Since the founding of the NBA in 1946, a super league, there have been new teams joining at almost every stage. There are pros and cons to this gradual addition of teams, which on the one hand makes the NBA more brilliant, but also leads to the fact that the vast majority of championships are in the hands of the big teams that have been in the league since the beginning, and it is very difficult for other new teams to win championships in a short period of time.
Of course, there are some lucky people who seized the opportunity to seize the opportunity when the NBA rules and playing style changed in the new century and achieved a breakthrough of 0 championships in team history. Today, let's take a look at which teams have seized the limelight in the new century and won the championship trophy.
In 2006, the Miami Heat won their first championship in franchise history
It is estimated that many people did not expect that the Miami Heat, a team that can be called the NBA giant, has not won a championship before the new century. In fact, the Heat were the first team to join the NBA in 1988, but the Heat triumvirate of the new century has led to the misconception that it was very strong a long time ago.
It took only 18 years from joining the league to winning the championship, and the Heat's history is legendary, the most important of which was the selection of the Flash's Dwyane Wade in the 2003 draft and the trade for Shaquille O'Neal in the 04-05 season.
Unlike the rookie's scoring ability and ability to control the court in key moments, and O'Neal, who is at the end of his peak and has a lot of playoff experience, the inside and outside combination of the two can be called the new "OK" combination. With such a combination of kings and bombs, combined with veteran players such as Antoine Walker and Gary Payton who were traded in the 05-06 season, the Heat's performance in the 05-06 season can be described as invincible.
Not only did they have a 52-30 record in the regular season, but they also defeated the Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons in the playoffs, and met the Dallas Mavericks in the finals. Although there were some off-court factors in the finals, which made that round of the series a lot of drama, Wade's play was really strong, and finally led the team to achieve a breakthrough of 0 championships.
In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks won their first championship in franchise history
Yes, the Heat's opponent in the '06 Finals, the Mavericks, also didn't break the embarrassment of the team's history of zero championships, but fortunately, through unremitting efforts, they finally managed to get revenge on the Heat five years later, in 2011, to win the championship. At that time, the most crucial point of winning the championship was that in the 10-11 season, the trade of Tyson Chandler made up for the weak offensive and defensive weakness of the Mavericks led by Nowitzki, allowing coach Rick Carlisle to adjust his tactics flexibly.
That season, the Mavericks once achieved a 57-25 record, and defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs, and the Miami Heat, who were once enemies, to meet again in the Finals. In the finals, Rick Carlisle's tactics combined with Tyson Chandler's interior defense can be said to be the Tianke Heat, and in the end, the Mavericks successfully defeated them 4-2 to win the first championship in team history with the excellent play of Nowitzki and others.
In 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first championship in franchise history
The Cleveland Cavaliers are more desperate to win a championship than the previous two teams, as they joined the NBA in 1970 and watched other teams lift trophies one after another, but they have not won the top honor in 45 years.
And the opportunity for them to win the championship in 2016 is that after 2010, their draft pick luck was very good, first in 2012 to get the first pick to draft super point guard Kyrie Irving, and then in 2014 to get the first pick to draft the talented forward Andrew Wiggins, and then to exchange him for two pairs of machine Kevin Love, plus they selected the top pick in 2003 LeBron James returned, the Cavaliers who formed the Big Three can be described as unstoppable.
In the 15-16 season, they not only had a 57-25 record in the regular season, but also won 10 consecutive games after entering the playoffs, losing only two games until they reached the Finals. However, in the Finals, the Cavaliers fell behind 1-3 at one point because the opponent Warriors were too strong. Fortunately, some off-court factors affected the Warriors, plus James started his own supergod performance, and finally cooperated with the extreme play of Irving and Love, the Cavaliers won three games in a row and won the first championship in team history.
In 2019, the Toronto Raptors won their first championship in franchise history
The Toronto Raptors are one of the youngest teams in the NBA after the Charlotte Hornets, having only joined the NBA in 1995, and their journey to winning the championship can even be called very lucky. In the 18-19 season, the Raptors, who had not been able to break through the East, sent DeMar DeRozan, one of their core star garbage brothers, to the Spurs, from where they got Kawhi Leonard, who had championship genes, and it was this operation that determined their next championship.
In a championship season, the luxurious 58-24 record put the Raptors in second place in the East, and then they eliminated the Magic in the playoffs, the 75 team and the Bucks advanced to the Finals, and then faced the Golden State Warriors, a superteam that has won two consecutive championships. At the time, almost no one would have thought they would win, as they had stumbled through to the Finals, and even reached a tie-break with the 75 team at one point, which was not the same as the Warriors, who had a super roster. However, the Raptors seem to be the children of destiny, and after the Warriors advanced to the Finals, the two main players, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, were all unable to play due to injuries. In this way, in the face of the remnant Warriors, the Raptors won easily, winning the first championship in team history 4-2.
In 2023, the Denver Nuggets won their first championship in franchise history
The Denver Nuggets joined the NBA before the Cavaliers — the ABA, the predecessor of the NBA, since 1967. They won the championship later than they did, and it wasn't until last year that they won the first championship in team history. However, they did not have a better championship squad this year, so there is a high probability that they will win back-to-back titles.
As for the key to their championship, it goes without saying that they selected treasure player Nikola Jokic with the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, and Jamal Murray with the seventh pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The inside and outside combination of their two players can be said to dominate the league, and the proud Yomu block is basically easy for no team to crack.
Therefore, in the 22-23 season, they led the Nuggets to the top of the Western Conference with a luxurious record of 52-27, and then defeated the Timberwolves in the playoffs, and the Suns and Lakers met the Heat in the Finals. In the end, with the inexplicable cooperation of Jokic and Murray, the Nuggets easily defeated the Heat 4-1 and won the first championship in team history.