NBA (Real) Live 2000s

As the 2009-2010 NBA schedule was released today (with a staggering 25 national TV appearances, without even counting NBA TV games, for the defending champ Lakers including a Christmas game vs. LeBron, Shaq, and the Cavs), it signified the turning of the decade. The 2000s are now officially behind us, as we look forward to the 2010s. So I take this moment to look back on the decade that was, the first complete decade of my basketball consuming life.

Biggest Storyline
There were many over the past 10 years, but it all begins and ends with...money. The decade began on the heels of a 50 game lockout-shortened season in 1999, and it ends with another lockout looming at the next collective bargaining agreement in a year or two. Three separate franchises relocated this past decade, the Grizzlies moved from Vancouver to Memphis, the Hornets went from Charlotte to New Orleans to Oklahoma City and back to New Orleans, and the Sonics fled Seattle under cover of darkness for Oklahoma City and changed their name to the Thunder. Almost every single trade in the NBA these days is a salary dump, most strongly evidenced by this offseason, when big money players like Shaquille O'Neal, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson have been traded to contending teams for nothing except cap relief, and more such trades could shape up the playoff race at the trade deadline next year. Several teams are now seriously struggling to turn a profit, like the Clippers, Grizzlies, Bucks, and Pacers, and more and more owners are looking to get out now and sell off their franchises. Finally, the salary cap regressed for the first time in many years for the upcoming season, with an even bigger regression expected to come the following year.

Most Intriguing Player
The MIP. Who gave us the most and biggest headlines of the decade? Nowadays it seems to be LeBron James, with all the commercials and the speculation of where he'll be playing next year, and the confiscation of certain tapes of him getting dunked on, but he's still only been in the news the last 6 or 7 years of the decade. Shaq has been a big deal (literally) throughout his career and always seems to grab some of the spotlight when it seems to be turning too far away from him. Now he's in Cleveland to make sure that he's still in the background when everyone is looking at LeBron. The Big Twitterer still always has something to say. But my pick for the most intriguing player is Kobe Bryant. There hasn't been a basketball player more polarizing in my lifetime. On the court, he's an absolute assassin, murdering his opponents coldly, mercilessly, and relentlessly. By all accounts, no one in the league works harder, and yet no one is more distant or aloof. As complete and perfect as his game is, his personality off the court is nearly opposite. Most fans outside of LA hate him with a passion, but Lakers fans will defend him with zeal to the end (even if, like me, they don't like him personally). He began the decade on a high note, winning three consecutive titles playing second fiddle to Shaq. But his ego couldn't take it and he forced the Lakers to trade away O'Neal and even got Phil Jackson to step down as coach after threatening to walk away as a free agent in the summer of 2004. A year prior to that, Bryant caused a stir when he was accused of raping a woman in Colorado. He admitted to adultery and settled the matter outside of court. As the new face of the franchise, Kobe learned the hard way that you can't win a title on your own. He missed the playoffs for the first time in his career and was labeled as the ultimate ballhog, a thought which was not altered by his mind-blowing 81 point performance against the Raptors in 2006. After 3 solid years of failure (the Lakers had a losing record between 2005 and 2007) in which the team never made it past the first round of the playoffs, Bryant publicly demanded to be traded and ripped his teammates and front office on the air during the summer of 2007. In fact, he was almost traded to Chicago. Only a few minor technicalities held off the deal. Then a miracle happened that restored Kobe's whole career. After a small but helpful trade for Trevor Ariza, the Lakers managed to hoodwink the Memphis Grizzlies into giving up Pau Gasol for a bag of magical beans. Next thing Kobe knows, he's league MVP and back in the Finals in 2008, and finishes off the decade the way he started it, as an NBA champion, his fourth as a player, tying him with arch-nemesis Shaq in championship jewelry.

Most Embarrassing Player
Everyone knows how much pain Ron Artest has caused David Stern, but even he is still somewhat respectable these days, now "hoodilizing" Lakers fans in Los Angeles. The same cannot be said for Stephon Marbury. Starbury began the decade as probably the best young point guard in the game. He didn't think Minnesota was big enough for him and Kevin Garnett so he left to make his own name elsewhere. Although he got the big money contracts he was looking for, he was never able to stick on a team (Marbury played for 4 different franchises after leaving the T'Wolves), a testament to his odd character and lack of discipline. He was still playing at an All Star level, but he never won anything meaningful and I have absolutely no memories of him in the postseason (unless you count last year when he stunk out the joint as a backup point guard for the Celtics). After the Knicks richly rewarded Marbury for his stellar January play, he fell prone to injury and even more knuckleheadedness. When the franchise was embroiled in a sexual harassment case, Marbury contemptuously testified against his own head coach Isiah Thomas and casually mentioned that he regularly banged interns in the back of his truck in a court of law. Last season, under new head coach Mike D'Antoni, the Knicks payed Marbury over $21 million just to stay away from the team. No other player can hold that, ummmm...distinction. After a buyout in New York, Marbury tried riding Kevin Garnett's coattails again in Boston. As it turned out, he couldn't help the defending champs even make it to the conference finals and teams aren't exactly lining up to acquire his services for the upcoming season. In fact, Starbury has been reduced to crying and eating Vaseline on a webcam to get attention these days.

Most Embarrassing Moment
There were a few shameful events that the league would like to forget about. Two come to the forefront though. The first is the Tim Donaghy scandal. However, that didn't last quite as long as people thought so I don't think it's the decade's biggest blunder. The Malice at the Palace takes the cake there. Way back in November of 2004, an early season game was being nationally televised by ESPN as a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons. Luckily for me, I tuned in just when the formalities began to unfold. With under a minute left to play in the 4th quarter of a game that wasn't even close, Ron Artest fouled Ben Wallace hard under the basket causing the burly center to retaliate by shoving Artest by his face. The players were quickly separated and Artest laid down on the scorer's table to cool off while the officials sorted everything out on the court. What happened after that was pure madness (and highly HIGHLY entertaining...but still should never have happened of course). Out of nowhere a plastic cup of beer comes flying in and lands on Artest who promptly jumps into the crowd looking for someone to spank. Instead of going for the guy with no cup in his hand who's pointing and laughing at him, he whizzes past and sets his sights on the poor fellow who has a beer in each hand. Smart thinking Ron. But it wasn't just Ron-Ron. His boys couldn't let him take on 20,000 fans by himself so before long Stephen Jackson and Co. are up in the stands slapping spectators silly. It was absolutely unbelievable. The brawl between the Pacers and the Pistons' fans ensued for quite a while before some semblance of order could be restored and the Pacers could be sent to the locker room. Along the way though, fans threw chairs at them, rained popcorn, and doused them in even more alcohol. Jamaal Tinsley came back out of the tunnel brandishing a dustpan at the crowd. Larry Brown was on the PA system pleading for order. Kids were crying in the stands and the announcers were absolutely stunned. The best moment in my opinion was when some short, fat Pistons fan sitting courtside called out Ron Artest, got knocked over, got back up and met Jermaine O'Neal up close and personal as he sped across the whole court and slid right into his adversary to get down to his eye level and fluidly landed a perfect punch to the then thunderstruck and frightened fan (fast forward to the 6:40 mark in the video). Absolutely textbook. In all, 9 spectators were injured and 2 were taken to the hospital. Nine players were suspended for a combined 146 games, costing them about $10 million in salary all told. The saddest part was that David Stern, the commissioner of the league, was actually in attendance that night. Not one of his prouder moments I'm sure.

Best Moment
There were many terrific moments over the past decade, but the one that stands out most to me is Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals, when Robert Horry saved the Lakers' season and championship dreams with a miraculous game-winning three pointer at the buzzer. The Lakers went on to win the series in 7 games over their rivals the Sacramento Kings and capture their third consecutive NBA championship. An honorable mention has to go out to the Kobe lob to Shaq to seal game 7 of the 2000 Western Finals against the Portland Trailblazers which capped a 4th quarter comeback from double digits down to propel the Lakers to their first of three straight titles to begin the decade.

Best Game
This is such a difficult, difficult category to fill, so all I can do is give my humble opinion (oh wait, that's all I've been doing this whole time). Back in December of 2003, the Lakers played host to a very good Dallas Mavericks team in a nationally televised contest. It didn't take long for the Mavs to seemingly put the game out of reach. They were up by a monumental 28 points at halftime, and by as many as 32 points in the third quarter and even 27 in the 4th. In a meaningless game in December, most teams would lay down in the face such a deficit, but not the 3 time defending NBA champs. The Lakers chipped and clawed their way back into the game and lo and behold, came out victorious to complete the biggest second half comeback in NBA history.

Best Playoff Series
The one thing this decade lacked was a really good NBA Finals series. Most years, the title was decided in either the Western Semis or Western Finals. Only one Finals series went to a Game 7, the 2005 Battle of Boredom between the Spurs and Pistons, who's final scores looked like halftime scores at a Phoenix Suns game. There were 2 sweeps and half of the Finals played lasted 5 or fewer games. So we turn to other, less meaningful series as the best of the decade. The candidates are seemingly endless. From the riveting Western Finals in 2000 and 2002 to the classic Texas clash in the 2006 Western Semis to the biggest playoff upset in NBA history in the first round in 2007, the playoffs were always entertaining, exciting, and intense. But this past season, those criteria were taken to a new level in the first round of the Eastern playoffs between the defending champion Boston Celtics and the young upstart Chicago Bulls. It was a 7 game marathon that felt like 9. It featured a record 4 overtime games, including a double overtime and a triple overtime game, as well as another contest that went right down to the wire. Ray Allen and Ben Gordon traded big time three after big time three down the stretches of practically every game. Derrick Rose had perhaps the greatest rookie playoff debut in league history. Rajon Rondo basically averaged a triple double over the entire series. A controversial flagrant foul non-call when Rondo intentionally slapped Miller in the face to prevent a basket late in a game sparked controversy over whether the series was rigged. There was even a mini-fight between Rondo and Kirk Hinrich. Ray Allen delivered an all-time playoff performance scoring 51 points in a losing effort, including a couple huge threes that sent the game into additional overtimes and a beautiful fade-away three over a contesting 7-footer. And with everyone outside of New England wholeheartedly rooting for the Baby Bulls, the series was even more compelling. You'd be hard-pressed to find one better than it this decade.

Best Rivalry
Rivalries are a dying breed in the NBA. With players switching jerseys so often (can you believe that Shaquille O'Neal, the most dominant player in 40 years, is going to be playing for his FIFTH team starting this season??? Can you imagine Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson or Larry Bird in 5 different uniforms??) they can't have hatred for any particular team because that might just be the next team they play for. There were some nice short-lived rivalries like the Lakers-Kings at the beginning of the decade, or the Suns-Spurs later on. An argument could also be made for the Lakers-Spurs throughout the decade or the Clippers vs. winning, really throughout their entire history. But with no two teams really going at it, the best rivalry this past decade had to be the feud between Kobe and Shaq. No situation was more contentious than the dynamic duo that led the Lakers to the promised land three consecutive years. It seemed like they would dominate basketball for the rest of the decade. Then it turns out that they argue all the time about who's team it is and who should be getting the ball more. It gets out that Kobe talked about Shaq's extracurricular sexual activities while on trial for his own rape allegations. Kobe wants his own team and threatens to leave town if the Lakers don't get rid of Shaq. Shaq says that Kobe is a Corvette and he is a brick wall before their first meeting against one another. Kobe becomes absolutely desperate to win a ring after Shaq piggybacks Dwyane Wade for his first title sans Kobe. After Kobe falls short in 2008, Shaq raps about Kobe's failure at a club. And finally, Shaq tries to make nice while Kobe fake laughs at everything he says and they end up sharing an All Star Game MVP award. If that's not great drama, I don't know what is. TNT can have it as their next show and call it, The Teammates (You have to know my prejudices against certain TV shows to get that one).

Best All Star Game
Speaking of All Star MVP awards, which was the best All Star game of the decade? All Star Weekend is the main attraction during the NBA regular season and is certainly one of my favorite weekends of the year. On most years it's a glorified pickup game with people missing ridiculous dunks and throwing lobs and turning the ball over and trying to go off the glass to themselves and jacking up threes and Shaq trying to cross over an opposing big man. But on some special years, the game is actually a game. The best of these came in 2003 in Atlanta. It was Michael Jordan's last hurrah. In a thrilling, high scoring game that went down to every single wire, Jordan hit his signature fadeaway jumper over Shawn Marion in the final seconds of overtime to give the East the lead and seemingly the win. Another perfect way to go out for MJ. But for some maniacal reason, Jermaine O'Neal decided to foul Kobe Bryant on an impossible three point attempt, and Kobe sent the game into a double overtime where the West won out in the end 155-145. Kevin Garnett was named MVP with 37 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. Allen Iverson led the East with 35 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals. MJ finished the game with 20 points and 5 rebounds.

Greatest Individual Performance
This category almost solely belongs to Kobe Bryant for all the amazing things he's accomplished over the past 10 years. His relentless focus and supreme talent have been used to achieve amazing things. Back in 2002, he had a streak of 9 consecutive games scoring 40 or more points, tying Michael Jordan for the longest such streak. But that's not it. In 2007, he kicked off an amazing 4 game streak of 50 or more points (just the second player in NBA history to do that, the other being Wilt Chamberlain) with a 65 point performance in a close win over the Blazers that featured one of the most difficult shots I have ever seen made in an NBA game. In the 2006-07 season, Bryant cracked the 50 point mark a total of 10 times, becoming the second player (after Wilt of course) to score at least 50 points 10 times in a single season. But that's not it either. In December of 2005, Kobe outscored the ENTIRE Dallas Mavericks team while he was in the game. The score was 62-61 in favor of Bryant after the third quarter (he didn't play at all in the 4th). But that's STILL not it. What can top these memorable performances? On January 22, 2006, in a Sunday evening tilt vs. the Toronto Raptors, Bryant set the city of L.A. ablaze with a scintillating 81 (EIGHTY-FREAKING-ONE!!!!!) point extravaganza. It was nothing short of miraculous, as he single-handedly brought the Lakers back from a halftime deficit with a monumental 55 point second half. The 81 points was the second most points ever scored by a single player in an NBA game (to Wilt's 100) and many consider it to be the greatest single game scoring performance of all time. Even after I watched the game a second time, I still couldn't believe what he did. Simply incredible. An honorable mention must go out to Tracy McGrady for his video-game like 13 points in 35 seconds to win a game against the San Antonio Spurs in December of 2004, another feat I think we will never see duplicated. As for the greatest individual performance in the playoffs, it goes hands down to LeBron James whose 25 straight points against the Detroit Pistons propelled the Cavs to a huge win on the road and eventually to the NBA Finals. Never has one man taken over such a big game in such a ridiculous manner and led such a crappy team to the Finals.

1st Team All Decade
After Michael Jordan retired for the second time following the 1998 season, he passed the torch along to a new generation of players to carry into the new millennium (even though he did come back...again). These 5 were the best and/or most influential players of that decade:

G- Allen Iverson: Arguably, AI is the most culturally relevant basketball player in the history of the sport. He sealed the marriage between basketball and the hip-hop culture. From the tattoos, to the accessories, to the flashy crossovers, to the off court troubles, to the rap albums, to the single greatest press conference in sports history (spawning this amazing music video as well), to the swagger and confidence of a true "G", Iverson was the face of the NBA to the new generation of basketball fans. He was my favorite player for a long stretch of time and I still root heartily for him. His style of play is so endearing, the way he hustles and busts his butt, how he gives it 110% in every game, and in spite of his small stature and the hard falls he takes every game, he still gets back up and scores in someone's face again. He is one of the 5 greatest scorers in NBA history and if he were just 6 inches taller I think there would be no doubt that he would be the best. From his rookie season, when he famously crossed over Michael Jordan, to the tumultuous season he just came off of, Iverson has shouldered a large burden of the blame for the alleged "thugs" in the league, but people severly misunderstand the kind of person he really is. A documentary is coming out later this year fully chronicling his career and life, and I hope people appreciate The Answer for who he truly is; a warrior for the ages. He finishes the decade with 10 All Star appearances, 2 All Star game MVPs, 1 league MVP, 3 scoring titles, 2 All-NBA 1st Teams, and 1 NBA finals appearance.

G- Kobe Bryant: After all the talk of Kobe in the preceding paragraphs, it was a forgone conclusion that he would be on this team. What more is there to say? He is the greatest scorer of his generation and one of the 8 greatest players in NBA history. Nothing wavers this man. His icy stare is enough to defeat opponents. His smooth game buries them under an avalanche of flawless jumpers and bold forays to the rim. I already mentioned he was the most polarizing and headline-making player of the decade, and it has been a great joy to watch his entire career in the city I call home. He finishes the decade with 10 All Star appaearances, 3 All Star game MVPs, 1 league MVP, 2 scoring titles, 6 All-Defensive 1st Teams, 7 All-NBA 1st Teams, 4 NBA championships, and 1 Finals MVP.

F- Kevin Garnett: The Big Ticket labored for many years in frigid Minnesota, only making it out of the first round once. After graciously giving Timberwolves fans the only thing they ever had to cheer about for 12 years, he was given an opportunity to make a lasting impression on the league in Boston, where he led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA championship. Garnett was considered the best player in the league by many earlier in the decade, and his unique skills for his size had never been seen before he arrived. Most players around the league would rather have KG to get their back than any other NBA player. In a league of tough guys like the NBA, that's quite a compliment. He finishes the decade with 10 All Star appearances, 1 All Star game MVP, 1 league MVP, 1 Defensive Player of the Year award, 4 rebounding titles, 8 All-Defensive 1st Teams, 4 All-NBA 1st Teams, and 1 NBA championship.

F- Tim Duncan: A man of few words, at least to the public, he quietly dominated the league for the entire decade. More on him shortly. He finishes the decade with 10 All Star appearances, 1 All Star game MVP, 2 league MVPs, 7 All-Defensive 1st Teams, 7 All-NBA 1st Teams, 3 NBA championships, and 2 Finals MVPs.

C- Shaquille O'Neal: The Big Diesel/Aristotle/Cactus/Twitterer/Bodyguard/Witness...the nicknames go on and on. And so will his legacy long after he retires. He's probably the most-loved player of the decade (except to Kobe) and he began it as the most dominant force the league had seen since Wilt himself. Even though Shaq moved around a lot, no matter where he went he was always a crowd pleaser and his antics both on and off the court kept him in the media spotlight at all times. Even at his advanced age, Shaq is still one of the top 3 centers in the league today. He finishes the decade with 9 All Star appearances, 3 All Star game MVPs, 1 league MVP, 1 scoring title, 7 All-NBA 1st Teams, 4 NBA championships, and 3 Finals MVPs.

Decade MVP
With the amount of coverage Kobe Bryant has gotten in this post, I'm sure many would think he is my obvious choice for this honor. As Lee Corso likes to say, "Not so fast my friend". In all honesty, I have to give it to Tim Duncan. As I've said before, he's the most underrated superstar of all time. People don't notice the way he dominates games with fundamentals instead of flash. He doesn't go for stats, but he always leads his team to victory. He's been arguably the most consistent superstar of all time, putting up basically the same great numbers for 12 straight seasons since he stepped into the league. He's won 3 titles this decade with a mostly sub par supporting cast (outside of Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker) and there aren't many players in this league who have done more with less talent surrounding them. It is a testament to Duncan's tremendous skill as a player and as a leader. People will not remember him as they should after his career because he doesn't have too many highlights or memorable moments (though there is this one), and he didn't play for a big market team. But he deserves this honor to the fullest, and many people consider him to be the greatest power forward of all time already. Consistency is not something to be taken for granted. His steadily superb play year after year makes him a one-of-a-kind player in a league filled with short-lived flash and pizazz. Here's to Timmy D.

Best Team
Which single team can claim the right to be known as the best team of the 2000s?? Look no further than the very first champion of the decade, the 2000 Los Angeles Lakers. They finished tied for a decade best 67-15 record, and unlike the Dallas Mavericks who couldn't make it out of the first round with such a record, the Lakers finished the deal and claimed the first NBA championship of the decade. Shaquille O'Neal was in his unstoppable prime, winning the league MVP award that season with averages of 29.7 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, 3.0 bpg, .574 fg %. Kobe Bryant had made the leap to the best sidekick in sports in his 4th year, making it to another All Star team and averaging 22.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.9 bpg. Glen Rice was the third building block and enjoyed the last productive season of his career scoring 16.0 ppg. These 3 horses were surrounded by a cast of role players of all ages. There were the young up-and-comers like Tyronn Lue and Devean George. There were the guys in their primes who contributed in major ways like Derek Fisher, Robert Horry and Rick Fox. And there were the grizzled veterans who could lead the team in the locker room and guide them on the court like Ron Harper, A.C. Green, Brian Shaw, and John Salley. Steering the team was the greatest coach of all time, Phil Jackson. It was a team perfectly built to dominate the league and win their first of three consecutive NBA championships.

Best Franchise
I wanted to take all subjectivity out of the matter and came up with a simple, yet effective (I believe) formula for determining success as a franchise. The findings were certainly interesting and really showed which franchises have been steady winners and steady losers. At the end of the day, 2 teams came out way ahead of everybody else this decade, and I'm pretty sure you know who they are. Here is my formula:

Win = +1 pt, loss = -1 pt, winning season = +3 pts, losing season = -3 pts, 50-win season = +5 pts, 60-win season = +8 pts, 65-win season = +10 pts, division title = +7 pts, #1 seed in playoffs = +12 pts, best record in league = +15 pts, last in division = -5 pts, last in conference = -15 pts, last in league = -25 pts, missed playoffs = -5 pts, playoff berth = +5 pts, semifinal berth = +10 pts, conf. finals berth = +15 pts, finals berth = +25 pts, championship = +100 pts, back-to-back titles = +25 pts, 3 in a row = +50 pts

As you can see, championships are heavily rewarded (after all, that IS why they play the game, to win), and winning them consecutively is even more rewarding because of the difficulty it is to defend the title. Here are the rankings of some teams at the top and bottom of the list, in reverse order (Note: The Charlotte Bobcats were not included due to the fact that they were only in the league for half of the decade):

29. Los Angeles Clippers- Score: -307 points

Vitals: .373 win percentage, 1 playoff appearance, 1 winning season, 3 last place finishes in the division, 2 last place finishes in the conference, 1 last place finish in the league

You knew this was inevitable. Just a few short weeks ago the Clippers were named the worst franchise in all of North American pro sports. That's right, last out of 122 franchises according to this ESPN the Magazine article. If there's one thing Clippers fans can take solace in, it's that they did not finish with the worst winning percentage out of any team this decade. However, that did not keep them out of the basement in these standings as well. Good luck to Blake Griffin trying to get this trainwreck back on the tracks.

28. Atlanta Hawks- Score: -295 points

Vitals: .368 win percentage, 2 playoff appearances, 1 winning season, 3 last place finishes in the division, 1 last place finish in the conference, 1 last place finish in the league

The Hawks had the worst winning percentage of the decade, winning less than 37% of their games. Ouch. But things are looking up these days, as Atlanta ended the decade with back-to-back playoff appearances and even advanced to the second round last season. And after re-signing all their major free agents during the offseason, the Hawks are looking to become contenders next season. The 2 playoff appearances are the only thing keeping them ahead of the Clippers in these standings. They boast the worst record of the decade as they went 13-69 in the 04-05 season.

27. Golden State Warriors- Score: -270 points

Vitals: .389 win percentage, 1 playoff appearance, 2 winning seasons, 4 last place finishes in the division, 2 last place finishes in the conference, 0 last place finishes in the league

The Warriors got off to an atrocious start in the 2000s, with 3 consecutive seasons of 60 or more losses. Their winning percentage from 2000-2002 was a putrid .234. After that though, they improved significantly, never losing more than 48 games until last season. Even with the Clippers in their division, the Warriors still managed to finish with more last place finishes in the Pacific than the Clips. Their 2 winning seasons give them the push they needed to get out of the cellar. In a cruel irony, in the Warriors' best season in 2008, they actually failed to make the playoffs despite a 6 win improvement from their playoff run the year before. They should get some bonus points though, because they pulled off the biggest first round upset in NBA playoff history when they knocked off the Dallas Mavericks in 2007 after finishing 25 games behind them in the regular season standings.

11. New Jersey Nets- Score: +148 points

Vitals: .494 win percentage, 6 playoff appearances, 5 winning seasons, 4 division titles, 1 top seed in the East, 0 best record in the league, 2 Finals appearances, 0 championships, 1 50-win season

The Nets are on the outside looking in at the top 10 teams of the last 10 years, even though they made the Finals in back-to-back seasons. Their undoing was their sub-.500 record, the only team in the top 13 with a losing record. The Nets had a great run in the middle of the decade, making the playoffs 6 straight times from 2002-2007, but it was bookended by miserable seasons to begin and end the decade. Jason Kidd brought hope to New Jersey. Now it's up to Devin Harris, Brook Lopez and...gulp...Yi Jianlian to bring the Nets back in their future home in Brooklyn.

10. Indiana Pacers- Score: +190 points
Vitals: .537 win percentage, 7 playoff appearances, 5 winning seasons, 2 division titles, 2 top seeds in the East, 1 best record in the league, 1 Finals appearance, 0 championships, 2 50-win seasons, 1 60-win season
If there's one thing you could say about the Pacers, it's that they were at least consistently mediocre with a couple breakout years tossed in. Indiana never won less than 35 games in a season, yet finished with just 5 winning seasons. They started off the decade with a bang, reaching the NBA Finals in 2000 (losing to the Lakers in 6 games) and then finishing with the best record in the league in 2004, where they lost to eventual champion Detroit in the Eastern Finals after Tayshaun Prince famously ran down a breakaway layup attempt by Reggie Miller late in a close game for a series-defining block. After the Malice at the Palace between those same two teams the following season, Indiana has been actively trying to change their image, shipping out their "ruffians" (Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, Jermaine O'Neal) and replacing them with nice (and pigmentally challenged) good ol' Indiana farm boys (Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Travis Diener, Tyler Hansborough). The culture change has not brought back the Pacers' winning ways however. They haven't made it to the playoffs since 2006.

9. Miami Heat- Score: +206 points
Vitals: .510 win percentage, 7 playoff appearances, 7 winning seasons, 3 division titles, 1 top seed in the East, 0 best record in the league, 1 Finals appearance, 1 championship, 4 50-win seasons
As we crack the 200 point barrier, we start to see some separation in the teams' achievements, most notably under "championships". The Heat are the lowest ranked of the 5 NBA champions this past decade, mostly due to their rather low winning percentage. They could easily be as high as 6th in these standings if it weren't for that pesky 07-08 season when Miami had a league worst 15-67 record. But even with such an atrocious year under their belts, the Heat still made the playoffs 7 times and had 7 winning seasons, and of course won their lone title in franchise history back in 2006. The next decade could be much rockier for Miami, especially if Dwyane Wade skips town after next season.

8. Sacramento Kings- Score: +208 points
Vitals: .556 win percentage, 7 playoff appearances, 7 winning seasons, 2 division titles, 1 top seed in the West, 1 best record in the league, 0 Finals appearances, 0 championships, 5 50-win seasons, 1 60-win season
You might see the Kings rated this high and wonder, but they are not far removed from being perennial contenders. In fact, they made the playoffs every single year until 2007, and were a game away from the NBA Finals in 2002. But the glory days of Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby, and Doug Christie's wife are gone, and the Kings may be gone from Sacto too before long. The cowbells have faded and Arco Arena's old home court advantage has vanished as attendance dwindles in Nor Cal. Sacramento has finished at the bottom of the Pacific Division 2 of the last 3 seasons, and were a league worst 17-65 this past year. Starting here with the Kings, these standings reflect the dominance of the top of the Western Conference this past decade as 6 of the top 8 teams are from the West.

7. Utah Jazz- Score: +209 points
Vitals: .562 win percentage, 7 playoff appearances, 7 winning seasons, 3 division titles, 0 top seeds in the West, 0 best record in the league, 0 Finals appearances, 0 championships, 4 50-win seasons
In the 20 seasons that Jerry Sloan has coached the Jazz, they have been one of the most consistently good teams in the league, with defense, toughness, and a textbook pick and roll. Once upon a time it was Karl Malone and John Stockton working the play to perfection; now Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are trying to do the same thing. The other thing that has remained consistent in Utah is a lack of championship hardware. Malone and Stockton fell short to Jordan's Bulls twice. This version of the Jazz have yet to get back to the Finals. They hit a lull in the middle of the decade, with two last place finishes in their division, but since drafting Deron Williams in 2005, the Jazz have gotten back into the title hunt and still have one of the most rabid fan bases in the NBA.

6. Boston Celtics- Score: +236 points
Vitals: .524 win percentage, 6 playoff appearances, 5 winning seasons, 3 division titles, 1 top seed in the East, 1 best record in the league, 1 Finals appearance, 1 championship, 2 50-win seasons, 2 60-win seasons, 1 65-win season
What a difference a championship makes. The Celtics don't make the top 10 if it wasn't for their dominant 07-08 year that culminated in their first title in 20 years. And what a turnaround. Just 1 year prior to that they finished last in the conference with a 24-58 record and set a record after losing 17 games in a row at one point. Their fans even chanted M-V-P when Kobe Bryant came to town, a truly sad day in Boston. But add Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the mix, and all of a sudden the arrogant swagger was back with a steamrolling 66-16 campaign the following season. The Celtics had their hopes of repeating dashed when Garnett fell prey to a lingering knee injury, but after adding Rasheed Wallace in the offseason, the Celtics are looking to make one more run at glory.

5. Phoenix Suns- Score: +334 points
Vitals: .599 win percentage, 7 playoff appearances, 8 winning seasons, 3 division titles, 1 top seed in the West, 1 best record in the league, 0 Finals appearances, 0 championships, 6 50-win seasons, 2 60-win seasons
Truth be told, the Suns really snuck up on me here. I already knew the top 4 before I did the math, but I endlessly debated over who would turn out fifth. Lo and behold, it's the Phoenix Suns. I don't remember them being good to start the decade, but it turns out that they began with back-to-back 50-win seasons. After a 3 year lull, they came back with a revamped, Mike D'Anotni and Steve Nash driven Seven Seconds or Less offensive attack that changed the way basketball was played in the 04-05 season. The theory has long been that "defense wins champinships", but the Suns were out to prove that wrong and they came close 3 years in a row, but something always went wrong. They reached the conference finals in both 2005 and 2006, but Joe Johnson broke his face during the '05 playoffs, and Amar'e Stoudamire missed practically the entire '06 season. 2007 could have been their year as the only team who could oppose them was the San Antonio Spurs, but in a semifinal showdown against the Spurs, Stoudamire and Boris Diaw were very questionably suspended for a crucial game in the series for jumping off the bench to protect their captain Nash, who had just gotten bodychecked into the scorer's table by Robert Horry. Without those two for a critical game, the Suns didn't have enough firepower to advance. In the end, their refusal to spend big money caught up with them and they are now in full rebuilding mode for the future. But a large thank you has to go out to the team that made basketball so exciting to watch again.

4. Dallas Mavericks- Score: +510 points
Vitals: .668 win percentage, 9 playoff appearances, 9 winning seasons, 1 division title, 1 top seed in the West, 1 best record in the league, 1 Finals appearance, 0 championships, 9 50-win seasons, 3 60-win seasons, 1 65-win season
Consistency has been the key for the Mavericks this decade. They have the highest ranking of any team to not win a title, largely due to their 9 straight 50-win seasons from 2001-2009 and second highest winning percentage of any team over the past 10 years. The Mavs led the NBA with 3 60-win seasons in the 2000s, and were tied for the best overall record of the decade when they went 67-15 in 2007. However, the Mavericks and their big gun Dirk Nowitzki also had a penchant for choking, most notably evidenced by blowing a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA Finals by losing 4 straight games to the Heat, and then being knocked out in the first round the following year by the Golden State Warriors who finished a whopping 25 games behind them in the regular season. The Mavericks used to be the laughingstock of the league (besides the Clippers of course, that's always a given), but now they're regarded as contenders virtually every year. A lot of credit has to go to revolutionary owner Mark Cuban for changing the culture in Cowboy City.

3. Detroit Pistons- Score: +558 points
Vitals: .606 win percentage, 9 playoff appearances, 8 winning seasons, 6 division titles, 3 top seeds in the East, 1 best record in the league, 2 Finals appearances, 1 championship, 7 50-win seasons, 1 60-win season
The Pistons took the mantra "defense wins championships" to heart as their relentless D anchored back-to-back Finals run and total domination of a loaded Lakers squad to capture the title in 2004. Ben Wallace won 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards in a 5 year span, and the Pistons made it to 6 consecutive Eastern Conference Finals between 2003 and 2008. Their 6 divisional crowns and 3 top seeds were tied for the most in the NBA this decade. Joe Dumars, a member of the original Bad Boys in Detroit tried to model this team after his own teams, and it worked quite well. If only he hadn't botched the second pick in the 2003 draft by taking Darko Milicic over guys like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade, we might be talking about this franchise as the very best of the 2000s.

2. San Antonio Spurs- Score: +936 points
Vitals: .702 win percentage, 10 playoff appearances, 10 winning seasons, 6 division titles, 3 top seeds in the West, 2 best records in the league, 3 Finals appearances, 3 championships, 10 50-win seasons, 2 60-win seasons
I told you the top 2 teams were way ahead of the pack. The standings take a huge leap with the Spurs. Like their MVP Tim Duncan, the Spurs are a model of consistency, fundamental play, and boringness, at least on the outside. They were the only team to have a winning season and make the playoffs every single year, and to top it off they won at least 50 games in each season leading to their ridiculous .702 winning percentage, easily the best of any team this decade. They were also the only team to have the best record in the NBA multiple times, and their 6 division titles and 3 top seeds were tied for the most in the league. The only category in which they "lagged" were Finals appearances and championships, but it's hard to find fault with winning 3 titles in a decade. The Spurs, like their superstar Duncan, have been vastly underappreciated as a franchise. It's tough to win big consistently in such a small market, but the Spurs have served as a perfect example of how it can be achieved. They built their team around 3 top talents (Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli), and surrounded those guys with smart, savvy, inexpensive, veteran role players who complemented their studs perfectly. When those top 3 guys were healthy, the Spurs won almost without fail and head coach Gregg Popovich should be counted among the greatest of all time in his profession. No matter how seemingly old and thin the Spurs look on paper, you can never count them out on the court. It's hard to argue against them being the franchise of the decade, but as I said before, it's all about the rings. Still, the Spurs deserve to be revered in memory for the awesome decade they put together during the 2000s.

1. Los Angeles Lakers- Score: +970 points
Vitals: .646 win percentage, 9 playoff appearances, 9 winning seasons, 5 division titles, 3 top seeds in the West, 1 best record in the league, 6 Finals appearances, 4 championships, 7 50-win seasons, 2 60-win seasons, 2 65-win seasons
Who else? It's a Los Angeles sandwich in these rankings. It's all about the rings and the Lakers knew how to go about getting them, appearing in 60% of the Finals series this decade, twice as many as the next most appearances, and their 4 titles were also the most of any this decade. They were the only team to win back-to-back titles, and only the third team in history to win 3 consecutive NBA championships (the insane degree of difficulty to defending the crowns most certainly merits additional points to their standing). Despite 1 losing season, the Lakers displayed their dominance by winning 5 division titles and finishing as the Best in the West 3 times. They were the only team in the NBA to feature multiple league MVP winners (Shaq in 2000 and Kobe in 2008). They were also the only team in the league to win at least 65 games in a season twice, and tied the overall best record of the decade at 67-15 back in 2000 (but unlike those choking dogs in Dallas, the Lakers won the title and cemented their status as the team to beat in the NBA). The Lakers had more big-time moments in the past decade than practically all other teams combined, from the Game 7 comeback in the 2000 Western Finals capped by the Kobe to Shaq lob, to Robert Horry's sensational season-saving buzzer beater in Game 4 of 2002 Western Finals, to the biggest comeback in NBA history in 2003, to Kobe Bryant's 2 miraculous threes in the final game of the 2004 season to clinch the Pacifi Division title, to Derek Fisher's game winner with 0.4 seconds on the clock in Game 4 of the 2004 Western Semis, to Kobe's indescribable 81 point explosion in 2006, to two separate unbelievable comebacks in the final 15 seconds of regulation and overtime in the first round of the 2006 playoffs, to Derek Fisher's improbable three pointer to send Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals into an overtime the Lakers won, to Phil Jackson's X hat, to a rocking parade at the Colisseum in Los Angeles to end the decade as they began, on top of the basketball world. I'm so proud to be a fan of the greatest franchise of the decade (and of all time =D).