Best Players from the Last 20 NBA Title Teams

As we close in on the playoffs, especially with the mighty regular season Cavs stumbling a bit, I wanted to zoom out and get some historical perspective on what it takes to be an NBA champion.

Over the past 20 years, here's the complete list of the 10 guys who were the best player on a title team.

1. Lebron 4x
2. Steph 4x
3. Duncan 3x
4. Kobe 2x
5. Tatum
6. Jokic
7. Giannis
8. Kawhi
9. Dirk
10. Garnett

The worst players on that list are better than anyone on the Cavs, or several other playoff teams. Unless we're going to have an '04 Pistons anomaly, the only teams I see with players who might belong on that list are the following:

• Celtics (Tatum's already there, after all)
• OKC (SGA's having the best guard season since MJ)
• Denver
• Milwaukee
• Lakers
• Clippers (If Kawhi's still that guy)
• Warriors
• T-Wolves

Eight is actually a lot, but only two of these teams are playing like contenders.

What do you think? Can we rule out the teams that aren't on this list? Am I slandering someone by leaving them out? Or, is this just nonsense masquerading as analysis?

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/925135