Mike Bibby never managed to win the NBA Finals during his time in the league, but he came awfully close to doing so a couple of times with the Sacramento Kings . From 2002 to 2004, the Kings lost in a Game 7 three times in a row to watch their season come to an end.
There are several folks who believe these SAC squads are among the greatest not to win a title. Bibby is obviously a part of that crowd, but he took things a step further by saying he believes Sacramento could have multiple titles had things gone their way.
Bibby's bold Sacramento championship declaration
Mike's first season with the Kings yielded their deepest playoff run, as they fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in the Western Conference Finals. They would lose in the West semis in the next two years in seven-games series as well.
Had Sacramento beaten the Lakers in Game 7 in 2002, Bib thinks they easily would have swept the New Jersey Nets. But beyond that, Mike believes that would have allowed the Kings to fare better in the postseason moving forward, as he claims they could have won multiple titles.
"Of course," Bibby said on Forgotten Seasons, "That hurt me because that was a championship I think. I think we might have even gotten another one after that. I think we were beating the Nets by 50-something at their place that same year in New Jersey. I know for a fact we were the best team in the league that year, for sure."
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Could the Kings have won multiple championships?
This is an interesting perspective from Bibby because, aside from 2002, they weren't all that close to winning a title. It's not a stretch to say they would have beaten an overmatched Nets team that year, but saying they would have won multiple titles is a bit more far-fetched.
In 2003, the Kings lost in seven games to the Dallas Mavericks, who promptly lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the West finals. In 2004, they lost in seven games to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who would then lose to the Lakers in the next round.
Taking things a step further, while the Spurs won in 2003, the Lakers didn't even beat the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, and it wasn't all that close. The Kings may have had more confidence had they had a title under their belt, but this seems like a bit of a stretch.
While Sacramento had the talent needed to win a title, we'll ultimately never know what they were truly capable of because they never even made it to the Finals. For that reason, Bibby's take seems a bit extreme, and it's tough to truly say this team could have won multiple titles.
Related: Mike Bibby believes his Sacramento Kings are the best team never to win a title: “You could put us up there with even some of the teams that may have won”
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