As for the 90s, don't forget the 05 Spurs. League's best record, the MVP on their side. Just ran into an angry buzz saw named Hakeem.

Oh, and the '06 Spurs are in the Top 5.

"as we all know, a big reason some teams DON'T win a ring is due to injuries."

as we all know, a big reason some teams win a ring is due to injuries. the 03 sacramento kings had no chance the moment webber went down with the knee injury during the 03 playoffs. the 04 indiana pacers were playing game 5 in a 2-2 series against detroit when jermaine o'neal hurt his knee. they lost game 5 and soon the series. had o'neal stayed healthy would the pacers have won? possibly, but we'll never know.

the 04 lakers played the bulk of the nba finals with their third string power forward and backup small forward (karl malone aggravated his knee injury in the last game of the conference finals and was a shell of himself in the finals; backup horace grant was still hurt, and small forward rick fox never recovered from his foot injury the previous year). the 04 lakers were billed as 4 hall of famers but malone and gary payton were not close to the level they played during their peak, and the lakers were playing a team with 4 all-stars (only recognized after they won the title) and a fifth who played on the 08 redeem team (prince). not exactly a big upset when looking back, considering the lakers' injuries and then-unrecognized talent on detroit.

the 05 miami heat may have been better than the 06 miami heat statistically, but dwyane wade suffered a rib cage injury at the worst possible time during the 05 playoffs -- when the heat were up 3-2 on detroit in the conference finals. he sat out game 6 and was less than 100% for game 7. miami lost. had he been healthy would the heat have won that series? we'll never know.

look at the 99 spurs and the 00 spurs. the "defending nba champions" didn't lose in the first round in 2000 -- because duncan's injury prevented him from playing. it wasn't the same team. the 08 spurs lost to the lakers when ginobili had a foot injury that decreased his level of play considerably. would they have beaten the lakers with a healthy ginobili (or at least pushed it to 7)?

injuries are ridiculed as just an excuse when a team loses, but the truth is any player who plays significant minutes and then can't play or plays at a level significantly less than 100% causes a chain reaction that lowers a team's quality of play, magnified during the playoffs when any one matchup can tip the balance of a game or series.

a true measure of a playoff matchup is when both teams are at full strength.

the biggest heartbreak of the decade was probably the fate of the 07 phoenix suns, who didn't have their clutchest player, steve nash, down the stretch of game 1 when they had the ball and down two in the final minute --- because nash's nose didn't stop bleeding and refs couldn't let him back in the game. the suns lost that game. then after winning game 4 in san antonio to tie the series 2-2 (and regain home court advantage for what was now a best of three), the suns had to play game 5 without their leading scorer stoudemire due to a suspension for leaving the bench late in game 4. the suns lost game 5 at home on a late shot, then the series in 6. had the suns been at full strength for the entirety of games 1 and 5 would they have won the series?

while i don't believe in asterisks, it should be at least acknowledged/recognized when a team wins a playoff series/the finals against a team that isn't at full strength, that the losing team was not the same team that it was at its best.