Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics

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Pierce has been with Boston since 1998, drafted by the Celtics at the 10th position after three successful seasons playing for Kansas. Pierce led the Celtics, along with Antoine Walker, to their first playoff appearance in seven years in 2002, making it to the Eastern conference finals (first time since 1988). Pierce endured the bad seasons between 2005-2007, including a 24 win season which seemed to involve the Celtics tanking. After Danny Ainge became the C’s GM in 2003 Pierce was linked with numerous trade rumors even after he signed a new contract in 2006. Eventually, bringing Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in 2007 changed the fortunes of everyone involved, as Pierce won the Finals MVP in 2008, leading the Celtics to their first title since 1986, pretty much certifying his place among Celtics greats.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland Cavaliers

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One of two Europeans on this list, big Z has been with the Cavs since 1997. Ilgauskas struggled with injuries in the early part of his NBA career, playing only 5 games in 1998-1999, missing the entire 1999-2000 season and 24 games in 2000-2001. After several surgeries, he finally found his form and fitness, becoming the Cavs’ starting center in 2002. The problem was the team was, well, crap. Then came Lebron James, and everything changed. Ilgauskas was never an elite big man but he’s always giving solid numbers and a soft touch from mid-range. He’s got two All-Star games in his resume and one NBA finals appearance. It’s hard to imagine Ilgauskas won’t be ending his career with the Cavs, probably not too far away in the future. Will a title ring be on his finger when he retires?

Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks

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Well, what else can we write about the fantastic German who’s trying to lead the Mavs yet again to that elusive NBA title which was snatched from their fingers in 2006? Nowitzki came to Dallas in the midst of the rebuilding project under Don Nelson and really broke out, like the Mavs, after the turn of the century. Nowitzki has since become the all-time leader in most major categories for the franchise. In every off season there are a lot of trade rumors flying around involving Mavericks’ players, but Nowitzki is hardly involved in any of these, and it’s hard to believe he’ll be going anywhere with him still being among the elite forwards in the league.

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

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The best player in the league? Maybe. He is the reigning finals MVP and it seems he won’t be happy with anything less than a fifth NBA championship when 2009-2010 comes to an end. Bryant wasn’t even drafted by the Lakers but by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996, straight out of high school. Bryant had no intention of playing for the Hornets and was soon traded for Vlade Divac to the Lakers. The rest, as they say, is history. But for those of you who don’t remember, Kobe wasn’t always LA’s chosen son. After Shaq left in 2004, there were a few rough seasons for Kobe and the Lakers, with Kobe seemingly on the verge of leaving LA in 2006 and 2007. Probably the Bulls’ inability to put together an attractive enough package kept Bryant away from Chicago, and Pau Gasol heading to the Lakers in February 2008 changed his and the franchises direction towards the end of the decade.

Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks

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Only recently back from injury, Redd seems now to be overshadowed by the Brandon Jennings show, but for most of this decade, this has been Redd’s team, especially after the departure of Ray Allen. Redd has been with the Bucks since 2000, making the playoffs three times, never making out of the first round. Redd was twice close to signing with other teams, once with the Mavs in 2002 and once with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and the chance to play with LeBron. He chose to stay with Milwaukee for more money (1oth highest paid player in the NBA). My guess is Redd won’t be a Buck forever.

Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

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The big fundamental has been with the Spurs since 1997 and pretty much right away became the best player on the team with an aging David Robinson on his side. Twelve seasons later, Duncan is a four time NBA champions with 2 MVP awards. He is the greatest player ever to wear a Spurs uniform and is probably the greatest Power Forward to play the game. He is the San Antonio Spurs. Efficient, experienced, a bit boring, but good, still very good. No chance he’ll end up anywhere else till the day he retires.

Hakeem Olajuwon – 1994 NBA Finals

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Hakeem arrived in the famous 1984 draft and was the no.1 pick in that draft. His arrival at Houston after enjoying a great career at the University of Houston and teaming up with Ralph Sampson made the Rockets immediate contenders for the NBA title.

In 1985-1986 Houston reached the finals, led by the “twin towers” only to lose to a Boston Celtics team that is considered by many as the best in history. Olajuwon continued improving, but Sampson was missing more and more games and never lived up to the hopes put on his shoulders.

It was Olajuwon’s show and he led his team to the playoffs six times in the next seven seasons but never made it past the Conference Semi Final. The Lakers and the Sonics were always there to stop him. But then, in 1993, after Michael Jordan won his third straight title with the Chicago Bulls, beating another title-less legend in the finals, Charles Barkley, something happened. Michael Jordan announced his retirement from basketball, and it seemed that almost every team in the league had a shot at the title.

Hakeem had his best season of his career in 1993-1994, winning Defensive Player of the Year a year after winning his only MVP award while averaging 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. The Rockets knocked out the aging Portland Blazers in the first round and Shocked the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Semi Finals, coming back from 3-1 down. They made easy work of the conference Finals, beating Utah 4-1. And then came the Knicks.

Pat Riley built the Knicks as the new “Bad Boys”, led by Patrick Ewing and a bunch of hard fighting players and one crazy gunslinger, John Starks. The series was an ugly 7 game physical battle, that the Rockets eventually won. Olajuwon won the Finals MVP. Olajuwon averaged 28.9 points with 11 rebounds in the playoffs and finally won the title in his 10th season in the league. A year later he won it again, teaming up with Clyde Drexler who came from Portland to beat the Orlando Magic in the finals 4-0, giving Drexler his first NBA title after 12 seasons in the league.

That year Michael Jordan returned, but the real no.23 came back only in the 1995-1996 season, and Olajuwon didn’t win another title again. Two aren’t too bad.

David Robinson – 1999 and 2003 NBA Finals

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Same era as Olajuwon more or less, but it took David Robinson to get a twin tower teammate who actually became the main man on the team to win a title, even two.

Robinson was picked by San Antonio Spurs in the 1987 draft by the had to wait two more years for him to join them as he had to finish his commitment with the Navy.

Robinson was a star in the league from day one, winning Rookie of the year award for the 1989-1990 season and the MVP in the 1994-1995 season but the Spurs never got passed the Conference Finals.

David Robinson missing most of the season in 1996-97 due to an injury resulted in a horrible season for San Antonio, which resulted in them winning the draft lottery and picking first. They picked Tim Duncan, and David Robinson finally had the partner he always wanted.

In Duncan’s second season in the league the NBA suffered from a lockout which resulted in a shortened season. The Spurs cruised into the Finals and beat the New York Knicks 4-1, winning the franchise first title. Robinson finally got the title in his 10th season taking a secondary offensive role and complementing Tim Duncan on both sides of the court.

That Championship was always criticized for being in a lockout season, so Robinson had to wait another three seasons, seeing the Los Angeles Lakers beat him twice in the playoffs and winning three straight NBA titles before winning a “real” title in the 2002-03 season, with Robinson being pretty much a role player and supplying rebounds, defense and leadership while Duncan did most of the damage to opponents.

Robinson retired after the second title and will be inducted into the hall of fame in 3 months.

Shaquille O’neal – 2000 NBA Finals

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Shaq was probably the most hyped college prospect since Kareem Abdul Jabbar and he made a huge impact on the league immediately, including breaking the basket twice in his rookie season, forcing the NBA to change some rules and builds but a title didn’t come easy.

He didn’t make the playoffs his first season, was swept in the finals by Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets in his third and swept by the Chicago Bulls in the next season in the Eastern Finals.

Shaq moved to LA but only in his fourth season there, after being beaten by the Utah Jazz (Twice) and the San Antonio Spurs did Shaq win his first NBA title. He won the MVP for the 2000 season, his only MVP award. That season also marked a transition in the league , as the Western Conference became the dominant and quality conference. Kobe Bryant evolving into a superstar player was a big factor to the Lakers 2000-2002 dynasty.

In the 2000 Finals the Lakers faced the Indiana Pacers, beating them 4-2 with Shaquille winning the finals MVP, an award he would also win in the next two titles for the Lakers.

It took Shaq 8 seasons to get one monkey off his back, and it took him a couple more to get another one. After the ugly split with the Lakers after the 2004 finals, Shaq won it with the Miami Heat in 2006, with Dwayne Wade playing the Kobe Bryant part as Shaq won a title without Kobe very quickly, a feat that took Kobe 7 seasons to accomplish.

Michael Jordan – 1991 NBA Finals

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People tend to forget that the greatest basketball player to ever play the game didn’t have it easy before winning his first title. He had a crappy team his first three years with the Bulls, never making it passed the first round in the playoffs. Then as the pieces started falling around him, he had the Detroit Pistons to face.

The Pistons beat the Bulls in the playoffs for three straight years from 1988-1990, winning the NBA title in 1989 and 1990. In 1991 that streak stopped, as the Bulls swept the Pistons in the Conference Finals, with Isiah Thomas memorably marching his team off the court so he won’t need to shake hands with Jordan and co.

Michael Jordan was already a two time MVP and a five time scoring title winner before the 1991 NBA Finals. Only after that series with the Lakers that ended in a 4-1 victory for the Bulls did Jordan finally step out of the Bird-Magic shadow and evolve into the best there is, best there was and best there ever will be (???)… Six titles in the form of two three-peats were the end result, but it started in 1991 after game 5 in LA.

Even though it was Jordan, he had Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and later Toni Kukoc and Dennis Rodman. Even he didn’t do it by himself.