A reporter asked Michael Jordan if his team could beat the 2020 Lakers to which Jordan replied with “yes, probably by 2 or 3 points.” the reporter replied with “why so close?” and Michael replied, “because most of us now are in our sixties.” Winning the NBA championship is one of the hardest things to do in sports. NBA Players are all great athletes and should be recognized for their hard work and dedication.  Some NBA teams are just better than others so I am going to take you through the top 5 teams in NBA history.

5) 2000-2001 Los Angeles Lakers (56-26)

Head Coach Phil Jackson who just came from the final 3-peat with the Chicago Bulls was put in a position with one of the best high school players of all time Kobe Bryant and the most dominant center of all time Shaq O’neal. The Lakers averaged 100.6 points per game which helped them finish #1 in the Pacific division in the Western Conference. The Lakers finished with the #2 seed in the West and would beat the Portland Trail Blazers in a 3 game sweep. The Lakers would then play Jason Williams “White Chocolate” in the WCF Semis. They would sweep the Kings in 4 games. The Lakers would play the San Antonio Spurs in the WCF finals to advance to the NBA Championship. The Spurs were a tough team, David Robinson a star defensive center for Greg Popovich. Los Angeles Swept them in 4 games and played the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA finals. Philly had elite guard play which executed well the first game winning 107-101 in overtime. Then LA would absolutely take over in the next 4 games and win the NBA Finals in 5 games. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant both averaged a sound 29 points in the regular season. The force feed to shaq and the post hook by Bryant was one of the most unstoppable duos of all time. RIP KOBE!!!

4) 1996-1997 Chicago Bulls (69-13)

The second Phil Jackson team on this list, the second team of the second 3-peat. This team featured Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, and the goat Michael Jordan. The Bulls averaged 103 points per game and held their opponents to around 90. The Bulls finished 1st in the Central Division, 1st in the east. The Bulls defeated the Washington Bullets in 3 games, all of them being close. Chicago would take on a very tough Atlanta Hawks with rejection machine Dikembe Mutumbo. The Windy City would go up 1-0 before losing game 2 95-103. The Bulls would then win the next 3 with holding the Hawks to 80 points in game 3 and 4. Chicago would take on Alonzo Mourning and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls won in 5 games once again losing game 4 80-87. Chicago had to play arguably a team just as good as the John Stockton, Karl Malone, and the Utah Jazz in the NBA finals. The Bulls won game 1 84-82 and game 2 97-85. Utah would bounce back with 2 straight victories in game 3 and 4. On Wednesday June 11, game 5 of the NBA finals, something amazing happened, one of the greatest things in sports history. Michael Jordan was not feeling well the day before the game, Mike had eaten pizza before he went to bed and suffered food poisoning. Mike decided to play the game even though the risks are very high. Michael finished with 38 points leading Chicago to the victory, one of the most iconic photos was taken as Scottie Pippen carried Michael off the floor while Mike could barely walk right. The Bulls won the final game to seal off the NBA finals. Michael Jordan won the NBA finals MVP like he did for every ring he has. With all the drama that led to this team’s victory I don’t know how I could leave them off the list.

3) 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors (73-9)

The 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors set the best NBA record of all time at 73-9. The Warriors had star backcourt Steph Curry and Klay Thompson (The Splash Bros) along with small forward Andre Iguadola, and power forward Draymond Green. This team played in what most people say was the best NBA season ever against great teams in this era as well. This team was coached by former teammate of Michael Jordan, Steve Kerr who has 3 current championships. The Warriors were first in the Western Conference and played the #8 seeded Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. Golden State beat Houston and would move to the semis. They would then take on Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. The Warriors won the first 2 118-106, and 110-99, They lost game 3 108-120 and then bounced back the next 2 to move to the WCF finals. Golden State would then play Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant, who would be on their team next year, took over game 1 and took it home for OKC 108-102. The Warriors bounced back and won game 2 118-91. The Warriors could not find their groove in game 3 losing 133-105. Golden State had a very tough time shooting in game 4 losing it 118-98. The Warriors suddenly found their offensive attack in game 5 taking home the victory 120-111. The series was at 3-2 Oklahoma City lead, Golden State would barely hold on to game 6 by making free throws and playing good defense winning it 108-101. The series was at game 7 tied 3-3, The Warriors stepped up in game 7 and defeated the OKC Thunder 96-88 to win the Western Conference and go to the NBA Finals. The Warriors would play another great team, Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, The Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State was the better team in game 1 as Cleveland could not find any sort of rhythm to their offense, Golden State took home the victory 104-89. Golden State won game 2 for the same reason 110-77. The Cavaliers found a beat to their offense and won their first game of the series 120-90. Golden State immediately got back into it as they won game 4 108-97. Then Lebron James and Kyrie Irving won 2 games in a row for the Cavs and tied it 3-3. Game 7 was one of the most memorable games I have ever watched. Andre Iguodola drove to the right side for LeBron to deny it off the glass and the Cavs took it the Other way Kyrie Irving hit a Misdirection 3 pointer from the logo to take the lead 92-89. The only reason I have this team at 3 is because they did not win the Finals.

2) 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers (69-13)

This Lakers team was absolutely loaded with raw talent, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Pat Riley, and the former Kansas Jayhawk Wilt Chamberlain. The Lakers averaged about 121 points per game. The Lakers finished first in the Pacific Division and first in the Western Conference. The Lakers played the Chicago Bulls and won in a 4 game sweep to move to the Western Conference Finals. Before the change, there were only 4 teams represented on the West Side and the East side. The Lakers played the Milwaukee Bucks in the Western Conference Finals, This Milwaukee Bucks team was another incredibly talented basketball team with the shooting and ball handling of Oscar Robertson, and the post hook and defensive presence of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Lakers lost the first game 93-72 in just a straight dominant game. The Lakers were able to bounce back and win one of the best games in NBA History 135-134. The Lakers took game 3 108-105 in a well played game by Wilt Chamberlain against Kareem. Milwaukee tied the series 2-2 in game 4 winning it 114-88. With a series tied 2-2 one player could make a difference in a series, but the Lakers had 2, Jerry West and Jim McMillan. In game 5 Jim McMillan put up a game changing 25 points to win the game 115-90 for Los Angeles. Game 6 would be tough for the Lakers as they had to go to Milwaukee to play the Bucks. The Bucks played a great game but Jerry West pulled away for the Lakers to win the game by 4 and advance to the NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers would play Jerry Lucas and the New York Knicks. The Lakers lost game 1 to the Knicks 114-92 in just a dominant game by the Knicks, the Lakers could not get anything going and the Knicks were hitting everything. LA bounced back and won games 2 and 3 in blowout fashion. The Lakers in game 4 were barely able to pull out a 5 point win in overtime. Game 5 was to seal the championship, the game was in LA and Walt Frazier for the Knicks came firing. Frazier finished with 31 points and 10 assists, but it was not enough, the Lakers pulled out the win 114-100 to win the NBA Finals! Wilt Chamberlain won the Finals MVP, I couldn’t leave this team out of the top 2 but in my opinion this upcoming team is better.

1) 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls (72-10)

The ‘95-’96 Chicago Bulls were the greatest team to ever play basketball, there is not a doubt in my mind. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, and Dennis Rodman. MJ came off of his baseball career and came back to play basketball this season. This team held the best record of all time until the 2015-2016 Warriors took it. Coach Phil Jackson was set up for success the minute MJ came back to basketball. Phil Jackson is talked about in the GOAT coach conversation quite a bit, Greg Popovich, and Mike Krzyewski are talked about a lot as well. The Bulls took first place in the Central Division in the Eastern Conference after Michael Jordan won the All-Star Game MVP. The Bulls played the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and swept them in 3 games. Chicago would then take on the very tough New York Knicks. Chicago won the first 2 games 91-84, and then 91-80. Then the Knicks played a very tough game and they lost 102-99 in overtime. The Bulls would step up defensively and win out in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals 94-91 and 94-81. The Bulls would play a very good Orlando Magic team with players such as Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, and Horace Grant. One of the things this team is notorious for is winning vs great teams big. The Bulls Swept the Magic, holding them to less than 100 points in 3 of the 4 games. Chicago would play the incredibly defensive Seattle Supersonics. The Supersonics, who are now the Oklahoma City Thunder, had players such as Detlef Schrempf, Gary Payton, and Shawn Kemp. The Bulls would win the first 3 games, Chicago was put up at 3-0. The Bulls lost game 4 and 5 by the score of 107-86 and 89-78. The Windy City Stepped up and won game 6 87-75 helped by Michael Jordan’s 22 points and 7 assists. The Bulls won the first game of the second 3-peat for MJ. in the 1995-1996 season Michael Jordan won the NBA MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, and the All Star Game MVP. This team shot .478 from the field and .403 from beyond the arc. MJ averaged 30.4 points per game in his MVP run this year. Scottie Pippen averaged 19.4 second on the team. In my opinion this team was the best ever and not much will change my mind.

These are some of the best teams ever but all NBA teams are good and work just as hard as the other, all NBA players are good, none are bad. In my opinion MJ is the greatest player ever but all are great athletes. Thank you for reading y article.