There may be some years with amazing Lakers/Celtics teams and a 3rd/4th team that didn’t get that far, but in 2016 you had:

the 73 win Warriors with a unanimous MVP, seen as potentially the best team of all time
a LeBron lead team that came back from 3-1 to best said historic team
a 67 win Spurs team, who went 40-1 at home lead by Kawhi who’d finish 2nd in MVP
and the Thunder who would beat said Spurs in 6, featuring 3 future MVPs and had the Warriors on the ropes

Gamesgtd | Magic

45 | 11 hours ago

The NBA in the mid 90s had hilariously stacked teams because the bad teams were so bad that a lot of the talent was compressed up top.

Neptune28

10 | 10 hours ago

Even the Heat had 61 wins in 97

BookEuronGreyjoy | Spurs

10 | 8 hours ago

The whole 80s was also very top heavy with multiple superteams

RapsareChamps_Suckit | Clippers

28 | 11 hours ago

yes 2016 was the GOAT year

Portmanteau_that | Hornets

3 | 9 hours ago

And it’s also why KD left the Thunder - competition was too stiff lol

Yodudewhatsupmanbruh | OKC

22 | 10 hours ago

2016 was pretty much the peak of the nba for me as a fan with 2017 being a nice epilogue.

I still think about the 2016 wcf. Most hype I ever have been as a fan outside of game 7 of the finals this year.

janosdmarton

8 | 8 hours ago

An incredible series to be a neutral for. Both teams would have been worthy champs most years.

Getyodamnwallet

16 | 10 hours ago

2011 deserves some love too

D Rose Bulls, Big 3 Heat, Big 3 Celtics, Big 3 Spurs, Big 3 Thunder, Kobe / Pau Lakers, Dirk Mavs

Then you had some solid teams right below them

Dwight Magic, Role player Nuggets, Melo Knicks, Roy Blazers, CP3 Hornets, Grit n Grind Grizz

127crazie | Timberwolves

3 | 7 hours ago

Kurt Rambis Timberwolves too, legendary team

MysteriousKey6831

11 | 10 hours ago

highest peak of hoops we have seen

iSleepAtWork | Lakers

8 | 8 hours ago

40-1 at home is actually insane

ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME | Warriors

3 | 8 hours ago

And finished 1-2 at home against OKC

FaveDave85 | Spurs

1 | 4 hours ago

Steven Adam’s turned Lamarcus into wet toilet tissue.

Glad_Art_6380

1 | 7 hours ago

The 86 Celtics, widely regarded as the best team ever and for good reason, went 40-1 at home in regular season then 10-0 at home in the playoffs.

Naismythology | Lakers

5 | 8 hours ago

The records aren’t as impressive but the 1985 conference finals had 16 Hall of Famers combined between the four teams

pacific_plywood | Warriors

3 | 7 hours ago

That’s pretty crazy. 2016 comes close in terms of the four best teams (who did not all make the conference finals), I think, but not quite

* Steph/Klay/Dray from GSW; Iggy borderline

* Lebron and Kyrie from CLE; Kevin Love borderline

* Kawhi, TD, TP, and Manu from SAS; LMA borderline

* KD and Westbrook from OKC

LeBronJamesDoctor

5 | 10 hours ago

Yes. There are arguments for the early thousands but they fall short when you actually take a step back and look at the league as a whole. 2015-2019 was incredible.

Portmanteau_that | Hornets

2 | 9 hours ago

People were hating hard during the 2015-2019 era too bc of Warriors-Lebron repeats

houstonrockets3311

2 | 11 hours ago

2003-04 in my opinion, esp just in the West. Lakers had Malone, Payton added to Kobe/Shaq. Mavs added Antoine Walker (was still close to his All Star form) and Antwan Jamison (another All Star who won 6th Man that year, to a core of Nash/Finley/Dirk. And the Wolves had their own Big 3 (Garnett, Sprewell, Casell) and Wally Szerbiak who was an All Star just recently. And then there’s the eventual champ, Pistons.

pokerawz | Lakers

6 | 10 hours ago

2016 is better. The fact that you had to add the ‘Twan Towers Mavs to the list is enough.

GloryEnthusiast | Bulls

3 | 11 hours ago

Don’t forget the Pacers (61-21) : Miller, Jermaine O’Neal, Al Harrington, Artest in the East.

Artimusjones88 | Raptors

1 | 10 hours ago

Pre -‘89 when there were only 23 teams.

1987 -

Lakers 65-17 Mavs 55-27 Blazers - 49-33

Celtics - 59-23 Hawks 57-25 Pistons 52- 30 Bucks 50-32

ImAShaaaark | Supersonics

1 | an hour ago

The 3-7 teams that year had a lot of wins because the bottom half of the league was absolute dog shit, but there was a massive difference between the top 2 and everyone else.

chazriverstone | Knicks

1 | 8 hours ago

Unless I’m missing something OKC only had 2 MVPs on the team in 2016 - Harden was on the Rockets.

Also worth mentioning the Curry injury, the Draymond suspension, and of course the Bogut injury. On top of that the officiating was weird; it was a drama-filled playoffs. In any case, yeah, I agree that it was one of the best years that I can recall.

04 was another under appreciated year, I think. The Garnett Wolves were legit contenders who knocked off the Kings and the Mavs, but they had to face that really top heavy Lakers who had just beaten the Spurs. Meanwhile that Pistons team is still one of the most impressive overall ‘teams’ I’ve ever witnessed - beating the Nets & the Pacers was an accomplishment in its own right; defeating that Lakers team was seen as almost unfathomable at the time.

Zeeron1 | Thunder

1 | 8 hours ago

Who is the third future MVP the Thunder had?

JKMiles665 | Thunder

1 | 7 hours ago

Steven Adams hasn’t retired yet!!

jayman213 | Lakers

-1 | 6 hours ago

Tell me you have no understanding of the league’s rich history without telling me you have no understanding of the league’s rich history.

Upbeat_Positive_8026

-3 | 8 hours ago

Kyrie led team.

And they had an insane amount of help from the refs.

Lucky_Depth_3695

2 | 8 hours ago

You could have either not said anything at all, or you could have stopped at one stupid comment. But you had to make 2 stupid comments lol.

Upbeat_Positive_8026

-1 | 8 hours ago

Sure thing. Who cares about things like advances stats?

Have a nice day

Dumbass1171 | Bulls

-5 | 10 hours ago

Yup, this year could have been close but Tatum got the ACL tear :(

Does 2016 have the most stacked teams ever?