The NBA's Era of Parity Goes Even Deeper Than You Think
The league’s streak of 7 straight unique champions is historic — but even more unprecedented is the revolving door of conference champs that made it possible.
Even as someone who framed the entire 2024-25 NBA season around whether the league would continue its record levels of parity — there were six NBA champions in the six seasons from 2019-24, tying 1975-80 for the only such run in league history — I spent most of the season thinking the era was set to end soon. Either the Boston Celtics would repeat as champs, or maybe the Lebron/Luka Lakers, Denver Nuggets or Golden State Warriors would make another run — or even if an up-and-comer like Oklahoma City or Cleveland won it all, we would look at them as strong candidates to repeat again next year.
But with most of the season’s favorites in shambles, we are guaranteed to have a seventh consecutive season with a different NBA champion — the first time in league history that has ever been true.
And as loyal reader David writes, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the strange era of NBA parity we now inhabit:
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