It’s pretty crazy that for 70 years of basketball, no two teams met in the finals more than two consecutive times, then all of a sudden the Warriors and Cavs proceed to meet 4 times.

Prior to the Cavs/Warriors, NBA finals rematches in back-to-back years had happened 13 times, with none reaching a pivotal third matchup. We haven’t had consecutive Finals matchups since the Cavs and Warriors. Only 2 teams (Celtics and Heat) have appeared in the Finals more than once since then in 2018. There also hasn’t been a repeat champion since 2018, which is the longest in history by several years.

Looking back, I would’ve expected the Celtics and Lakers to have faced each other at least 3 years in a row at some point. Somehow it never happened even with the two teams meeting 6 times in 8 years from 1962 to 1969. In that time, Boston defeated LA in 3 different sets of back-to-back finals matchups (62-63, 65-66, 68-69).

The St. Louis Hawks and Celtics faced off in 4 Finals in 5 years from 1962 to 1966, split in two by a 1964 when only Boston reached the Finals.

The Lakers went to 4 consecutive finals from 1982 to 1985, splitting back-to-back Finals with both the 76ers and C’s. LA and Boston came close again in the 21st century when they faced each other in 2008 and 2010, with only the Lakers making the Finals in 2009.

crustydemonburgers | Thunder

122 | 16 hours ago

Not the finals but I wouldn’t be surprised if OKC and San Antonio meet for the next 3 years in the WCF.

Maverick_1991 | Hawks

133 | 16 hours ago

Three years is basically forever in this league with this CBA.

2 years ago people said Boston was gonna be a dynasty.

They have like three players left from that run.

silvlong

11 | 9 hours ago

no tingus pingus no jrue

GriffinQ | WAS

11 | 8 hours ago

No Jaylen Brown, the dude who won FMVP for them.

Teams fall apart quick in the modern era.

j_cruise | Nets

5 | 8 hours ago

It’s definitely been taking a while for fans to get used to it. After every team wins, the following off-season, everyone assumes that team is a shoo-in to reach the finals but this isn’t the case anymore.

crustydemonburgers | Thunder

-21 | 15 hours ago

Idk seems to me like OKC and Spurs are the first 2 high level contenders built after the CBA with GM’s smart enough to have planned for its impact. Plus Wemby and Shai are clear top 2 players in the world. Two best players with the 2 best organisations would be the way to beat the CBA.

velocirappa | Warriors

34 | 13 hours ago

The Spurs just made the playoffs for the first time this decade you absolutely cannot convince me this isn’t an absolute prisoner of the moment take lmao

These types of declarative statements projecting stuff like this also just end up being wrong 90% of the time anyways - no matter how “obvious” they seem at the time.

TiePeddyAte1 | Celtics

1 | 11 hours ago

Yeah sorry no, SGAs super super max and Jalens over pay are gonna cost you all your young depth and tbh if not next year the Thunder might not win another finals its no guarantee you make it back.

tunaMaestro97 | Knicks

0 | 9 hours ago

RemindMe! Three years

dantijuela

37 | 16 hours ago

I dont want it to happen but you know wemby at some point is missing a playoff run, this shit always happens

crustydemonburgers | Thunder

6 | 15 hours ago

Maybe the only thing I can see stopping it from happening is injuries to Wemby and Shai. OKC already proved that pretty much anyone can be injured (except Shai) and they are deep enough to still make the WCF.

MaskedBirder | 76ers

1 | 8 hours ago

I don’t entirely agree. The western conference was decimated by injuries in the playoffs. As historically deep as the Thunder are, there’s no guarantee they would still beat two fully healthy teams in the west back-to-back. Can they? Of course. But we can’t assume they are a lock to make every western conference finals.

BeloAve | Lakers

1 | 11 hours ago

Lebron didn’t miss a playoff run for like 15 straight years and wemby has deeper and better rosters than Lebron had, we may never see wemby miss the playoffs

No_Dependent2297 | Thunder

3 | 10 hours ago

I think they meant due to injury not to having a bad season

Edit: maybe that’s not what they meant. But then I agree with you that I wouldn’t just count on the Spurs missing the playoffs one year. You could say the same for the Thunder then

Yamato_Naoe

69 | 16 hours ago

It’s crazy that a three time repeat matchup never happened outside of the Cavs Warriors duels. Bron and Curry were just different. I guess it is anomalous to have 2 all time dominant players split between 2 different conferences at the same time.

palamunintillnow

18 | 14 hours ago

i thought this would had happen in the 80s, but i remember either the rockets or 76ers will get in the way

slammaster | Raptors

7 | 9 hours ago

Lakers made ⁸⁄₁₀ finals, Celtics made 5.

Lakers and Celtics played in ³⁄₄, but the Rockets spoiled ‘86

AnotherStatsGuy | Pelicans

3 | 7 hours ago

A lot of “3 times in 4 years” matchups though.

FormerCollegeDJ | 76ers

2 | 5 hours ago

The 76ers didn’t get “in the way” of the Celtics from 1980 to 1983; they were generally a bit better than the Celtics at that time. They won 2 out of 3 playoff series between the teams held from 1980 to 1982, and they fell by the slimmest of margins in the series they lost (1981), losing their last 3 games of the series by a total of 5 points.

The key trade the Celtics made that tipped the scales in their favor relative to the 76ers was trading Larry Bird’s drinking buddy Rick Robey to Phoenix for Dennis Johnson. That was one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history.

DontBanMe_IWasJoking | New Zealand

12 | 15 hours ago

theres like a 50% chance the two best players are in opposite conferences

Ambitious_Access2225

10 | 11 hours ago

Not what he said. He said two all timers. Much less than 50%.

ponyrx2 | Raptors

13 | 14 hours ago

It’s like El Clásico at peak Messi vs Ronaldo times. Once in a generation

Basilikolumne | Heat

9 | 14 hours ago

Or once in over 75 years, which is what this is

callitajax1 | Raptors

6 | 13 hours ago

Literally KDs warrior move changed everything. Perfect mix of having a top 2 player all time in an easy conference and having a top 2 player in the league move into a team that was already elite. Already took a miracle for Golden state to make 2 finals in a row. Had he not moved there im sure the warriors wouldve been gassed by 2017.

gigglios

7 | 9 hours ago

And what about lebron forming a cavs superteam? That made the east even more lopsided right after heatles superteam dominated with basically no resostance when healthy. Cavs wouldve smoked gsw in 2015 if love and kyrie played. Maybe swept them

lucky-me_lucky-mud | Spurs

6 | 8 hours ago

Correct, Cavs were 2015-16 preseason favorites even after the Warriors went 67-15 and won the title the previous year

ItsnotBatman | Warriors

5 | 6 hours ago

Wait, what miracle was it for GS to make two finals in a row before KD? They had the best record in 2015 and the all time best record in 2016.

callitajax1 | Raptors

1 | 5 hours ago

I meant cuz of the epic 3-1 comeback against an alltime great team in OKC

USCvsEveryone2005 | Warriors

4 | 5 hours ago

I’m not sure the key was the Warriors adding KD. I think GSW could have made the finals in ‘17 without KD. The key was the Thunder NOT having KD. By far the hardest Western conference series the Warriors faced in the whole stretch from ‘15 to ‘19 was OKC ‘16. Removing OKC as a contender opened it up for the Warriors. Rockets didn’t become a real threat until the next year.

They may not win ‘18 Rockets without KD, but they did win ‘19 Rockets in part without KD…

As for top 2 player thing, Bird and Magic in the ‘80s was comparable, as was Russell/West in the ‘60s.

mykl5 | Mexico

4 | 6 hours ago

Personally I think the team that won 73 wins would not have been “gassed” a year later

callitajax1 | Raptors

1 | 5 hours ago

Back to back finals runs are exhausting. And i think there was already fatigue which contributed to why they went down to okc and ended up losing to the cavs. I think jefferson says in a podcast that he saw a whiteboard which listed all of the warriors players injuries in the final.

USCvsEveryone2005 | Warriors

1 | 20 minutes ago

That ‘16 run was crazy. They started with the winning streak which by the end felt like playoff intensity.

Then once 73-9 seemed possible, a bunch of those games felt like playoff games. Obviously the Steph double bang OKC OT game.

Then Steph goes down in round 1 increasing the intensity for rounds 1 and 2. Then the OKC series was insane. By the end Steph was hurt, Bogut was fully out. Iguodala’s back was trashed (probably affects the LeBron block play) and Barnes was mentally broken.

Gagabubu777

-2 | 12 hours ago

Makes that move even more disgusting tbh. We say 73 and won before; but 73, won before and were in the last 2 finals and you joined them, being their main competition is down right disgusting

AnotherStatsGuy | Pelicans

1 | 7 hours ago

Could have happened in 86, but Houston knocked the Lakers out in the WCF. The Sixers and Lakers did have 3 Finals matchups in 4 years in 80, 82, and 83.

Jeff__Skilling | Rockets

0 | 11 hours ago

Surprised there wasn’t three consecutive match ups of Walton v West – they would have met 5 consecutive times in the 60s, but there was one matchup in the middle where Walton was playing Chaimberlain / Warriors instead of West’s Lakers

Vehemoth

3 | 10 hours ago

Walton?

braisedbywolves | Trail Blazers

1 | 8 hours ago

He probably means Russell.

gigglios

-3 | 9 hours ago

Bron had 2 other stars with him lmfao. Curry got kd. Superteam era was not good. Lebrin has struggled making finals without multiple stars

anifyz- | Heat

67 | 16 hours ago

What team has the most consecutive finals appearances post 1970? I’m assuming it’s the Warriors with 5.

navortsa | Pelicans

60 | 12 hours ago

LeTeam’s do

WithNoRegard | Supersonics

18 | 12 hours ago

LeBron likely wins 2-3 more championships if Steph didn’t fuck up his ankles early in his career. One of the reasons GSW was able to build such a stacked roster is that Steph was on a pretty team-friendly contract due to the injury concerns when he signed it. They never would have had the cap room for KD if Steph was getting paid his worth. Those Cavs teams were incredible, they just happened to match up with an all-time dynasty for 4 straight years.

inqte1

11 | 6 hours ago

Does he win if Cavs dont win 3 no.1 picks in 4 years right before he goes there? Kyrie is one of those and Wiggins got traded for Love. Not even gonna get into how much the league put the thumb on the scales for the one they did win.

12footjumpshot

18 | 16 hours ago

this and the cap spike the allowed KD to join the Warriors more or less created the second apron rules we have today.

FormerCollegeDJ | 76ers

7 | 11 hours ago

The Lakers and 76ers played each other three times in four years from 1980 to 1983.

The Lakers and Celtics played each other three times in four years from 1984 to 1987.

Strangely, the Celtics and Rockets played each other in the other two years (1981, 1986) despite the fact Houston had an almost entirely different set of key players in 1981 vs 1986.

SnooPies6274 | Magic

5 | 10 hours ago

I stopped paying as much attention to basketball in those years (my team was also garbage during that time). It just felt like no matter how the season went, we already knew who was going to be in the finals. It was like a real life 2K simulation.

Speedee82 | NBA

3 | 14 hours ago

According to your post there’s three teams (Celtics, Lakers, Hawks) in the Finals in 62-63 and 65-66.

dnp23 | Knicks

3 | 10 hours ago

Not just Celtics and Heat twice since 2018. Warriors appeared in 2019 and 2022.

barrsftw | Cavaliers

2 | 9 hours ago

Obviously biased, but what was the neutral fans’ experience of that 4 year run?

TheCouchWhisperer

1 | an hour ago

It was great until the KD move and it ruined it then.

gigglios

1 | 9 hours ago

Good example of why superteams are b.s and stars who run to form superstars ruin the league

Diorisbackup

1 | 9 hours ago

4 straight is never happening again

MultiPass21

1 | 8 hours ago

The Warriors played in the Finals in 2019 and 2022.

Willing-Leather-9788 [OP]

1 | 22 minutes ago

But not against the Cavs. They played the Cavs 4x in a row from 2015-18

mommathecat | Raptors

1 | 7 hours ago

Well, not everyone knows, I’m pretty sure my 6 year old has no idea, given that he didn’t exist when this happened.

Raonak | New Zealand

1 | 5 hours ago

Wild stat

Makaveli84 | Lakers

-2 | 14 hours ago

KD fucked up lebrons legacy

constantvariables | Cavaliers

10 | 13 hours ago

Nah

Makaveli84 | Lakers

-9 | 13 hours ago

He robbed him 2 titles, with 2 titles more lebrons legacy would look a bit different. Especially his finals record would look positive.

tore_a_bore_a | Warriors

12 | 13 hours ago

Or LeBron might have just lost to Kawhi’s Spurs again or Harden’s Rockets.

The Western Conference had good teams other than the Warriors.

Tomokakase13

1 | 7 hours ago

Yeah nah we seen how bron did the warriors who were clearly the best team in the west by far. None of those other teams are beating the cavs

johnny_breadsticks | Cavaliers

0 | 11 hours ago

lol nobody was beating that 2017 cavs team other than the warriors+KD lets be real here.

TheSmokedSalmon420 | Cavaliers

0 | 11 hours ago

Fucked up his own too lmao

jknuts1377 | Celtics

-2 | 10 hours ago

The dark years of the NBA. Once the regular season ended, I didn’t watch it near as much those years because the finals were a foregone conclusion.

ApartLine2880 | Lakers

-5 | 16 hours ago

People here skipped what’s equivalent of SATs, which happens only once a year, to watch those series, claiming that there is always another test next year. Crazy times.

TuqiDuque12 | Pistons

-14 | 15 hours ago

The most overrated rivalry in recent history.

2015 was completly changed by injuries, 2016 had like 2 close games (the game 7 is one of the best games of all time don’t get me wrong but the series in itself was not that great) and ²⁰¹⁷⁄₂₀₁₈ were foregone conclusions

dbotron | Knicks

0 | 8 hours ago

Don’t know why this is getting so many thumbs down but it’s true. A great rivalry usually means it’s a toss up on who is going to win because they are evenly matched. 80s Laker/Celtics, late 80s/early 90s Bulls/Pistons to name a few. Even in other sports its a toss-up. Federal/Nadal, Ali/Frasier, those are real rivalries. The Warriors were heavily favored in every matchup and the Cavs were GROSSLY overmatched after KD showed up. Very anticlimactic.

TuqiDuque12 | Pistons

2 | 8 hours ago

Simple : game 7 was awesome, and for some people it defines the entire rivalry

Willing-Leather-9788 [OP]

1 | 16 minutes ago

I get what you mean, but even 2015 was a very good series, injuries affected it a lot, more than most finals, but still.

And you still have 2018 game 1 when LeBron was actually showing he could beat them. Even the JR moment still adds to the rivalry as a story. With 2016 that’s enough to still be a great rivalry

Definitely not up there with the Celtics/Lakers rivalry of the 80s or the , but certainly better than most one-sided rivalries like 60s Celtics/Lakers, Bulls/Knicks, Pistons/Bulls, etc

Sti8man7 | Nuggets

-16 | 16 hours ago

LeBron got whipped 3 times. One gentleman sweep one absolute sweep

Cownye

12 | 16 hours ago

And all it took to beat him was the winningest team of all time with the first and only unanimous MVP to add perhaps the greatest scorer of this generation. No basketball team ever assembled is beating the KD Warriors, it ain’t anything to be ashamed of imo

Sti8man7 | Nuggets

1 | 16 minutes ago

Y’all say any shit to protect ur LeDarling. Glorify opponents and diminish teammates

JeanRalfio | MIN

-1 | 10 hours ago

It was cool to see if the greatest player could be the greatest team. Wish Lebron could have got one more of those though.

Sti8man7 | Nuggets

-6 | 14 hours ago

Except every team GSW met during the playoffs beat them. Only LeBron’s Cavs fared the worst.

redguyinfinite | Knicks

5 | 12 hours ago

They swept the western conference in ‘17

Kerambbba | Supersonics

6 | 16 hours ago

He was facing the Avengers

Sti8man7 | Nuggets

6 | 14 hours ago

Didn’t LeThanos have his own avengers?

HoBaggyPants

-1 | 13 hours ago

The Great Lakes Avengers.

GoLions17-0

-17 | 16 hours ago

Doesn’t matter should still win he Made it there

Cownye

8 | 16 hours ago

Fym he should “still win” 😂 it’s a team sport bub

TJhibs | Suns

8 | 16 hours ago

lebron should ascend and be able to 1v5. A real goat doesn’t need help /s

GoLions17-0

-8 | 16 hours ago

I mean ur right. No need for the /s

GoLions17-0

-10 | 16 hours ago

It’s not a team sport let’s face it. Lebron can win by himself. He can easily beat them, he did it the year before. He choked

Zoro11031 | Spurs

3 | 15 hours ago

I wonder what changed between 2016 and 2017

GoLions17-0

-6 | 15 hours ago

Still doesn’t matter. He went 12-1 in the east. Finish the job. He choked, allowed KD to hit GW in his face and score a lot. They beat them earlier in the year. People say super team this super team that but the Cavs were one with LeBron alone. Should’ve won the series.

Zoro11031 | Spurs

1 | 10 hours ago

Ok Skip 😂

As everyone knows, the Warriors and Cavs faced off in four consecutive finals from 2015-2018. They remain the only teams in NBA history to meet in more than two consecutive finals