5-1
5) 1972 Los Angeles Lakers: 69-13, 12-3 Coach: Bill Sharman
This team won 33 straight games, a record that no team has come close to matching, still has the third-most regular-season wins in history, 69, and has the highest point differential, 12.28, of all-time.
Yet for some reason, it seldom gets the credit it deserves. The lineup of West, Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, Jim McMillian, Happy Hairston and Flynn Robinson dominated the league.
They beat the last two defending champions in the conference finals (Bucks in six games) and NBA Finals (Knicks in five) to win the title.
4) 2017 Golden State Warriors: 67-15, 16-1; Coach: Steve Kerr
In the previous season, the Warriors set an NBA record with 73 regular-season wins, losing only nine times. But in the playoffs, it lost another nine times, which included blowing a 3 games-to-1 lead in the Finals, somehow losing the last three games to the Cavs and failing to win the title.
In 2017, Kevin Durant, the team’s new superstar addition, combined with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston to become the third team to lose only one postseason game, beating Cleveland in five games to grab the title.
3) 1986 Boston Celtics: 67-15, 15-3; Coach: KC Jones
This team featured probably the best frontcourt in NBA history with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and a relatively healthy Bill Walton, while Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge manned the backcourt.
They had a comparatively easy road to the title, losing only one conference playoff game and avoiding a match-up with the Lakers when Houston upset LA in the conference finals. The Celtics dispatched the Rockets in six games in the Finals.
2) 1987 Los Angeles Lakers: 65-17, 15-3; Coach: Riley
This was Showtime at its finest. Kareem at age 40 was starting to fade but was still a force inside. He and teammates Magic and Cooper from the ’82 squad combined with Worthy, Scott, Mychal Thompson and A.C. Green to form the best-ever Lakers team.
After losing just one game in the conference playoffs, the Lakers took out the rival Celtics in six games to claim the championship.
1) 1996 Chicago Bulls: 72-10, 15-3; Coach: Jackson
This Bulls team set an NBA regular-season record for wins that stood for 20 years. Jordan, in uniform for the entire season for the first time in three years, once again formed a lethal duo with Pippen. They were joined by Rodman (now with tattoos, piercings and multi-colored hair), Harper, Toni Kukoc, Luc Longley and Steve Kerr to dominate the league, outscoring opponents by 12.24 points per game.
In the playoffs they swept both Florida teams, Miami and Orlando, lost a single game to the Knicks, and beat Seattle in six games to win their fourth of six titles.
In the final analysis, how did the Los Angeles Lakers stack up in the ratings? They appeared in the top 20 five times (four times in the top 10), the most of any team, one more than the Celtics’ four appearances. The Bulls, 76ers and Spurs showed up twice each along with one time apiece for the Warriors, Knicks, Bucks, Pistons and Heat.