The Warriors in the mid-late 2010s were one of the most dominant dynasties in NBA history. They made five NBA Finals appearances and won three championships.
Even after a few years of failing to make the playoffs or being low seeds in the playoffs, they managed to find a way to win a fourth title with some of their core players in 2022 against the Celtics.
This was the norm for the time, but we haven’t seen much consistent overlap since then.
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Eye-opening stat about reigning champions recently
Including this postseason, we have not seen a reigning champion make the Conference Finals in each of the last six postseasons.
| Team | Champion | Following Postseason Result |
| Raptors | 2019 | Lost in ECSF |
| Lakers | 2020 | Lost in First Round |
| Bucks | 2021 | Lost in ECSF |
| Warriors | 2022 | Lost in ECSF |
| Nuggets | 2023 | Lost in ECSF |
| Celtics | 2024 | Lost in ECSF |
Three teams on this list did go to seven-game series in the ones they lost (Raptors, Bucks, Nuggets).
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It’s interesting to see that over the last half-decade, it has been difficult for teams to get past even two rounds when they just won a championship.
Even with some movement, all of these teams were very talented the following year and had shots at making it back to the Conference Finals.
With the Celtics failing to make it past the Knicks, we wonder if this is an ongoing curse or just a reality of the new NBA.
The effects of the new CBA have impacted teams over the last few years for the first time, which makes it harder for superteams to form.
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Most would agree that what the Warriors had in their string of championships and NBA Finals appearances was a superteam, which we now don’t see as often.
Even when we do, they don’t last for more than a season or two before players want to cash out in free agency or the team simply can’t pay the luxury tax bills anymore.
This year we are set to possibly see a new team win their first title as a franchise or first title in quite some time.
The Thunder have great depth on their team and so many assets through picks they’ve accumulated that they can form a team in the next few years that few will be able to replicate under the new CBA rules.
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