If you want to start an argument at a backyard cookout, don’t bring up politics. Bring up the 2021 NBA title race.
In the 2020–21 season (the one that ended in July 2021, because time is a flat circle), fan confidence swung like a
pendulum: one week it was “Lakers repeat, obviously,” the next it was “Nets in four,” and thenplot twistsuddenly
everybody was doomscrolling injury reports and learning advanced geometry just to measure how close Kevin Durant’s
toe was to breaking the internet.
This post ranks the most commonly picked 2021 NBA champions by fans, using a fan-first blend of nationwide
polling snapshots, team-community sentiment, and the “what everyone is yelling about” factor that drives sports talk.
You’ll also see how those fan picks lined up (or didn’t) with odds, models, and the reality that the NBA playoffs
are basically a stress test for human certainty.
How this fan ranking works (and why it’s not a courtroom)
“Ranked by fans” can mean a lot of thingsTwitter replies, barbershop debates, or your cousin’s group chat that
thinks every series is rigged unless his team wins. For a more grounded approach, this ranking is based on:
- League-wide fan polling snapshots (examples: national fan surveys during the season and playoffs).
- Team-community confidence trends (how fan bases felt as matchups and injuries changed).
- Mainstream contender narratives that fans consistently rallied around (star power, revenge tours, “this is our year”).
- Context checks using widely discussed odds and forecasting discussions from major U.S. sports outletsbecause fans don’t watch in a vacuum.
Important caveat: fan sentiment changes fast. The “fan favorite” in March isn’t always the “fan favorite” in July.
So think of this ranking as a season-long popularity-and-belief leaderboard for the championship pick.
Fan-ranked 2021 NBA championship contenders
1) Brooklyn Nets
The Nets were the ultimate “paper champions” in the most literal sense: if you wrote down the names
Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, the ink basically formed a trophy on its own.
Fans gravitated to Brooklyn for one simple reason: the offense looked unfair when healthy, and “unfair” is a
beloved genre of basketball.
By spring, nationwide fan polling in major fan communities repeatedly pointed to Brooklyn as the Eastern Conference
favoriteand often the title favorite. The logic was straightforward: scoring bursts that feel inevitable, a
late-game shot-maker (Durant) who can solve nearly any defensive scheme, and the belief that “they’ll figure it out
when it matters.”
The fan pushback was also classic: “One ball,” “chemistry,” and “what happens when somebody lands on somebody’s foot?”
(Narrator: that last one was unfortunately relevant.)
2) Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers started the season as the most common fan answer for “Who’s repeating?” because, well, they had
LeBron James and a defending-champ roster that looked deeper on paper. Fans love two things:
proven playoff monsters and the comfort of being right without doing extra math.
Even when injuries and the short offseason piled up, many fans kept the Lakers near the top because their best-case
version was terrifying: elite defense, size, and two stars who can dominate a series. The “Lakers switch”
that mythical gear they hit in May/Junewas a real part of the fan imagination.
But the same reason fans kept believing also became the reason others faded them: everything hinged on health.
The moment the availability conversation got louder than the X-and-O conversation, fan certainty started wobbling.
3) Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks were the “serious fans’” pick and the “please prove it in the playoffs” pick… at the same time.
Giannis Antetokounmpo inspired belief because the ceiling was obvious: dominant rim pressure, elite defense, and a
team built to win ugly when shots stop falling.
Fan skepticism focused on postseason shot selection and half-court predictability. Then the playoffs happened,
adjustments happened, and suddenly “Bucks in six” wasn’t just a memeit was a prophecy with receipts.
Milwaukee ultimately won the title in six games over Phoenix, turning the “yeah but can they?” fan debate into
“okay… apparently yes.” (And yes, it is totally legal to change your mind when a team starts collecting road wins.)
4) Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers lived in the strange space where fans respected the talent but didn’t fully trust the story.
With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers were a popular “if it clicks” pickespecially after the coaching
change and the constant “this time will be different” energy.
Fans who ranked the Clippers high tended to be the ones who believed in defense, matchup flexibility, and the idea
that playoff basketball is about having multiple answers. Fans who ranked them lower tended to say,
“I have seen this movie, and the third act is stressful.”
5) Phoenix Suns
The Suns weren’t the preseason headline, but fan belief grew fast once Phoenix started stacking wins and looking
organized in a way that screamed “we practice.” Chris Paul became the face of the “finally, it’s time” narrative,
and fans love a legacy arc almost as much as they love a step-back three.
By the Finals, many fans nationally were picking Phoenix to finish the job, because the team had momentum, shot
creation, and that calm confidence that makes a run feel destiny-coded. Even some forecasting chatter and betting
conversations leaned Suns at pointsshowing how far fan perception traveled in just a few months.
6) Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers were a classic fan pick for “top seed + MVP-level star = contender.” Joel Embiid was playing dominant
basketball, and fans could easily picture a title path that ran through defense, free throws, and half-court power.
The fan concerns were also classic: late-game shot creation, perimeter pressure, and whether the offense would
tighten up at the worst possible time. Fans are optimists by nature, but they’re also historiansand history makes
people nervous in June.
7) Utah Jazz
Fans respected Utah’s regular-season machine: spacing, shooting, and a system that reliably produced wins.
The Jazz often show up in fan predictions as the “smart pick” because they look like a team that can win
without needing a superhero possession every time down.
So why weren’t they higher? In fan logic, the playoffs are where “good” teams meet “solve-anything” teams.
Some fans worried about perimeter creation under pressure and how the defense would hold up against elite
shot-making. Utah’s fan ranking often depended on whether you were a “system believer” or a “superstar truther.”
8) Denver Nuggets
Denver had a loyal fan-prediction base because Nikola Jokić is basically a walking offense and because the Nuggets
had proven they could survive playoff chaos. Fans who love creativity, passing, and weirdly effective floaters
tended to keep Denver in the contender conversation.
The limiting factor in fan predictions was usually health and supporting firepower. Fans can dream big, but even
dreamers check the injury report before they place emotional bets.
9) Miami Heat
Miami remained a fan pick for one reason: playoff identity. “Heat Culture” became shorthand for
conditioning, defense, and the belief that a well-coached team can drag you into a rock fight and win by two.
Fans who value toughness and game-planning kept Miami in the mix longer than many metrics did.
The skepticism: Would the offense generate enough easy points against top defenses? Fans tend to forgive ugly wins,
but they do not forgive long scoring droughts unless you’re also blocking everything at the rim.
10) Boston Celtics (and the “dark horse drawer”)
Boston sat in the “I wouldn’t be shocked” category for a lot of fansespecially those who believed in two-way wings
and the idea that elite defense travels. The Celtics were rarely the top fan pick, but they were frequently the team
fans mentioned right after naming the obvious favorites.
And that’s where the “dark horse drawer” lives: teams like the Mavericks (Luka magic), the Warriors (Steph gravity),
and even the Hawks (chaos energy) floated in and out of fan prediction threads depending on the week.
Why fan predictions in 2021 swung so wildly
1) The season was a health puzzle
The 2020–21 schedule was compressed, and fans could feel it. “Load management” became a daily vocabulary quiz.
The result: predictions changed whenever a star missed time, returned, or looked 10% less bouncy than usual.
2) Superteams attract belief (and haters)
The Nets proved that a superteam creates two equally powerful fan reactions:
“They’re unstoppable” and “I hope they lose”.
Either way, fans couldn’t stop talking about themwhich is basically a form of ranking.
3) Narrative matters because humans watch sports
Fans don’t only pick who’s best; they pick who makes the most sense as a story. In 2021, that meant:
- Repeat pressure (Lakers)
- Superteam inevitability (Nets)
- Redemption and validation (Bucks, Clippers)
- Legacy and “finally” energy (Suns, Chris Paul)
What actually happened (and what fans learned)
In the end, the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4–2.
The clincher became instant mythology: Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped a 50-point masterpiece in Game 6,
turning every “what if” into a “remember when.” Fans learned (again) that the playoffs reward the team that
survives the longest, adapts the fastest, and stays healthy enough to keep answering the bell.
500+ words of fan experiences from the 2021 prediction rollercoaster
If you were following the NBA in 2021, you probably remember how predictions felt less like a single opinion and
more like a daily weather forecast: “Today’s chance of a Nets title is 70%, with scattered injuries in the
afternoon.” And the funniest part is that fans were being rationaljust not in the way spreadsheets prefer.
The first fan experience was the preseason confidence binge. This is when everyone’s team is
undefeated in imagination and every new signing is “exactly what we needed.” Lakers fans could look at the roster
and talk themselves into a repeat before the first tip-off. Nets fans could stare at the star trio and start
pricing parade routes. Clippers fans could say “new coach, new vibe” and actually mean it. It’s the optimism phase:
the NBA version of buying a planner in January.
Then came the midseason reality check, where fans learned the hard truth that “chemistry” is not a
downloadable update. Injuries, COVID protocols, back-to-backs, and weird rotations created a constant hum of
uncertainty. Fans adapted by becoming amateur analysts. You’d see people arguing about lineup spacing, weak-side
tags, and pick-and-roll coverage like they were applying for assistant coach jobs. Even casual fans started
understanding that a team can look unbeatable on Tuesday and exhausted by Friday.
The playoffs introduced the most intense fan experience: matchup obsession. Every series became a
logic puzzle. Fans weren’t only asking “Who’s better?” They were asking “Who can guard that?” and
“What happens if they switch everything?” and “How many minutes can a star realistically play without turning into
a cartoon version of themselves?” This is also the phase where fans invent new superstitions. The lucky jersey
comes out. The same snack order is repeated. The remote control is treated like it’s cursed.
And then there was the collective emotional whiplash of the 2021 postseason: a year where the
“obvious” favorites ran into the sport’s oldest villainavailability. Fans who were dead certain in March were
suddenly hedging in June. People who dismissed the Bucks as “regular-season only” were forced to respect the
adjustments and the resilience. Suns fans watched their team go from “cute story” to “two wins from a title.”
Even neutral fans got pulled into the drama, because watching a wide-open bracket feels like discovering a new
level in a video game.
Finally, the most universal fan experience of 2021 was the humility hangover.
The season reminded everyonefans, analysts, and the loud guy at the barthat basketball outcomes aren’t purely a
ranking of talent. They’re a combination of talent, health, coaching choices, role players hitting shots at the
exact right moment, and the mental stamina to survive a month of high-pressure possessions. The lesson wasn’t “fans
were wrong.” The lesson was “fans were human.” And honestly? That’s the whole point. If certainty were easy, we’d
just hand out trophies in December and spend spring gardening like emotionally stable people.
Conclusion
Fan predictions for the 2021 NBA championship revolved around star power (Nets, Lakers), proven playoff ceilings
(Lakers, Clippers), and the hope that a talented, hungry core could break through (Bucks, Suns).
The postseason delivered the ultimate reminder: the “best pick” isn’t always the team with the loudest hypeit’s
the team that can adapt, endure, and finish. In 2021, that was Milwaukee.