The NBA's Two Greatest Teams of All-Time

Two teams have dominated for one season of pro basketball like no others in NBA history. One has the professional sports record for most wins in a row, and the other has the most wins for a single season in NBA history.

Both won the NBA title that season.

While the Boston Celtics have the most championships in professional basketball, they have a hard time comparing to what these two teams accomplished during the course of one season.

During the 1971-72 season, the Los Angeles Lakers won 33 consecutive games. This will be a very hard record to duplicate, especially given the parity of the NBA these days.

This great team was led by one of the best players ever in pro basketball, Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain.

Joining Chamberlain on this historic team was Jerry West, affectionately called Zeke from Cabin Creek by long-time LA announcer Chick Hearns.  But to the Laker faithful, West was simply known as Mr. Clutch.

Gail Goodrick averaged 21.6 points a game during this streak, helping out when West was having a rare sub-par game.

Rebounding was also key, and the Lakers had Happy Hairston, who I swear had spring-like coils for legs and constantly had 20 rebounds per night.

The other forward, Keith Erickson, was a great finesse player and, interestingly enough, Wilt's volleyball partner in the offseason. Erickson was always ready to contribute and complemented teammate Pat Riley's playing style perfectly.

Riley, who later led the Lakers to their dynasty in the 1980s, frequently came off the bench as a swingman to play forward or guard.

Just as critical to LA's success was forward Jim McMillan, who had the fastest first step to the basket I have ever seen.  McMillan had great ball fakes and was a constant scoring threat in the open court.

All in all, this great team won 69 of 82 games on their way to an NBA title.

But for all of the Lakers' individual star power, it was Bill Sharman who, perhaps, made the single biggest impact.  Sharman was responsible for re-instituting great fundamentals back into the Lakers, who had struggled in their three previous NBA Finals appearances, losing to the Celtics, Knicks, and Milwaukee Bucks.

That record of 69-13 stood until the 1995-96 season, when Michael Jordan 's Bulls won an amazing 72 games, a mark that still stands.

Featuring a starting lineup consisting of Jordan, Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Luc Longley, the Bulls broke many NBA records, including most home and road wins in any one season.

Chicago also set the NBA record for the best start to a season, going 47-3 in its first 50 games.

This team also had one of the greatest benches of the modern basketball era.

Steve Kerr was second in the league in three-point shooting, while Toni Kucoc, the NBA's best "sixth" man, served as a nice security blanket in case of injury.  Joining these two were backup center Bill Wennington and Jud Buechler, another great shooter.

Michael Jordan got the triple crown in the NBA that year, winning MVP honors for the regular season, All-Star Game, and NBA Finals.

To this day, that Bulls team is the only in NBA history to have featured three players (Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman) that earned All-Defensive First Team honors in the same season. 

The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls are highly regarded as one of the best teams ever to play in the NBA.

Thomas Moreland