Back in August, ABC commentator Jeff Van Gundy had this to say about the new look Miami HEAT: “They will break the single season win record of seventy-two games.” Now as the second half begins we can see just how far fetched that is.
Scottie Pippen had choice words for Van Gundy calling him a “jackass” for his prediction that the HEAT would break the Bulls regular season record. The Heat are 43-19 and it’s not even April yet. I know HEAT fans will say that they didn’t get close to the record because it’s their first season together. That’s a pathetic excuse. The 2007-2008 Boston Celtics finished the regular season 66-16, and that was the first year Allen, Pierce and Garnett played together.
Because the Heat are taking on three max players in their prime, they have left no cap room to bring in good talent. Their minimum wage role players will never be able to help them get close to the Bulls record. Not now and not ever.
What the Bulls accomplished in the 1995-1996 may never be emulated. It takes 82 games of complete focus and some luck. The Bulls of the mid 1990’s were solid at every position and their players fit into Phil’s triangle offense. If a team has any injuries that will cause them to lose any number of games, they can kiss their shot at the record good-bye.
Look at this season’s Spurs. They were 46-10 coming out of the All-Star break. If they had gone on a twenty-six game winning streak (which would be the second longest all time) they would only match the Bulls record. However last week’s game against Memphis was thought to be a huge blow to the Spurs who lost Tony Parker to injury. He strained his left calf and was expected to be out for 2-4 weeks; however he ended up only missing two games.
The scariest thing about the 1995-1996 Bulls is that three of their losses came by one point. So they had a realistic chance to finish the season at 75-7. No team in the last decade could even dream about that. The 2006-2007 Dallas Mavericks finished at 67-15, and the 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavaliers finished at 66-16. Since the Bulls record setting season, the closest team to finishing with a similar record was the 1996-1997 Bulls at 69-13.
At the beginning of this season it seemed like the Spurs had a remote chance to come close to the record, especially when they were 28-4 through December. Even though they are an extremely well disciplined team, there was simply no way for them to win as often as they needed to. Perhaps one day the Bulls record will be broken, but it’s highly unlikely. They are the only team in NBA history to win 70 games or more, and fifteen years later their record still stands. As an NBA fan it’s important to respect the record because we may never see anything like it again in our lifetime.
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