Rockets beat stockton and malone, barkley’s suns, mvp David Robinson, and shaq and penny. Probably the most difficult slate faced by an nba title winner ever. 06 cardinals beat a mid padres team, a really good but not historically great mets team, and the wild card tigers.

Also imo these are not the worst teams to win a ring in their sports. To me those are the 78 bullets and 87 twins.

It’s always going to be the NBA team because the baseball playoffs have significantly more variance. The results of the MLB playoffs don’t really mean that much year-to-year because of the low sample size.

Mario Elie’s Kiss of Death shot in 1995 is still the coldest shot in NBA history to me. I can’t disagree that there have been more consequential shots (Ray Allen, Kyrie, Ralph Sampson and others) - but the Elie one was just such a dagger when you consider how the series went, and how the Suns and Rockets battled the year prior, how it happened in Phoenix and silenced the arena, etc.. I was 13 years old watching it, sitting on my couch and it was just like an icicle stabbing the heart of the Suns, I loved it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yivg4g1Ol1c

The 2006 Cardinals were much better than their regular season record showed. Edmonds and Eckstein both missed a lot of time with injuries and Rolen was playing through a shoulder issue. Their closer also had season-ending surgery, which led to Wainwright taking the spot.

They had Pujols and Chris Carpenter and one of the best managers ever with a veteran lineup. While their postseason run was impressive, I think the potential was always there.

I can’t talk rationally about the 2006 Cardinals. Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS might be my worst sports fan experience.

They canceled the NLCS in 2006. Never happened.

Well, despite the Rockets having a mid-regular season, they were still REIGNING NBA CHAMPIONS!!!

Literally 2 of my favorite postseasons ever (as a native St. Louisan who lived in Houston for 10 years of Hakeem’s prime).

Cardinals were impressive, but the gauntlet that Houston team went through on the road was insane.

I just wish MJ had managed to get the Bulls past Shaq to make it even more indisputably the best run ever.

The ‘95 Rockets were only underdogs if you weren’t paying attention.

They dropped some easy games during Vernon Maxwell’s 10 game suspension (after he went into the stands to fight someone)

They had a poor 3-7 record in the ten games which Hakeem didn’t play (short-term injuries)

They had to rapidly figure out their new new strategy and rotations after the late season addition of Clyde Drexler to the roster

That said, the first two rounds of the 1995 playoffs were tight for Houston:

Round 1: Rockets vs. Jazz (3-2) - 4 point win in deciding game

Round 2: Rockets vs. Suns (4-3) - 1 point win in game 7

Round 3: Rockets vs. Spurs (4-2) - Olajuwon went at Robinson’s throat

And then they steamrolled Shaq in the finals.

2019 Blues if we are picking a St. Louis team

I think it’s really hard to consider a defending champ a huge underdog.

Plus they acquired Drexler near the deadline, and he was two years (and a finals) removed from being seen as close to as good as Jordan, and while that was a narrative that got corrected hard between the ‘92 finals and the Olympics, we’re still talking about somebody who was seen as the second- or third-best scoring guard in the league. So their record wasn’t really reflective of who they were as a team when the playoffs rolled around.

95 Rockets

Never underestimate the heart of a champion. -Rudy T

Cardinals, Rockets were the defending champs while the cardinals last title was in 1982

The Rockets were the defending champs.

It’s the Cardinals.

Idk I don’t follow baseball. That’s why I’m in the nba sub and not the mlb one

The ‘95 Rockets ate the souls of three teams in a row in the playoffs. It’s them.