Single seasons of total domination, ranked. From Jordan's 72-win Bulls to the Showtime Lakers and the 16-1 Warriors, these are the most complete teams the NBA has produced.
The full ranking
Single seasons of total domination, ranked. From Jordan's 72-win Bulls to the Showtime Lakers and the 16-1 Warriors, these are the most complete teams the NBA has produced.
1995-96 Chicago Bulls
72-10, the modern measuring stick for greatness. Jordan won MVP and Finals MVP, Pippen and Rodman covered everything, and Chicago cruised to its fourth title by beating Seattle in six.
1985-86 Boston Celtics
67-15, 40-1 at Boston Garden, and the most complete Larry Bird roster ever assembled. With McHale, Parish, Dennis Johnson, Ainge, and a rejuvenated Bill Walton off the bench, the Celtics dismantled Hakeem's Rockets 4-2 to win it all.
1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers
69-13 and a 33-game win streak that still stands. Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, and Elgin Baylor's farewell roster delivered the first Lakers title of the Los Angeles era, beating the Knicks 4-1.
1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers
Showtime at its absolute peak. Magic Johnson won MVP and Finals MVP with a career-best 23.9 points and 12.2 assists per game, and L.A. avenged 1985 by beating the Celtics 4-2 in the Finals.
2016-17 Golden State Warriors
Kevin Durant joined the 73-win core and the result was a 16-1 playoff run. Durant won Finals MVP as Golden State swept the West and beat LeBron's Cavaliers 4-1 for the title.
1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers
Moses Malone arrived, predicted 'Fo, Fo, Fo,' and the Sixers nearly made him right at 'Fo, Fi, Fo.' Erving, Malone, Cheeks, and Toney went 12-1 in the playoffs (the best Finals win rate ever) and swept the Lakers.
1988-89 Detroit Pistons
The Bad Boys at their meanest. Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, and Dennis Rodman strangled offenses, finished 63-19, then went 15-2 in the playoffs and swept the Magic-and-Kareem Lakers in the Finals.
1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's first MVP season, paired with a 32-year-old Oscar Robertson finally chasing a ring. Milwaukee won 66 games and swept the Bullets in the Finals for the franchise's only title.
1990-91 Chicago Bulls
Jordan's first championship and the team that launched the dynasty. He won MVP, the Bulls beat Magic's Lakers 4-1 in the Finals, and the modern NBA had its new center of gravity.
1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers
Wilt Chamberlain finally got the team around him. A 68-13 regular season (then a record) and a 4-1 Eastern Finals win over Bill Russell's Celtics ended Boston's eight-title run before Philadelphia beat the Warriors for the championship.
Ranked across 4 sources: Bleacher Report · 10 Greatest NBA Teams of All Time; NBA.com · NBA at 50 Top 10 Teams (1996, unordered selection); SLAM · Top 75 NBA Teams of All Time (2022); DirecTV Insider · 25 Best NBA Teams of All Time (2024). Full scoring is on the Methodology tab above.
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