NBA Fight: 7 Champions Born in 7 Years, Three Points and Injuries Rewrite the Rules of Dynasty

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Dong Changshuo

The NBA division finals this season are in progress. The Pacers, Thunder and Timberwolves are sprinting towards the team's first NBA championship trophy in history. The Knicks are also fighting for the team's first championship in nearly 50 years. No matter which team wins the championship, they will become the 7th championship team in the NBA's nearly seven seasons, which is the first time in NBA history.

No team has been able to defend the title since the Golden State Warriors won the championship in 2017 and 2018. In fact, since then, there hasn't even been a defending champion who has been able to break through the second round in the second year of the playoffs. Even the Celtics, who are most optimistic about starting a new dynasty, were sent back to Boston by the Knicks in the series. There is no doubt that the NBA has entered a time of great chaos.

Of course, this big chaos is not only at the macro level, but also at the micro level. The Celtics and the Cavaliers, who are 20 points ahead, will be reversed by their opponents, the Nuggets, the fourth in the West, can also force the Thunder, which looks like a break-up in the regular season, and the Timberwolves, the sixth in the West, will now stand on the stage of the division finals. From 2000 to 2019, only one team was able to reach the division finals outside the fourth place in the regular season (the Grizzlies ranked fifth in the West in 2013). Since 2020, including the Timberwolves this season, 7 teams have done this. In the same range from 2000 to 2019, the average ranking of the teams in the division finals was 1.95, while from 2020 to 2025, this number was 3.45.

In the current league, when entering the series, the gap between the teams does not seem to be as big as the rankings. As three-pointers gradually become the main weapon widely recognized on the basketball court, the 20-point lead now seems to be "a big deal". So far, the NBA has seen five reversals and turnovers falling behind by 20 points this season in the playoffs, which is the same as the 20-point reversals in the entire regular season in 2005-06.

According to statistics, from the 1996-97 season to the 2016-17 season, the average number of 20-point reversals in the league was 12 times per season. Since the 2017-18 season, this number has risen to 28 times. Obviously, this has become the new normal in this league, and the playoffs are no exception.

The root cause of this chaos is not only three points, but also injuries. The injuries of Curry, Lillard, Tatum, Garland, Mobley and Gordon all affected the final result of the series to a certain extent. This season, five All-Stars have missed at least one playoff game this year. In the past 11 seasons, the average of this figure is 5.7 people, and in the 24 seasons, the average of this figure is only 2.4 people.

Don't think that the chaotic era of the NBA is only on the field. This season, although the Cavaliers and the Celtics were eliminated early due to injury problems, assuming that the players are all healthy, they may continue to be the favorites to win the championship next season. However, under the current salary framework, both teams need to reduce their rosters. The Warriors, Nuggets and Bucks have all experienced passive weakening of the lineup because they are unable to bear the salary of champions.

In addition, this summer, Antetokounmpo and Durant will continue the trading pattern of "star hegemony" in recent years; the sudden departure of Jenkins and Malone also reminds every head coach of his humble state of walking on thin ice; the Mavericks sent Doncic away and then got Flag, which makes people even more fascinated by the conspiracy theory behind the scenes... From the result of a game, to the ownership of the season championship, to the stars who determine the fate of the team for many years, there is no so-called conclusion in the NBA, and no one can predict the result. The era of chaos in the NBA has arrived.