It's a question that just about every serious fan has asked themselves before.
How many titles should my favorite team have won by now?
That question weighs especially heavily during these playoffs because when the 2015 NBA champion is crowned next month, it will be a long time coming for that team. Every squad left in this playoff picture -- except for the Chicago Bulls -- hasn't won a championship in at least two decades. Three teams -- the Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers -- have yet to win a title, period.
But expectations are everything. And this is where the title-bankrupt Cavs and Clippers franchises split in their misery. LeBron James and the Cavs have sported multiple jilted juggernauts over the years while the Clippers hadn't won 50 games in a season until Chris Paul came to town. Because of how dominant the Cavs' regular-season teams have been, Cleveland has felt a special kind of long-standing heartbreak that Clippers fans don't quite understand.
Enter the idea of the expected title, a concept that leads to glory and heartbreak. It's something I've been thinking about ever since I read SB Nation's Tom Ziller's excellent column about the lesson of the San Antonio Spurs and why it's rarely smart to break up a championship contender. If you're winning 55 to 60 games every season, stay the course.
But how many titles should the Spurs have won by now? And the Cavs? Your favorite team? Let's figure it out.