The NBA hasn't seen this much parity in a long time.
For the sixth consecutive season, there will be a different team hoisting the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy -- a feat that only has happened once before between the 1974-75 and 1979-1980 seasons.
The NBA will crown a different champion for the sixth straight season.
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 20, 2024
2023-24: TBD...
2022-23: Denver
2021-22: Golden State
2020-21: Milwaukee
2019-20: L.A. Lakers
2018-19: Toronto
The only other time in league history with six different champions in a six-season span was… pic.twitter.com/HSCjXUXgTN
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The Warriors helped the league get to this point by defeating the Boston Celtics in six games during the 2022 NBA Finals.
Ironically, Golden State also is a key reason why the league took its time returning to this level of fairness. LeBron James, too, with his multiple teams, generally won when the Warriors didn’t.
Of course, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, while under coach Steve Kerr, dominated the NBA for virtually a decade.
Between the 2014-15 and 2021-22 seasons, the Warriors won four NBA Championships and reached six straight Western Conference Finals. Beginning with that 2014-15 campaign, Golden State made the NBA Finals for five consecutive seasons until the 2019-2020 season -- when the Warriors missed the playoffs and finished 15-50 without Thompson (knee).
Golden State Warriors
Today, the Warriors still are reeling from their season-ending 118-94 NBA Play-In Tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings on Apr. 16 at Golden 1 Center.
But always, regardless of whether Golden State can return to the mountaintop, what the Warriors were able to accomplish with their star-studded roster in the Bay Area will never be forgotten.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league likely are thrilled to annually have different stars emerging on the game’s biggest stage and different teams hanging banners at the start of each season.
Though, fans likely will never see anything close to the prime Warriors ever again.