2020-21 is the outlier year that people pretend the Bubble was
Since the 2021 playoffs, if you compare the record of the final four teams to make it out:
Lakers: 2-4
Nuggets: 6-3
Heat: 5-3
Celtics: 10-3
So the 2020 finalists have a combined playoff series record of 23-13, with every single team making it back to the conference finals at some point, 3⁄4 making it to the finals, and 2⁄4 winning a ring.
Meanwhile the 2021 finalists:
Bucks: 1-4
Suns: 2-3
Hawks: 0-2
Clippers: 0-3
That’s a whopping 3-12 total over the same time period, with not a single one of these teams making it back to the conference finals over this time.
What makes this particularly notable is that all 8 teams have retained their core identity until very recently, so it’s not like there’s a Jordan ‘98 Bulls situation here.