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BOSTON’S 9 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 10 SEASONS The Miami Heat’s recent run of four consecutive Finals appearances is deservedly lauded. Only three other teams can lay claim to at least four straight shots at the title, but only the 1957-66 Celtics can lay claim to winning more than a pair during their run. Red Auerbach’s Boston Celtics, who dominated the entire decade of the 1960s won nine titles during their 10-year Finals streak. Led by Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam and K.C. Jones, Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek and Don Nelson among others won every season from 1959 through 1966, then after getting derailed by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967, the C’s went for back-to-back titles in 1968 and ’69 for good measure The Celts preceded the run by making the Finals in 1957 and ’58, splitting with the St. Louis Hawks. The ’60s gave birth to the rivalry with the Lakers, as the Celtics thwarted them seven times in the Finals (poor Elgin Baylor and Jerry West). The “Showtime” Lakers dominated the ‘80s, winning five titles and making eight Finals appearances and Jordan’s Bulls had their “Repeat Three-peat,” winning six titles in eight years in the ’90s (had Jordan not retired for a year and a half, the Bulls might have had a shot), but no dynasty matches the Celtics. With today’s transience of players, the San Antonio Spurs’ four titles and five Finals in 12 years or the Heat’s two and four may be as close as anyone gets. In fact, we should consider retiring—or at least redefining—the term “dynasty,” unless it applies to that run of Celtics. MICHAEL JORDAN’S 10 SCORING TITLES From 1987 through 1998, the only question surrounding the NBA scoring race was: Who will come in second behind Michael Jordan? Jordan winning the scoring title was pretty much assured, and he took on all comers, regardless of position. During his scoring run, Jordan topped Atlanta forward Dominique Wilkins, the era’s most dynamic small forward and the last person to beat Jordan for a scoring title (Nique’s 30.3 ppg in 1985-86 bested Jordan as he only played in 18 games after rehabbing from a broken foot) prior to his Airness’ run, four times. He bested power forward Karl Malone, the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer, four times. He also knocked off the decade’s top two centers, Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon and Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal. Jordan Abdul-Jabbar During that span, Jordan did fail to win two scoring titles. In 1993- 94, Jordan was retired, too busy trying to master hitting a baseball. And in 1994-95, he ended his baseball sabbatical to play in just 17 games (he did average 26.9 ppg, which if he qualified, would have placed him third that season). When Jordan took the scoring crown, he was usually decisive about it. There was only one instance, his last scoring title in 1997- 98 as a 34-year-old, that Jordan did not win the scoring title by more than a basket (O’Neal was the second-place finisher, 0.4 ppg behind Jordan’s 28.7). Jordan’s average ppg during his 10 scoring title seasons: 32.11 Even legendary scorers—Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the NBA’s scoring king and Wilt Chamberlain who averaged 50 points in a season and once notched a 100-point game—cannot lay claim to Jordan’s long run of dominance above the competition. Abdul-Jabbar only twice led the League in points per game while Chamberlain dominated the category for his first seven seasons before he slowed down. Jordan was able to sustain his greatness, knocking down the old guard of scorers like Larry Bird, Bernard King and Alex English, besting contemporaries like Wilkins, Malone and Patrick Ewing, while staving off new bloods like O’Neal, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant. Jordan’s 10 scoring titles hasn’t been challenged. Bryant draws many MJ comparisons, but he’s only taken the scoring crown twice. Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James have put up some big seasons, but each have only one scoring crown and at 30, neither will likely cop any more. Kevin Durant is a supreme scorer at just 26 with four scoring titles already, but he also plays in the same lineup as the explosive Russell Westbrook, making the requisite six more a long shot. KAREEM’S 38,387 POINTS There has never been a scorer like Abdul-Jabbar. In college, he started out as Lew Alcindor, a 7-2 center for the UCLA Bruins that dominated so much that the NCAA changed the rules to outlaw dunking in an attempt to even the playing field (it worked somewhat as Kareem’s scoring dropped in the subsequent years). It would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. With the high-percentage dunk taken out of his repertoire, Abdul- Jabbar reinvented himself, coming up with the skyhook and became the most lethal scorer ever to play. From 1969, when he came into the League as 22-year-old with Milwaukee through 1986, when he was center for “Showtime” Lakers at age 38, Kareem was as dependable for two points as the sunrise at providing light. Unlike the high scoring Wilt Chamberlain before him, Abdul- Jabbar dominated without dominating his other four teammates. Although he was clearly his team’s best option during most of his NBA career, Abdul-Jabbar only averaged about 18 shots per game, with no more than 24.9 one season. To compare, Wilt averaged 22.5 attempts in his career with a highwater mark of 39.5 attempts one season. The key to Kareem’s greatness was his slow-burning consistency: Nathaniel S. Butler, Dick Raphael/NBAE/Getty Images


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