Image via Complex Original
The NBA Finals have given fans more great moments and stories than we can name. Jordan's lay-up versus Magic's Lakers in 1991. 1976's triple-OT battle between Boston and Phoenix. Bird and Magic duking it out throughout the '80s. The list goes on and on and on. As fans, these memories have been ingrained in our heads since the moment we started watching the game, and are rehashed for us every year right around this time year. But what about the facts and figures that we've maybe managed to forget? Check out the 25 Things You Didn't Know About the NBA Finals.
Until 1982, the official name for the NBA Finals was the NBA World Championship Series. In '83 and '84, it was called Showdown.
In 1985, the league reverted back to NBA World Championship Series before finally settling on the less-wordy NBA Finals in 1986. Not gonna lie, though, we kinda like Showdown! Any chance we can still work that in somehow?
Darko Milicic is the youngest player to win an NBA championship.
In Detroit, fans referred to Darko as "The Human Victory Cigar," because by the time he ever got into a game the result had already been decided. During his rookie year, Milicic would ride the bench straight to an NBA title with the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons. At the time, he was just 18 years and 360 days old.
Robert Parish is the oldest player to win an NBA championship.
Robert Parish had won multiple titles with the Boston Celtics during the 1980s, playing a key role as an enforcer down low, while also possessing a reliable jump shot. When he got around to winning a title with the Chicago Bulls in '97, though, the peak of Parish's playing days had long since passed. However, even at 43 years of age, he was still able to come off the bench for 9.4 MPG and help the Bulls grab their fifth title in seven seasons.
The 1999 Knicks are the only No. 8 seed to reach the Finals.
In a lockout-shortened season, it's easy to forget that Jeff Van Gundy was able to lead his bottom-seeded Knicks to the Finals, where they would eventually fall short against Popovich's Spurs. The Knicks were only 27-23 that season, but hit their stride at just the right time, defeating the Heat and the Pacers en route to their second Finals appearance of the '90s. Unfortunately, they had lost Patrick Ewing to injury by the time they got there, and were quickly defeated in five games.
The lowest-rated NBA Finals of all time was the 2007 Cavs vs. Spurs matchup.
Even "The Chosen One" and San Antonio's Big Three couldn't save these two small-market teams from posting a measly 6.2 television rating. For casual viewers, the Spurs precise and methodical playing style has never really been able to achieve widespread appeal. Meanwhile, LeBron was on the court with the likes of Boobie Gibson, Sasha Pavlovic, and David Wesley which meant the Cavs were swept. Can you say snoozefest?
The highest-rated NBA Finals of all time was the 1998 Jazz vs. Bulls matchup.
Fitting that the last Finals appearance of MJ's career would also garner the highest television ratings of all time, coming in at a colossal 18.7. In fact, four of the Bulls' six championship series appearances are the most highly-rated in NBA history.
Hakeem Olajuwon auctioned his first NBA championship ring due to his Muslim faith, which forbids men to wear gold. After winning again in '95, the Rockets made his second ring out of platinum.
Going from gold to platinum? Wouldn't exactly call that a downgrade. Good of the Rockets to cater to their Finals MVP's beliefs, too. The Dream certainly earned it after leading all playoff performers with 725 points that year.
Since they switched to the 2-3-2 format in 1985, the teams that won Game 3 after the series was tied 1-1 have gone on to win the title 12 out of 13 times.
The lone exception? The 2011 Miami Heat. Look for Game 3 to be a pivotal moment in this year's series when the Spurs and the Heat meet again on Tuesday.
Magic Johson has the most triple-doubles in the Finals with eight. LeBron is second with three.
Magic's days with the Showtime Lakers were famously prolific, and his performances at the ultimate stage of competition were no exception. Johnson really could do it all during his career with Los Angeles, most notably in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals when, normally a point guard, he started at center after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had gone down with an ankle injury. While Johnson wouldn't finish with a triple-double in this game, it's a key example of the versatility that allowed him to influence the game in so many different categories.
LeBron added his third triple-double this years in a Game 1 loss to Spurs. He put up 18 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Michael Jordan's Bulls never played a Finals Game 7.
While the Jordan-era Chicago teams would play in multiple Game 7s leading up to the Finals, once they neared the finish line, they never let their opponent get too close. Jordan's Bulls were 6-0 in the NBA Finals, winning five of those matchups in six games, and taking their first title in five. But what's more surprising: the fact that they never played a Game 7, or that they never swept anyone?
The 2012 Finals were the first in NBA history—or any Big Four sport—to feature two teams whose names did not end in an “s.”
The only other matchup that could fit this criteria is a series between the Jazz and the Magic. Given that both teams failed to make the playoffs this season, we're not gonna hold our breath for that one any time soon.
The Celtics have made the most consecutive Finals appearances with 10.
That's right: 10 consecutive appearances, winning nine out of 10 including eight straight. Even if Jordan had stayed around in '94 and '95, he and the Bulls still wouldn't have been able to match that record. The Celtics were a model of consistency during the '50s and '60s, and remain the standard for championship dynasties of any sport.
The Spurs are 5-0 in Games 1s.
This statistic includes San Antonio's Game 1 victory against the Heat. In their previous Finals appearances, the Spurs are 4-0. Will they be able to make it 5-0 here as well?
Rasheed Wallace had his championship ring altered so that it would fit his middle finger.
What else would you expect from the NBA's all-time leader in technical fouls? Also, we present, without caption, these WWE-style championship belts Roscoe had made after he and the Pistons took down the Lakers in 2004. They pretty much speak for themselves.
The Eastern Conference has won more titles than the Western Conference.
Surprising, we know, given that the Western Conference has been so dominant for the past 15 years. The bulk of these titles came from the 1960s, when Bill Russell and his Boston Celtics absolutely ruled the hardwood. Jordan's Bulls also contributed more than their fair share.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won Finals MVPs in both 1971, and 1985; the largest gap of time in Finals MVP history.
In 1971, one day before changing his legal name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee Bucks center Lew Alcindor would claim his first Finals MVP trophy after leading his team in a sweep of the Baltimore Bullets. Fourteen years later, Abdul-Jabbar earned the same honors after he averaged 25.7 PPG, 9.0 RPG, and 5.2 APG to help the Los Angeles Lakers best Larry Bird and the Celtics.
Only four franchises have more than four titles.
The Celtics and Lakers lead the pack by a mile with 17 and 16 titles, respectively. Chicago claimed six of their own during the '90s, and San Antonio is hoping to add a fifth this year to the four that they already own. Together, they account for 68 percent of the league's championships.
Since 1999, either the Spurs, Lakers, Pistons, Celtics, Mavs, or Heat have won the NBA Finals.
Parity? What parity?
Elgin Baylor holds the record for the player with the most NBA Finals appearances without a ring.
During his 13-season career spent with the Lakers Baylor made a eight Finals appearances. Unfortunately those appearances came in the midst of the Celtics dynasty. Baylor would retire at the beginning of the Lakers' 71-72 championship season.
Elgin Baylor also holds the record for most points scored in a Finals game (61).
Elgin Baylor's importance to the Lakers absolutely cannot be understated. The dynamic, high-scoring forward boosted Minneapolis' attendence records and revenue at a time when the club was nearly facing bankruptcy. Baylor dropped 61 points on the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the 1962 NBA Finals. The Lakers would win that game 126-121 but ultimately lost the series in seven games.
As aforementioned Baylor would retire before ever winning a ring. Somehow, though, the basketball gods thought that Adam Morrison deserved to win two championship rings. SMH.
Jim Loscutoff and Robert Horry share the record for most rings by a non-Basketball Hall of Fame member.
Though they didn't have Hall-of-Fame caliber careers, Loscutoff and Horry certainly earned each of their seven rings. Horry was notorious for draining clutch basket after clutch basket with championship teams, earning the nickname, "Big Shot Rob." Many fans may be less familiar with Loscutoff. A defensive specialist and veteran presence with the '60s Celtics, Loscutoff would eventually have his name retired in the rafters of the Boston Garden (he requested that his jersey number, 18, stay available to future Celtics players).
13 of the current 30 NBA teams have never won a championship.
Sorry to all the Hornets/Bobcats, Hornets/Pelicans, Clippers, T-Wolves, Nets, Pacers, Jazz, Raptors, Cavs, Suns, Grizzlies, Nuggets, and Magic fans out there. Better luck next year (and the next year, and the one after that).
No player that has won the Most Improved Player has ever won a title.
The Most Improved Player Award has always been been pretty on-point with its selections—with past and current All-Stars like Jermaine O'Neal, Gilbert Arenas, and Paul George taking the honors at one time or another—but, unfortunately, that distinction has never translated to success in the NBA Finals as a player (Darrell Armstrong would eventually earn a title as an assistant coach with the 2011 Mavericks). It's up to T-Mac to reverse the curse.
Jerry West is the only Finals MVP to win the award while playing for the losing team.
Jerry West had to deal with years of disappointment in the Finals, falling eight times in the championship series before finally earning a title in 1972 against the Knicks. However, his lone Finals MVP would actually come in a year when he was on the losing end of the battle. In 1969, West was awarded the trophy after his Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Boston Celtics in a Game 7 where he would account for 42 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists.
The current championship trophy was designed in 1977. In 1984, the trophy was renamed the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. It was previously called the Walter A. Brown Trophy.
Made from 14.5 lbs of sterling silver and vermeil, and cased with a 24-karat gold overlay, the Larry O'Brien trophy was first named after the original Boston Celtics owner, Walter A. Brown. However, while Brown was a key figure in merging the BAA and NBL during the early days of the league, it was O'Brien who's mainly responsible for the NBA as we know it today. O'Brien oversaw the merger of the NBA and the ABA in 1976, was largely responsible for getting the league on cable television in 1982, and instituted the salary cap in 1983.
