No NBA champion has repeated the following year since the Lakers’ string of three consecutive titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
The difficulty is winning back-to-back titles clearly is illustrated when it comes to the San Antonio Spurs, who had a mini-dynasty going after the Lakers’ title run.
The Spurs won three titles in a five-year span. But when they won the NBA championship in 2003, they were dethroned the following year by the Lakers, in the Western Conference finals.
San Antonio won another NBA title in 2005 but the next year they were toppled by the Dallas Mavericks, in the conference semi-finals.
The Spurs rebooted and won the NBA championship in 2007. But of course last year, the Lakers ousted San Antonio in five games, in the conference finals.
The Spurs’ experience is one crucial reason by Boston won’t repeat.Here are five other reasons:
1. Bullseye on their back – The Celtics are not the only heavyweight in the Eastern Conference and teams like the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers are not going to sit idly by and let Boston stampede through the conference. Also, the lesser talented teams will bring their A games to any meeting with the defending champs. Don’t forget Boston’s difficulty in eliminating Atlanta in the first-round of the playoffs last season.
2. A weaker bench – Two huge off-season losses for Boston were forward James Posey and forward-center P.J. Brown. Both played integral roles for last season’s championship team. Posey took his 3-point shooting prowess, his defensive lockdown skills and his clutch fourth-quarter play to the New Orleans Hornets, who signed him as a free agent. The Celtics coaxed the 39-year old Brown out of retirement last season to play the final months. Boston wanted Brown to return this year, too, but so far he has remained home, tending to family life. Tony Allen has assumed Posey’s role and the dual package of Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Leon Powe have stepped in for Brown. Both roles are weaker than last spring, when the Celtics were rolling to the title.
3. Old legs – That was the classic line that Arthur Agee uttered to his vertically-challenged dad in the movie documentary “Hoop Dreams,” when the elder Agee failed badly on an attempted dunk shot. “You got old legs, Dad.” And that could turn out to be Boston’s Achilles’ heel this season. Their Big Three of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are 33, 32 and 31 years old, respectively.
4. Turnover prone – For a veteran team – although they do have a 22-year old starting point guard in Rajon Rondo – the Celtics turn the ball over an awful lot. They average nearly the same amount of turnovers per game as their opponents. Five Celtics average over two turnovers per game, led by Pierce, who turns it over nearly three times a game.
5. Lakers are better – Boston was lucky to catch the Lakers last spring, when center Andrew Bynum was out with a knee injury. But this Lakers’ team, intact is superior to the Celtics’ starting five and second unit. Kobe Bryant and company are determined to bring back a championship this season. Hence their daily huddle break chant at the conclusion of every practice – “On three…one, two, three…Ring.”
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