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5 seasons, 5 different champions: A look at NBA winners from 2019-2023
The Denver Nuggets sealed the NBA title for the first time in their history in the finals this year, beating Miami Heat 4-1.
The Denver Nuggets clinched the NBA championship on Monday night, winning their first-ever title, overcoming the Miami Heat 4-1 in the seven-game series. The Nuggets earned the top seed in the Western Conference supercharged by their Serbian superstar and two-time MVP of the league Nikola Jokic. They went on to only lose 4 games across their playoff run, including a 4-0 clean sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Nuggets' victory in NBA Finals made them the fifth unique team to win a championship in the last five years — a feat last accomplished in the NBA between 1977-1981, illustrating how the league’s narrative has been dominated by the rise and fall of several different dynasties in the last 40 years. Here is a look back at the last 5 NBA winners.
The 2019 season saw a Canadian team win the NBA for the first time in its history, as the Toronto Raptors made great use of superstar Kawhi Leonard’s one-year rental to win one of the more iconic trophies of the NBA’s recent past, as an entire nation got behind one team. Their playoff run included the famous 4-bounce buzzer beater in game 7 of the conference finals against the Philadelphia 76ers by Leonard, before they beat the Warriors dynasty team to seal the title.
2020 was the infamous “bubble” year, with the playoffs interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This year saw the introduction of the play-in tournament, and was played in front of no fans in Florida that year. LeBron James, having joined the Lakers a year prior, joined Anthony Davis as they made quick work of the playoffs before beating the Heat 4-2 in the NBA Finals. It was an emotional championship for the Lakers as they dedicated their victory to franchise stalwart Kobe Bryant, who had tragically passed away earlier that year.
The NBA’s best player at that point Giannis Antetokoumpo, dubbed the Greek Freak, owned the 2021 NBA season. Fresh off an MVP year in 2020, Giannis led his Milwaukee Bucks to their second NBA championship, exactly 50 years after their first in 1971. They faced the Phoenix Suns, who boasted of the best coach in the league in Monty Williams, seeking the franchise’s first NBA championship. Giannis proved to be too strong for the Suns, however, as the athletic marvel ended the finals series with 35.2 points and 13.2 rebounds per game.
After a very poor couple of years for the Warriors, they returned to the NBA finals as strong as ever in 2022. They met the resurgent Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, as they came off two consecutive game 7 wins against the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks. The Warriors, however, brought championship experience and know-how, as the core of the late 2010s remained in the form of Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and coach Steve Kerr. Curry won his first finals MVP title, as his shotmaking and playmaking combined to remind spectators why he is one of the finest NBA players of all time.
All 4 of these NBA finals series ended 4-2, but Jokic’s Nuggets showed how truly dominant they had been all season by only allowing one game to the Heat, who had till that point enjoyed an underdog run to the playoffs, missing key pieces but powered by Jimmy Butler as he showed the form of his life. The Nuggets proved too powerful, however, as the duo of Jokic and Jamal Murray guided Denver to a historic first NBA title.
