After a Western Conference Finals that went seven games, the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are expected to be the class of the Western Conference for the next several seasons, sharing Finals appearances after Finals appearances.

So should the other 13 teams in the West give up?

The Spurs and Thunder pretty easily occupy Tier A in the West, but the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves are all very good teams. Plus, the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, and even the Utah Jazz have the potential to be dangerous. 

While the Spurs and Thunder are the heavy frontrunners before the season starts, they have to get through an 82-game season just like everyone else, and the door isn't closed yet.

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The last team to even make two straight Finals was the Warriors, back in 2018 and 2019. The NBA is in a new era of parity, and while OKC and San Antonio look poised to dominate, nothing is set in stone yet.

The Wolves and Lakers made moves this summer to improve, and the Rockets and Nuggets are still anchored by some all-time greats. In short, all they have to do is make the playoffs to be a threat.

"When we look at the landscape of the NBA, and you see how many different champions that we had, with eight years in a row with a different champ, everybody's got a shot every year," summed up Dave DuFour on The Athletic NBA Daily. "You just got to hang in there. So, I mean, there is something to just going with a pretty good team and hoping it's good enough and that you get some luck."

Hopefully, everyone stays healthy this season. But if Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or Chet Holmgren gets hurt, then the race is wide open once again.

Adam Silver has ushered in parity like the NBA has never seen before. Each season, about 10 teams have a very real chance to go on a Finals run, or at least be frisky deep into the postseason. The Spurs, despite their talent, aren't a lock to make two Finals in a row.