Andrew Bogut Comments on Warriors' Pursuit of Single-Season Wins Record

A mere four wins stand in the way of the history books for the 69-9 Golden State Warriors, but center Andrew Bogut doesn’t care about that—unless he gets a ring too.

While the Warriors can eclipse the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ all-time record of 72 wins in a season if they win their final four contests, Bogut put things in perspective Wednesday when he said, “The end goal is, whether we go 50-32 or whether we break the record, if we don’t get a ring the season doesn’t mean (expletive),” per Courtney Cronin of the San Jose Mercury News.  

The Warriors have not lost back-to-back games in 2015-16, but they did lose their second contest in three tries on Tuesday. Bogut said his team is probably thinking about accomplishing history a bit too much heading into the stretch run of the season, per Cronin: “We’re not focused on it, but we get asked it every day, so just human nature, you’re going to be thinking about it more than you should.”

The Warriors understand the elation that comes with winning a championship. After all, they just did it last year in a six-game victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Bogut’s statement probably reflects the general pecking order of priorities in the locker room.

However, it is 20 years later, and the 1995-96 Bulls have been talked about more than almost any team in the league outside of Golden State this season. If the Warriors were to win 73—or even tie the mark with 72—they would reserve a permanent spot in basketball lore.

Fans 20 years from now would be talking about this team the way they do Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen today.

It is important to note that Bulls team did win a title in 1995-96. Had they failed in the playoffs, their spot in the best-team-ever discussions wouldn’t be nearly as secure. Bogut seems to understand that winning the ring trumps everything, even when talking about making history.

Golden State’s historical task became much more difficult after a stunning overtime loss on their home floor Tuesday to the 26-52 Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota has plenty of promising young talent with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns and will likely be competing for postseason spots in the near future, but it is also 43 wins shy of Golden State’s mark this season.

While winning 73 games became trickier because of the loss, ESPN’s Rachel Nichols explained on her show, The Jump, that it is supposed to be hard (via ESPN.com). After all, Golden State is chasing the greatest player of all time in Jordan and a Chicago team that is still spoken of as one of the best teams in not only basketball history, but sports history.

The Warriors need to get through two home and away showdowns with the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies if they plan on winning 73.

That it is the 65-12 Spurs standing in their way adds even more intrigue because San Antonio is still within striking distance of the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, especially with two matchups against Stephen Curry’s squad remaining.

While Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has been known to rest his starters at times in the regular season—especially with the playoffs approaching—the Spurs learned last year how important home-court advantage is in the daunting Western Conference when they lost a Game 7 on the Los Angeles Clippers’ home floor.

Even the slight chance of knocking off the Warriors and earning home court for a potential Western Conference Finals showdown should have San Antonio ready to play. The last time the Spurs faced the Warriors, they held Curry to 4-of-18 shooting and handed Golden State one of its nine losses.

As for the 42-36 Grizzlies, they are banged up but competing for playoff positioning as well. They won’t present the same challenges as the Spurs, but they have plenty to play for and should give the Warriors a battle.

Winning four games in a row and possibly achieving basketball immortality won’t come easy for Golden State. To hear Bogut tell it, that doesn’t matter as long as there is a championship ring waiting at the end of the journey.