Most Dominant Teams In NBA History
Since its inception in the 1940s, the NBA has seen its fair share of dominant teams, from long-lived dynasties to flashes in the pan that were only brilliant for a season or two.
From the incredible Celtics run in the '60s to the Larry versus Magic rivalry of the '80s to the '90s Bulls and LeBron's dominance in the new millennium, let's take a look back at some of the best squads to ever hit the hardwood.
1969-70 New York Knicks: 60-22
The Knicks had trouble finding any breathing room in the 1960s NBA, as the Celtics dominated the league's eastern bloc for pretty much the entire decade. That started to change as the decade drew to a close, thanks to the ascendance of the Knicks' Willis Reed and Walt Frazier.
Reed put up 21.7 points per game on his way to an MVP award, and the Knicks narrowly edged out the Lakers — the decade's second-best team — in a thrilling seven-game series.
1981-82 Los Angeles Lakers: 57-25
The 1981-82 season didn't mark the first championship for Magic Johnson and the Showtime Lakers. That said, it did mark the season where Pat Riley — the team's iconic coach — took over the reins from Paul Westhead.
Behind their rookie coach, the refreshed Lakers — led by Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — outpaced the rest of the league with a 57-25 record and dispatched the 76ers in six games to win the championship.
2013-14 San Antonio Spurs: 62-20
Head coach Gregg Popovich showed just how adept he was at team-building with the 2013-14 Spurs. An aging core of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili was aided by the rise of young star Kawhi Leonard, and the Spurs cruised to a 62-20 record in the regular season.
Kawhi was capable during the season but rose to another level in the playoffs. The 22-year-old absolutely dominated, winning the NBA Finals MVP as the Spurs handled the Heat in five games.
1996-97 Chicago Bulls: 69-13
The '97 Bulls started out the season like a house on fire and looked like they might never lose again following a 12-0 start to the season. They cooled off and finished with a still-impressive 69-13 regular season record as they sought their second straight title.
The iconic core of Pippen, Kerr, Kukoc, Longley, and Rodman — oh, and Michael Jordan, of course — moved through the playoffs and took on the Jazz in the Finals. Malone and Stockton were no match for Jordan and Pippen, and the Bulls won yet another title.
2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers: 58-24
The Lakers had already won two titles under coach Phil Jackson by the time the 2001-02 season rolled around, and a third title would make the team a true dynasty.
Led by a potent offense featuring Shaq and Kobe in their respective primes, the Lakers also saw clutch performances from role players like Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, and Robert Horry. A gritty win over Sacramento in the Western Finals was followed up by an easy win over the Nets in the Finals.
1997-98 Chicago Bulls: 62-20
This Bulls team knew going into the season that this would be their last chance — or Last Dance — to win with the current core. With a businesslike attitude, Michael Jordan paced the Bulls to their sixth title in eight seasons.
Following this season, the Bulls' core was blown up. Jordan retired (not for the last time), Phil Jackson didn't return as coach, and Scottie Pippen left for Houston.
2012-13 Miami Heat: 66-16
After the Heat won a title in 2012 with LeBron at his peak, expectations for the 2013 team were in the stratosphere. The Heat didn't disappoint, and coach Erik Spoelstra guided the team to a 66-16 regular season record.
LeBron formed the centerpiece of the team's offense, complemented by stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Ray Allen provided a steady veteran presence, and the Heat overcame a 3-2 series deficit to beat the Spurs in the Finals.
2006-07 San Antonio Spurs: 58-24
The Spurs put together a quieter dynasty than the Lakers, Bulls, or Celtics with a star in Tim Duncan who was — quite frankly — boring. But Duncan's frontcourt excellence, combined with star turns by Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, helped guide these Spurs to the top of the league.
While Duncan and company provided enough scoring, the team's real strength was in its tenacious defense. A young LeBron was no match for the team in the 2007 NBA Finals.
1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers: 68-13
The Sixers were led by Wilt Chamberlain during this era, a time when Wilt the Stilt was likely the best basketball player in the world. Despite his talents, Philly couldn't seem to get past the Celtics-Lakers duopoly of the '60s.
This finally changed in 1966-67, though. Chamberlain, along with a supporting cast of Luke Jackson, Hal Greer, and Billy Cunningham, beat the Celtics in the Eastern Championship and then handled the surprising Warriors in the Finals.
2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers: 56-26
The Kobe and Shaq Lakers had already won a championship in 2000 and were looking to add another in 2001. Their 56 regular-season wins are a modest total for this list, and these results were even seen as borderline disappointing at the time.
But when the playoffs started, the Lakers showed their championship credentials. In possibly the most dominant playoff performance ever, the Lakers only lost one game — the first game of the Finals against the 76ers.
1980-81 Boston Celtics: 62-20
The genesis of the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird rivalry came early on in their respective careers. After Magic's Lakers won the title in 1980, their biggest rival — led by young Larry Bird — took the 1981 crown.
The bruising 80-81 Celtics set the template for the teams that would follow in the coming years, with Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Cedric Maxwell making the Celts a difficult team to play against.
1984-85 Los Angeles Lakers: 62-20
The Showtime Lakers just kept rolling through the '80s, with the ageless Kareem leading a team that was full of both stars and role players in 1984-85.
Besides Kareem and Magic, this team was full of talent up and down their bench, from a young James Worthy to Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, and Kurt Rambis. This marked the first time (in many attempts spanning decades) that the Lakers were able to beat the Celtics in the Finals.
1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers: 65-17
If not for the dominance of the Celtics and Lakers, the Sixers could very well have had a dynasty in the '80s. Led by the incomparable "Doctor J," Julius Erving, the 82-83 Sixers also featured players like Mo Cheeks and Moses Malone.
The 76ers were better than the Celtics in the regular season and advanced easily through the early rounds of the playoffs. Playing the Showtime Lakers in the Finals, the Sixers proved to be the better team and won it all.
1988-89 Detroit Pistons: 63-19
The first of two championships for the Bad Boys-era Pistons was led by tenacious coach Chuck Daly, the maestro Isiah Thomas at point guard, and a cast of tough defenders who were relentless in the paint.
The Pistons were already stacked as they cruised through the regular season on their way to a 63-19 record, and the midseason acquisition of Mark Aguirre only made them better. In the Finals, they stopped the Showtime Lakers in their tracks.
1990-91 Chicago Bulls: 61-21
The Bulls, led by studious coach Phil Jackson and young superstar Michael Jordan, were still a question mark coming out of the '80s — could they supplant the Lakers and become the NBA's next great dynasty?
The '91 Bulls proved that they had it in them to win a championship, beating Magic Johnson's Lakers in the NBA Finals. Jordan, along with a rapidly improving Scottie Pippen, showed that the Bulls would be a team to reckon with in the decade that followed.
2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers: 65-17
After Shaquille O'Neal left town to join the Miami Heat, questions arose over whether Kobe Bryant could shoulder the load by himself to keep the Lakers competitive. The void left by Shaq was ably filled by players like Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, and the Lakers won 65 games during the regular season.
Kobe and company silenced their critics for good when they trounced the Cinderella Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals.
1989-90 Detroit Pistons: 59-23
In between the Lakers-Celtics battles of the '80s and the Bulls' dominance of the '90s, the "Bad Boys" snuck in two NBA championships, making them an often-overlooked mini-dynasty.
The Pistons had a mean attitude on the court, with the often-questionable play of Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman leaving their opponents black and blue after most games. Complemented by John Salley, Joe Dumars and, of course, Isiah Thomas, the Bad Boys were a force to be reckoned with.
1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers: 65-17
The Lakers came into the 86-87 season with a chip on their collective shoulders, after failing to make the 1986 Finals for the first time in five years. This was the season that it all came together for Magic Johnson, as he won his first regular-season MVP award.
The Lakers went a combined 11-1 in the first round of the playoffs before taking on the defending champion Celtics in the Finals. A back-and-forth series saw Showtime prevail over the Celtics in six games.
1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks: 66-16
The Bucks of the late '60s are a "what-if" scenario for NBA historians. What if Kareem had stayed in Milwaukee and built a dynasty with Oscar Robertson? This didn't wind up happening, of course, but the 70-71 team gave Bucks fans some great memories.
Kareem, who was in just his second season in the league, teamed up with the aging but still effective Robertson en route to a 66-win regular season. In a forgettable NBA Finals, the Bucks swept the Bullets.
2007-08 Boston Celtics: 66-16
The Celtics of this era had sky-high expectations after the team assembled a much-ballyhooed "Big Three" of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. The stars didn't disappoint, and the 07-08 Celtics ran roughshod over the rest of the league.
Pierce and Allen provided reliable scoring, and Garnett's tenacious two-way play helped create balance for the flashy Celtics. The team represented another learning experience for LeBron James, as they handily beat LeBron's Cavs on their way to their 17th championship.
2017-18 Golden State Warriors: 58-24
The 2017-18 Dubs seemed, at the time, like they might be the last team in the impressive Golden State dynasty of the 2010s. Their longtime core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green was supplemented by superstar Kevin Durant and veterans like Andre Iguodala.
As expected, the Warriors dominated the regular season despite injuries to crucial players and rolled into the playoffs as the favorite. They took out Houston to make it to the Finals, then beat the Cavs in a four-game sweep to win another ring.
1985-86 Boston Celtics: 67-15
The 1986 Celtics may just be the best team Boston has ever assembled, which is really saying something. That year's squad featured Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Bill Walton — a ferocious lineup indeed.
The team was looking to avenge a loss to the Lakers in the previous year's championship series. While they didn't wind up meeting the Lakers in the Finals, they did exorcise their demons by beating Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets to win the championship.
1992-93 Chicago Bulls: 57-25
The Bulls came into the 1992 season with a target on their back after winning back-to-back championships the previous two seasons. Jordan and Pippen did not disappoint, and the team went on to become the first team in decades to win three in a row.
The first three-peat of the decade for Chicago was helped along by crucial players like Horace Grant, John Paxson, BJ Armstrong, and Bill Cartwright.
2015-16 Golden State Warriors: 73-9
The Warriors were already the class of the league by 2015, and fans were eager to see what Steph, Draymond, and Klay could conjure up next. The team followed up on the dominance of previous seasons by setting a new high-water mark.
The Warriors put up the best regular season record in NBA history, with only nine losses in 82 games. It seemed like there was no way they could fail to take home the NBA title, but this dominant team saw their season end in heartbreak.
1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers: 69-13
The Lakers were a great team throughout the '60s, but they carried a significant albatross around their necks: During the decade, they made it to the Finals six times, each time against the Celtics, and lost every single time.
In 1972, things finally changed for the Lakers. Star Jerry West, along with a star-studded cast that included Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, and Gail Goodrich, finally managed to win the big prize. They beat the Knicks, not the Celtics, in the Finals — but to championship-starved fans, the difference hardly mattered.
2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers: 57-25
The Warriors were elite in 2015-16, but the LeBron-led Cavs were no slouches, either. Most pundits expected the two teams to meet in the Finals, and that's exactly what happened.
The Cavs overcame a 3-1 deficit in that year's championship series to shock the Warriors and win the title in seven games. Beating the greatest regular-season team in league history to win the championship guarantees them a spot on this list.
2016-17 Golden State Warriors: 67-15
Steve Kerr's 2016-17 Warriors team re-tooled slightly after falling in the 2016 NBA Finals, and they did so in dramatic fashion — by adding superstar Kevin Durant to an already stacked core of Steph, Klay, and Draymond.
Durant proved to be an excellent fit in Golden State's high-powered offense, and players like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston provided defense on the back end. The 2017 Dubs avenged the previous year's loss by beating the Cavs in five games.
1991-92 Chicago Bulls: 67-15
The Bulls won their first NBA championship in 1991, but beating an aging Magic Johnson wouldn't be enough to cement Michael Jordan's status as a legend. The following season, they ran it back with 67 wins during the regular season.
They followed this momentum into the playoffs, bouncing the Knicks in a brutal seven-game series, then prevailing over Clyde Drexler and his Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals, winning in six games.
1964-65 Boston Celtics: 62-18
It's hard to definitively say which dominant Celtics team was the best during their incredible run through the '60s, but the 64-65 team certainly bears mentioning. Paced by Bill Russell's consistent excellence, the Celts also featured stars like Tommy Heinsohn and John Havlicek.
The Celtics cruised through the playoffs with almost no drama, beating the Sixers to advance to the Finals. Then, in the championship, they dispatched their favorite whipping boys — the Lakers — in five games.
1995-96 Chicago Bulls: 72-10
The first edition of Chicago's second three-peat of the '90s was the best team the Bulls ever put on the hardwood — and, by most people's estimation, the best team in NBA history.
It's hard to say anything about this year's Bulls squad that hasn't been said already. After a 72-win regular season, they dispatched the Heat, Knicks, and Magic on their way to beating the Seattle Supersonics in game six of the 1996 Finals.
