NBA Will Have Seventh Different Champion In Span Of Seven Years, A League First

We all knew parity overtook the NBA. But man, it’s never been quite like this before.

For the seventh straight season, the league will crown a new champion. Not a first-time champion, mind you. The New York Knicks did win one in 1973. And the Oklahoma City Thunder won one as the Seattle Supersonics back in 1979.

But the Boston Celtics aren’t in the NBA’s Final Four. So for the seventh straight season, we will have a champion that hasn’t won any championships in the past seven years. That’s never happened — not even in the wild days of the 1970s, when it seemed like we had a new champ every year (and we did, for a whole decade, though the Celtics won in 1974 and ’76).

That said, a lot of NBA fans never even saw the 1970s. So, yeah, this is basically a first for everyone.

Do I have a favorite? Well, kind of. I’m probably leaning toward the Thunder, given their true-blue superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and remarkable, swarming defense.

But quite frankly, any team could win and I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s just the way this season — and the NBA lately — has gone. No one predicted the Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, and Indiana Pacers would be this year’s Final Four. No one.

So let’s just sit back, enjoy, and see how it plays out. In today’s NBA, that’s really all you can do.

Here are the past six NBA champions:

• 2024 – Boston Celtics
• 2023 – Denver Nuggets
• 2022 – Golden State Warriors
• 2021 – Milwaukee Bucks
• 2020 – Los Angeles Lakers
• 2019 – Toronto Raptors