Some NBA teams are remembered for championships and get the job done while others are remembered for how painfully close they came.

With Calvan out this week, Jeremiah (@_smarttakes_), an old friend of the show joins Josh to revisit four fascinating championship windows that never ended with a ring:

(03:15) '94-04 Pacers — Reggie Miller, countless playoff battles, a trip to the Finals and a decade spent knocking on the door without ever breaking through.(18:31) '05–10 Suns — injuries, suspensions, brutal playoff breaks and some of the most influential basketball of the era. Were Steve Nash's Suns the unluckiest contender of their generation?

(41:26) '21 and '22 Nets — Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving formed one of the most talented trios ever assembled. So how did a potential dynasty disappear after just 16 games together?

(51:25) '88–93 Cavaliers — were Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and company really just another Michael Jordan victim, or has history oversimplified how good they were?

Four contenders. Four eras. Four completely different ways for a championship window to fall apart.

NOTE: A technical issue affected our guest's video formatting during the second half of the episode. Audio is unaffected.

Thanks for bearing with us!

Follow Josh on X: @MediJo20

Follow Jeremiah on X: @_smarttakes_

What actually makes an NBA “superteam” work?I go through decades of NBA history to find out, from Wilt, West and Baylor's Lakers to the '83 Sixers, Jordan's Bulls, the 2004 Lakers, Big Three Celtics, Heatles, KD Warriors and Brooklyn Nets.Along the way, Ichallenge what “superteam” even means. Does a team have to be assembled through blockbuster moves to qualify? How much do fit, sacrifice, hierarchy, health and timing matter? And why might the best superteams simply have more players who are overqualified for their roles?Finally, I bring those lessons back to today's star-studded Philadelphia 76ers and ask whether LeBron, Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey can make the formula work.Check us out on Spotify too!(00:00) Intro(04:38) 1969-73 Los Angeles Lakers(08:19) 1983 Philadelphia 76ers(10:24) 1996-98 Chicago Bulls(13:19) 2004 Los Angeles Lakers(16:02) 2008 Boston Celtics(18:05) 2011-14 Miami Heat(22:03) 2017-19 Golden State Warriors(23:36) 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets(25:00) Modern application

What if some of the NBA’s biggest draft busts actually worked out?

Chandler Holt who covers the Utah Jazz on KSL Sports joins us to revisit the hype behind Olowokandi, Beasley, Fultz, Okafor, Thabeet and Pervis Ellison. We look at what scouts saw, what went wrong, and what their best-case careers could have looked like.

(02:50) Michael Olowokandi

(10:04) Jahlil Okafor

(15:09) Hasheem Thabeet

(21:38) Michael Beasley

(31:02) Greg Oden

(38:11) Mario Hezonja

(46:17) Pervis Ellison

(53:16) Anthony Bennett

(01:01:49) Markelle Fultz