Ranking: The youngest cores to win the NBA title in the last 40 years
The Denver Nuggets just won the NBA title in which the average age of their Top 3 players – Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon – was just 27 years and 170 days the day the Finals came to an end.
That makes the team’s core one of the youngest to conquer a championship in recent NBA history, which bodes extremely well for the team’s future championship hopes.
Our own Alberto de Roa researched the average age of the Top 3 players for each NBA champion since 1983 using our Global Rating metric. For the Nuggets, their combined average age of 27.5 years old makes them the fifth youngest core to win a championship in the last 40 seasons.
It’s interesting to note that all of the championship teams with a younger core than Denver’s this season – the 2015 Golden State Warriors (Stephen Curry–Klay Thomson–Draymond Green), the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers (Shaquille O’Neal–Kobe Bryant–Derek Fisher), the 1991 Chicago Bulls (Michael Jordan–Scottie Pippen–Horace Grant) and the 2005 San Antonio Spurs (Tim Duncan–Tony Parker–Manu Ginobili) – all won at least one more championship with that same core.
Going back through history to look at other young cores to win championships, the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics (Gus Williams–Jack Sikma–Dennis Johnson) are the most recent young core younger than Denver’s this year to never win another championship together. They made it to the Western Conference Finals the next year before falling and then traded Johnson to the Boston Celtics not long thereafter.
Below, check out the 15 youngest Top 3 cores to win NBA championships since 1983.
2015 Warriors
Top 3 players: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green
Average age: 25 years, 358 days
Titles won the following five years: 2
2001 Lakers
Top 3 players: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher
Average age: 26 years, 121 days
Titles won the following five years: 1
1991 Bulls
Top 3 players: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant
Average age: 26 years, 246 days
Titles won the following five years: 3
2005 Spurs
Top 3 players: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker
Average age: 26 years, 270 days
Titles won the following five years: 1
2023 Nuggets
Top 3 players: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon
Average age: 27 years, 170 days
Titles won the following five years: N/A
1992 Bulls
Top 3 players: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant
Average age: 27 years, 249 days
Titles won the following five years: 3
2000 Lakers
Top 3 players: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Glen Rice
Average age: 27 years, 271 days
Titles won the following five years: 2
1988 Lakers
Top 3 players: Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, James Worthy
Average age: 27 years, 299 days
Titles won the following five years: 0
2016 Cavaliers
Top 3 players: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love
Average age: 27 years, 310 days
Titles won the following five years: 0
2004 Pistons
Top 3 players: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace
Average age: 27 years, 350 days
Titles won the following five years: 0
2010 Lakers
Top 3 players: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Average age: 28 years, 56 days
Titles won the following five years: 0
1984 Celtics
Top 3 players: Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale
Average age: 28 years, 102 days
Titles won the following five years: 1
2017 Warriors
Top 3 players: Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson
Average age: 28 years, 164 days
Titles won the following five years: 2
2002 Lakers
Top 3 players: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Robert Horry
Average age: 28 years, 234 days
Titles won the following five years: 0
1993 Bulls
Top 3 players: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant
Average age: 28 years, 255 days
Titles won the following five years: 3
