Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls Are 6-0 in the NBA Finals. You’d Be Smiling Too.

There’s a popular post at Sports List of the Day where we broke down the Super Bowl records of every NFL team by Wins, W-L Pct and how it would all look in the standings.

Same here, this time for the NBA – and just in time for the 2013 NBA Finals.

Will the Miami Heat improve to 3-1 all time? Can the Indiana Pacers win their first? What about the San Antonio Spurs? Will they improve to a very neat 5-0, arguably the second best NBA Finals record ever? Will the Memphis Grizzlies get by to their first NBA Finals appearance?

Take a look below. We’ve got the Finals records of every team and the years of each win and loss. Then, everybody’s ranked by their Finals W-L percentage.

Finally, the all-time NBA Finals standings. A funky take.

The Chicago Bulls at 6-0 technically have the best Finals record of all time. Only three franchises are undefeated – the Bulls, Spurs and, believe it or not, the Kings.

The Boston Celtics (17) and Los Angeles/Minneapolis Lakers (16) have won 33 of the 66 total championships played through 2012. 50 percent! The Lakers have appeared in an astonishing 31 Finals. Almost 50 percent!

Thirteen franchises have yet to win a title, and seven of those haven’t had a shot at it yet.

Enjoy the rest of the postseason.

BY WINS

BY W-L PCT

BY DIVISION

Photo: Vincent Laforet/AFP/Getty Images via espn.com

Two All-Time NBA Playoff Leaders – Tim Duncan and Ray Allen – May Be Destined to Meet in the 2013 Finals

The NBA Playoffs are “Heat”ing up. Or are they cooling off? It looks like the San Antonio Spurs are going to cruise to their fifth NBA Finals appearance (they’re 4-0, by the way). Meanwhile, in the East – does anyone really think the Indiana Pacers are getting past the Miami Heat?

So Heat vs. Spurs in this year’s Finals? That might be pretty interesting, actually. If there’s any team with the skill and wits to overthrow the Heat, it’s Gregg Popovich‘s Spurs.

Speaking of, Tim Duncan has the most blocks in NBA playoff history. And look at that, the Heat’s Ray Allen has the most three-pointers in playoff history.

They’re listed below, along with all the postseason’s statistical leaders in the major categories. Packed mostly with Hall of Famers.

Thanks to basketball-reference.com!

Photos: mysanantonio.com / usatoday.com

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Is the Highest-Paid American Athlete of 2013

Sports Illustrated just busted out with its annual (and cornily-named) “Fortunate 50” list which ranks the highest-paid athletes in American sports.

The 2013 best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Floyd Mayweather, is also the highest paid American athlete of all. He was in 2012, too, when he supplanted Tiger Woods – who was the highest paid eight years in a row 2004-2011, at the top.

Mayweather is already inked for $90M thanks to two fights in 2013 – the Robert Guerrero match just a few weeks ago and another in the Fall. According to SI,

“From just two bouts this year, one earlier this month and the other scheduled for September, [Mayweather] will earn at least $90 million, and that’s conservative; he could make as much as $128 million.”

No wonder his nickname is “Money.” What’s more, none of Mayweather’s earnings have so far (or perhaps will) come from endorsements.

The Top 20 richest American athletes in 2013 are listed below. They represent five sports: Baseball (7), Basketball (6), Football (4), Golf (2) and Boxing (1). Four of them aren’t even playing – Derrick Rose, Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana and Kobe Bryant are all hurt right now and have/had injuries that are impacting/impacted their teams’ seasons.

For the full Top 50 and every athlete’s salary and endorsement breakdown, check out the original story over at Sports Illustrated.

Photo: twitter.com/FloydMayweather

Jimmie Johnson Wins His Fourth NASCAR All-Star Race. Sweet Ride, the Red and White Lowe’s 48.

Jimmie Johnson won his fourth NASCAR All-Star Race last night, most of any driver. “The Intimidator,” Dale Earnhardt, won three. Jeff Gordon – “Wonder Boy” as nicknamed by Earnhardt – also has three All-Star victories to his credit.

The All-Star Race was first run in 1985 and has its home at the Charlotte Motor Speedway (except for 1986 when it ran at Atlanta Motor Speedway).

Six drivers have won the race more than once, listed below. Terry Labonte is the only one to win it for two different teams.

Johnson and the late Davey Allison are the only to win it back-to-back.

Who knows how many more the very promising Allison, son of NASCAR great Bobby, would have won? He died in a helicopter crash in 1993 at the age of 32. In just nine years of racing he already had accumulated 19 wins, 14 poles, 66 Top 5s, and 92 Top 10s.

Photo: cupscene.com

Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Preakness Stakes Winner and Mother (Dam)

Most horses that run (and win) in the triple-crown races – Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes – are colts. Colts are male horses under the age of four. Past four, male (adult) horses are called “stallions” or just plain old “horses.” All 11 triple-crown winners have been colts.

Fillies are female horses usually under the age of four, but for the sake of horse racing, that limit is pushed up a year to five. Adult female horses are called “mares.”

Compared to the number of colts, very few fillies have raced in the Derby or the two Stakes, and even fewer have won. The number of filly entrants for each are noted below along with the winners.

Rachel Alexandra was the last filly to win any of the three races – she won the Preakness in 2009. In 2007, Rags to Riches won the Belmont.

The last filly to win the Kentucky Derby was almost 30 years ago – Winning Colors in 1988. She may be the last one ever to win the Run for the Roses, thanks to the current qualification rules. This seems unfair and doesn’t make much sense, either. If fillies have qualified and won in the past, it is proven that they can compete with the colts and so should be allowed to continue to compete.

So, why? “Why do fillies appear so rarely in the U.S. Triple Crown races?” asked Andrew Beyer of the Washington Post. Two reasons: the difference in the rate of biological development between the sexes and, as is often the case with just about everything in pro sports, money. Beyer breaks down everything you need to know in “Where Are the Fillies?“

Horse racing fan? For more, check out Sports List of the Day’s Horse Racing Page.

KENTUCKY DERBY (39 Fillies Have Raced, 3 Winners)

PREAKNESS STAKES (53 Fillies Have Raced, 5 Winners)

BELMONT STAKES (22 Fillies Have Raced, 3 Winners)

Sources: horse-races.net / horse-races.net / horse-races.net / about.com

Photos: nydailynews.com / fallen-leaves.net

Kevin Durant Became the 8th Member of the 50-40-90 Club in 2012-13

Last week, LeBron James told reporters “he could become a 50-40-90 shooter.” According to cbssports.com,

“LeBron says can shoot 90 percent from foul line, 50 pct from field and 40 percent on 3-pointers if makes it a goal: ‘I can achieve anything if I just make it a goal of mine,’ James said. ‘I never made it a goal of mine. If I decided to do it, I can make it happen.’”

I believe it. James’ Achilles’ Heel is actually the free throw line. He was just a career-typical 75% from the stripe in 2012-13 while a career-best (and amazing) 57% from the field and career-best 41% from long distance.

No wonder he won his fourth MVP. But James will need to shake the yips if he wants to join the eight members (12 times) of the 50-40-90 club.

Steve Nash is the President. Incredibly, Nash has done it four times. Larry Bird is the Vice President. Bird did it twice.

Kevin Durant did it this season.

No old timers here. The NBA didn’t adopt the three-point field goal until the 1979-80 season.

*Minimum 1,000 minutes played.

Thanks to the folks over at basketball-reference.com and their play index where I ran this query, and where you can see each player’s full stats from his 50-40-90 years.

Photo: grantland.com

Hank Aaron (and Friend) Collecting Four Bases with His 715th Home Run

Barry Bonds may have (“very suspiciously”) overtaken Hank Aaron on the all-time home run list, but Hammerin’ Hank still holds onto another very impressive power record, and one that might be unbreakable (without pharmaceutical aid).

Aaron has collected the most total bases in baseball history, and by a lot – over 700 more than second-place Stan “The Man” Musial.

Total bases literally adds up all the bases accumulated by the hitter via singles (one base), doubles (two bases), triples (three bases) and home runs (four bases). Aaron, Musial and Willie Mays are the only players with over 6,000 total bases to their credit.

It looks like the 5,000-total bases mark is an indicator of a player’s Hall-of-Fame worthiness.

Every one of the top 20 players with the most total bases below is in the Hall of Fame except Bonds (alleged steroid use), Rose (banned due to gambling), Alex Rodriguez (active, alleged steroid use), Rafael Palmeiro (alleged steroid use) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (eligible in 2015).

Pete Rose and Ty Cobb are the only players to record over 3,000 singles alone. That sure helped their total bases campaign, as neither were sluggers.

Thanks to baseball-reference.com.

Photo: espn.com

Only 13 players in baseball history have done it.

Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and the Houston Rockets Won the 1995 NBA Title (the Rockets’ Second in a Row)

Only eight teams in NBA Playoff history have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win their series. It has never happened in the NBA Finals or Western Conference Finals.

Three times, though, a team has done this – the ultimate in NBA postseason comebacks, as no team has ever come back from 3-0 (see here) – in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In 2013, the Brooklyn Nets had a shot at becoming the ninth team, but fell to the undermanned and underdog Chicago Bulls in Round 1. The Oklahoma City Thunder are now down 3-1 to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Semis and the Bulls are themselves now down 3-1 to the Miami Heat i the Eastern Semis. Meanwhile, the New York Knicks are looking to avoid a 3-1 deficit. They are down 2-1 to the Indiana Pacers.

Of the eight teams to come back from 3-1, only two were underdogs according to seeding, and so won that seventh game on the road (noted with an asterisk).

The 1994-95 Houston Rockets, for example, who went on to win their second title in a row, had to get past the Suns in Phoenix in a 115-114 Game 7 first.

The 1967-68 Boston Celtics is the other team to win that Game 7 on the road. They went on to win their 10th title in 12 years.

The 1980-81 Boston Celtics are the third (and last) team on the list below that went on the win the NBA Finals.

The 1996-97 New York Knicks should have won their Semifinals series against the Miami Heat, but a melee in Game 5 led to five staggered suspensions for New York in Games 6 and 7. For the full story, check out the 15 Biggest Disappointments in NY Knicks History.

Thanks to sports.yahoo.com.

Photo: wagesofwins.com

Floyd Mayweather Is Once Again the Best Boxer in the World

This is our third installment of the best boxers in the world (2011, 2012) and the one that reflects the greatest “transfer of power” – in changes at the top and in number of new best boxers – of the three.

Manny Pacquiao is no longer the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, a “title” he held five straight years (2008-2012).

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. – “Pretty Boy Money” or just plain old “Money” – is once again the best pound-for-pound boxer of all. He was back in 2005-2007, too.

Since Pacquiao and Mayweather are both welterweights, that means Floyd has supplanted Manny as the best welterweight in the world, too.

There is also a new best heavyweight boxer. Wladimir Klitschko (37), the best heavyweight of the past two years, has ceded his reign to his older brother, Vitali (41).

There’s not too much competition in championship heavyweight boxing these days apparently. Sad.

Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Bernard Hopkins (48!) hold on to their respective cruiserweight and light heavyweight positions from last year, rounding out the big boys.

American boxing is hot again. After placing just three boxers in each of the past two years, the U.S. has five boxers dominating their classes in 2013.

Thanks to boxrec.com. If you like boxing, that’s a site to check out.

Photo: espn.com