news

NBA Legends: Who Spent the Most Time in the Stronger of the Two Conferences?

VaselineOctober 10, 2024

0 6 minutes read

Le Bron James has famously reached the NBA Finals 10 times and ranks alone third in conference titles Bill Russell And Sam Jones. This is a pretty amazing feat considering he played in a 30-team era where three playoff rounds are required to reach the championship series, compared to often just one in the 1960s when Russell and Jones played.

There’s a caveat, though: While Russell has played in the toughest conference (or division, as it was then called) in each of his seasons in the league, LeBron has only done so in five of his 21 years as a pro – just 23.81 percent . of time.

According to HoopsHype research, this is one of the greatest players ever, putting him near the bottom in conference difficulty.

On the other hand Dirk Nowitzki spent 19 of his 21 years in the league in the strongest conference, the most of any player. That he made all those playoff runs under those circumstances and without All-Star sidekicks says a lot about how underrated his career is.

Below, we’ve ranked the players in our HoopsHype78 based on how often they’ve competed in the tougher of the two conferences (defined by the most regular season wins).

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 13 of 13
Conference titles: 12
NBA titles: 11

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn images

Seasons in strongest conference: 14 of 15
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 0

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 19 of 21
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 1

Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 out of 10
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 1

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 16 of 18
Conference titles: 5
NBA titles: 4

David Frerker-Imagn images

Seasons in strongest conference: 14 of 16
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 2

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 13 of 15
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 4

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network

Seasons in strongest conference: 12 of 14
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 1

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 16 of 19
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 0

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 16 of 19
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 5

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 12
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 1

Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 12
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 2

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 15 of 18
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 2

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 16 of 20
Conference titles: 7
NBA titles: 5

NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 11 of 14
Conference titles: 7
NBA titles: 6

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 7 out of 9
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 1

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 14 of 18
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 13
Conference titles: 5
NBA titles: 3

Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 13
Conference titles: 5
NBA titles: 3

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 out of 12
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 12 of 16
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 0

NBA Photo Library/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 11 of 15
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 1

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 8 of 11
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 1

Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 14
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 5

NBAE Photos/NBAE/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 5 out of 7
Conference titles: 5
NBA titles: 5

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 15 of 21
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 4

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 of 13
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 2

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 of 14
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 2

Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 of 14
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 2

Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 16
Conference titles: 8
NBA titles: 8

Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 of 15
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Ken Levine/Allsport

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 of 15
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 6

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 out of 10
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 2

RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 17
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 0

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 17
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 6

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 11 of 19
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 7 of 13
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 1

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 of 17
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 1

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 19
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 0

George Gojkovich/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 19
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 1

Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 7 of 14
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 8 of 16
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 0

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 5 out of 10
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 1

most years with one NBA team without reaching the finals of research Kevin Garnett

MARK LEFFINGWELL/AFP via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 21
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 1

Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 9 of 19
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 0

Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 13
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 1

Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 13
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 2

Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 13
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 1

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 10 of 22
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 8 of 18
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 2

TOM MIHALEK/AFP via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 14
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 0

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 15
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 4 out of 10
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 2

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 8 of 20
Conference titles: 10
NBA titles: 6

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 15
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Sports news via Getty Images via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 7 of 18
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 2

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 7 of 18
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 0

JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 7 of 19
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 4

Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 4 of 11
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 2

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 5 of 14
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 2

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 5 of 15
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 1

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 18
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 1

Otto Greule Jr/Allsport/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 4 of 12
Conference titles: 7
NBA titles: 3

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 6 of 19
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 1

Tony Triolo/Sport Illustrated via Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 3 out of 10
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 4 of 14
Conference titles: 9
NBA titles: 1

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.

Seasons in strongest conference: 4 of 16
Conference titles: 3
NBA titles: 1

Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 2 of 8
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 5 of 21
Conference titles: 10
NBA titles: 4

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 3 of 13
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 1

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 4 of 19
Conference titles: 2
NBA titles: 1

Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 2 out of 10
Conference titles: 0
NBA titles: 0

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 2 of 11
Conference titles: 1
NBA titles: 1

Tim DeFrisco/Allsport/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 2 of 13
Conference titles: 9
NBA titles: 5

Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 2 of 14
Conference titles: 9
NBA titles: 1

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Seasons in strongest conference: 1 in 13
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 2

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Seasons in strongest conference: 1 in 16
Conference titles: 6
NBA titles: 3

Focus on sports/Getty images

Seasons in strongest conference: 0 of 11
Conference titles: 4
NBA titles: 1

VaselineOctober 10, 2024

0 6 minutes read

Vaseline

Related Articles

The Perfect Couple review: Nicole Kidman is sharp, Ishaan smooth in page-turner | Web series

Research Discovery can lead to three new series – Quotenmeter.de

68 Kill – TV program Kinowelt TV

Live updates on the matches in Paris