Which Teams Hold the NBA's Best League Record in History?

2025-11-15 15:01

I remember sitting in a dimly lit sports bar in Chicago during the 2016 NBA season, watching the Golden State Warriors chase their 73rd win. The air was thick with anticipation and cheap beer fumes, and I found myself arguing with a fellow basketball enthusiast about whether any team could ever surpass what the 1996 Chicago Bulls had accomplished. That conversation got me thinking about the ultimate question that haunts every serious NBA fan: which teams hold the NBA's best league record in history?

The truth is, chasing historical greatness in the NBA often means existing in someone else's shadow until you finally break through. It reminds me of something I read about professional volleyball - how when she turned pro with PLDT three years ago, she'd find herself in the shadows of prolific wingers like Savi Davison. That's exactly what it feels like for teams chasing legendary status in the NBA. You're always measured against the ghosts of basketball past, always competing not just against your contemporaries but against the entire weight of NBA history.

Let me take you back to that magical 2015-2016 Warriors season. I still get chills thinking about Stephen Curry's pregame warmup routines I witnessed during their March game against the Spurs. The man would casually sink shots from the tunnel, making the impossible look routine. They finished that season with an astonishing 73-9 record, officially surpassing the Chicago Bulls' legendary 72-10 mark from two decades earlier. But here's where it gets complicated - does regular season dominance alone make you the greatest? I've always argued that championships matter more, which is why the Bulls' six titles during the Jordan era still give them the edge in my book.

The statistical landscape of NBA greatness is fascinating when you really dive into the numbers. The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers won 33 consecutive games - a record that still stands today - and finished with a 69-13 record. I recently calculated that their winning percentage of .841 actually surpasses both the Warriors' .890 and the Bulls' .878 when you account for the shorter season structure of that era. But numbers only tell part of the story. What makes these teams legendary isn't just their win totals, but how they achieved them.

I had the privilege of attending Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals in Utah, watching Michael Jordan's final shot as a Bull. The atmosphere was electric in a way I've rarely experienced since. That Chicago team, while posting "only" 62 wins that particular season, represented the culmination of a dynasty that had dominated the 90s. Their 72-10 season two years earlier wasn't just about statistics - it was about psychological dominance. Teams would mentally check out before even stepping on the court against them.

The Warriors' approach felt different. Their record-breaking season was built on revolutionary three-point shooting and positionless basketball. I remember watching them dismantle the Grizzlies in March 2016, and thinking I was witnessing basketball from the future. Curry and Thompson would pull up from distances that would get most players benched, while Draymond Green orchestrated the defense like a chess master. Still, as spectacular as their regular season was, their failure to win the championship that year leaves an asterisk in many fans' minds, mine included.

What often gets overlooked in these discussions are the teams that came close to greatness but fell just short. The 2007 Dallas Mavericks won 67 games only to get eliminated in the first round. The 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James posted 66 wins but couldn't get past the Magic in the Conference Finals. These near-misses remind us that regular season dominance doesn't always translate to playoff success, which is why I've always valued championship rings over regular season records when evaluating true greatness.

The conversation about the greatest regular season team inevitably circles back to context and era. The 1996 Bulls operated under different defensive rules and without the three-point revolution. The 2016 Warriors benefited from modern sports science and analytics that didn't exist in Jordan's day. And let's not forget the 1986 Boston Celtics, who went 40-1 at home - a home court dominance I doubt we'll ever see replicated in the modern NBA.

As I left that Chicago sports bar back in 2016, the debate still raging in my mind, I realized that the beauty of basketball lies in these unanswerable questions. The Warriors had the numbers, the Bulls had the rings, and every generation will have its own perspective on what constitutes true greatness. For me, it will always be about more than just win totals - it's about legacy, cultural impact, and that undeniable aura of invincibility that only a handful of teams in NBA history have truly possessed.