The second and first greatest team in Los Angeles Lakers history:
Number two: 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers (8.41 SRS)
You might be surprised to see this, but this is the only season of the Kobe-Shaq threepeat that makes the top-five. It ultimately boiled down to the strength of schedule.
This was the best version of the threepeat in terms of winning percentage as well as this team currently has the second-best winning percentage in franchise history with a 67-15 record, two games better than the Showtime Lakers.
Some would say that year two of this partnership was the most talented as the Lakers almost went a perfect 15-0 in the playoffs, losing just one game to the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals. However, Kobe missed 14 games, Shaq missed 8 and worse regular-season numbers lept them out of the top-five.
It is still nice to see the Kobe/Shaq threepeat represented.
Number one: 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers (11.65 SRS)
One year before the fifth-best team in franchise history suited up the greatest team in franchise history suited up. Not only do the 1971-1972 Lakers have the best winning percentage in team history, but their SRS is also exponentially better than any other team on this list.
This is the third greatest season all-time, according to SRS, trailing only the 1970-1971 Milwaukee Bucks and 72-win Chicago Bulls.
This was essentially the same supporting cast as the following year, just better. It was the last year of Elgin Baylor’s career and he still produced as a role player and Goodrich, West and Chamberlain were all better in this year than the following year.
Unlike the 1972 team, the 1971 team defeated the New York Knicks in the NBA Championship, four games to one.