NSL HISTORY – A SNAPSHOT OF WINNING - WEST

Hopefully by now you have had a chance to read the Eastern Conference breakdown prior to opening this premium, as the article follows the same set of rules when analysing the all-time win record of each Western franchise.

When reading the graphs, a yellow highlight indicates the team that won the conference and advanced to the finals. If the writing is RED inside a yellow box, that indicates the team went on to win the championship that season.

Below is the breakdown of the finalists, championship winners and comparison of total titles East vs West.

CHAMPIONSHIPS BY CONFERENCE:
Eastern Conference- 2
Western Conference- 4

NSL CHAMPIONS:

2019-2020 Portland Trailblazers (def Chicago Bulls)
2020-2021 San Antonio Spurs (def Detroit Pistons)
2021-2022 Portland Trailblazers (def Detroit Pistons)
2022-2023 San Antonio Spurs (def Washington Wizards)
2023-2024 Milwaukee Bucks (def Los Angeles Lakers)
2024-2025 Washington Wizards (def San Antonio Spurs)

FINALS APPEARANCES:
San Antonio: 2x wins, 1x loss (3)
Portland: 2x wins (2)
Washington Wizards: 1x win, 1x loss (2)
Milwaukee Bucks: 1x win (1)
Detroit Pistons: 2x loss (2)
Chicago Bulls & LA Lakers: 1x loss (1)

And now it’s time to breakdown the Western Conference history of winning!

 

THE WESTERN CONFERENCE 2019-2025

For much of the early history of the NSL the Western Conference was the benchmark of excellence. The NSL world almost revolved around the Portland Trailblazers and their rivalry with the San Antonio Spurs. In fact, the first four years of the league was a championship game of ping-pong where whoever advanced from the West of the Blazers or Spurs would go on to dispose of the Eastern Conference foe awaiting on the other side of the bracket.

The rivalry between GM Jmac and Nels was, and still is legitimate, the hatred is as real as it gets, however the friendship behind it, that has extended since adolescence, adds another layer of complexity to the Western Conference dominators love hate relationship. Add to it the fact that both GMs competed for many years in a fierce fantasy basketball rivalry previously, the fireworks were set to go off when NSL started  back in 2019.

 

The Dominators – Portland Trailblazers & San Antonio Spurs

It’s a no-brainer to put these two franchises on their own tier in the West as they have won the Conference and advanced to the Finals every year but 1. Insane. The Spurs lead the league with a win-rate of 75% (not including playoffs- which would probably make it higher) and the Blazers sit second with an insane 71% win-rate. The two sit atop the league with the winningest records and both teams have hit the 70-win mark at least once in a season.

The Blazers hold the record for most wins ever recorded in a single season with 78-4 back in the Leonard-Harden era, a feat that will likely never be topped in NSL again.

Both GMs will claim they should’ve won the title more than twice, GM Jmac often claims power outages and injuries cost his teams chips. There’s no doubt there is some merit to his claims, especially in the year where after going 78-4 in the regular season, Kawhi Leonard would sit out much of the playoffs due to an injury occurring in the post season in NBA. The unfortunate incident led to a subsequent rule change after costing the blazers a chip in a near perfect year.

The Spurs with 2 championships would also claim they’ve been shortchanged one chip as well. After dominating the league with a 69-win season and sitting atop of the league, the Lebron led Spurs looked primed for the first NSL back-to-back Championship, until a few loose GM moves at the trade deadline condensed the roster to a loaded but shortly stacked 13-man rotation. As the post-season came around and the back-end injuries stacked up, the Spurs had 8 healthy players to commence the playoffs. Those 8 players probably would’ve beaten any team, except it wasn’t legal as the requirement of 10 (I think) healthy players meant the admin team had to sweep the Spurs out of the first round in the first and last ever walk-over series.

While both GMs claim they’re shortchanged, a 2-2 championship result seems about right. Both juggernauts have consistently appeared in the post-season but have only met for a series 3 times. The head-to-head count favours the Spurs 2-1 with the decider being the AGL Cup that went the Spurs’ way in 7 games by way of power outage. The rivalry couldn’t be closer.

At this point in time the Spurs still view themselves as contenders after a Finals run last season. Though they may not have the depth to match the top end teams and the risers this coming season.

The Blazers have just begun a rebuild but look like they’ll be back in contention very soon, with a war chest of picks and top end star level talent taking just this season off. Their future success will rest on the shoulders of Rookies Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper who look to make waves in their debut seasons. However, all GMs are side eyeing one another to see who will be first to crack and take the Godfather offer of picks when GM Jmac decides to flick the switch and once again go all in.

What will the next chapter be for the biggest rivalry in NSL history?

 

Honourable Mentions – Memphis Grizzlies (58%), Denver Nuggets (56%) and Minnesota Timberwolves (57%), Houston Rockets (54%) and New Orleans Pelicans (54%)

The most consistent second-tier teams in the West would have to be the Grizz, Nuggets, Wolves (turned around by former GM Ethan), Rockets and Pelicans. Every season come playoff time there are certain teams you expect to see seeded in the Western Conference and the teams mentioned above have made the playoffs in almost every season. In fact, if you take out the inaugural season of the NSL, the Pels, Grizzlies, Rockets and Nuggets have made the post season (play-in included) every single year. Minnesota gets the nod in this group because of their dominance since 2021, making the playoffs every season and eclipsing 60 wins twice under the leadership of GM Ethan. They were amongst the West’s best last season, advancing to the Conference Finals under the new leadership of Shayhoops.

It feels like teams like many of the above teams could be around for a while longer as well. The Grizzlies and Pels have re-tooled to extend the window around their stars, the Nuggets have a very talented core with years left in their window and the Rockets have a trio of Jokic, Haliburton and Maxey (surely 50 wins per season if healthy). The only outlier in this group is the Wolves who are beginning to show their age with injury-prone duo AD and Paul George leading the way for the upcoming season.

These teams and their GMs, especially those that have been with us since inauguration- Leeroy, Rootsy, Digga and Vitty should be commended for their longevity and winningness for over half a decade.  

FINALISTS – East and West

While the Eastern Conference has been represented in the Finals by the Bulls, Pistons (twice), Bucks and Wizards (twice), the West has primarily been Portland or the Spurs. The only other team to advance from the was the 2023-24 LA Lakers.

LA Lakers – From 41% to the next Western juggernaut?

Since the arrival of GM Justin, the Lakers have developed an identity and culture of winning. After taking over midway through a 16-win season, Justin decided enough was enough and losing time in LA would be ended for good. The fans rejoiced as the previous 3 years had been a recycling plant of poor ownership and inactivity. Now, the Lakers look poised for long-term success with the best young player in the league, Victor Wembanyama, leading the way for the future along with Amen Thompson and an all-star support cast. How long until we see their 41% win-rate eclipse 50%? 

 

The Strugglers of the West

While the East holds some of the least successful teams of the NSL, the West has its own strugglers. The teams who make this list have a 40% or less win rate over the first 6 seasons, though there are signs of life for some of these teams as fortunes are quickly changing.

Golden State Warriors 40%- win rate

Originally operated by much loved gm Titles or Bust, the Warriors have recently struck gold landing Champion Winning GM Daz immediately after winning the ultimate prize. In a move that sent shockwaves through the NSL community, Daz announced his love for Golden State and decided he was destined to depart and change the fate of a struggling franchise. The scenes were joyous, and Warriors fans everywhere rejoiced- finally some direction. The opening season was an improvement, but a lot of work is still to be done to dig this team out of the doldrums of a talented Western Conference. If anyone can do it, Daz can.

Utah Jazz – 39%- win rate

This one was surprising as the Jazz have been a powerhouse in recent years with two successive 50-win seasons under the leadership of GM Jase. Prior to his arrival and revamping of the place, Utah was a basket case, going 3 seasons with 20 or less wins (13, 15 & 20) from 2020-2023. Ew. A remarkable steal of Bradley Beal turned the fortunes of this franchise who haven’t looked back since and with young stars and MVP calibre veterans, one would think they will well-above 40% very soon.

Dallas Mavericks – 37%-win rate

Probably the most rudderless ship in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavs and GM LJ haven’t been able to get their mojo going since 2020 where they had their only above 50-win season (54). Since then, it’s been a downward spiral of 25, 20, 16 and 24 win- seasons. That’s not fun for a fan base who are crying out for leadership like Nico Harrison (jokes) in their NSL affiliate. They have picks, young players and cap flexibility but the upcoming season could be bleak unless a big move is made by GM LJ who does not have his own pick in a loaded 2026 draft. The 37%-win rate could get worse before the trend changes. Ouch.

 

Well, that concludes the West. Please comment and point out other interesting trends from both this and the previous article. There’s a lot of data to dissect and no doubt there are teams that deserve greater time under the microscope.