Only seven teams in the history of the NBA have won 68 or more games in a regular season.
In 2015-16, the Golden State Warriors, with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the shocking addition of Kevin Durant, made it well-known that they were shooting for something special: besting the Chicago Bulls’ long-standing regular season of 72 wins. They did just that. The Warriors won 73 games that year, only to lose in the Finals to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. One of the most bewildering, if not unfair, compilations of talent in NBA history, that Golden State team was led by Steph Curry, a top ten player of all time, who was 28 years old.
The 1995-96 Bulls, whose record Golden State beat by a single game, will also go down as one of the greatest teams in NBA history. They won 72 games that season and were led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. They would win two more titles in the seasons that followed. Michael Jordan is commonly considered the greatest player of all time. He was 33 when they rattled of their second run of three straight championships.
In 1971-72, the Los Angeles Lakers won 69 of 82 games, en route to winning an NBA title. Before the Bulls posted and boasted their 72-10 season, the Lakers regular season record of 69 wins had stood for years. This team was led by Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, both legends of the game. Chamberlain, commonly considered one of the most dominant players of all time, was 36 at the time.
In 1996-97, essentially the same Bulls team as the one mentioned above, won 69 games. Michael and the Bulls continued their reign of terror into the following season and won another title to go down as one of the most dominant dynasties in league history. Michael was a year older.
In 1966-67, the Philadelphia 76ers won an NBA Championship after winning 68 games in the regular season. They were led by a younger Wilt Chamberlain, along with Hal Greer, Chet Walker and Billy Cunningham. That season, Wilt averaged 24 points and get this… 24 rebounds a game. Wilt was 31 years old at the time.
In 1972-73, the Boston Celtics led by John Havlicek and Dave Cowens won 68 games. They would lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the New York Knicks who would go on to win a title. Those Celtics would become the first team in NBA history to win that many games and not win a title. Havlicek was 33.
In other words, 4 of the 6 teams that have won 68 or more games have won a championship and were led by crafty, seasoned and legendary veterans: Curry, Jordan, Wilt, extremely rarified air.
This season, the Oklahoma City Thunder posted the seventh best regular season record in NBA history. They were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is only 26 years old, the youngest superstar to accomplish such a feat. While his team is talented, dangerously deep and well-rounded, you’d be hard-pressed to find a second fiddle on this team whose name even remotely belongs in the ranks of Durant, Pippen or West.
To further celebrate how rare this season’s accomplishments are for Oklahoma City, of 15 teams who won between 65-67 regular season games, 11 of them won championships. All were led by first ballot Hall of Fame players: Bird, Jordan (again), Shaq and Kobe (twice), Curry (again, twice), Kareem, Allen, Garnett and Pierce, Dwayne Wade, Dr. J and Magic Johnson.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t seem all that bothered by the fact that he is sauntering in the footsteps of giants. Already mentioned in the same breath as legends, SGA is on the verge of doing something no player has ever done, which is lead a team to a title, and win that many regular season games, at his young age. Or maybe nobody’s told him this isn’t supposed to happen.
SGA employs smart, sound basketball, almost effortlessly. There was a point in Game Four against the Denver Nuggets where he had the ball and went directly after the not-so-fleet-of-foot-yet-still-otherworldly Nikola Jokic. SGA caught Jokic off balance and drew the foul, frustrating the Joker who proceeded to complain to the refs as SGA cooly stepped to the line and sank two free throws. Mission accomplished. If you blinked, you missed it, but the move set a tone dictating which MVP candidate would have the better night.
There is no denying that this Oklahoma City team is extremely special. Not only did they routinely dismantle opponents this season, posting the league’s best point differential of nearly 13 points per game, OKC was also best at covering already lofty spreads.
All season long, during every post-game interview, without fail, when courtside reporters flocked towards the uber-charismatic SGA to ask his opinion on the game, he ensured that every single one of his teammates surrounded him. For such a young team, one that GM wunderkind Sam Presti craft fully assembled, their togetherness is as unmistakable and unshakeable as their leader.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the many one-and-done’s to emerge out of the University of Kentucky’s basketball program but, drafted 11th overall, as talented as he was and as much promise as he showed, you’d be hard-pressed to forecast he’d become the leader he is today. Credit Presti for landing SGA in a deal that sent Paul George to the Clippers, a deal that might go down as one of the biggest hauls (and heists) in NBA history.
In these playoffs, SGA is averaging nearly 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists a game, all the while being as cool as a cucumber. Rarely rattled, his voice deep, calming, confident, his star power and leadership are emerging before our very eyes and all within the context of the game. He uses terms like “collective good” in his post-game press conferences, as if he actually paid attention in college. On the floor, when his team needs a bucket, he gets it from anywhere on the floor in a variety of ways. And he doesn’t shy away from a challenge. Recognizing Denver as one of the best in the West, winner of a title two years ago and led by the best player on the planet, SGA and OKC welcomed the matchup, understanding that to be the best, you had to beat them. The Thunder wanted everything Denver had to offer to prove they were the better team. Anything else would diminish their mission.
It has been a long time since I’ve seen a young basketball player, with so much weight on his shoulders, as unflappable as Gilgeous-Alexander. If his Smartwatch heart monitor never registered over 60 bpm, I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised.
I’m not putting SGA up there with the greats I just rattled off. He’s doing that himself. And while still a few series away from reaching the promised land, one of the youngest teams in the league stands on the verge of something special, if not unprecedented.
Few teams in history with that many regular season wins have fallen short of their goal. There’s no shame in that. One gets the impression that even if these Thunder fail to win a title, they’ll be knocking on the door for a long time to come. One also gets the impression Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will do everything in his power to make sure of that while barely breaking a sweat.
Yeah but josh giddey gets triple doubles
It’s comments like these, Jeff, that are the reason I need to take occasional basketball hiatus from you.