• Loading stock data...
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Stephen A. Smith vs Clay Travis at Tuned In on September 16 in NYC. Don’t miss it. Buy tickets now!

The NBA Has Created an Era of Unprecedented Parity

The NBA will have a new champion for the seventh consecutive season.

Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Luka Dončić’s trade to the Lakers may now top most people’s lists for “Where were you when this happened?” NBA moments. But before February’s trade, one of the leading candidates was when the Warriors signed Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016.

Durant was a former MVP set to join a 73-win team that had already proved it could win a title with its current core. From 2015 to 2019, Golden State made five straight Finals and won three championships—two with Durant as Finals MVP. 

The signing was the catalyst for a change in the league’s CBA. The Warriors were able to sign Durant because the salary cap jumped more than 30% in 2016—which coincided with a new media-rights deal. 

In 2023, the CBA added cap-smoothing, which limited the year-over-year salary-cap jumps to 10%. The rule changes resulted in a drop in high-profile players changing teams in free agency. While trade requests continue to be prevalent, the most impactful player to leave his franchise in free agency in the last two years is Fred VanVleet, a one-time All-Star.

The CBA also included aprons—two salary thresholds above the league’s soft salary cap and luxury tax. Violating each apron comes with basketball-related penalties that can limit a team’s flexibility to make roster moves, on top of monetary penalties that come with exceeding the luxury tax. In the past, teams with deep-pocketed owners, like the Warriors and Clippers, consistently violated the luxury tax and paid the penalties. 

Proof of Concept

The two-apron salary structure has been highly criticized, including by NBA GMs. But if parity was the goal of the rules, they have served their purpose.

The 2025 NBA conference finals start Tuesday, but regardless of which of the four remaining teams hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy next month, there will be a new champion for the seventh consecutive season, the first time in league history:

  • 2019: Raptors
  • 2020: Lakers
  • 2021: Bucks
  • 2022: Warriors 
  • 2023: Nuggets
  • 2024: Celtics
  • 2025: Knicks/Pacers/Thunder/T-Wolves

The four teams also represent a diversity of market sizes, but all have struggled to win the NBA championship. Among the conference finalists, the most recent NBA championship was won in 1979—and that was when the Thunder were still the Seattle SuperSonics. The T-Wolves and Pacers have never won a title.

The next few years will reveal more about the long-term effects of the NBA’s much-maligned salary structure, especially as the Celtics are expecting a record payroll and teams like the Thunder and Timberwolves face questions about the financial sustainability of their rosters.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Fans watch as players make it into the 18th hole during round three of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC in Scottsdale on Feb. 8, 2025. Arizona Republic

Country Club Initiation Fees Soar With Golf’s Popularity

In many areas, would-be members are joining decade-long wait lists.

NBA Doubles Down on MLK Day Amid NFL Christmas Competition

NBC also announced the first NBA games that will be exclusively streamed.

Fever-Sky Viewership Dips As Clark, Reese Absences Take Toll

It was the eighth game between the two teams since last year.

Featured Today

Schultz of Israel-Premier Tech

Rice Krispies Treats Are Upending the Billion-Dollar Athlete-Fuel Wars

The world’s most elite athletes are eating like first graders.
Dec 14, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; President Donald Trump wave during the second quarter of the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Army Black Knights at Lincoln Financial Field
August 9, 2025

‘Political Gold’: Trump Putting His Stamp on College Sports 

Trump has embraced executive action on hot-button college sports issues.
August 3, 2025

Inked Under Anesthesia: Athletes Getting $50,000 Tattoos

High-end studios, elite artist teams, and hours under anesthesia.
Coco Gauff at New York Liberty
August 2, 2025

How the New York Liberty Became the Hottest Ticket in Town

Once banished to the burbs, the Libs are now Brooklyn’s marquee attraction.

Dana White Says Increasing UFC Pay on Table After $7.7B Paramount Deal

The fighting promotion is doubling its media-rights revenue.
Barcelona
August 11, 2025

LaLiga Closing In on Long-Desired Miami Regular-Season Match

The Spanish football federation gave the league the green light.
Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Dana White (left) during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.
exclusive
August 11, 2025

Dana White on UFC’s Paramount Deal: ‘It’s Going to Be Huge’

White predicts a big influx of viewers by opening up distribution.
Sponsored

Hottest Matchups Following NFL Schedule Release

The NFL released the 2025 regular-season schedule, and anticipation is already building in the ticket marketplace with four months to go.
August 11, 2025

Cincinnati Open Showcases $260M Bet to Be Tennis’s Fifth Slam

Several former Cincinnati Open champions have praised the event’s renovations.
Roger Goodell
August 11, 2025

NFL Recommends Teams Make Security Changes After Shooting

The league recommended armed security and weapons screening at facilities.
Nov 25, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; From left: Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce and Marcus Spears on the ESPN Monday Night Football Countdown set before the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
August 11, 2025

NFL Lobbying Blitz Shows Political Pitfalls for ESPN Deal

“I don’t see what’s on the plus side for the consumer.”
August 8, 2025

WNBA Struggling to Prevent Repeat Dildo Incidents

The league appears to have no answers to the copycats plaguing games.