A lot of sports fans, writers, and experts like putting NBA teams in order. Who is the “best greatest NBA teams”? That’s always up for discussion since everyone has their favorites. Before the season starts or during breaks, like the NBA All-Star 2021, people talk about the best and most popular teams.
Many NBA teams practice and build their bench during times when there isn’t much news. People also fight about who the best players are. A lot of people have different ideas about which NBA teams are the most important, which makes this argument pretty tough.
We also made a list of the most important NBA teams based on how well they did generally in a single season because we think that’s a good way to argue. From season to season, the team’s players and how well they do change. To find their best season, we looked at how many games they won and lost and what other things they did well.
Top 5 Greatest NBA Teams Of All Time
1995-96 Chicago Bulls
The best team on this list was the Chicago Bulls from 1995โ96. They had a record of 72โ10 and a lot of tough games. The team may have been at its best during this season. But things were different for the Bulls before this season. That season, 1994โ1995, the team didn’t do as well as hoped, mostly because Michael Jordan was busy with baseball.
But something went wrong, and Jordan didn’t come back until the end of the season. They got back on track, but not for long. In the second round, they lost to the Orlando Magic. The Bulls were a different and stronger team when the 1995โ96 NBA season began, though.
The Bulls kept going until the end of the season when they had 72 wins. The team beat Seattle in the NBA playoffs. Gary Payton was Seattle’s best player. The other players helped Jordan a lot, even though he was the best on the team. And Phil Jackson was in charge during this season. Pippen, Kukoc, and Kerr all helped Jordan and the Bulls.
1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers
The LA Lakers should be on a list of the NBA’s most important teams. For our list, their best season was 1986โ1987, when they went 65โ17. Another team that had a bad season last year was the Lakers. In 1985โ86, the Lakers had a great season. They won 62 games. But, in the end, they lost to the Houston Rockets.
The fact that the Boston Celtics won the NBA title made their loss even worse. The team wanted to do well the next year because of these things. Because Magic Johnson played so well and James Worth helped, it was clear early in the season that the team was the best.
During the regular season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the rest of the team did their part to help them win more than 60 games. The Lakers then played the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals to win the title. Everyone now knows that the Lakers beat the Celtics to win the championship in just six games.
1985-86 Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are also one of the best teams. When the 1985โ86 season started, the team had been in the NBA for 40 years. The team has the best record at the end of the season, 67โ15, and they are 40โ1 at home. The Spurs didn’t beat that many home wins again until 2016. That year, Larry Bird led Boston to a good season.
Every game, Kevin McHale scored 21.3 points to go with Bird’s 25.8 points. They were joined by Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge, who helped the team reach its full potential. They worked hard and beat the Bulls, Hawks, and Bucks, winning 67 games. The Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets to end their season and bring the title back to Boston.
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1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most well-known teams in the NBA, and for good reason. It has some of the league’s most interesting NBA stars. The Lakers are good for more than one season. They’ve been good for a long time and won a lot of games.
The Lakers team of 1971โ72 had a lot of great players who all played together. It was hoped that Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Happy Hairston, and Gail Goodrich would help the Lakers this season.
Most NBA teams depend on just one or two players, but the Lakers in 1971โ72 had a lot of people they could count on. They won 33 games because they were a good team. It’s still an NBA record. They beat the Knicks to win the title and won 69 games. In 1996, this Lakers team was named one of the top ten in NBA history.
1988-89 Detroit Pistons
They had a 63-19 record and were one of the best teams in the league in 1988โ89. Because they play hard, the team isn’t as well-known in the NBA, but there’s no denying how good they are on the court. Besides being tough, the Pistons were also great at defense and played with a lot of energy.
This season, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, and John Salley were the core of the team. Their defense of the low post was good, which made it hard for the other team to move and score. Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars have made it possible for the team to score.
The team won 63 games this season with these good players and beat the Celtics, the Bulls, and the Lakers in the playoffs. The two teams would play each other again in the NBA Finals in 2004. The Detroit Pistons won five games and their third NBA title when these two great teams played each other again.
