5 Best NBA Champions Since Shaq and Kobe in 2000 (2024)

To end the 2023-24 NBA season, the Boston Celtics completed one of the most dominant seasons by an NBA Champion by taking down the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5. The Celtics were the league's best team all season long and finished off an 80-21 campaign with a 16-3 playoff run for the ages, stamping themselves as a historically great team.

Critics of this squad as an all-time great group will cite the Celtics' relatively weak and injury-riddled path to the Finals, as well as the lack of the Denver Nuggets in the championship round. Meanwhile, defenders of their case will refer to the incredible statistical dominance of the Celtics by every measure imaginable.

There is no doubt that the 2024 Boston Celtics are a special group, but where do they rank among 21st century champions?

5 2024 Boston Celtics

Boston had a historically great wire-to-wire season

At number five is the team we all just watched hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy, the 2023-24 Boston Celtics. Characterized by their team-based approach with a rotation that goes six deep of excellent players and eight deep of elite three-point marksmen, Boston boasted one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history from Game 1 until clinching the title.

The Celtics were 64-18 in the regular season with the fourth-best net rating of all-time and capped off their incredible campaign with a dominant 16-3 playoff run where they were never truly tested. Boston was clearly the best team in the league throughout the entire 2024 season, which is not something every championship team can say.

This team was the finished product of a potentially dynastic run for a core that has been knocking on the door for eight straight years around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. They finally got it done in 2024, but there is much, much more to come for this franchise, as Tatum is 26, Brown is 27, Derrick White is 29, and Kristaps Porziņģis is 28.

They are at five for two reasons: their path to the championship was relatively easy, and they lack the all-time great players that the top four teams have. However, in a few seasons, this perception could be vastly different.

4 2014 San Antonio Spurs

Possibly the best team basketball to ever be played, the Spurs got revenge on Miami

After losing the 2013 Finals in heartbreaking fashion on the iconic Ray Allen Game 6 three-pointer, the San Antonio Spurs returned in 2014 with a vengeance. Winners of 62 regular season games, San Antonio capped off their dynasty by beating Dirk Nowitzki's Mavericks, Russell Westbrook's Oklahoma City Thunder, and the same Heat.

San Antonio displayed some of the best ball and player movement ever seen in the NBA, and are arguably the greatest pure team in league history. What they lacked in overall talent and athleticism was made up for in chemistry, as they blew out the Heat in record fashion in a five-game domination.

This Spurs squad still featured Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili, but was completed by sharpshooter Danny Green and a rising superstar in Kawhi Leonard. SA beat Miami by 15, 19, 21, and 17 to bring home their fifth championship in 16 seasons under coaching legend Gregg Popovich.

2014 San Antonio remains the blueprint for any team looking to play above the talent of their roster and can be an inspiration for the next wave of great total teams.

3 2013 Miami Heat

Arguably LeBron James' best season ever, Miami repeated in incredible fashion

Easily the best of the four Miami Heat teams featuring LeBron James, the 2013 Heatles were on a mission to prove their lockout-season 2012 championship wasn't a fluke. It was a perfect storm for Miami, as they simultaneously got the best version of James, the last elite season of Dwyane Wade, and finally filled in all the gaps on the margin of their roster.

In 2011 and 2012, the supporting cast around the three highly-paid superstars was woefully incomplete and caused them issues in several tight series. After signing Ray Allen, the Heat now had Chris Bosh, Allen, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Chris Anderson, and several other quality role players to support their top two guys.

This season also featured arguably the best version of James we have ever witnessed. It was a dangerous combination of LeBron remaining at peak athleticism while mastering his post-game, three-point shot, and playmaking. Whether it is better than his 2016 or 2018 self, it is undoubtedly the greatest two-way version of James.

Going 66-16 with a 27-game winning streak, Miami was the best team in the league all year long, and beat the Spurs dynasty with Parker, Duncan, Ginobili and the crew in an iconic NBA Finals.

2 2001 Los Angeles Lakers

Shaq and Kobe's second straight title was extremely dominant, going 15-1 in the postseason

It is well-documented that Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant couldn't coexist forever, eventually splitting apart in 2004 due to personality differences among other issues. However, at their peak, there was nothing quite like the dominance of two prime freaks of nature in the same lineup.

Similarly to the 2017–2019 Warriors, it is nearly unstoppable when a team has two of the three top players in the league playing their best basketball, and that is what this Lakers squad had. Add in several great role players, such as Derek Fisher, Horace Grant, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, and more, and no one could touch the best version of the Lakers.

On their way to a second consecutive title, Los Angeles went 11-0 in the Western Conference Playoffs and finished 15-1 to hoist the trophy. Only Allen Iverson's iconic 48-point masterpiece with his legendary step-over of Tyronn Lue could prevent LA from achieving perfection in their run.

1 2017 Golden State Warriors

Kevin Durant's first Warriors team went 67-15 and 16-1 in the playoffs

Arguably the greatest collection of talent ever assembled, the 2017 Golden State Warriors have to be number one on this list. As the team that capitalized on Kevin Durant's infamous decision to spurn the Thunder for the franchise that had just won 73 games and came back from a 3-1 deficit against Durant himself, only the 1996 Chicago Bulls rival the excellence that this squad displayed.

The 2017 Warriors won their first 15 playoff games before losing Game 4 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were a great team in their own right. Never before has a team made it look so easy on the offensive end of the floor, and GS was also one of the league's best defense as well.

This Warriors group was the inventor of positionless basketball, where every player on the floor can fulfill multiple roles, offering few weaknesses for the opposing team to exploit. Along with this came the first small-ball lineup ever used to its full effect, as Draymond Green playing the center position unlocked a five-out offense like never before. The Warriors could essentially play any opponent's big man off the floor in a playoff series.

Any team that has the current second and third-best players as well as two more All-Stars and several quality veteran role players is going to run through the league with ease. Add in the Warriors' revolutionary team-driven style of play, and this team was unbeatable.