The 7 best Finals series in NBA history

First things first: Sorry, Kobe Bryant fans. You will not find the Black Mamba -- or Shaquille O'Neal, for that matter -- on this list.

That's probably going to make you angry. We're sorry. Kobe's great and all, but he hasn't exactly played in the greatest Finals series. Each time he's made it to the last round of the postseason, the outcome has been about as aesthetically pleasing and competitive as last year's Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.

These seven series, though? These are the greatest ever -- the perfect mix of spectacular play, gut-wrenching tension and ridiculous stakes.

This one was about more than just the games on the court. For at least one season, Dirk Nowitzki's team proved that it's awfull difficult to buy a championship, as LeBron and the Heat Big Three seemingly attempted to do when they came together in Miami.

It's not just that the Mavs beat back one of the most hated teams in recent memory, though. 2011 will be remembered as the turning point in the NBA's embrace of the 3-pointer, and we'll have Dallas to thank. Coach Rick Carlisle encouraged his team to turn their long 2-point attempts into 3s -- a concept that's been as revolutionary for the game as it is ridiculously simple. 

In turn, the Heat had to question their approach after the Finals loss. The next season, Erik Spoelstra unleashed Miami's offense, allowing LeBron to play like his all-world self rather than trying to use him as a traditional small forward. At the cost of one title, LeBron ended up with two more. Not a bad trade. We're sure Dirk would agree.

The very first NBA Finals MVP award was historic for multiple reasons -- most notably because it's the only time a player on the losing team has claimed the award.

Jerry West was incredible in all seven games, averaging just shy of 38 points per game and nearly proved the difference in a series featuring yet another titanic clash between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke famously had thousands of "World Champion" balloons prepared for an LA victory at home in Game 7, a bit of preemptive celebration that reached the Celtics locker room. That added motivation, combined with a hamstring injury for West that limited him in the decisive game, helped Boston to a 108-106 win and its second straight title.

This list wouldn't be complete without a sweep. And while most of us have no recollection of basketball in the 70s, it's worth taking a second to appreciate what the Warriors did over 40 years ago.

No one gave Rick Barry's squad a chance against Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and their 60-win Washington squad, as Golden State finished the season with 12 fewer victories than the Bullets. The Warriors' loss of Nate Thurmond before the season seemed to have sealed their fate. Sure, Thurmond was past his peak at this point. But with Washington so talented at center, it seemed as if Golden State was in for a pounding.

Other than an actual fight in the fourth game, though, physical toughness wasn't the deciding factor in the series. Rather, Barry's sweet scoring touch lifted Golden State to one of the most shocking sweeps in sports history.

There was a time when Charles Barkley thought he was the best basketball player in the world.

Then Michael Jordan and the 1993 Bulls happened. Chicago won the first game after Phoenix made the mistake of emulating the Bulls' famous pregame intro, but Barkley swore that he wouldn't lose Game 2.

He went off, pouring in 42 points and ripping down 13 rebounds. And it wasn't enough. Jordan matched him with 42 points of his own, as the Bulls squeaked out a 111-108 win. After the game, Barkley admitted to his daughter that Jordan was likely the better player.

In Game 3, Barkley played his best all-around game of the series, as the Suns won a triple-overtime barnburner in Chicago. They went on to drop Game 4 before rebounding for a resilient Game 5 victory. Then, in Game 6, Jordan famously passed up a potential game-winning shot in favor of an open John Paxson 3-pointer. The shot found nothing but the bottom of the net, and the Bulls had the NBA's first 3-peat since the legendary Celtics of the 60s.

All of the buildup was worth the payoff.

For the first four seasons of their careers, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson managed to avoid each other in the NBA Finals. Finally, in '84, we got the epic matchup we'd been waiting for since they made the leap from college to the pros.

It was Bird who would rise to the occasion first. He was the single most dominant force in a series involving nine future Hall of Fame players. Yet that didn't begin to guarantee victory, even with the Lakers missing third-leading scorer Jamaal Wilkes due to injury.

James Worth started in Wilkes place, helping to begin his legacy as "Big Game James." The Celtics were just too deep, however, and they were able to grind out Boston's eighth straight Finals series victory over the Lakers franchise.

The '96 Bulls are the team of legend. The '98 Bulls were the last time we'd see Michael Jordan as a superstar. But it's the '97 team that delivered all of the defining moments of Chicago's second three-peat.

"The Flu Game" will forever be known as one of the greatest performances in sports history, of course. And current Warriors coach Steve Kerr -- who had gone toe-to-toe with His Airness in 1995 -- earned the eternal admiration of Jordan in this series when he hit a game-winning jumper in Game 6:

Recency bias? Perhaps, we suppose. But the current NBA is an absolutely beautiful game, and the Heat and Spurs played it at the highest level we've ever seen in 2013.

Yes, ever. Better than the Showtime Lakers. Better than any of Kobe or Shaq's best teams. And better than anything Jordan's Bulls did. For seven games, it seemed as if the ball never stopped for more than a couple seconds at a time. Both teams flowed in a balletic display of athleticism, grace, intelligence and laser-sharp focus.

That's all the basketball nerd stuff that makes us love the game. This series had all the drama you could ask for as well, though. Ray Allen's clutch 3-pointer in Game 6 is one of the greatest moments the NBA has ever seen -- to the point that it's overshadowed what was a fantastic Game 7, one controlled by LeBron from the very start as he led his team to its second consecutive championship.

Yet it took a missed Tim Duncan layup in Game 7 for the Heat to lock up the title, as two of the best teams we'll ever seen exchanged haymakers until they could no longer answer the count. The only flaw in this series was the fact that it only went seven games. We could have watched these Finals every day for the rest of our lives.