I remember sitting in a bar in 2016 watching the final minutes of Game 7, surrounded by fans who couldn't believe what they were witnessing. When Kyrie Irving hit that three-pointer over Steph Curry with 53 seconds left, followed by LeBron's legendary block on Andre Iguodala, something fundamental shifted in basketball. That moment wasn't just about the Cavaliers ending Cleveland's 52-year championship drought—it represented the culmination of an era where superteams dominated the landscape. The NBA has always been about evolution, but what we're witnessing now feels different—it's the end of an era NBA fans have known for decades, and the beginning of something entirely new.
Looking back, there were five defining moments that truly changed basketball forever, and that 2016 Finals stands as perhaps the most dramatic. The Warriors had just completed a historic 73-9 regular season, shattering the 1995-96 Bulls' record of 72 wins that many thought would never be broken. Yet Cleveland's comeback from a 3-1 deficit—something that had never happened in NBA Finals history—showed that even the most dominant teams could be vulnerable. What struck me wasn't just the outcome, but how it happened. The Cavaliers essentially beat the Warriors at their own small-ball game, with LeBron playing center for significant stretches and the team embracing the three-point revolution that Golden State had pioneered. I recall thinking that night that we were witnessing basketball's equivalent of the fall of the Roman Empire—the dominant power being challenged by a rival that had adapted their own weapons against them.
The second transformative moment came in 2018 when the Houston Rockets nearly dethroned the Warriors by taking them to seven games in the Western Conference Finals. Houston's strategy was revolutionary—they essentially decided that mid-range shots were inefficient and would only take threes or shots at the rim. They attempted an astonishing 44 three-pointers per game that series, a number that would have been unthinkable just five years earlier. Though they ultimately lost when they infamously missed 27 consecutive three-point attempts in Game 7, their approach demonstrated that analytics could fundamentally reshape how the game was played. Teams took notice—the percentage of shots taken from mid-range has dropped from 40% in 2012 to just 19% today, a seismic shift in offensive philosophy.
Then came the 2019 Finals, where Kawhi Leonard's Raptors defeated the injury-plagued Warriors in what would become Kevin Durant's final games with Golden State. This moment symbolized the end of the superteam era in many ways. The Warriors' dynasty, which had seen them reach five consecutive Finals, was broken. Durant's departure to Brooklyn that summer, followed by other stars demanding trades to their preferred destinations, marked a new era of player empowerment. I remember talking to a league executive who told me, "The balance of power has permanently shifted from organizations to players. When a top-5 player like Durant can choose his destination, the entire league structure changes overnight."
The fourth defining moment arrived with the COVID-19 pandemic and the NBA's bubble in 2020. The Lakers' championship in that unprecedented environment felt almost secondary to the larger implications. The league demonstrated incredible adaptability, creating a safe environment and completing the season when many thought it impossible. But more importantly, the bubble accelerated trends that were already developing—the reliance on data analytics, the importance of versatile lineups, and the globalization of the game. With international viewership increasing by 32% during the bubble, according to NBA officials, the league truly became a global product in ways we hadn't seen before.
The fifth moment is still unfolding—the rise of international players to MVP status. When Nikola Jokić won his second consecutive MVP in 2022, followed by Joel Embiid in 2023, it marked the first time since Steve Nash in 2005-06 that international players had won back-to-back MVP awards. But more significantly, the style these players represent—Jokić's revolutionary passing as a center, Embiid's combination of post play and perimeter skills—shows how the game has globalized not just in talent pool but in playing style. The traditional American big man who dominates through athleticism alone is becoming obsolete, replaced by skilled international players who grew up watching different basketball traditions.
What's fascinating about these five moments is how they've collectively transformed not just how basketball is played, but how it's thought about. I was talking with a young player recently who told me something that stuck with me: "It's gonna be real competitive, real aggressive, they just said to stay composed and get ready for this game and that's what I did." That mentality reflects the modern NBA—constantly evolving, increasingly global, and forever chasing the next innovation. The three-point revolution, player empowerment, analytical approaches, and international influences have collectively ended the era of basketball I grew up watching. The game today is faster, more spaced, more strategic, and more global than ever before. While part of me misses the physical post-up battles and mid-range games of the 90s, I can't help but admire the beautiful, efficient, and constantly evolving game that has emerged from these transformative moments.
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