The 1994 Seattle SuperSonics looked poised to seriously challenge for the NBA championship. They had stormed through the regular season en route to a 63-19 record, best in the NBA.

In the mid-2000s, the NBA's Western Conference faltered a bit, allowing for the Eastern Conference to swoop in and win a couple championships. Heading into that mini era, anyone would have picked the New Jersey Nets to snatch at least one of those trophie...