[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

1992 Portland Trailblazers, Clyde Drexler, Kevin Duckworth, Buck Williams, Cliff Robinson, Terry Porter.  Some great names.  Very athletic team.

[Andrew1984Participant]

Jerome Kersey!

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I know, people will probably hate this one, but it is true. I was a major fan of the Shaq/Kobe era Lakers. It blew my mind when they lost to the Pistons in 2004. I remember Ric Bucher seemed to be the only analyst to pick the Pistons winning. Still not crazy about him (well, who is), but I give him props on that one.

I was really hoping that Karl Malone and GP would help Shaq and Kobe get another ring. You had Devean George starting at SF, which basically has one making the same sound as Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons when he gets hit in the face with a rake. SLA-VA MED-VE-DENKO playing meaningful minutes due to Karl Malone being constantly injured. Derek Fisher being just about as useful as GP in the Finals.

Yeah, they were kind of a mess, but I was really rooting for those guys to win it. Shaq had a great Finals, truly Ben Wallace did incredibly little to stop him (Averaged 26.6 and 10.8). Shaq went for 36 (16-21 FG, with his usual 4-11 FT) and 20 (over half of his teams rebounds in Game 4, but just got so little help. Kobe was wildly inconsistent, though his Game 2 winner was epic and gave false hope.

Karl Malone averaged 5 ppg in 4 Finals Games before finally succumbing to injury and sitting out Game 5. Definitely was pushing for Karl to cop that ring, but the Pistons were the better team. A team without a true star beat a team with 4 future Hall of Famers, two of whom were still damn well near the best in the league in Shaq and Kobe. If you get a team with few holes in their starting group and a deep bench, anything is possible. Think Detroit winning the 2004 title showed that.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

1995 Orlando Magic with Shaq, Penny, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, and Horace Grant.

Runners-up:

1996 Sonics with Kemp, Payton, Nate McMillan, Detlef, Hersey Hawkins, Vincent Askew, and Sam Perkins.

1993 Suns with Barkley, Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Cedric Ceballos, Richard Dumas, Oliver Miller, Frank Johnson, Tom Chambers, and Mark West.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

@mikeyvthedon

 

I’m surprised you didn’t pick the 2011 Heat.

 

My favorite losing team is the 2000 Indiana Pacers. Not because I’m biased, but I really liked that team. Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Rose/Mullin, Davis/Bender, Rik Smits/Foster, Crosheer (the guy who could actually ball), Travis Best, Al Harrington, Sam Perkins (Big Smooth) and Derrick McKey.

 

Other than game one, every game of that series was really close…

[Andrew1984Participant]

Hey Memphis, wasn’t Michael Finley on that Phoenix team, too? 

I have to confess, I really wanted Stockton and Malone to get their first rings in ’98. Stockton and Magic were among my favorite players when I was a kid. I loved their fundamentals. I even liked Hornacek (in fact, I thought Ben Hansbrough could’ve been a newer Jeff Hornacek…guess I was wrong there).

That team went 62-20. Stockton and Malone were in their mid-30s. Malone was 27 and 10 and Stockton was 12 and 8.5 and shot 53 percent. They swept the Lakers in the WCF. It was pretty obvious that it was their last chance.

A lot of Jordan haters like myself accuse him of pushing off with his left hand on Bryon Russell, which he may have, but that shot was still incredible. That dirt bag.

[Author]

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