I know it’s happened and this is probably the least interesting post ever but when I reflect on recent NBA history, it is still shocking to me what happened that year. I never thought it would be remotely possible. It was just a record that could never be touched.
And yet it really happened. I don’t think it gets enough credit because of the “it don’t mean a thing without the ring” piece but as time passes, I gotta say it’s just a standalone incredible achievement.
The fact that the last 30 games of the season they were the target for every team, no one wanted to see them do it, and they still did it. It’s incredibly impressive.
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Besides having great players in their prime, the League had also not caught up to their style of play.
This was after a championship too right? Absolutely insane
I think 72-10 followed by 69-13 with the championship both times (and another one for good measure) for y’all isn’t bad.
Yes, k think they were 78-4 at home over those two years.
Probably the most insane thing that has happened in the NBA and it’s not even close
The more crazy part is that they never lost back to back games the entire regular season.
The thing with the ‘greatest team of all time’ tag is that it isn’t really warranted when you include the post season. Why you would discount the hardest part of the season with the best competition and most intense defense is beyond me. Whatever, going into the NBA Finals the Warriors had already lost an additional 5 games and their overall record was sitting on 85-14 (0.856). The 96 Bulls had lost just one additional game before heading into the 96 Finals and were sitting on 83-11 (0.883). So when people say the Cavs (and LeBron) beat the greatest team of all time, it’s not actually true.
I can’t believe they win 73 games and didn’t win the championship that year. Granted they were close
73 games but no title.
It’s scripted.
I was there to watch both the Bulls and Dubs runs and still hard for me to process.
Those seasons were so uniquely dominatingly awesome that only a few things come to mind to match the statistical circus involved.
Barry Bonds stats. Barry Bonds the player.
Cal Ripken’s Ironman run.
The last few Ohtani seasons.
Just to name a few.
It really is crazy.
73-9 is insane. Denver pretty clearly came away as the best team in the league last season. Finished 10-1 vs KD, LeBron and then in the Finals. And they finished TWENTY GAMES behind that 73-9 GS team. For reference, Denver finishes 20 games ahead of the 33-49 Blazers team last season that were TRYING TO LOSE.
and (some) people really try to spin in like the Warriors were not the favorites heading into 2017 if they didn’t land KD.
They would have been massive favorites. They were already way better than the Cavs, I say this as a cavs fan. We needed LeBron and Kyrie to play the best basketball of their careers and Steph/Klay to underperform while also getting 1 win with Draymond suspended.
They had won 140 games in 2 seasons, and were 1 game away from having the most dominant 2 year stretch in NBA history, arguably NA professional sports history.
A KD-less warriors 2017 & 2018 team is definitely better than their 2015 & 2016 version. They certainly would still be the favorites even without KD.
But the league was already on it’s way to figuring them out. The only reason why the Cavs struggled mightily to beat them was because of Kevin Love, who could no longer defend and ate up a giant chunk of their cap.
The Rockets and Bucks were two teams constructed with multiple rangy switching defenders specifically to neutralize the chaos of Steph zipping around the court. It’s like the warriors were 50% favorites to 30% favorites. Still the best odds but not overwhelming anymore.
The game is just moving really fast now. Because of shortened contracts, high influx of rookie talent and the fast pace shortening careers, rosters are turning over rapidly, and in ways that are able to adapt to the best teams. This is why even though the Warriors revolutionized the game, they could only hold on to their advantage for so long.