It wasn’t long ago that the NBA Finals felt like they were already a formality when teams reported for training camp to start the new season. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off in four straight championship series from 2015-2018, which was part of a longer run of LeBron James’ team making eight straight trips to the NBA Finals. Everything changed in 2019 when Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both suffered devastating injuries, allowing the Toronto Raptors to capture an unlikely championship and unofficially starting the parity era.
The NBA has now seen eight unique champions. No team has even made back-to-back Finals appearances over that time. Durant’s...
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