5. 1993 – Chicago Bulls over Phoenix Suns (4-2)
This is arguably the most fun series to watch out of the 31 on this list, highlighted by an awesome triple overtime win for the Suns in Game 3. Phoenix was lead by NBA MVP, Charles Barkley, and played a style that showed some of the first signs of small ball in the NBA.
This was the first time I’d ever actually watched multiple games of Barkley, and I have to say that he was incredible. In a normal year, this Phoenix team would have absolutely been good enough to win, but in the 1993 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan was on another planet.
Jordan averaged 41-8-6 in the series on over 50 percent shooting and almost two steals per game. That’s tough to beat, but when Pippen throws in a 21-9-8 stat line they were nearly impossible to beat. A lot of people think the 1996 Bulls were the best team in that dynasty, but my money is on this 1993 team.
But even with how well the Bulls played, the Suns still had a chance in large part due to Barkley’s excellence. No one has ever come as close to going toe to toe with Michael Jordan in an NBA Finals series as Barkley did in 1993. And if John Paxson would have missed his famous 3-pointer at the end of Game 6, Barkley would have had a Game 7 at home to win the championship. Paxson’s shot could have completely changed the way we look at Barkley’s career.