The Deep 3 Podcast - We Graded The Last 10 NBA Finals | TD3 Clips

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

What were the best NBA finals of the last 10 years? #nba Check out the TD3 merch: https://the-deep-3-shop.fourthwall.com/ Listen on Spotify!: https://open.spotify.com/show/3elbbqVumwqz8wlIdknsLW Listen on Apple Podcasts!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-deep-3-podcast/id1657940794 Follow us on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedeepthree Follow us on Instagram!: https://www.instagram.com/thedeep3podcast/ Isaac's twitter: https://twitter.com/byisaacg Mo's twitter: https://twitter.com/Mojo99_ Donnavan's twitter: https://twitter.com/Dsmoot3D Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are going to talk about the last 10 NBA final series. I'm going to show you one of them, like I said, the last 10. And you guys are going to grade it based on entertainment, based on impact of history, whatever it means to you, whatever decides the quality of an NBA final series. We're going to grade them all. Let's do it. So first off, 2016, Cavs versus Warriors. This is S2 or not S. A plus plus.

This is the best final series that you've seen in a long time, man. And our time is fans when it comes a storyline, quality of players. both sides, quality of teams on both sides, quality of coaches on both sides, quality of marketing on every angle. This is the perfect final series from our lifetime. This is like, this is when the two best superheroes like matchup and you have, this was like, it was like infinity. It was like, we've been waiting for this for years and now we finally get the matchup that we need. This was, this was everything. And just in terms of like consequential to the league and its ramifications, if the Warriors win this, we might not get Kevin around.

on the Warriors. And we might have a very different LeBron James legacy. So, yeah. In history, looking back, it has aged to being one of the biggest finals of all time. Okay.

The defining one of the modern NBA. Yeah. Yes, because it hasn't... They wiped the floor with them. And it was a rematch. It hadn't gotten old yet. It was at the point where maybe after this year, it's like, ah, we're seeing this again. But at this point, you add Kevin Durant to it was already a back-to-back finals appearance.

Like, this is an insane evolution to the story. And it's the goat who just got cemented the goat from 2016. Going against the single greatest team ever assembled is at least to be. And there was like a small, small... Because everyone, as soon as you get KD, everyone's like, oh, so like the words are winning the chip. Yeah. But LeBron and Kyrie was still there on this time. It was like, and it was a small percentage of like, well, if anybody can get it done, it's going to be LeBron and Carrey and they can maybe do it.

And then we saw game one and we're like, oh, okay, this series is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, never mind. That is great. I was simple. I got chipped up because I think that picture on the left is LeBron from 2018 specifically. They didn't have that new, like, no, they had that new, I can't remember you're right. Yeah, that's from 2018. Okay.

So I was like thinking about, I was thinking about Jordan Clarkson and then. I'm like, oh, wait, no, no, no. Tyree never wore this jersey, too, also. So, yeah. Okay. So 2017, I agree. Yeah, we'll go B. Okay.

Caleb was better too. 2018, Casarus Warriors. D. Now. No, I mean, F, right? Okay, it can't be D. Now, you had the game one.

You did have game one, and we did see one of the greatest performances of all time. And also received one of the greatest memes, too. That's why I can't say it's D or F. You just convinced me even more to say F because game one is the single most angry I've ever been at an athlete in my life. You just brought out the worst memory of why I hate this final so much. I've never been why I rate ever. But think about it Through that bad memory

And through that hardship You were able to sit down And notice as years went on That you received one of the greatest memes of all time I wanted to harm J.R. Spitt that night I was 18 years old Full on Braun fan Full on wearing the crown to sleep

I wanted to harm him I was not happy that night At year Listen it wasn't You weren't a happy time at all No not really Yeah maybe Maybe my pajamas had crowns on him

I don't know I think this is a C for me It's also it was the fourth year in a row people were real sick of it by now. It was a finals that there was no hope for an outcome other than how it went. You know, you went in with fully determined how it was going to go. That sounds like the definition of F. Yeah.

And especially as soon as game one ends and the Warriors win, you're like, okay, well, there's definitely no chance here. Yeah. Like LeBron scored 50 and they had an opportunity that if they were ever going to get a game and make the series any type of interesting, they had to get that. Yeah. And the quality of play was dog shit after a game. game one like it was just beat down yeah i can i can 100% agree with that if game one never if a singular game like it has holds all the weight when it comes to the entertainment value

of this entire series then i can understand that you go if yeah not a great series overall like so many factors going to play of why this was unenjoyable 2019 raptors versus warriors i was not as high as i wanted to remember i don't know i think the kuai moment was special that was a breath of fresh air after seeing four years of warriors versus calves we needed some kind of new injection of life, you inject a legacy defining series that propelled Kauai into all-time talks. The moment in which it came was really important. But how would it happened, like made it feel a lot or wait a little to less than it actually

happened, than it actually was supposed to do with. Yeah, like having KD go down and then having Clay go down, especially, I mean, the overall, like, or of the series, I think is kind of lower than what was. actually on the floor because in game six like clay was hooping in game six the first two games were were really close step had that really fun game in game three where i think i think clay was out too and um yeah i think clay was out and kd was out and it was just step and he scored like 47 they lost but but like he had a great game too i'd i don't know i'll go i go see just because everything felt a little bit underwhelming because of all the injuries i think looking back and

thought that way but in the moments people were ready to see the warriors fall so it was about me I was ready for my license and goes. Yeah, he was a step, man. But, like, the world was like, oh, that sucks. We shouldn't happen that way. But it's just still cool as fuck. There was the fact that Canada doesn't have any championships and the whole country banded behind it.

We had an awesome gigantic parade. And Kauai was, like, being propped up as this new best player in the world candidate. As a king. Yeah, like, it was fair. I think the, oh, it kind of sucks. Those guys got hurt came in afterwards when we look back at it. But in the moment, I think it was celebrated immensely. So where you want to go?

B, can't be A, because those are some of the best of all time. But I feel like it's. B. Okay. I'm going to see. Okay. Next up, 2020, Lakers versus Heat. Listen, I'm going A, simply because listen, nothing else was on. We had nothing, but

we had the bubble. We did. We had Jimmy Butler. That run was iconic. Him refusing to get a haircut. Crazy ass mustache looking insane. Getting insane buckets, making a crazy run. Like, that added that character to it. We'll be remembered in a bit history. I think, like Jimmy Buckets in the playoffs is going to be a thing.

Speaking about that character, like Tyler Hero is very much a character as well, but I'm definitely giving this a, I'm giving this a B. I don't want to give this an A because the quality of teams necessarily like way out in a fair enough to me, but seeing how

the legs are able to dominate in such a it almost felt like a nostalgic way because they were so focused defensively, had so many bigs with Javelle, Dwight and Fuss, AD there too, point guard, LeBron James. Yeah. Yeah. I'm torn between B and C.

Working against it, it is the bubble. People don't respect it. It was a weird, weird ambiance. We had Russell Westmore screaming at babies. Yeah, not even. We don't care what they say.

Take away the idiots who call it a fake ring. There was no crowds. The ambiance was weird. It wasn't exciting in the same way. So like, it doesn't have the same magnitude as even 2019. Just because also they beat the shit out of them.

So the play wasn't exciting. But we saw the Lakers win a championship again, which is cool. We saw LeBron in the Lakers championship. Cool. we saw a Lakers championship post Kobe death cool as fuck we saw all these other factors that like

if it wasn't the bubble it would be A it would be amazing but it was the bubble and it was a little weird that's like climactic so I'm thinking B minus that's my final

or C plus I'm eating the middle I'll say B let's let's go B let's go B because again like it was it was a six game series it wasn't it wasn't five

yeah but it was like a fake ass six games like it was like the heat got a game and we were like whatever nobody really had a doubt that the Lakers is annoying because they had that They had the first time where Jimmy, like, went crazy.

And, and then they had the one where, what was it, Markey Morris, like, through the ball out of bounds. Yeah, he threw the ball out of bounds. There were a couple times where it seemed like Miami can maybe steal a game and, like, maybe make it a little bit more interesting. But it was always that. It was always like, the force of competitive, interesting six. Yeah.

And it was just like, sure. And they did. So they did. But nobody really felt like that had a chance of winning. Okay. So, okay, I guess I'm really coming down to see. It would be. I'm coming down.

to see. 2021, bucks versus sons. This is an A. It was the first time in a minute, I feel like, since you've seen the team come down from 02 and be able to win the NBA finals in six games in such like a convincing manner, like dominant fashion, I give this an A for sure.

Yeah, it was the crowning of Janus as an NBA legend forever. Like, I'll never forget that moment of seeing him block a shot, dunk over someone, hold the trophies. Like that back-to-back three image memory in my brain will. always be synonymous with this guy is now in the history books yeah in the moment i probably said see looking back it's a yeah yeah and because in the moment it was like one i didn't really like this this sun's team like that and this whole year just felt really really weird and so it's like oh like the bucks got it like that's kind of this kind of weird it's kind of odd but as yonis like

ascends and becomes everything that that he is then it's like oh that's cool that we can look back and like you said that was the the start of it that was the i loved in the moment because Because if you guys remember, before this, people forget now, Janus was insanely harshly criticized as not being able to get it done. He was getting the same Joellen B narrative of he can never win in the playoffs. So he completely silenced the doubters. That was great to me as somebody who was like, are you guys dumb? This is the best player in the world. Why are we acting?

He's a bum because he lost in the playoffs when his team wasn't good enough or whatever. So to me it was very like, I don't know what the word is here. I guess like validating to see him actually be as good as we all know he is. Yeah. Why don't you like the Sun's team? I just like, they were just like. You didn't think they're like a true finals contender or like worthy team or you're looking through like the instances and how they got there.

He thought they were soft. Is the real answer? Yeah. They just weren't like my favorite team. And it was also their whole path was also really weird. It was injury predicated a little bit. But I don't even care about about that is, I mean, injuries happen all the time. From the start of the year, I just wasn't a massive, massive fan of them.

Sounds like, Hayden is what it is. I guess so. I guess so, yeah. No, remember it. 22, Celtics versus Warriors. A plus plus. Everything I said about Janus solidifying himself in the history books in 2021

showing he is one of those legends. This was that moment for Steph to an even higher degree because now we're saying this is a top 10 player of all time. The ceiling moment in what was already an amazing career just becomes that much more amazing.

This is a solidifying moment for him. I remember, like, one of the biggest things, one of the biggest critics, or critiques that people would have for someone like Steph Curry is that we would always haters would always be like

oh he doesn't have any finals MVP or anything like that and I do remember they tried to give it away to Andrew Wiggins or at least there was like a certain group of people who were like Andrew Wiggins deserve it but he finally went ahead and did that easily one of the most meaningful championships too because

no one really thought that the Warriors are necessarily like favorites in that year they weren't they should not have been as good and yet here they are winning a chip and it was funny is between the years of 155 and 2015 nobody had ever mentioned a finals MVP in discourse

and from the year 22 to now we once again do not mention finals MVP's because I finally got one that alone makes his a because I don't got to hear about that anymore

unless it's Jason Tandum discourse exactly there's one other player that everyone decides to make it matter for nobody else matters at all nobody's ever mentioned it for any other star

yeah and maybe it's most of the other ones actually do we have one but I can't remember on my head I'm sure there's somebody else who doesn't have it but keep it going

2023 Nuggets versus Heat This was D This is boring This is yeah It was great for me As a Yokit super fan Who saw him grow Into being this best player

In the world And getting the chip I loved it For my personal fandom Looking back I can't remember A single moment From the series

I like The Heat's run The Heat's run It was very like March Madness-like Yeah Where it's like Oh this this young

You know Or not young But like this underdog team Is making a run And then weren't they the first like eighth seed to They would have been the first to win it That's the first to make it Yeah but they're making this run

And then you get to the finals and you're like Wait who are these guys like I don't want to see them They are an eight C They don't have a chance I remember eight seed suck And then it was boring and the Nuggest dog walked them Yeah Yeah every every game was just like They just don't have enough talent

And they had a quick moment in game five We're like maybe they could have pushed it to six But it was the same thing like in 2020 where if they pushed it to six, there was no doubt of who was going to win that series. Yeah. And there was still some of the Yokic cementing himself, like you said for the last two,

but he didn't really have the criticism before that. There were some elements of, you can't win with the bad defender at center, but he'd already been best in the world for a couple of years. So it really wasn't to the level of Janus Lander or to the level of Steph doesn't have finals of your piece slander. It existed, but it hadn't been enough time that it was like, that's your resume.

You are the guy that doesn't win. Yeah. So it doesn't do anything for me And it really It validated a lot Because the last time Because like in 20 Because like he had it

Without Jamal Murray And then they end up like getting swept And then they they lost to To the Warriors the year prior Because Jamal was still coming back Like he had His two MVP years Were without his

You know his star players And so people were holding that against him So it was like are you You got in on the ground floor It kind of got ahead of all the massive massive hate Yeah, exactly. So if it took a couple more years, then we would have had the same level of hate

as like Yon has had. But, I mean, it just so exists. I don't want to minimize the slander. Like, he did get stupid hate. But he got stupid hate in the same way. Every star gets until they win. It kind of comes to the territory. It wasn't like dumb narrative level yet.

Yeah, I agree. So yeah, we'll go D. It was pretty boring overall. 2024, Celtics versus Mavs. I love this finals. I love this so much. Really? Two entirely different teams.

Yeah, I felt like Godzilla versus, a moth Not even moth Just like a small bug Because they beat the shit out of the maps I didn't feel like Godzilla vs anything of merit They did they did feel it Well when did the series in

I might be forgetting Five games Wow it felt like it was closer I think going into the series We wanted to be closer because it's exciting To see Luca go on this run So we were like yeah Maybe they do have a chance

But the Celtics were dominant team all year We're the best teams of all time And they beat the shit of them like they should Yeah Kyrie was such a fucking disappointment this year as well. It's so bad and PJ Washington just disappeared. Oh yeah, I'm driven. PJ Washington had one series

that entire year where that earned this $90 million contract that he just signed that one series from this year. Yeah, this one going into the finals felt like it could be fun, but it was really us wishcasting it to be fun, wanting it to be a story because Luca was on such an amazing run that it was like,

it's just one of those runs? Is it going to be an upset? Is Luca going to show that he is the legend? He's been on the path to be for last five years. And we kind of just like built it up ourselves And convince ourselves It was straight fan fiction That's what I was just doing Yeah

As soon as you got the game one We're like oh yeah The Celtics are an all-time team And they're gonna throttle them And they did So C-minus Seeing Tatum get a ring It's kind of cool

But C-minus Yeah I mean it wasn't even cool Afterwards because then We all just We all just took the summer To make fun to Jason Tatum And like in the celebration tactics

Speak for yourself That shit was done as fuck I was like okay I got to give it to him No no no no The celebration tactics No What, where he...

Oh, we did it! Yeah, yeah. Yeah, all that. So, like, it was like, it was very, it's very, you know, anti-climactic to the season. Yeah, especially because they didn't win it. They, they tried to lose it in some ways.

They didn't perform super well, at least two stars. Like, they didn't win in dominant fashion. So that was kind of like, you are this all-time team, but the star players are shooting 34% from the field. So, like, I see that you're winning these games

are easily, but I'm not going to respect the stars, so I'm not going to respect the team. It kind of led to a weird discourse mixture. And you know what? Oh, and look, it was hurt. I forgot about that. No, but it wasn't even supposed to be Dallas. Wasn't his knee bleeding, too?

Right. I don't remember. It was supposed to be Denver. And then they choked in game seven against Minnesota. So, like, they should have played Dallas in the conference finals. They should have beat them. And then we would have had Yolkich going for back to back against Tatum and the Seltics trying to get their first one with this all-time team. That's the matchup we should have got.

And it just never happened. Yeah, I remember after this, too, the PR for Luka was terrible because he was moping around. the defense was like... He was being attacked, yeah? Yeah, it was in the biggest spot. He was called him all types of, like, you know, names. Brian Winner's body-shaming, Luca? Yeah.

All right, so, uh, D. Oh, no, it sounds like it's not exciting. Sounds like it's a D. 2025, Thunderverse Pacers. People were gonna call us an F. People hated this. This was a fuck. This was exciting as fuck.

People hated because the way it ended, which I understand. It ended in anti-clamatic fashion. People didn't want to see the Thunder win at all to see them win because of injury, people were sick. They were disgusted. I thought it was amazing. Game one through game seven,

this is one of the most exciting two weeks of basketball I've ever had. This series brought back good finals. Because we just went through the list. We hadn't gotten like a great, great one for a while. And everything that the league has been doing over the last couple years in terms of like adding the physicality back doing... I forgot. I already forgot about that.

They were playing fucking football the whole playoff run. It was as physical. of a series that we've seen and people liked it. You had Shea trying to, you know, trying to finish off this amazing season. Tyree Taliborne was trying to finish off the best clutch playoff run that we've ever seen. And I, yeah, I'm going A plus here.

I can't go A plus because they did end in an anticlimatic way, which sucks. That defines a series. How it ends is how you remember it. So that that does suck. But before that, the first six games were perfect playoff basketball. I don't know.

Six out of seven, that's pretty good to me. I'm going to. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, considering that, When's the last time that we saw a game seven? In the finals? In the finals? 2016. I'm giving this an A plus for sure, bro.

Like, I hate the way it ended, but the constant tip of tap back and forth, the, like, surprising, shocking judgments and all that. Storylines both ended two between Andrew and M. Hardin, fucking Shane, all that. Like, I think this is, this is easily an A plus. Yeah. And obviously, I enjoyed watching the Thunder get crowned as a quasi-thunder fan. And I think people already, like, because the paces were so great and, like, stood a chance, clearly, it makes just forget that for much

of the playoffs and much of the year, it seemed like we're going to get a series where nobody's a chance. It seemed like the Thunder, we're going to molly up everybody. So the fact that we got a seven-game series against this team is like we're playing with House money. If we did this in a simulation a thousand times, 950 times we're going to get the Thunder dog walking

whoever they play in the East. So it's already just cool as it is that we got a really competitive series. Yeah. This is, it brought playoff basketball back. Yep. If there's any people in this world I respect the 2025 finals. It's us.

I know you guys hated it, but I loved it. We don't care. We don't give a fuck.