Since 2019, the champion has been unable to retain his title. The Raptors, Lakers, Bucks, Warriors and now the Nuggets are all teams that missed the opportunity to achieve a “back-to-back”.
In June, a new team will be crowned, among the Celtics, the Pacers, the Wolves or the Mavs. In the history of the league, witnessing the coronation of six different champions in six years has only happened once. It was between 1975-80. But ending this series was a challenge announced at the start of the season by Mike Malone.
“We knew it would be hard,” confided the Nuggets coach after the elimination. “It was something I talked about in training camp. The last team to do so was the 2017-18 Warriors and with the rules in effect now, I think it would be increasingly difficult to retain their title. »
THE CBA obviously makes things complicated for the Nuggets, whose major five payroll amounts to $151.6 million while the salary cap is set at $136 million. The Nuggets could therefore not match the contracts offered to Bruce Brown or Jeff Green.
Physical and mental wear and tear
Seeing so many different champions cannot be explained only by the difficulties in retaining players. Physical and emotional fatigue are also involved in explaining the phenomenon of the fallen champion.
“Fatigue is an important point, I have never done it and I do not intend to use it as an excuse because the best team won,” assures Mike Malone. “We played until June last year. This year, we had to play all 82 regular season games hard to secure second place in the conference. We played our starters a lot, I think mentally, emotionally and physically our guys are out of fuel. They gave everything. »
Jamal Murray thus considers that it is easier to play the role of the hunter rather than the hunted.
“Mentally and physically, you must exert all your energy as if you were being hunted,” explains the Canadian. “When you're a hunter, you're much more motivated and you're going to do anything to prove everyone wrong. You are constantly vindictive. »
The leader has already announced that the Nuggets will return to the role of the hunter next year to take revenge for this aborted “back-to-back”. Moreover, Mike Malone takes an example from the Spurs, who won three titles between 2003 and 2007, but never two in a row, and who can still be considered a dynasty.
