When the final buzzer sounded on Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Jalen Brunson had scored 45 points, the Knicks had beaten the San Antonio Spurs on their home court, and 53 years of painful playoff losses and waiting in New York was over. With the win, the Knicks’ title did not just make history in New York. Rather, it marked a monumental step for the league as a whole: the NBA crowned the eighth different championship team in as many seasons, cementing a new and improved era of competitive balance.
This shift towards parity is a far cry from the NBA of the early 2000s and 2010s. The dynastic eras of Kobe’s Lakers, Duncan’s Spurs, and of course, the decade-long rivalry between James’ Cavaliers and Curry’s Warriors defined NBA storylines. From 2015-2018, only two teams, the Cavaliers and Warriors, even made the finals, marking an era remembered only for a few dominant teams.
Now, with the Knicks ascension into NBA history, the league has entered a refreshed era, one where teams around the league can realistically aim to hold up the trophy come June, with no one as clear favorite. In recent years, many potential dynasties, from Jokic’s Nuggets in 2023 to Shai’s Thunder in 2025, failed to establish dominance in the seasons following their win. While many lament the absence of such dynasties, I believe that parity is exactly why the NBA has never been better, and why the season to come might be the best yet.
A large part of the league’s increasing parity traces back to the new second apron, a payroll threshold implemented in the NBA’s 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Under this new system, teams above the threshold pay steeper penalties on every additional dollar spent on salaries over the league’s salary cap. Teams over the limit also lose key tools for adding talent, like signing free agents with the mid-level exception or combining salaries in trades. The harsh penalty thus disincentivizes large-market teams like the Warriors and Lakers from outspending everyone else, leveling the financial playing fields and forcing teams to break up expensive rosters. The result has been the decentralization of the league’s talent.
With this newfound parity, fans have found new enjoyment in the league as a whole. In theory, breaking up dynasties could drive fans away, starved of the David and Goliath stories of the past. In reality, we have seen the opposite, and it’s not just the Knicks.
Last season, the league saw its highest total viewership numbers in 24 years. Viewers tuned in to regular season games for a total 920 million hours. When each game offers a competitive matchup for both sides, and any team can win on any given night, it is no surprise that more fans are interested. The sport’s appeal lies in the uncertainty of the outcome, and is exactly what has drawn fans in.
Parity has also brought new drama to the league, putting stars on the move at an unprecedented rate this offseason. This summer alone, players like Jaylen Brown, LaMelo Ball, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James all changed teams. While the transactions were not solely due to the second apron, many of the moves stemmed from their original team’s financial concern and emphasis on their long-term planning. Thus, despite some claiming that parity would kill the star-powered drama that many love, it has instead done the opposite, shaking up the trade market to make for one of the most exciting offseasons in league history.
As a diehard Celtics fan myself, this parity is personal. I watched Celtics star Jaylen Brown win Finals MVP in 2024 and figured Boston was set up for a run of titles. Two years later, he was gone, traded to a division rival because of the same rules I’m defending. In all honesty, the second apron can be brutal to loyal fans. But even those fans should be able to see its net benefit. Never before has talent been so deeply dispersed throughout the league, fueled by an offseason of shocking headlines and transactions.
This dispersion of talent offers new rosters and new excitement, even for teams like the Celtics forced to make tough decisions entering the season and value where others overlook it. While historically dominant teams continue to face the challenges of the league’s new rules, there is no denying the benefit for the league as a whole, as painful as it is for me to endure. At the end of the day, one team’s heartbreak is the price of all 30 having a shot at the playoffs.
Now, as the new season commences, the Knicks face a challenge that no team has met since 2018: winning back-to-back championships, and this year’s title race might be the most wide open in years. That uncertainty is not a design flaw for the league. Rather, it is its greatest product, and the reason I’m so excited to watch the season get underway.
Jake Creelan PO ’29, a sports editor from New York and a Boston Celtics fan, spent half of his summer watching mock trades for Jaylen Brown, and the other half lamenting it ever happened. Despite his sadness, he cannot wait to watch the new season unfold, putting aside his personal grief for his love of basketball.
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