McCallum's Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Apr 26, 2010

McCallum's Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time

1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers

They won 33 games in a row. Chew on it. Thirty-three. Then they beat a strong Knicks team 4-1 in the Finals.

1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers

Great teams are all about the postseason. This one had two sweeps (including one in the Finals over a Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers team) and only one loss in the middle series.

1995-96 Chicago Bulls

At some point you can't argue with math--these guys won an all-time record 72 games. And Michael Jordan made the greatest "I'm baaackkk" statement since Nicholson in The Shining .

1985-86 Boston Celtics

I admit a soft spot for this team, which won the championship in my first year on the NBA beat for SI. I saw first-hand their confidence, their unselfishness, and their relentless good-natured jabs at new Celtic Bill Walton (inset).

1969-70 New York Knicks

This team is easily confused with the 1972-73 championship team because the nucleus is largely the same. But the Reed-Frazier-DeBusschere-Bradley core was at its strongest in this season, which included Willis' dramatic limping entrance at the Garden.

1956-57 Boston Celtics

Bill Russell's arrival signaled the beginning of an era -- the C's would go on to win 11 championships in 13 years. They needed seven games to beat back the St. Louis Hawks in a memorable championship series that included two 125-123 double-overtime games (a Game 1 Hawks win and a Game 7 Celtics win).

1989-90 Detroit Pistons

One could argue that the previous season's edition of the Bad Boys were better -- they did, after all, sweep the Lakers in the Finals -- but I'm going with the repeaters. They were at the apex of their swagger and put a devastating psychological whooping on the Trail Blazers by beating them three straight in Portland to win the title.

1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers

Another personal choice, not that these guys aren't deserving. During my senior year in high school, I regularly journeyed to smoke-filled Convention Hall in Philly to watch Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer (one of history's most forgotten great players), Chet Walker, Lucious Jackson and Billy Cunningham win 68 games and -- at last -- get by the Celtics in the Finals.

1964-65 Boston Celtics

Just when you thought they were too old, the Shamrocks found a way to win 64 games ... and then found a way to beat a talented Philly team in an epic championship series that featured Johnny Most's famous raspy-throated call: "Havlicek stole the ball!"

1987-88 Lakers

This edition of the Purple and Gold won "only" 62 games and needed the full seven to beat the Pistons in the Finals. But remember that this was the team that coach Pat Riley "guaranteed" would defend the previous year's title, thus reversing a no-repeat trend that went back to the '67-68 and '68-69 Celtics. Now, that was pressure.