A Watchability Ranking of NBA Finals Scenarios
We’re now officially in the winning stretch of the NBA season with about a month left until the playoffs, and although the Lakers and the Bucks sit high atop their respective conferences while the rest of the league jostle for positioning, a LeBron vs. Giannis finals hasn’t been set in stone just yet. This season has been a particularly entertaining one what with all the teams with a rational shot at winning the championship. From the outside, it may seem like the Lakers (47–13) and the Bucks (53–9) are taking a massive dump on parity in the NBA, but there are at least four other teams that you could talk yourself into winning the title.
It’s a liberating feeling to be able to finally fantasize about a myriad of NBA Finals scenarios after years and years of Warriors versus the world narratives, so liberating to the extent that I made like Doctor Strange and reviewed all the Finals matchup possibilities and ranked them according to their ceiling of entertainment.
So how does the ranking work?
The eight teams that I gathered for this ranking are purely based on my gut feeling that a) they don’t suck and b) a sheer run through of their games and experience that deem them Finals-ready. From the East: Bucks, 76ers, Celtics, Raptors, Heat. From the West: Lakers, Clippers, Rockets. Teams like the Nuggets, Jazz, and Pacers are ones that I simply consider as pitch-black horses to make a run for the title, so I’ll go ahead and disregard them. Then, I mashed together all the possible matchups between the teams for a total of 15 scenarios.
As for the ranking per se, I considered the following factors:
Media narrative: The NBA will never go a day without drama, and that’s probably the best thing about it (aside from, you know, basketball).
Historical context: From the smallest of Twitter beefs to actual bad blood off the court, context is almost always a must in the formula for the perfect NBA Finals.
Rivalry: Jordan vs. Drexler, Celtics vs. Lakers, Karl Malone vs. the NBA title; everybody loves a tasty rivalry.
Now that all of the grounds have been established, here’s the list, starting with…
The “Well at least the Warriors are not here anymore” tier
15) Rockets vs. Heat
Media narrative: Threes. Everywhere.
Historical context: N/A
Rivalry: N/A
14) Clippers vs. Heat
Media narrative: Very minimal narratives to be made here unless Jimmy Butler and Patrick Beverley start a race for the most number of techs.
Historical context: N/A
Rivalry: There’s a case for Clippers-Heat as far as rivalries go with the nuclear personalities of Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder, Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverley, and Marcus Morris due to blow up anytime.
13) Rockets vs. Raptors
Media narrative: Outside of Bleacher Report who will definitely flood the timeline with Drake and Travis Scott memes and fit checks, there’s nothing much to see here in terms of narrative. The matchup will be interesting, though: all-offense from the Rockets against all-defense from the Raptors.
Historical context: N/A
Rivalry: N/A
12) Lakers vs. Heat
Media narrative: Expect a lot of comparisons between the two most famous James superteams: the Big Three of Bron, Wade, and Bosh, and the Dynamic Duo of Bron and Anthony Davis.
Historical context: LeBron James going back to Miami for some lighthearted fun against the Heatles!
Rivalry: LeBron James and Andre Iguodala giving each other PTSD after all those Cavs-Warriors years; Dion Waiters giving the Heat PTSD in general.
The “I’ll only watch this if it’s a tight game with 2 minutes remaining” tier
11) Lakers vs. Raptors
Media narrative: There’s an unnoticed concubine of Raptors doubters somewhere chanting the words “Toronto only won because LeBron left the East” to spin the narrative, and it’s up to Kyle Lowry and Co. to prove everyone once and for all that it will never be LeBronto anymore.
Historical context: LeBron has repeatedly beaten down on the Raptors in almost all of his years in his second run with the Cavs. Despite the Raptors being defending champions, this would still set them up as underdogs given the LeBron factor. Unlike the years’ past, we all know what Toronto is capable now with that nobody-believes-in-us edge.
Rivalry: LeBron takes on Canada once again
10) Rockets vs. Celtics
Media narrative: The coaching wars will be the main name of the game, as the question now arises for Brad Stevens on whether or not he replicates the Pocket Rockets. Enes Kanter is essentially unplayable, and it will be a tall order for all of either Robert Williams, Grant Williams, and Daniel Theis to sustain their energy guarding the perimeter for a whole series.
Historical context: N/A
Rivalry: Bill Simmons vs. Rockets Twitter
The “This is weird but I love it anyway” tier
9) Lakers vs. Sixers
Media narrative: How does the Fresh Prince of Philly size up to the King of LA?
Historical context: A star-studded series of James, Davis, Simmons, and Embiid is always going to be cause for excitement in the playoffs.
Rivalry: Sixers fans vs. Lakers fans; Joel Embiid vs. Lakers fans; Joel Embiid vs. Sixers fans
8) Clippers vs. Sixers
Media narrative: Two teams that underachieved during the season looking to prove their worth: the Sixers looking for revenge after Kawhi singlehandedly bumped them out of title contention and the Clippers looking to finally stave off their “little brother” tag in LA.
Historical context: The Sixers were a certain big shot by Kawhi in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semis too short from making the Conference Finals, and possibly, the Finals.
Rivalry: Kawhi vs. the Sixers
7) Clippers vs. Raptors
Media narrative: Generic Raptors praise due Toronto’s way after making all the way back to the Finals a year later even after losing their best player in franchise history.
Historical context: Kawhi now trying to bring his team to its first title in history after just bringing the opponent to theirs the year prior.
Rivalry: a microscopic percentage of Raptors fans still salty that Kawhi left vs. Kawhi
6) Rockets vs. Sixers
Media narrative: It’s always going to be a matter of size now for Houston, especially against a team like Philadelphia, the Yin to their Yang.
Historical context: Aside from Joel Embiid dunking on Russell Westbrook and staring him down a couple of years back, there’s not much history between the two teams.
Rivalry: Offense evangelists vs. defense evangelists, on steroids
5) Clippers vs. Celtics
Media narrative: The duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George meet their Junior Varsity equivalent in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Historical context: The two teams played extremely entertaining games this season: a couple of matches that went to overtime and saw Jayson Tatum score 31 and 39.
Rivalry: Leonard and George vs. Tatum and Brown
The “There’s a rivalry here somewhere” tier
4) Lakers vs. Celtics
Media narrative: Jayson Tatum’s ascent to NBA stardom meets one of its long-standing tests of being able to beat the King.
Historical context: The greatest rivalry in basketball at the highest stage is finally a possibility again after 10 terribly long years.
Rivalry: Lakers vs. Celtics; LeBron vs. Enes Kanter; Anthony Davis’ dad vs. Danny Ainge
3) Rockets vs. Bucks
Media narrative: A classic MVP battle coupled by their respective shooters slinging threes everywhere. Basically an orgasmic clash of new age basketball for the progressive, pro-jumpshooting NBA fan.
Historical context: Giannis jokingly (or was he?) slandering Harden before and after the All-Star Game and Harden proclaiming that Giannis has no skill is all the context you need to get riled up for this series.
Rivalry: See historical context
The “Adam Silver is the second coming of Christ” tier
2) Clippers vs. Bucks
Media narrative: It’s a crossroads series for Giannis: win this series and he’s the new torch-bearer of the NBA; lose to Kawhi again and this will take a significant hit in his legacy for the time being.
Historical context: Kawhi and Giannis Vol. 1 gave us the most powerful trash talk-less back and forth when the two squared off in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. In this installment, Giannis will look to one-up on Kawhi and seek vengeance for Milwaukee’s almost-Finals berth last season.
Rivalry: Kawhi vs. Giannis
1) Lakers vs. Bucks
Media narrative: Will we see the reign of King James continue to encompass the NBA landscape or will a coronation take place for Giannis?
Historical context: All roads lead to Giannis and LeBron. Despite all the other possibilities that I’ve numbered, nothing beats the bout between the best of the West and the beast of the East. We’ll finally see the two very best players in the game go at it at a stage much, much bigger than being team captains in the NBA All-Star Game.
Rivalry: “GIANNIS vs. LEBRON: A RIVALRY WE ALWAYS KNEW WE WANTED”
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