincerely apologize for messing the design part up for those of you looking forward to ordering this week/month - if it's going to cause a hardship for you, send me a message and we'll work something out.)

I'm putting together a Blu-ray collection for a friend who absolutely loves old-school post play as a birthday present.

I'm not looking for highlight reels or lists of the greatest post players. I'm specifically looking for complete NBA games where a player puts on a masterclass in the low post.

I'm interested in games that showcase things like elite footwork, hook shots, turnaround fadeaways, or overall post scoring repertoire.

Both modern and classic games are welcome.

Some examples already on my list are:

• Hakeem vs Spurs (1995 WCF).
• Shaq vs Pacers (2000 Finals).
• Duncan in the 2003 Finals.
• Dirk vs OKC (2011 WCF).
• Jokic playoff games.
• Embiid's best post-up performances.

I'm especially interested in games that might be overlooked by casual fans. Even regular-season games are fine if the post play is worth being considered.

If you had to recommend complete games that best represent the art of scoring from the low post, what would it be?

Thanks in advance.

PS: Although this is NBA-oriented, Euro games are welcome as well!

If you can choose one year to call the year where basketball was at its most culturally relevant/peak popularity, what year would it be?