Great Teams That Couldn't Close: the 1993 Phoenix Suns and 1998 Utah Jazz
Over on ESPN.com, David Schoenfield has written an article chronicling the 18 greatest teams that choked. In short, what teams that had great written all over, were destined to win it all, but then choked when it was showtime. The 2007 Dallas Mavericks are ranked #6, and probably rightfully so.
Reading David's article got me thinking on a slightly related vein: what teams had great written all over them, but still couldn't close the deal. Not that they necessarily choked, but that they just couldn't close the sale, so to speak. Two teams that immediately sprung to mind were the 1993 Phoenix Suns and the 1998 Utah Jazz.
In 1993 the Suns finished the regular season at 62-20 compared to the Bulls record of 57-25. Even the New York Knicks had a better record than the Bulls (60-22), and they were in the same conference. And don't forget - Sir Charles was the League MVP that year. Yet the Bulls bested the Suns in 6 games in the Finals, denying the Suns and Charles Barkley a championship. And since 1993, neither Sir Charles for the Phoenix Suns organization has been back to the Finals.
In 1998, the Utah Jazz and Bulls shared the best regular season record at 62-20 (although the Jazz had the better record against the Bulls and therefore enjoyed home court advantage in the Finals). The Jazz had a formidable squad with Stockton and Malone, and had reached the Finals the previous year as well. And the Bulls were graying. Jordan's magic was fading, Pippen was having migraines, and Rodman was sinking further into the abyss of lunacy. They went seven games in the ECF against a very deep and talented Pacers team, while the Jazz breezed through the playoffs. And yet the Bulls won, dashing the hopes of the Utah faithful in back to back years. And since those two crushing defeats, the Utah Jazz have never been back to the Finals. Moreover, those two loses slammed the door shut on Stockton's hopes for a ring. Malone would get another whack at a title with the Lakers in 2004, but we all know how that turned out.
What made these loses especially poignant was that after coming up short, these two teams - and their star players - were shut out winning a championship.