Daily Archives: March 30, 2012

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.  You know how you are hoping (or ever have) for that seventh or eighth playoff slot.  Well, it doesn’t make a difference.  Neither have ever won it all.

The 1995 Houston Rockets, in fact, are the highest (or lowest, depending on how you look at it) seed to win the NBA title.  They were a six seed.

Check this, it gets worse. No fifth seed has ever won and only one fourth seed has taken the championship.

That means only two teams in 65 Finals have not been either a one, two or three seed. Wow.

All is not lost though.  Making the playoffs and advancing is always fun.  I have many fond memories of the Patrick Ewing era, for example.

Still, it really is about winning it all.

Here are the NBA championship winners by seed:

Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz to be in the know.

No. 1 Seeds

1. 1948 Baltimore Bullets

2. 1950 Minneapolis Lakers

3. 1951 Rochester Royals

4. 1952 Minneapolis Lakers

5. 1953 Minneapolis Lakers

6. 1954 Minneapolis Lakers

7. 1955 Syracuse Nationals

8. 1956 Philadelphia Warriors

9. 1957 Boston Celtics

10. 1958 St. Louis Hawks

11. 1959 Boston Celtics

12. 1960 Boston Celtics

13. 1961 Boston Celtics

14. 1962 Boston Celtics

15. 1963 Boston Celtics

16. 1964 Boston Celtics

17. 1965 Boston Celtics

18. 1967 Philadelphia 76ers

19. 1970 New York Knicks

20. 1971 Milwaukee Bucks

21. 1972 Los Angeles Lakers

22. 1974 Boston Celtics

23. 1975 Golden State Warriors

24. 1976 Boston Celtics

25. 1979 Seattle SuperSonics

26. 1980 Los Angeles Lakers

27. 1981 Boston Celtics

28. 1982 Los Angeles Lakers

29. 1983 Philadelphia 76ers

30. 1984 Boston Celtics

31. 1985 Los Angeles Lakers

32. 1986 Boston Celtics

33. 1987 Los Angeles Lakers

34. 1988 Los Angeles Lakers

35. 1989 Detroit Pistons

36. 1990 Detroit Pistons

37. 1991 Chicago Bulls

38. 1992 Chicago Bulls

39. 1996 Chicago Bulls

40. 1997 Chicago Bulls

41. 1998 Chicago Bulls

42. 1999 San Antonio Spurs

43. 2000 Los Angeles Lakers

44. 2003 San Antonio Spurs

45. 2008 Boston Celtics

46. 2009 Los Angeles Lakers

47. 2010 Los Angeles Lakers

No. 2 Seeds

1. 1947 Philadelphia Warriors

2. 1949 Minneapolis Lakers

3. 1966 Boston Celtics

4. 1968 Boston Celtics

5. 1993 Chicago Bulls

6. 1994 Houston Rockets

7. 2001 Los Angeles Lakers

8. 2005 San Antonio Spurs

9. 2006 Miami Heat

No. 3 Seeds

1. 1973 New York Knicks

2. 1977 Portland Trail Blazers

3. 1978 Washington Bullets

4. 2002 Los Angeles Lakers

5. 2004 Detroit Pistons

6. 2007 San Antonio Spurs

7. 2011 Dallas Mavericks

No. 4 Seeds

1. 1969 Boston Celtics

No. 5 Seeds

None

No. 6 Seeds

1. 1995 Houston Rockets

No. 7, 8 Seeds

None

Photo: orlandosentinel.com