1969 Boston Celtics

By the standards of the dynasty this was a worn-down team. The Celtics went 48-34, their worst regular season of the Russell era, and entered the playoffs as an afterthought behind Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.

Havlicek carried the scoring load, Bailey Howell and Sam Jones still contributed, and Russell, in his final year as player-coach, squeezed one more title run out of the group. They knocked off Philadelphia and New York to reach the Finals.

The Lakers had Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Baylor, plus the home floor and owner Jack Kent Cooke's balloons hanging in the rafters for the celebration that never came. Boston won Game 7 in Los Angeles, 108-106. West averaged nearly 38 a game in the series and became the only player ever named Finals MVP while playing for the losing team.

Russell retired after the game with eleven championships in thirteen seasons. Sam Jones went out the same spring, and the Celtics would not win again until 1974.