Not Kobe. Not LeBron. And not Jordan. In fact, last season marked the first time since 2009 that the NBA Finals didn’t feature at least one of our three legends.
They first shocked the world by knocking out Michael Jordan and the defending champion Hornets in a brutal seven-game Western Conference Finals, and then carried that momentum straight into the championship round, where they toppled the Orlando Magic, the East’s own Cinderella story.
As for our legends, Jordan went the farthest among the icons, his Hornets clawing back to the West Finals for the second straight year, but the young Thunder were simply too much.
Kobe Bryant and the Lakers? Their run was ended early, falling to Jordan in the West Semis. LeBron James and the Miami Heat? Even worse—King James couldn’t escape the first round, taken down by the upstart Milwaukee Bucks, who—against every expectation—rode that momentum all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals as a No. 6 seed.
Everything we thought we knew about the league was suddenly flipped. The giants had fallen, the throne left unguarded. The question looming over the offseason was simple: Could the youthful Thunder repeat… or would our legends reclaim the world they once ruled?
But before the curtain lifts on the 2013–14 season, we rewind to the night that shaped the league’s future—the 2013 NBA Draft, a class that arrived with quiet intrigue and would soon deliver major shockwaves.
At No. 2, Victor Oladipo landed with the Spurs, and though he injected energy into the franchise, not even he could drag San Antonio out of the Western Conference basement.
Trey Burke, taken ninth and immediately dealt to Utah, stepped into a tough situation for the first time since the 1996–97 season, the Jazz failed to reach the playoffs.
At No. 11, Michael Carter-Williams shocked the league by winning Rookie of the Year, helping the Blazers storm back into the postseason picture.
Meanwhile, Kelly Olynyk, drafted 13th and traded to Boston, carved out a role in the Celtics’ rotation, even though the storied franchise once again found itself stuck in the lottery.
And at No. 15, a skinny, raw teenager named Giannis Antetokounmpo joined the Sixers—a project, yes, but already flashing the kind of versatility that could help Kevin Durant and reshape Philadelphia’s future.
Those were the rookies who made noise in Year 1—each one adding a new thread to the league’s ever-evolving tapestry as our legends prepared for another shot at glory.
Last season, Los Angeles ruled the league—and it happened again. Only this time, it wasn’t the Lakers wearing the crown. It was the Los Angeles Clippers (69–13), storming to the NBA’s best record behind what might be the toughest lineup in basketball.
With three All-Stars—Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and DeAndre Jordan—plus Paul George playing at an All-Star level, the Clippers looked every bit like a powerhouse built to last.
Out East, the Washington Wizards (57–25) reclaimed the top seed for the first time since 2008, back when Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas ruled the conference.
Wade now had a new weapon by his side: Andre Drummond, one of the league’s best young big men, giving Washington a dominant inside presence they’d long lacked.
Just like the last few seasons, the West was a gauntlet, miles ahead of the East in depth and power. In fact, the West’s top four teams all finished with better records than the East’s No. 1 seed.
At No. 2 stood the newly rebranded New Orleans Pelicans (64–18), powered by Michael Jordan’s 6th MVP season and reinforcements such as Jrue Holiday, fresh off winning last year’s championship with the Thunder.
Close behind at No. 3 were the Sacramento Kings (60–22)—finally back in the postseason for the first time since 2006. They followed Oklahoma City’s blueprint, building through the draft, and rolled out a rugged, homegrown core featuring Joakim Noah and Brook Lopez anchoring the interior.
At No. 4, the Portland Trail Blazers (58–24) found their spark after drafting Michael Carter-Williams, who joined All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge to restore Portland’s competitive fire.
To show just how fierce the West was, consider this: the No. 5 Minnesota Timberwolves (56–26) finished with a better record than the East’s No. 2 seed.
Led by Kevin Love, who finished second in the MVP race, Minnesota was good enough to be a conference finalist in some eras—but here, they were only fifth.
The Charlotte Bobcats (55–27) claimed the East’s No. 2 spot behind their own All-Star duo of Anthony Davis and Al Jefferson, but in a cross-conference comparison, they would’ve been swallowed alive in the West.
Before jumping back East, the West’s playoff picture had to be completed—and as always, it delivered chaos. The Houston Rockets (55–27) landed at No. 6, even though Dwight Howard joined James Harden and the team barely regressed from the previous year, when they were #3.
That’s how brutal the conference was. The LA Lakers (52–30) slid from first to seventh, losing Dwight Howard and struggling to reload around Kobe Bryant. Rounding out the field, the Memphis Grizzlies (50–32) with Blake Griffin won 50 games and still barely squeaked in at No. 8.
Then came history: for the first time in our 30-year alternate timeline, the defending champions failed to make the playoffs. The Thunder (44–38)—last year’s darlings—fell to 10th after losing Jrue Holiday, proving how fragile a title window can be.
If that wasn’t shocking enough, the Utah Jazz (36–46) missed the postseason for the first time since 1997, their loss of Al Jefferson proving catastrophic.
Now back East, where the standings made even less sense thanks to division rules. The Cleveland Cavaliers (44–38) finished with the fourth-best record, but because they won their division, they vaulted into the No. 3 seed—leapfrogging stronger teams.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers (36–46), despite having the eighth-best record in the conference, snagged the No. 4 seed simply for winning the Atlantic.
They still had their superstar Kevin Durant, but they still didn't having anything around him to compete. Cleveland was famously led by Kyrie Irving, one of the league’s brightest young guards.
The real third-best team in the East was the Miami Heat (47–35) at No. 5, still powered by LeBron James and Chris Bosh, with Serge Ibaka emerging as a new All-Star presence.
The Indiana Pacers (44–38) were technically the fifth-best team but forced into the No. 6 seed after losing a tiebreaker to Cleveland. Their leader? None other than John Wall, still one of the most explosive guards in basketball.
The Atlanta Hawks (43–39) grabbed the No. 7 seed, propelled by a revived Paul Millsap, and finally, the defending East champion Orlando Magic (37–45) limped in at No. 8 after losing star Josh Smith, free-falling from first to eighth in a single year.
As for the teams left out? It was the Bucks and Knicks falling from grace. Last season’s Cinderella story, Milwaukee lost Monta Ellis and tumbled back to the lottery.
The New York Knicks, contenders ever since acquiring Carmelo Anthony from Minnesota in 2011, finally cracked. The loss of Brandon Jennings hit harder than expected, and New York missed the postseason entirely. Their spots in the bracket were taken by the Bobcats and Hawks, signaling yet another dramatic shift in the conference hierarchy.
The Washington Wizards were back on top of the East—and they looked every bit the part. In their opening-round matchup, they dismantled the Orlando Magic, who were now led by a young Nikola VuΔeviΔ.
The matchup was a mismatch from the start: VuΔeviΔ was no match for Andre Drummond’s physical dominance, and Orlando had absolutely no answer for Dwyane Wade, who sliced through them at will. The Wizards cruised in five games, looking every bit like the powerhouse that once ruled the conference.
Across the bracket, the Charlotte Bobcats—armed with their own devastating frontcourt duo of Anthony Davis and Al Jefferson—steamrolled through the Atlanta Hawks. Paul Millsap fought, but he was outgunned at every turn. Charlotte’s size, rebounding, and paint scoring overwhelmed Atlanta, sending the Bobcats through in another five-game takedown.
The East’s remaining two series, however, went the distance. The 3 vs. 6 matchup—Cavaliers vs. Pacers—was exactly what their identical 44–38 records promised: a war of inches led by two of the league’s most dynamic guards, Kyrie Irving and John Wall.
Every game felt like a coin flip, but Game 7 delivered a moment that instantly became playoff lore. Down by two, the Pacers inbounded with seconds left.
Wall took the ball, rose for the win… missed. But David West swooped in, grabbed the offensive rebound, flipped it up through contact—and it dropped. Foul. Tie game.
With the arena holding its breath, West hit the free throw to put Indiana up one. Cleveland’s final chance found Luol Deng, as Irving was smothered. His shot bounced off the front rim, and the Pacers escaped, stealing the series in dramatic fashion.
The 4 vs. 5 matchup was harder to decipher on paper than it was on the court. The Philadelphia 76ers, despite being the 4th seed, were the 8th-best team in the East, but they won the Atlantic Division.
The Miami Heat, meanwhile, were the 5th seed but the third-best team because of their record. Miami also had something Philly didn’t—LeBron James and Chris Bosh in full playoff form, plus a rising Serge Ibaka.
Still, Kevin Durant and the Sixers were determined to prove they deserved their seeding. They won every home game of the series and forced a decisive Game 7 in Miami.
That’s where the magic ran out. LeBron and Bosh stamped their authority on the game, and the Heat ran away with the win, punching their ticket to face the East’s top seed.
That set up the fifth playoff meeting between LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, a rivalry that had shaped an entire era of the East. The two were tied 2–2 in their four previous matchups—all of which happened when LeBron was with the Boston Celtics.
Wade and the Wizards took the series in 2006 and 2007, while LeBron’s Celtics won in 2008 and 2010, both times in the Conference Finals. The last time they met, it went seven. And once again—it did.
With the series tied 3–3, Game 7 tipped off in the nation’s capital. The stakes? Everything. The tension? Suffocating. Miami had the ball up two with 25 seconds left.
The Wizards had a choice: foul or play it out. They opted to defend straight up. The ball found LeBron, who was immediately doubled by Trevor Ariza—and Ariza poked it free. The ball skipped ahead to Wade. Clock winding. From half court… he launched. The buzzer blared. The shot banked in.
Bedlam. Wizards win. Wade triumphs.
For the first time since losing to LeBron in 2010, Dwyane Wade was back in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Their opponent would be the Charlotte Bobcats, who survived their own seven-game classic against John Wall and the Pacers. After stealing Game 5 on the road to take a 3–2 lead, Indiana had a chance to close things out at home—but Charlotte refused to die.
They clawed out a win in Game 6, forcing a Game 7 back in Charlotte. There, the backcourt duo of Mike Conley and Reggie Jackson successfully contained Wall, while the Bobcats’ towering frontcourt did the rest. Davis dropped 29, while Jefferson scored 32, powering Charlotte to an 11-point win and their first-ever trip to the Conference Finals.
The East Finals were a matchup of experience versus ascension: Wade and the Wizards, making their fifth appearance since 2005, against a Bobcats franchise making its first.
On paper, Washington should’ve been in complete control. It was another seven-game epic. Part of the reason: Al Jefferson, a two-time champion (08, 09 Wolves), simply would not allow Charlotte to fold.
Down 3–1, he erupted for 35 points in Game 5, stealing a win in D.C. Back home for Game 6, Jefferson poured in another 30, and Anthony Davis daminated for 42 points and 15 rebounds, forcing an improbable Game 7.
Back in Washington, though, the script flipped. Dwyane Wade, refusing to let the Wizards collapse, delivered a masterpiece: 44 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds, carrying Washington to a 10-point win and pushing them back into the NBA Finals for the first time since 2007.
In the West, the newly crowned kings of the NBA—the Los Angeles Clippers—entered the playoffs looking every bit like the team that had stormed to a league-best 69 wins.
Their first victims were the once–proud Memphis Grizzlies, who featured Blake Griffin, drafted by Memphis in this timeline instead of forming the real-life Lob City trio alongside Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan.
In a twist of fate, the Clippers boasted their own terrifying nucleus: Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and DeAndre Jordan, all in their prime. Memphis never stood a chance. L.A. sliced through them in five games.
On the other side of the bracket, the NBA delivered a blockbuster sequel—Jordan vs. Kobe II. Last season, Jordan and the then–Hornets stunned the top-seeded Lakers in the West Semis.
This year, Jordan returned as the leader of the newly rebranded New Orleans Pelicans, the #2 seed with the league’s MVP at the helm. Across from him stood Kobe Bryant, battle-tested, bruised, and navigating a season without Dwight Howard. The Lakers were now the 7 seed, but with Kobe and Gasol, they were never to be taken lightly.
Four games in, the series was tied. Game 5 in New Orleans felt like a turning point, and Jordan ensured it was, pushing the Pelicans ahead 3–2. But to advance, he’d again have to go through Kobe Bryant—this time in Los Angeles.
Game 6 became the stuff of alt-history legend. Kobe and Jordan traded haymaker after haymaker, each sitting at 50 points with a minute left. The Lakers led by four and had the ball—Kobe dribbled with the chance to deliver the dagger.
Jordan closed in. Kobe found Steve Blake open for three… and it rimmed out. New Orleans secured the rebound, Jrue Holiday brought it up, and the ball went to Jordan—swarmed by Kobe—he dished it back out to Holiday. Bang 3. Lead cut to one.
With 23 seconds left, the Lakers inbounded to Kendall Marshall, who was immediately fouled. He missed the first free throw, made the second. Lakers up two. Pelicans ball.
What followed was pure magic.
Jordan took the ball at the top of the key, denied any room by Kobe. With the clock bleeding out, Jordan made a sudden move—then kicked it to Ryan Anderson popping up top. Anderson launched. The ball banked in.
Pelicans by one. Three seconds left.
Kobe’s final attempt, with Jordan smothering him, clanged off the rim.
Jordan advanced. Kobe fell. And Jordan improved to 3–0 against his two legendary rivals—2–0 vs. Kobe, 1–0 vs. LeBron in playoff series.
The other Western matchups had their own theatrics. The #3 Sacramento Kings, making their first postseason appearance since 2006, followed the Thunder’s championship blueprint: four starters drafted and developed internally (Damian Lillard, DeMar DeRozan, Joakim Noah, and Brook Lopez).
Their opponents, the #6 Houston Rockets, had gone toe-to-toe with the Thunder in seven games the year prior. Predictably, this series stretched to seven as well. And just like last season, the home team won Game 7. Sacramento survived and continued their ascent.
The 4 vs. 5 series nearly mirrored it. The Portland Trail Blazers, powered by LaMarcus Aldridge and rookie Michael Carter-Williams, faced the rising Minnesota Timberwolves, led by MVP runner-up Kevin Love.
In Game 7 in Portland, Love delivered an iconic performance, scoring the game’s final eight points and finishing with 42 to deliver the road upset by three.
That victory earned the Wolves a date with the Clippers in the semis. After splitting the first four games, Minnesota looked like a genuine threat—but in Game 5, the Clippers detonated. Back home in Game 6, the Wolves came out flat, and L.A., smelling blood, and finished them off in six.
Meanwhile, Jordan and the Pelicans found themselves in another grueling seven-game battle—this time against the Kings, who mirrored the Thunder team that had eliminated Jordan the year before.
But unlike last season’s Game 7, which took place in Oklahoma City, this one was in New Orleans. And the Pelicans had something the Kings did not: Jrue Holiday, a former Thunder draftee and champion. Holiday delivered a brilliant 27-point, 11-assist double-double, helping Jordan seal the series.
That set up a colossal rematch: Pelicans vs. Clippers, a continuation of last year’s 4/5 first-round showdown where the Hornets upset L.A. in six. But these two teams had grown into monsters. They had the two best records in the entire NBA, separated by only five wins. Neither team gave an inch as the series went to seven.
In Game 7, on the road, Michael Jordan authored another masterpiece—dropping 61 points to carry the Pelicans to a five-point victory.
The Clippers, despite their historic regular season, were eliminated by the very team that denied them the year before. In fact New Orleans had eliminated the Clippers in the last two playoffs. In 2012 they beat the Clippers in 5 in the semis on their way to their first title.
With that, Michael Jordan was heading back to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years, armed with his sixth MVP, a new supporting cast, and a mission to reclaim the throne.
The 2014 NBA Finals delivered the matchup fans had dreamed about for years: Dwyane Wade vs. Michael Jordan — Part I. And fittingly, this was the first season the league returned to the 2-2-1-1-1 format for the Finals after nearly two decades of the 2-3-2 structure.
It couldn’t have happened at a better time. Through five games, the series lived up to every ounce of hype, with Jordan and the Pelicans holding a narrow 3-2 lead.
Under the old rules, Game 6 would have shifted back to New Orleans for a potential coronation. Not anymore. The scene returned to Washington, and Wade refused to lose.
He delivered a blistering 45-point masterpiece, igniting the home crowd and dragging the Wizards into a winner-take-all Game 7. And as fate tends to do in this simulation, it placed absolutely everything on the line.
Game 7 was a duel of wills and legacies. It wasn’t just Jordan seeking his second ring—Jrue Holiday had a chance to become the only player on the court to claim back-to-back titles, having been a critical starter on last year’s surprise Thunder championship team.
On the other side, Wade was chasing his own second title, nearly a decade removed from leading Washington to the 2005 crown as a 23-year-old rising star.
And shadowing all of it was Trevor Ariza, the two-way swingman who once helped Jordan win a title in 2012—now was assigned to stop him from winning another.
Ariza did everything he could. He bodied Jordan, chased him around screens, and made him work for every inch. He held Jordan to a “quiet” 40 points, while Holiday returned the favor by keeping Wade in check for most of the night.
After all the swings, all the counters, and all the pressure, it somehow came down to a tie game with one possession left. Pelicans ball. Season on the line. History hanging in the balance.
Everyone in the building knew where it was going.
Jordan. Isolated. Ariza in front of him.
And then came the move—the move—the one the real world saw against Bryon Russell in 1998. A hesitation, a subtle nudge, a step back. The air left the arena even before the ball did.
Swish.
The script didn’t change. Jordan didn’t miss. And the New Orleans Pelicans were champions. Michael Jordan, at age 29, became a two-time NBA champion in this universe. Wade, once again, walked off the court denied by one of the three legends shaping this timeline.
His alternate-universe Finals resume is remarkable—and tragic. He won a title in 2005 with Gilbert Arenas. But he has now been denied by all three of the era’s generational giants:
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LeBron James, twice, with Kevin Garnett and the Celtics.
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Kobe Bryant, paired with Chris Bosh in 2007.
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And now Michael Jordan, who delivered the defining dagger.
Wade won three titles in real life—two alongside LeBron and Bosh, one with Shaq. Here, he doesn’t get any of those running mates… yet still finds himself on the Finals stage three separate times. Who knows what he might have collected if this world weren’t ruled by three titans?
And so the 2013–14 alternate season ends with yet another shift in power.
Can Jordan repeat?
Will Wade finally grab his second?
Will Kobe or LeBron reclaim the throne?
We’re far from done rewriting basketball history.
Stay tuned for Season 31 — the 2014–15 NBA Alternative Season.
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