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Unlike many other sports, the NBA is known for being a favorite-friendly league. Usually, only a couple of teams have a legitimate chance of winning the title every season.
However, a few teams overcome longshot NBA championship betting odds and bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season.
We’ll look at three of the most unlikely championship teams in NBA history.
1995 Houston Rockets
NBA fans of a certain age might read this and wonder why the Rockets were picked for this piece. After all, Houston won the 1994 NBA championship and was the defending champion heading into 1995.
People might forget that the Rockets had a turbulent regular season in 1994-1995 and only finished sixth in the Western Conference. They had a difficult road to get back to the NBA Finals, let alone win it.
They took down the Utah Jazz in five games in the first round, led by Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone. Houston then outlasted the Phoenix Suns in seven games, which Hall of Famer Charles Barkley led. They defeated a San Antonio Spurs team with David Robinson and Dennis Rodman in the Western Conference Finals.
To put the cherry on top of their season, they swept the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals, who featured none other than Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway.
2019 Toronto Raptors
The 2019 Raptors were one miraculous shot away from perhaps not even making the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Kawhi Leonard’s buzzer-beating fadeaway at the end of regulation in Game 7 of the second round got Toronto to the conference finals, and they would advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.
They went up against the Golden State Warriors, who had established themselves as the team of the decade to that point. It didn’t seem like Toronto could knock out the likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, who had come through multiple times in pressure-packed situations.
The Raptors got a bit of a break in the series, as Kevin Durant hurt his Achilles. With that said Toronto was the better team, anchored by Leonard and a host of contributions from other players. Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and others stepped up as Toronto won all three road games in the Bay Area en route to the title.
2011 Dallas Mavericks
This was a legacy-defining victory for the Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki in particular. Nowitzki had been a great player for the better part of a decade but was never able to get Dallas to the mountaintop. It seemed like 2011 would be no different, as the Mavericks faced a Miami Heat team in the NBA Finals led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
Nowitzki and the Mavericks overcame the odds by surprising the heavily favored Heat. As it became clear Dallas would win it all, Nowitzki ran back to the locker room. He was overcome with emotion, and the final seconds ticked away.
