- Messages
- 24,178
In this article series we're going to be breaking down the greatest teams over the past 28 seasons. I'm arriving at these results by taking each teams PER and taking the difference of that teams opponents PER.
#5.) 2028-29 Bulls
This season made headlines, because the two favorites out of the gates were in the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards. This rivalry features the two greatest players in league history, R.J. Barrett on the Bulls and Cole Anthony on the Wizards. It was an absolutely dominant year for the Bulls but they only were second in the conference, trailing the Wizards by four games. It probably didn't help that Tyrese Maxey missed 14 games and Barrett missed five. This team was so dominant and even had the sixth man of the year, Goga Bitadze, who could have easily started on the majority of teams. The playoffs went as expected for the first couple of rounds, the Bulls swept the Hornets, took care of the Magic in six, but their biggest challenge was the Wizards team, and they would have to do it with Tyrese Maxey out with an injury. In the series, Barrett averaged 33.3 points per game, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Wizards backcourt duo of Anthony and Iverson, and the Bulls fell in six games. This is one of the greatest what ifs, had Tyrese Maxey not been hurt, the Bulls easily could've been champions this season.
PER Differential: 3.83
Season Record: 66-16
Season Outcome: Lost in Conference Finals
Top Scorer: R.J. Barrett (34 PPG)
Top Rebounder: Bam Adebayo (12 RPG)
Top Passer: Tyrese Maxey (10 APG)
#4.) 2033-34 Wizards
This season marked R.J. Barrett's 15th season, but he was still as dominant as ever. The Wizards had crazy offensive production this season, averaging 120.9 points per game as a team. Their third scoring option, Dell Curry, would later in his career have four seasons averaging over 30 points per game. Him being the third guy on this team illustrates how good they were. The front court of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Dain Dainja was a brick wall for opposing teams, and R.J. Barrett and Allen Iverson would combine for 61.2 points per game. This team was on cruise control in the regular season, winning 67 games and comfortably led the conference. The eighth seed Bucks gave them a little trouble in the first round, taking them to six games, but they bounced back the next series sweeping the Timberwolves. The conference finals though would prove to be on the the most disappointing results in R.J. Barrett's career. The Wizards were heavy favorites in the series, but don't tell that to Skylar Mays who averaged 25.8 points per game in the series. The more shocking thing from the series was the defense he played on Allen Iverson, holding him to only 23.2 points per game on 39% shooting. The Wizards lost in five games, and the Hawks would go on to be NBA Champions.
PER Differential: 3.89
Season Record: 67-15
Season Outcome: Lost in Conference Finals
Top Scorer: R.J. Barrett (35 PPG)
Top Rebounder: Dain Dainja (14 RPG)
Top Passer: Allen Iverson (11 APG)
#3.) 2043-44 Spurs
Ladies and gentlemen, the most dominant team in BSL that didn't have one of R.J. Barrett or Cole Anthony. Artis Gilmore may be right up there with those two at this point however, and this season put his dominance on full display. He averaged 28.8 points per game, 15.5 rebounds per game and 3.1 blocks per game for good measure. The Spurs paired him with a great passer in Terrell Castle, who would lead the league in assists by a large margin. In what some say was Gilmore's best season ever, the Spurs were dominant on both ends of the court. The regular season was a cake walk, and 67 wins got them the number one seed with ease. In the playoffs though, they crumbled, and there isn't really a good explanation as to why this happened. The eighth seed Nuggets took them all the way to game seven, and to make matters worse Malik Rose went down with a sprained knee. The Jazz capitalized on this in the second round, and pulled off an unthinkable sweep. Terrell Castle went cold for them in that round, averaging only 14.5 points per game, and Gilmore couldn't pick up the slack. A big missed opportunity for such a great team.
PER Differential: 4.08
Season Record: 67-15
Season Outcome: Lost in Second Round
Top Scorer: Artis Gilmore (29 PPG)
Top Rebounder: Artis Gilmore (16 RPG)
Top Passer: Terell Castle (12 APG)
#2.) 2031-32 Wizards
Is anyone surprised by this? The Wizards this season were destined for greatness. They fell a couple games short of tying the all-time wins record of 73, held by the 2015-16 Warriors, but I think there is a good argument to be made that this team was actually better than that Warriors team. This was the second year of the nearly league breaking cheat code duo of R.J. Barrett and Cole Anthony, who were fresh off a victory parade in the streets of Washington D.C.. It's easy to forget that the first best player on these teams was Allen Iverson who would go on to be the best player on plenty of teams later in his career. This team actually lacked a front court, where they were rather weak defensively, but it simply doesn't matter when you have the number one and number two best players in the league. Both men were voted to the all-league first team and all-defensive first team. The Wizards wiped the floor with their competition in the playoffs, sweeping the Hornets, Bucks and then Hawks to advance to the NBA Finals to take on Tyrese Maxey and the Seattle SuperSonics. It was an MVP season the Tyrese Maxey, and he gave his all in that finals series, but it simply wasn't enough to take down the heavily favored Wizards, who won the series in six games. It would be the Wizards third championship in the past four seasons. R.J. Barrett, Cole Anthony and Allen Iverson were all about hanging banners.
PER Differential: 4.72
Season Record: 71-11
Season Outcome: NBA Champion
Top Scorer: R.J. Barrett (32 PPG)
Top Rebounder: Mitchell Robinson (10 RPG)
Top Passer: Allen Iverson (10 APG)
#1.) 2028-29 Wizards
As good as the R.J. Barrett and Cole Anthony pairing was, Cole Anthony himself actually led the best team in BSL history, the 2028-29 Washington Wizards. The Wizards the previous season were a very young and inexperienced team, but with Cole Anthony in his second season with the team and many of the young players developing quickly, this team was a force to be reckoned with. A lot of their success this season was due to this being the last year of Allen Iverson's rookie contract, so the Wizards were able to spend a lot of money to have this monster of a team. This team was loaded, with Cole Anthony, Allen Iverson, Wendell Carter Jr., Brandon Clarke, a 21 year old Federico Aguerre and a 19 year old Malik Rose. All players who had fantastic careers. The team managed 70 wins, putting them ahead of R.J. Barrett's Bulls, and meant home court if the two teams were to face off in the playoffs. The Wizards never saw a game seven in these playoffs, taking care of the Pacers in four, Nets in six and in a match-up for the ages, the Bulls in six. They met up with 34 year old Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Lakers in the finals, and easily swept them. Cole Anthony won his first playoff MVP award and his first ring this season. He'd go on to win three more rings and one more playoff MVP. This season truly marked the start of the Wizards dynasty too, as they won two of the next three championships. The one that started it all, the 2028-29 Washington Wizards, was the greatest team the history of this league.
PER Differential: 5.02
Season Record: 70-12
Season Outcome: NBA Champion
Top Scorer: Cole Anthony (29 PPG)
Top Rebounder: Wendell Carter Jr. (14 RPG)
Top Passer: Allen Iverson (10 APG)
