Alright guys, I'm looking for a little help on this personal project I'm doing. I wanted to start a season on 2K12 (UBR) as the greatest season I can make it. 30 greatest teams of all time, one season. I've been putting a lot of time and thought into which teams to include and have dwindled it down the best I can, but I could use some advice in a few areas. Here's what I have...
First off, I am including teams only from 1980 onward as I find these to be the teams that are most fun to play with and easily compete against each other talent-wise. Secondly, my first priority was including the best TEAMS of this era, with second priority being to represent as many great PLAYERS as I could. Lastly, I wanted to have the most variety of teams I could, so I tried to stay away from things like having the '91 Bulls AND '96 Bulls, but rather just picking the '96 team. Teams that had the same core group I would try and keep to one representation.
Here is the list of 26 definite teams to include that I came up with right off the bat:
1983 76ers - (Moses & Dr. J, won the chip. Thought about the '85 team with rookie Barkley, but that adds 2 extra years on the aging team so not sure it was worth it.)
1986 Celtics - (Bird, McHale, Parish, won the chip. Considered a top 3 team all time, easy choice.)
1986 Rockets - (Akeem & Sampson, took out the Lakers and made the finals. Fun team with the original Twin Towers.)
1987 Lakers - (Magic, Worthy, Kareem. Considered the best team of show time era, easy choice.)
1989/90 Pistons - (Isiah. Not sure it matters which year, both great teams, nearly identical and two rings.)
1992 TrailBlazers - (Drexler)
1993 Suns - (Barkley, KJ. Barkley wins MVP, carries team to finals. Dope team.)
1993 Knicks - (Ewing. Probably best team of '90s Knicks era, really tested Bulls in ECF.)
1995 Magic - (Shaq, Penny. Fun young team, went to finals.)
1994/95 Rockets - (Hakeem. Which year you guys think? Main difference was '94 had Maxwell and '95 had Drexler, I believe.)
1996 Bulls - (MJ & Pippen, Rodman. 72 wins. GOAT.)
1996 SuperSonics - (Payton & Kemp. What you guys think, this or '93 team where Kemp was OMFG athletic? I went here cause went to finals and played Bulls well.)
1997/98 Jazz - (Stockton & Malone. Could have went with a younger team for them in their prime but this was clearly the best team they were ever on. Suggestions on '97 or '98? Not sure that matters.)
1998 Pacers - (Reggie, Mullin. Miller's best team, took Bulls to brink in ECF.)
2000 TrailBlazers - (All around dope squad. Perfect mix of young players and old vets. So fun to play with.)
2001 Lakers - (Shaq & Kobe. Their best team, right? Unbelievable playoff run, although I do miss having Glen Rice from the previous year's team.)
2002 Kings - (Webber. Awesome team. So many weapons. Should have chipped.)
2004 Pistons - (Epitomized team basketball. Dope defensive squad.)
2005 Suns - (Nash, Stoudemire. Nash wins MVP, almost beats Spurs but JJ breaks his face. Super fun offensive team.)
2005 Spurs - (Duncan. Need help on this one. '99, '03, '05, or '07? I settled on '05 cause it was prime Duncan with heavily improved TP and Manu from '03 and it was his first chip sans Robinson.)
2008 Celtics - (Allen, Pierce, Garnett. Three great players, however, not at the peak of their powers. Still, one of the greatest teams (especially defensively) of all time.)
2011 Mavericks - (Dirk. Dirk in his prime carried his team in an unbelievable postseason run. Epic.)
2013 Lakers - (Deciding between '09, '10, and current Lakers. I picked current because it allows me to represent a Kobe team and Dwight team at the same time. Any objections and I'm open to a switch.)
2013 Heat - (Either this or '12 Heat. Don't really care. Lebron at his best, with past his prime Wade.)
2013 Thunder - (Again, either this or '12 version. Doesn't matter. Westbrook, Durant, Harden. Awesome team.)
Okay, so that's 26 teams. Unless we remove any, that leaves 4 spots left. Here are some honorable mentions that I came up with, featuring players that were either not represented at all or not "properly" represented (in their prime. Ex: Jason Kidd on '11 Mavs, Wade on '13 Heat, etc.) and other fun teams that could be included:
Jason Kidd - One of the best point guards ever when in his prime. Possibilities: '97 Suns, '00 Suns, '02 Nets (took to finals),'06 Nets (also features Vince).
Allen Iverson - One of my favorite players ever. Obvious choice would be the '01 76ers.
Tim Hardaway - '91 Warriors (Run TMC), '97 Heat (w/ Zo)
Chris Paul - '08 Hornets or current Clippers (gets Blake too!)
Derrick Rose - only option would be current Bulls, and as a salty fan not sure I wanna do that haha.
Dwyane Wade - '06 Heat (Wade was so good those playoffs. also features still-kicking Shaq!)
Tracy McGrady - '03 Magic, '09 Rockets. Not sure either of these teams were good enough to warrant including. Story of his career (injuries too).
Ray Allen - '05 Sonics. Again, don't think it's worth it.
Dominique Wilkins - '86 Hawks or '90 Hawks. Latter team also features Doc and Spudd!
Lebron James - '09 Cavs. But I think the current Heat team is far better and he is probably better too, so probably pointless.
Paul Pierce - '02 Celtics. Young Pierce with Antoine Walker! haha
Chris Mullin - Another '91 Warriors Run TMC member.
Vince Carter - '00 Raptors or '06 Nets. Personally love Raptors era Vince.
Grant Hill - '97 Pistons. Come on, Grant pre-injury was fantastic!
Carmelo Anthony - '07 Nuggets (w/Camby & AI) or current Knicks. Not bad!
David Robinson - '95 Spurs (MVP year. However, gets wrecked by Dream. Features Rodman as well. Pretty great team actually. I think this one should be in.)
Dwight Howard - If the 2013 Lakers should be excluded, then we need a Dwight team which would be the '09 Magic where he carries them to finals... err... rides the 3 pointers.
Alonzo Mourning - '93 Hornets, '97 Heat. Definitely would go with '97 Heat for him. He is underrated, loved his game.
Dikembe Mutombo - '94 Nuggets or '97 Hawks. Not great teams, but he was a beast. So yeah, probably not.
Yao Ming - '04 Rockets or '09 Rockets. Would love to include a Yao/T-Mac team, just for shits and giggles.
1999 Rockets - They didn't amount to anything, but come on, Pippen-Barkley-Hakeem has to count for something!
2007 Warriors - Baron, Richardson, Monta, Barnes, Jackson, Harrington... that firepower!! What a team!
So yeah, some of those honorable mentions are a stretch but I decided to throw them in to ponder anyways as they are some personal favorites. Please, help me out here! Need those few more teams and I'm off to begin the greatest NBA season ever! (I have a lot of time on my hands)
