Basketball
The Greatest NBA Rivalries of All Time
The NBA has been witness to some of the greatest rivalries of all time since its inception in 1946. Players and teams alike have lit up the court for decades on end. Every generation served up rivalries that were worthy and gave followers of the sport value for money, entertainment and historic moments that live on till this day. Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas are still yet to smoke the peace pipe, while certain meetings between teams still spark up animosities from yesteryear. We look into some of these rivalries in this piece and break it down between individual player rivalries and team rivalries.
Michael Jordan//Getty Images
Greatest Team Rivalries
Per the different epochs, when certain teams met, it was guaranteed that fireworks would be witnessed.
The 80s and 90s witnessed what is probably the most monumental and still talked about rivalry in the NBA between the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls.
The early 2000s gave us the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, whilst the 10s saw a new generation, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State give us classics.
In no particular order, we present to you five of the greatest NBA rivalries.
Generationally spread-out and represented, these rivalries are some of the best we’ve witnessed.
Detroit Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls
The ‘Bad Boys’ of the NBA, the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan saw witness to some of the greatest matches and storylines.
The Pistons bullied the Bulls to a certain extent with their brute force and aggressive style of play, making it really uncomfortable for Jordan and co.
They took it as far as coming up with the ‘Jordan Rules’, particularly tailored to deal with Jordan in the most brutal of ways on the court.
The Pistons dominated the latter part of the 80s and early 90s until Chicago turned things around in 1991, going on to win their first championship.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State
Four consecutive finals from 2015 to 2018 is how storied this rivalry came to be with probably one of the best lineups on either side.
The Cavaliers had LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, whilst Golden State had Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and Draymond Green.
Kevin Durant’s arrival at Golden State only served to make them stronger, helping his team win the rivalry 3-1.
They won the 2015, 2017 and 2018 finals, 4-2, 4-3 and 4-0, in that order. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers won the 2016 finals, 4-3.
LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant//Getty Images
Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers
This rivalry goes all the way back to 1964, when the Syracuse Nationals left New York for Philadelphia and became the 76ers and met the Boston Celtics in the 1965 Eastern Conference finals.
The final would be known as one in which “Havlicek stole the ball”, having deflected an inbound sixers ball for a winning shot to his teammate.
Following this initial encounter, both teams would go on to play each other four times in the postseason, with the Celtics winning the majority of the games, compared to a solitary win for the sixers, which came in 1967, when they won their first championship.
After a brief period of no drama or intense encounters between both teams, the rivalry resumed in 1977, the teams meeting each other five times in just under a decade, with the 76ers winning three times compared to two victories by the Celtics.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs
At the turn of the century, we witnessed an emergence of two new powerhouses following the slow decline of the Chicago Bulls towards the late 90s.
The San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers had the big guns on their rosters, with the likes of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony parker.
While the Lakers had the late Kobe Bryan and Shaquille O’Neill battle for supremacy against the Spurs several times in the playoffs.
The winner of the playoffs, six of which took place during time, won four times by the Lakers, would usually go on to play in the NBA finals.
Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Probably two of the most dominant teams on either coast, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers have faced off in over ten finals in the NBA.
Their twelve meetings in the finals makes them the two teams that have met each other the most in NBA finals.
The first final took place in 1959 and was won by the Celtics, who also won the eight subsequent finals to this one until the Lakers broke the duck in the 1984 finals.
Overall, the Celtics have dominated the Lakers in the finals, 9-3, with the latest encounter taking place fifteen-years ago in 2010.
Greatest Player Rivalries
Individual players have also served up great rivalries against each other and some of them are still talked about till this day.
Russel Westbrook and Kevin Durant gave us something to talk about, while Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas still can’t stand the sight of each other years after their retirement from the sport.
That’s just how intense some of the rivalries have been, while some were more amicable and professional in their nature.
Michael Jordan vs. Isiah Thomas
Their story goes all the way back to 1985 when Thomas freezed out a young Jordan from the NBA All Star Game, with the latter getting his revenge in 1992, by keeping him out of the 1992 U.S Olympic team.
On the court, the rivalry was just as intense with many confrontations and scuffles between the two players and their teammates.
Unlike most players who mended their relationships off the field and in post retirement, Jordan and Thomas hold no brief for each other, as was expressed in the ‘Last Dance’ documentary.
Michael Jordan has expressed openly his deep hate for Isiah Thomas, while Thomas still bears the bitterness of not making the 1992 Olympic team because of Jordan.
Russell Westbrook vs Kevin Durant
Durant, Westbrook and James Harden had built a solid team in the 10s with the Oklahoma Thunder.
The young trio at the time was dominant and went as far as the finals in 2012, losing out to the Miami Heat.
Durant, probably driven by his own ambition, left OKC to join their coastal rivals, the Golden State, and went on to win several titles with them.
It is at this point the rivalry between the two kicked off, perhaps more on Westbrook’s side than Durant, feeling that they could have gone on to achieve greatness together.
Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russel
This is one rivalry that will lead us back to the rivalries between the Celtics and the Lakers, as well as the Celtics and 76ers.
Russel featured for the Celtics and led them to eleven championships, whilst Chamberlain was on the receiving end of the teams that lost to the Celtics.
The rivalry was not as personal as Jordan and Thomas, with the two known to have been very close friends of the court.
Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird
Another rivalry offset by the Celtics and the Lakers, but was preluded by encounters in the NCAA, is that of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
The two would face off in several NBA finals, the first of which came in 1984 and was won by the Celtics led by Larry Bird.
Johnson got his revenge the following year though, with the Lakers taking it in game six of the finals.
As fate would have it, Bird and Johnson would become friends while shooting a commercial for a sneaker brand.
Kevin Garnet vs. Tim Duncan
Garnet and Duncan went head-to-head 52 times, with the latter win the majority of those encounters during the late 90s and 2000s.
Perhaps what stands out the most is the different personalities each player had, with Duncan being the more reserved of the two, compared to Garnet who was more aggressive and the trash-talker.
Garnet went as far as wishing Duncan a Happy Mother’s Day in the most expletive way one can imagine, and that’s just how interesting their rivalry was.
Other Notable Team and Player Rivalries
| Team Rivalries | Player Rivalries |
| Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers | Magic Johnson vs. Isiah Thomas |
| Chicago Bulls vs. New York Knicks | LeBron James vs. Steph Curry |
| Memphis Grizzlies vs. Oklahoma Thunder | Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell |
| Atlanta Hawks vs. Orlando Magic | Walt Fraizer vs. Jerry West |
| Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver Nuggets | Kareem Abdul-Jabber vs. Bob Lainer |
SportsBoom Suggests
Although our approach listed the rivalries in no particular order, at SportsBoom we are of the opinion that Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan trump all the player rivalries in NBA history.
While the team rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers is the greatest of all time, it didn’t have the fireworks the Pistons and Chicago gave us.
Conclusion
New Rivalries emerge all the time. In this current epoch, we have seen the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics serve up some intense battles against each other, while players such as Ja Morant riled up the likes of LeBron James.
The storied rivalries of the NBA will continue serving up a good dose of entertainment and we at SportsBoom will be here to document all.
Jimmy is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and has a Diploma in Journalism and Media Studies. He’s a sports fanatic of several sporting disciplines which he is well versed with.