Most serious fans would consider the 2016-2017 Warriors (67-15) to be the greatest team in NBA history. Finishing the regular season with an astonishing 67-15 record, this squad was absolutely stacked with talent, sporting modern NBA legends Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson on the same roster.
The 16-17 Warriors decimated their opponents in the playoffs, losing just a single game for a record 16-1 postseason finish and an NBA championship, avenging their loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers the season prior on the way.
What do you get when a living legend comes out of retirement? A championship ring, that’s what. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, with the great Michael Jordan rejoining the team, took it to the house with a 72-10 regular season finish, which stood as the record until the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors bested it by a game.
This is the same Bulls dynasty that featured Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman alongside Jordan. Talk about star power.
The Bulls dominated the postseason that year, trampling their opponents to pull off a 15-3 record and a title over the Seattle SuperSonics. Many would regard the 95′-’96 Bulls as one of the sport’s most iconic rosters.
The ’85-’86 Celtics saw the Larry Bird, Boston’s legendary power forward, at the absolute peak of his game in a season that would culminate with championship over the Houston Rockets and Bird’s third consecutive MVP award.
He was backed up by what many consider the most complete cast of characters that any NBA team has had in the history of the sport, including Bill Walton, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson. They only lost a single home game the entire season and went 67-15 overall.
Still to this day considered one of the best-constructed teams to ever play the game, the 1971-1972 Lakers were a force of nature, setting numerous records on their way to an NBA championship over the New York Knicks.
The ’71-’72 Lakers are still close to the top of the all-time leaderboard for highest average points per game, with Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich leading the team to a staggering 121 PPG. They are third all-time in regular season wins (69) and they hold, to this day, the record for most consecutive games won in a row: a whopping 33.
Only one other team has come close to breaking into the 30’s for back-to-back wins:
Led by LeBron James in his prime, the ’12-’13 Heat just barely missed joining the ’71-’72 Lakers in the 30-consecutive-wins club with their 27-game streak.
And King James was
not the only heavyweight on this roster: It also boasted Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Ray Allen, whose legendary Game 6 three-pointer to force a Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs netted them the title.