Ranking the NBA Championship Hats 2000-Present

Winning an NBA title is the pinnacle of a player's career, a memory that will last them a lifetime. Some players however, might have their pictures a little more front and center than others based on the hat they are given to wear for their post game celebration. We examine that championship hats from all the NBA Finals winners since 2000 and rank them from best to worst.

1. 2007 San Antonio Spurs



Simple, clean and understated, much like that 2007 Spurs team.

2. 2001 Los Angeles Lakers



Phil Jackson's best Lakers team also deserved the best championship hat.

3. 2005 San Antonio Spurs



After a brutal and physical 7 game series with the Detroit Pistons the Spurs were rewarded with the number 3 hat on our list.

4. 2009 Los Angeles Lakers



Kobe Bryant's first title post-Shaq can be remembered even more fondly when he looks at this one in his trophy case.

5. 2008 Boston Celtics



A little louder and little more flashy, much like that championship team centered around the Big 3 in Boston.

6. 2002 Los Angeles Lakers



Simple but nothing is eye-grabbing or stands out, that's why it falls in the middle of our list.

7. 2004 Detroit Pistons



It works for that blue collar Pistons team, but imagine if that Lakers team with Karl Malone and Gary Payton would've won, could you imagine a Lakers logo on this hat?

8. 2000 Los Angeles Lakers



Loses points because of an identity crisis. This was the 1999-2000 NBA season and this design trended more towards the 1990 side of things rather than Y2K.

9. 2003 San Antonio Spurs



After running off 3 straight titles the Lakers were dominating the NBA and a lot of teams were just giving up, obviously the designers of this hat did as well and the Spurs suffered.

10. 2010 Los Angeles Lakers



I'm pretty sure if you go back and check the tape, Kobe did all his interviews with his hat backwards.

11. 2006 Miami Heat



Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry erased a lot of the painful memories from the 2006 NBA Finals by defeating the Miami Heat this year, had they won however, they'd always have the painful memories of this championship hat.

12. 2011 Dallas Mavericks



Can't do anything for Dirk and Jet on this one, pretty sure people at Adidas were sure Lebron James and the Heat were going to win it so they designed the ugliest hat they could think of to make the King look as silly as possible, he did a good enough job of that himself though with his performance against the Mavs.

Lebron, a wise investment?

Take a look at the diagram below, it charts the fluctuations of Nike's stock from the start of the NBA Finals to it's closing today after the Miami Heat were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks and Lebron's quotes about people having to go back to their personal problems circulated throughout the world.



A couple of observations and we are only speculating here because we are in no trying to position ourselves as experts: the dip after the Heat's win in Game 1, could that have been attributed to the feeling then that Miami was going to walk through the Mavericks to the title and was fueled by the anti-Lebron sentiment? Also, it is hard to ignore the dips after Lebron's disappearing act in games 4 and 5.

One question to ponder, how does Lebron's marketing team and the gurus at Nike work to repair the damage done? America loves a comeback story, we've seen numerous other athletes fall, whether personally or professionally only to come back and be admired for it, however, with Lebron it is different. He had the chance to own up for his shortcomings last night and instead used his platform to essentially spit in the face of middle America i.e. the consumers his advertisers count on. He looked as lost in the post game press conference as he did out on the floor, deferring to Dwyane Wade to answer the tough questions. The fact is, and it's a scary and puzzling one for Nike and other Lebron sponsors, their spokesman has a serious image problem.

Mark Cuban curses on Sportscenter

Censors miss Mark Cuban calling out the Miami Heat fans.

Pat Riley asleep?

During the 2nd quarter of game 1 of the NBA Finals, ABC cut to this shot of Pat Riley who did not appear to be into the game...



To be fair, Michael McDonald did sing the National Anthem... very soothing.

Orlando Magic help Miami Heat reach the NBA Finals

Last night the Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2006. While fans of the Bulls certainly are feeling disdain for their southern Florida counterparts they should save some of their venom for the other team from the sunshine state, the Orlando Magic. During the offseason the Bulls attempted to bring in J.J. Redick, signing him to a three year, $19 million offer sheet. However, much to Chicago’s chagrin, the Magic decided to match the Bulls’ offer and retain the rights to Redick. Now, this is where it’s going to sound a little crazy, but the series against the Heat might’ve played out a little differently had the Magic decided to let Redick go to Chicago. Despite a few embarrassing defensive moments (YouTube J.J. Redick and ankles), Redick has developed into a pretty solid defensive player. If nothing else, he is a guy who embraces his role, brings constant energy and is definitely not afraid of a big moment. I’m not saying Chicago wins the series with Redick on their team (I’m not gutsy enough to make that call), but I think it’s pretty hard to argue that given the choice between having Redick or Kyle Korver on the floor in the last two minutes of a close game, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is not going with Redick in that situation, call me crazy if you want, but I think it’s an interesting discussion to have.

The Worst Sports City in America

With the report that there were still good seats available for tonight's Magic vs. Heat clash, can we call Miami the worst sports city in America? The Marlins regularly have less than 10,000 (and that's being generous) fans. Ever watch a Hurricanes game? Only time they have a respectable showing is when Florida State or Virginia Tech comes to town. Would anyone in Miami even know that the Florida Panthers are in their metro area? And while the Dolphins are not blacked out, it seems like a lot of those fans come dressed as empty seats each week. But is Miami the worst sports city in America, here are the MiniVanGundy unofficial rankings:

10. Columbus: Calm down Buckeyes fans, NHL expansion town that never seem to fit.

9. Oakland: Fans are passionate, but it's hard to stay that way with incompetent leadership, team and municipalities.

8. Cincinnati: It took Ochocinco going to the streets to sell out a game last year.

7. Charlotte: They lose an NBA team and cry about it, get another one and could care less.

6. Atlanta: Tonight's giveaway at Turner Field... tickets!

5. San Diego: Regular on the NFL blackout circuit, Chargers are tough to watch though.

4. Jacksonville: Here's how to guarantee a sell out everytime, just put a black tarp over all the empty seats.

3. Memphis: With their crime rate I wouldn't want to go to a game either.

2. Tampa: Tampa teams shouldn't feel bad, fans don't support any of them.

1. Miami: Maybe they shouldn't start the games until 2 a.m.

Magic vs. Heat: The most important basketball game of all-time… ever

Tonight, the Orlando Magic travel to Miami to take on the Heat in what will be an early litmus test for each respective squad. Orlando is coming off an 112-83 drubbing of John Wall and the Washington Wizards, while the Heat are asking “what should we do?” after a 1-1 start. Well we here at MiniVanGundy would like to present you with 5 reasons why this is the most important basketball game of all time.

1. Inspired the most apathetic fan base in America (South Florida).
2. Chris Bosh’s self worth will be at an all time high.
3. The FCC will be watching.
4. Has given Miami something else to talk about.
5. Stan Van Gundy will be looking dapper.

Between Two All Stars: Lebron James interviews crazy Florida Atlantic announcer Dave Lamont

New video mashup, Lebron James interviews Florida Atlantic announcer Dave Lamont in this Between Two Ferns parody.

Chris Bosh is who we thought he was

Two games into the NBA season and we already have it all figured out don’t we? Well it is obvious that the Miami Heat do not, as they have struggled to get into a flow on offense, and have looked passive at times. These are the questions that were being asked coming into the season, who was going to step up and be the leader of this team, Lebron or Wade? No one however, was asking if this was going to be Chris Bosh’s team. Bosh is tentative and possibly uncomfortable with the criticism that is being hurled at his team. Remember, Bosh played in Toronto, where it was easy to disappear from the spotlight. He had trouble getting the Raptors to the playoffs in an Eastern Conference that did not include the likes of Amare Stoudemire or Carlos Boozer. His front office thought so much of him that they spent the #1 overall pick on Andrea Bargnani. When he bolted for Miami, Bryan Colangelo publicly questioned his commitment and toughness. Miami fans are asking for Bosh to show the passion he showed in Toronto, be careful what you wish for.

Ohio Radio host hires witch doctor to curse Lebron James

The host of an Ohio radio program hired a witch doctor to curse former Cleveland Cavaliers player Lebron James.

The witch, Samhain and assistant witch Lady Magick used bones, blood, and James' Miami Heat jersey to place a hex on the star live on the air. Rover asked all Cleveland-area listeners of the show, which is based at 100.7 WMMS-FM, to simultaneously focus all their negative energy towards James during the ceremony.

"A broken leg, hand or other debilitating injury would be the best outcome," says Rover. "At the very least a sordid sexual misconduct accusation against LeBron would be alright I suppose."

LeBron James was widely criticized for the way in which he declared his departure from the Cavaliers, announcing it on a live television broadcast on ESPN titled The Decision.

"The city of Cleveland has been cursed for decades with losing sports franchises," notes Rover. "Now we're going on the offensive to curse others. It may not help our teams win, but it will sure make us feel better."


It'll be interesting to see how things play out tonight with Miami visiting Boston and Lebron already having to compete against the luck of the Irish.

Lebron James inspired David Stern

Sorry I missed his hater day on Twitter but Lebron James will be the death of the NBA. How else do you explain the latest actions from NBA Commissioner David Stern? First the report, that hewants to cut player salaries by a third, cutting $750-800 million in expenses from the owners. They all no doubt saw the act by Lebron James taking less money to chase a championship and said to themselves: if the most recognizable star in our league is willing to take less money then everyone else should be willing to fall in line. There is also the report that Stern is considering contraction. This was no doubt inspired by Lebron as well, as his idea of a super team has caught on, which has Stern questioning why should we even have a teams like the Raptors, Bobcats or Grizzlies if we only have 5-6 viable teams? It may have taken David Stern years to realize this, but Lebron James has shown him the light and ugly (or not so ugly, depending which side you are on) truth... that the smartest people in the league are not the guys signing the checks, but the ones cashing them.

Tracy McGrady = Lebron James

T-Mac is jealous of Miami’s Big Three and inconspicuously compares himself to Lebron James.

“I look at all the teams I've been on, and I never had a Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the same team. I'm jealous…”

Notice whose name McGrady left out?

T-Mac will always wonder what could’ve been in Orlando with Grant Hill and possibly Tim Duncan, but if I am Duncan, I am a little upset that I am being compared to Chris Bosh.