The Bill Russell-led Celtics are still revered as the greatest team in professional sports history with eight consecutive championships. No one remembers the other teams of the time.
And while other great players are known from the era, only Wilt Chamberlain came close to equaling the greatness of that Celtics Dynasty.
After Russell retired, the league entered a period of great parity with no repeat champions for 18 years. It also entered a period of fan apathy with no great team to get behind. The league took parity with it into the toilet with the lowest ratings and attendance in its history. Even the Finals were televised by tape delay in late night.
It was reborn by the miracle that was Magic/Bird. Many think that their individual rivalry was the draw, but that is only part of the story.
The reason that the interest was so high was that both stars led superteams, teams with several Hall of Famers on them.
Dominique Wilkins and Clyde Drexler, both supreme talents with crazy highlight histories, never came close to generating the excitement of Magic and Bird because they didn’t have the teams to compete for championships year after year.
When Michael Jordan came into the league, he was a force to watch and market. But it wasn’t until his Bulls reached the dynasty level that the league entered the stratosphere. And don’t forget, only his first “retirement” interrupted what could have been eight championships in a row!
And what about the “Dream Team”?
They marched through the Olympics, winning their games by an average of nearly 50 points. They were a worldwide sensation by virtue of their extreme dominance. A close game would only have diminished their mystique by having them seem mortal. No one wanted to see “The Greatest Team Ever Assembled” play an actual close game.
After Jordan’s final retirement, the league wandered around for a while looking for that next dynastic force to emerge. Would it be San Antonio, Dallas, the Lakers again, or maybe Boston?
Frankly, neither the league nor the public cares about parity. The only people who care are individual team owners and some diehard fans that want their team to have a chance of winning.
The bottom line again is that dynasties make leagues prosper.
It has been proven time after time in TV ratings, merchandise sales and attendance. It saves leagues, all leagues, all the time.
Face it, love ‘em or hate ‘em, you want the Yankees, Wooden’s UCLA Bruins, the Lombardi Packers, the Russell Celtics, the Jordan Bulls, the Gretzky Oilers or the Bradshaw Steelers. Other teams win championships and the local fans rejoice, but it’s the dynasties that define the sports world.
And now we have that stage set once again.
We have the East-leading Heat, with the best player in the league playing at an awe-inspiring level. He has a tremendous cast with other Hall of Fame players.
In the West, there is the other recently assembled superteam, the Lakers. Fans are on the edge of their seats as the other best player in the league wills his team of future Hall of Famers together for a playoff run.
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These are the stories that generate the worldwide excitement that have Stern secretly dancing in the aisles.
The only shame of it is that the streak didn’t start a little sooner. Imagine if the Heat’s streak was 30 right now?
For once in March, the NBA would not be taking a back seat to the NCAA for the next couple of weeks.
Danny Schayes is a retired, 18-year-veteran of the NBA, a professional broadcaster and aspiring author who is making his debut as a weekly NBA columnist for SheridanHoops. Follow him on Twitter.
“Basketball reasons”
Really couldn’t disagree with you more on the super teams. If you live in a city that has Anne of these teams, I’m sure it’s great,but think about those place that don’t have the luxury of being able to pay the luxury tax. Year after year you don’t even sniff the playoffs, you lose any star players once they hit free agency, your owners still charge just as much for tickets as the winners, and no free agents want to sign with you unless the good gigs have dried up. I could go on, but let just say this, I would love to see an even playing field where every team has a chance to win, where there are no back-to-back games, and the officials don’t make the superstar level foul calls. Give me parity, the current NBA is elitist in the worst way.