Has an 8 Seed Ever Won the NBA Finals?

The answer may surprise you – an 8 seed has in fact won the NBA Finals before. Find out how this happened and see if it could happen again.

What are the NBA Finals?

The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The winning team of the series receives the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

What is a 8 Seed?

In the NBA, the eight seed is the lowest position in the playoff seedings. In order to make the playoffs, a team must finish in the top eight of their conference. The 8 seed has only managed to make it to the NBA Finals four times in history, with the most recent appearance being in 2018. The 8 seed is typically viewed as being at a disadvantage, as they are matched up against a better team in the first round of the playoffs.

In the history of the NBA, has an 8 Seed ever won the Finals?

In the history of the NBA, no 8th seed has ever won the Finals. The closest an 8th seed has come to winning the title was in 1995, when the Houston Rockets lost to the Orlando Magic in the Finals.

If an 8 Seed has never won the Finals, what is the lowest Seed that has?

An 8 Seed has never won the Finals. The lowest Seed to ever win the Finals was a 6 Seed, which has happened three times.

Why is it so difficult for an 8 Seed to win the Finals?

From the 1983-84 season to present, only three 8 seeds have ever made it to the NBA Finals. This makes for a .130 win percentage in the Finals for 8 seeds, which is the lowest of any seed. The 8 seed has only won one Finals series, which was when the Los Angeles Lakers upset the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in 7 games during the 1999-2000 season.

So, why is it so difficult for an 8 seed to win the Finals? Part of it has to do with facing off against the 1 seed in the first round. The 1 seed has home court advantage throughout the playoffs, meaning that they would have to lose 4 games before an 8 seed could even make it to the Finals. Furthermore, 1 seeds have gone on to win 77% of their first round matchup against 8 seeds since 1984.

In addition, by making it to the NBA Finals, an 8 seed would have had to go through some combination of 2-7 seeds just to get there. To put that in perspective, since 1984, only 10% of NBA teams who made it past the first round went on to make the NBA Finals.

So while it is possible for an 8 seed to make it all the way and take home an NBA championship, history shows that it is very unlikely.

What are the odds of an 8 Seed winning the Finals?

It’s happened before, but it’s certainly not common. In the history of the NBA, only three 8 seeds have gone on to win the Finals. That means that the odds of an 8 seed winning the Finals are about 3%.

While it’s not impossible for an 8 seed to win the Finals, it’s certainly a long shot. If you’re a fan of an 8 seed team, you might want to temper your expectations.

What are some of the greatest upsets in NBA Finals history?

In NBA history, there have been several teams that have entered the Finals as an underdog and gone on to win the championship. Here are some of the most memorable upsets in NBA Finals history:

-In 1969, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the Finals as a heavy underdog against the league-leading Baltimore Bullets. The Lakers went on to win the series in seven games, giving them their first ever NBA championship.

-In 1977, the Portland Trail Blazers entered the Finals as an 8 seed, becoming the first team in NBA history to do so. They went on to face off against the highly favored Philadelphia 76ers, who had won a then-record 65 games during the regular season. The Trail Blazers would go on to win the series in six games, giving them their first ever NBA championship.

-In 1995, the Houston Rockets entered the Finals as a 6 seed, facing off against a New York Knicks team that had won a then-record 72 games during the regular season. The Rockets would go on to win the series in seven games, giving them their second ever NBA championship.

As you can see, there have been several teams that have entered the Finals as an underdog and gone on to win the championship. So while it may be unlikely for an 8 seed to win the Finals, it is certainly not impossible!