Are the Lakers, Knicks and others true contenders? What 7 metrics over 20 years tell us

What makes an NBA champion?There are so many ways to answer that question. The tried-and-true maxim around the league is that stars win championships. Nico Harrison said defense wins championships. Rudy Tomjanovich said a team must have the heart of a champion.And that may all be true, but there has to be some kind of empirical way to spot a champion — traits they share and how well they played during the regular season. It’s easy to spot champions in June; it’s harder to predict them in April.Advertisement