Updated June 16
Got to thinking amid all the champagne Sunday night: Why didn't David Stern begin his postgame festivities by presenting a second-place plaque to the Magic?
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| Carmelo Anthony's Nuggets stuck with Kobe Bryant's Lakers for six games in the West finals. (Getty Images) |
You easily could make a case that Denver was the Lakers' most valiant challenger in the 2009 playoffs. The Nuggets surely gave the eventual champs a tougher go in the Western Conference finals -- extending Kobe Bryant to six games -- than the Magic did in the five-bout Finals.
The Nuggets won only 54 games in the regular season -- five fewer than Orlando -- but that came while toiling in the rugged Western Conference, where eight of the past 11 NBA champions have hung their sneakers at season's end.
Denver might have been the second-best team in the league in April and May. But all things considered: Was it worthy of the No. 2 slot in my season-ending CBSSports.com Power Rankings?
Alas, the answer had to be no.
It came down to this: Placing the Nuggets second would have meant dropping the Cavaliers to fourth (behind the Magic), and that's just not right. There's no way the Cavs, denied a spot in a would-have-been-classic Finals by one home-court slipup, could land any lower than third.
And being that the Magic had to rate ahead of the team it slew, fair and square ... the Nuggets had to finish off the medal stand.
Here are my final 2008-09 rankings, along with a Most and Least Valuable Player for each team's season.
| Power Rankings | ||||||||||
| Current | Team | Previous | ||||||||
 | 1 | Lakers · Trends | 1 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Kobe Bryant. Selfish? Many nights, his assist figure was as impressive as point total. ... Big Thumbs Down: Derek Fisher. Yeah, he had a few golden moments in Finals. But over course of the season, often left alone as teams flocked to Bryant, lefty shot just 42.4 percent. | ||||||||||
 | 2 | Magic · Trends | 7 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Dwight Howard. It's shocking that the Magic could be 59-game winner and playoff finalist, given the big guy's supporting cast. ... Big Thumbs Down: Rashard Lewis. One of league's most overrated players rocked Cavs with big shots, but came up small again vs. Lakers. | ||||||||||
 | 3 | Cavaliers · Trends | 2 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: LeBron James. For as often as he maneuvers through traffic, he sure doesn't turn over ball much. ... Big Thumbs Down: Ben Wallace. Outplayed by guy named Gortat with season on line. | ||||||||||
 | 4 | Nuggets · Trends | 5 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Chauncey Billups. Ex-Piston did the impossible: He gave stability to the wildly inconsistent Nuggets. ... Big Thumbs Down: Allen Iverson. Difference between Nuggets, Pistons: Denver dealt A.I. for Billups; Detroit sent him to bench for nothing. | ||||||||||
 | 5 | Rockets · Trends | 6 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Ron Artest. Rockets took risk on perennial trouble-maker; it paid off big-time. ... Big Thumbs Down: Tracy McGrady. Given team's ability to win without him, he ought to sit out more often. | ||||||||||
 | 6 | Celtics · Trends | 3 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Kevin Garnett. Take him away and this club's barely better than the Bulls. ... Big Thumbs Down: Glen Davis. He's no Garnett; well, duh. But wildly inconsistent galoot is no Leon Powe, either. | ||||||||||
 | 7 | Mavericks · Trends | 8 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Dirk Nowitzki. Fifth man on one of most impressive All-NBA teams of all time. ... Big Thumbs Down: Jerry Stackhouse. Blame foot for useless season, but there's no excuse for disappointing career. | ||||||||||
 | 8 | Trail Blazers · Trends | 4 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Brandon Roy. West's version of LeBron; does a variety of good things on almost nightly basis. ... Big Thumbs Down: Greg Oden. Excels in one area: Getting into foul trouble. | ||||||||||
 | 9 | Spurs · Trends | 10 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Tony Parker. Tim Duncan remains face of franchise, but Parker now embodies it. ... Big Thumbs Down: Manu Ginobili. King of flop hurt so often, team now must consider trading him. | ||||||||||
 | 10 | Hawks · Trends | 9 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Josh Smith. Imagine if the Hawks had allowed him to get away to Grizzlies in offseason. ... Big Thumbs Down: Mike Bibby. Out-assisted by Joe Johnson; has become point guard known for shooting 3s. | ||||||||||
 | 11 | Jazz · Trends | 11 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Deron Williams. Has become elite-level scorer without sacrificing shooting percentage. ... Big Thumbs Down: Carlos Boozer. If he's lost in the offseason, club will simply plug in Paul Millsap. | ||||||||||
 | 12 | Heat · Trends | 13 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Dwyane Wade. Guy shoots 49.1 percent; that's amazing. ... Big Thumbs Down: Shawn Marion. If Magic's Lewis isn't most overrated former Western star, then ex-Suns standout -- who was shipped to Toronto -- is. | ||||||||||
 | 13 | Bulls · Trends | 14 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Derrick Rose. What a year for VP John Paxson; drafts Rose, then steals John Salmons and Brad Miller in key deal before vacating his GM role. ... Big Thumbs Down: Kirk Hinrich. Now we see why Rose was coveted in first place. | ||||||||||
 | 14 | 76ers · Trends | 16 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Andre Iguodala. Call him Mr. Clutch; no one not named LeBron consistently hit bigger shots this season. ... Big Thumbs Down: Elton Brand. Brought in to be difference-maker; turns out club did just fine without him. | ||||||||||
 | 15 | Hornets · Trends | 12 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Chris Paul. Draft loaded with point guards, but none likely to be next Paul. ... Big Thumbs Down: Mo Peterson. Couldn't hit 40 percent even with double-team magnet feeding him open jumpers. | ||||||||||
 | 16 | Suns · Trends | 15 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Amare Stoudemire. Went from guy most likely to get traded to most indispensible piece within matter of weeks. ... Big Thumbs Down: Shaquille O'Neal. Suns were better when he wasn't slowing them down. | ||||||||||
 | 17 | Pistons · Trends | 17 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Tayshaun Prince. Became club's best player, which doesn't say much for the club. ... Big Thumbs Down: Rasheed Wallace. Technicals down this season; so was just about every other stat. | ||||||||||
 | 18 | Pacers · Trends | 18 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Danny Granger. Improved so much, league gave him trophy as reward. ... Big Thumbs Down: T.J. Ford. Turns out Jarrett Jack is the better point guard. | ||||||||||
 | 19 | Nets · Trends | 19 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Devin Harris. Club still missed Jason Kidd, but not as much as anticipated. ... Big Thumbs Down: Yi Jianlian. Team gave up Richard Jefferson to get him? Awful move. | ||||||||||
 | 20 | Grizzlies · Trends | 20 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: O.J. Mayo. Franchise has poster boy for its future. ... Big Thumbs Down: Hakim Warrick. As team's talent level increased, truth came out: He's no more than serviceable backup. | ||||||||||
 | 21 | Bobcats · Trends | 21 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Gerald Wallace. Bobcats' goal in draft: Find someone better. ... Big Thumbs Down: Adam Morrison. Exhausting No. 3 pick on Morrison -- who was traded to the Lakers -- set back franchise at least two years. | ||||||||||
 | 22 | Raptors · Trends | 22 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Chris Bosh. Special mention to Andrea Bargnani, who finally emerged as legitimate NBA force. ... Big Thumbs Down: Jermaine O'Neal. Stock dipped so low, club could get only underachiever Shawn Marion in return. | ||||||||||
 | 23 | Warriors · Trends | 26 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Stephen Jackson. Team gave him in-season contract extension; wise move. ... Big Thumbs Down: Monta Ellis. Scooter crash cost him $3 million, cost team respectability. | ||||||||||
 | 24 | Bucks · Trends | 25 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Charlie Villanueva. Was so impressive, now rates among plums of this summer's free-agent crop. ... Big Thumbs Down: Joe Alexander. Great year for rookies, but not for this one. | ||||||||||
 | 25 | Clippers · Trends | 29 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Blake Griffin. Soon to join Eric Gordon as two pieces this perennial embarrassment can build around. ... Big Thumbs Down: Baron Davis. Move south crushed Warriors, didn't help Clippers. | ||||||||||
 | 26 | Timberwolves · Trends | 23 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Al Jefferson. Best thing about his injury: Gives team an opportunity to draft big-time sidekick. ... Big Thumbs Down: Mike Miller. Better suited to being role player on good team, rather than must-produce guy on bad club. | ||||||||||
 | 27 | Wizards · Trends | 24 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Antawn Jamison. Give this guy a medal; no one has tried harder on bad teams. ... Big Thumbs Down: Gilbert Arenas. Fifteen games past two seasons; time to give back some money? | ||||||||||
 | 28 | Knicks · Trends | 27 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: David Lee. Will be interesting to see how much restricted free agent commands this offseason. ... Big Thumbs Down: Stephon Marbury. Lot to choose from here with Knicks; Eddy Curry is a solid second choice. | ||||||||||
 | 29 | Thunder · Trends | 28 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Kevin Durant. Warning to D-Wade: This guy's coming after your scoring title next season. ... Big Thumbs Down: P.J. Carlesimo. Made Scott Brooks look good by comparison. | ||||||||||
 | 30 | Kings · Trends | 30 | |||||||
| Big Thumbs Up: Kevin Martin. No April fool: Poured in 50 points on April 1, then took rest of season off. ... Big Thumbs Down: Spencer Hawes. Once highly regarded, now no better than undistinguished teammate Jason Thompson. | ||||||||||
