One of the standards for determining which champion teams in NBA history pulled off the biggest surprise in winning it all is to look at the expectations before the start of the season. The best way to do this is to look at the preseason championship odds at which the teams were pegged. For this article, we used the preseason betting odds at Basketball Reference to compare which past NBA champions were the biggest underdog champions in the history of the NBA.
Here they are:
The Golden State Warriors’ first-ever NBA title tops our list. The Dubs entered the 2015 season having made the playoffs just three times since the 1994 season. The team had not been to the Western Conference Finals since 1976 and had not won a title since 1975 when they swept the Washington Bullets in the Finals.
The Warriors built a team from scratch. They picked Steph Curry in 2009, Klay Thompson in 2011, and Draymond Green plus Harrison Barnes in 2012. In 2013, Steph Curry had that breakout game at the Madison Square Garden and made the playoffs in 2013 and 2014. When Steve Kerr replaced Mark Jackson in 2015, things fell in place and the Dubs would go on to win three out of the next four NBA titles.
The Dallas Mavericks’ only NBA title came in 2011 and that was the first major sports championship in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999. The Mavericks had made the playoffs since the 2000 season, making a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2003 and the NBA Finals in 2006. Dirk Nowitzki was named the NBA MVP in 2007 while Jason Terry won Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2009. But at that point, Dallas had more heartbreaks than successes.
In 2010, the Mavs finished 1st in the Southwest Division and were the 2nd seed in the West. However, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 in round one of the playoffs so not much was expected from this team in 2011. But after ousting the defending champions Lakers in the second round, Dirk Nowitzki turned in a playoff to remember as he led the Mavs to a 4-2 win in the 2011 Finals against Miami’s Big Three.
The Toronto Raptors had never made the NBA Finals before the 2019 NBA Finals and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals only once in their history before last season. Entering the 2019 playoffs, Toronto had been eliminated by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers via back to back 4-0 sweeps. The Raptors fired head coach Dwane Casey despite leading the team to their best season ever in 2018 with 59 wins.
Nick Nurse took over in 2019 but the game-changer was the trade which brought Kawhi Leonard to Toronto from the San Antonio Spurs. Leonard would make a successful return from a quad injury in San Antonio to lead the Raptors to their first-ever NBA title. After upsetting the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, the Raptors took advantage of injuries to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant as they beat the defending champions Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
The Detroit Pistons won back to back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990 but they fell out of grace after everyone on that Bad Boys team retired. From 1992-2001, they made only five playoff appearances and lost in the first round in all instances. In 2002, the Pistons became a contender with the emergence of Ben Wallace as the best defensive player in the league.
After Wallace won back to back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2002 and 2003, the Pistons made a serious run at the title in 2004. But that year, nobody expected to topple the Los Angeles Lakers who boasted Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton. However, the Pistons used teamwork and youth over talent and experience to shock the Lakers and become one of the biggest underdog champions ever in the NBA.
Hakeem Olajuwon’s first trip to the NBA Finals was in 1986 when he was still known as Akeem and when he was still paired with Ralph Sampson in the NBA’s original Twin Towers combination. When Rudy Tomjanovich came in 1992, the Rockets slowly built a winner. With the likes of Kenny Smith and rookie Robert Horry, the Rockets became a clutch team.
With Michael Jordan retiring, the Chicago Bulls’ run of three straight NBA titles ended in 2004. Olajuwon had his best season ever as he was named both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. He would lead the Rockets to the Finals where they would beat Patrick Ewing and the Knicks in an epic seven-game championship series.
After winning their 4th NBA title in 2007, the San Antonio Spurs weren’t much of a threat anymore. Tim Duncan was getting older and their Big Three was starting to show signs of slowing down. In 2012 and 2013, the Miami Heat won back to back NBA titles behind their Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The 2013 title was won at the expense of these Spurs who were on the brink of winning the title when Ray Allen hit that dagger three-point basket in Game 6.
The Spurs came back for vengeance in 2014. They finished the season with 62 wins and they were the #1 team in the West. San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard had started to evolve as a two-way superstar and the likes of Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were now the top producers in the team. Duncan played terrific in the Finals but it was Leonard who won Finals MVP as the Spurs beat the favored Heat 4-1 in a rematch of the 2013 Finals.
Tim Duncan’s second NBA title came after the Los Angeles Lakers won three consecutive titles behind Kobe and Shaq. In 2003, the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in the conference semifinals and after sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the conference finals, it was all Duncan from there.
Duncan had a spectacular season in 2003. He won back to back NBA MVP awards and with David Robinson playing alongside him, the Spurs defeated the New Jersey Nets in the Finals 4-2. The Nets were led by Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Dikembe Mutombo, and Richard Jefferson. But the Spurs won the title behind their twin towers who were almost unstoppable in the 4-2 series win.
The Boston Celtics are the winningest team in the history of the NBA with a total of 17 NBA titles. But since the Bill Russell era, the championships have been scarce. Larry Bird won three during his era. Then it was a long period of drought that brought heartaches in the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. Then in 2008, the Celtics acquired Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.
Danny Ainge became the Executive of the Year for his trade moves as the Celtics went on to post an NBA-best 66-16 record and they would make the NBA Finals for the first time since 1986. Behind Paul Pierce, Garnett, Allen, and Rajon Rondo, the Celtics defeated Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 in the Finals with Pierce winning Finals MVP honors.
Michael Jordan was already a superstar the moment he first stepped inside an NBA hardcourt. However, MJ’s first seasons were a struggle and his Bulls would always come up empty in the playoffs. Then Scottie Pippen arrived and the Bulls started to develop into a contender under Phil Jackson.
MJ’s Bulls had lost to the Detroit Pistons in the previous three playoffs. It seemed that Jordan could never get over the Bad Boys rough defense. However, in 1991, Jordan was a man on a mission as he helped the Bulls sweep the Pistons 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals. He went on to beat Magic Johnson and the Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals.
Houston was a bigger underdog when they won their first NBA title in 1994. Although they were the defending champions, the NBA was still a wide-open league in 1995. The Chicago Bulls lost to the upstart Orlando Magic in the Conference Finals. Orlando made it to the NBA Finals behind Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, and Nick Anderson.
Orlando was having an excellent Game 1 of the Finals when Nick Anderson infamously missed two free throws in crunch time. The Rockets survived Game 1 and took the fight out of the Magic in that game. They would go on to sweep the series 4-0 to win their second straight NBA title. The Rockets were only seeded 6th in the West that season.
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