When Finals teams of yore are remembered and lauded, most often it’s their stars that receive the highest proportion of praise. After all, the NBA is a star driven league.
Outside of the early 2000’s Detroit Pistons and a handful of other Finals teams in the modern era, it’s the offensive stars that dominate the narrative.
Curry and Thompson in 2015; James and Wade in 2012; Bryant and O’Neal in 2002. No doubt these names shouldered the bulk of the load on the way to the Finals, but was their greatness able to lift the team alone?