5 reasons the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors are the greatest team of all time

3. Difference between the G.O.A.T. team and the G.O.A.T. season

One of the stronger cases for the Golden State Warriors as the G.O.A.T. team is a simple clarification that this is not an argument for the Dubs having the greatest season of all time. That distinction matters here.

In terms of the greatest or most successful season ever, you’d couldn’t go wrong picking the 1995-96 Bulls. They won the most games in league history among teams who actually went on to win the title. The 2015-16 Warriors missed out on that label by losing the championship round and the 2016-17 Warriors missed out on by losing 5-6 more regular season games.

However, there’s certainly a case to be made for the Warriors in this debate, as ESPN‘s Kevin Pelton does here:

Essentially, Pelton’s formula slightly favors the Warriors until factoring in how many injuries befell their opponents during their playoff run. MJ’s Bulls probably had a harder path to the Larry O’Brien trophy; the Warriors did what was expected by being historically dominant over shorthanded opponents.

There’s also the fun (but ultimately pointless) head-to-head angle to consider. If these two teams could somehow play each other in their primes, who would win?

It’s a tough question to truly answer. Changes in the hand-checking rules would factor in here, as would the general direction the league has gone down that favors three-point shooting, versatility and ever-expanding length. Both teams played in a completely different NBA.

The league has changed so much in the last 21 years, but given the way that athletes have evolved and the NBA has gone small with its emphasis on three-point shooting and high-powered offenses, even those historically stingy Bulls defenses would’ve had problems containing a Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant pick-and-roll.

With that being said, this isn’t a simple measure of regular season wins and playoff wins, nor does factoring in point differentials or hypothetical head-to-head matchups end the discussion.

The best measure for this question might be one simple question: If you had to pick any team in NBA history as THE bar for league dominance and success and probability of winning a championship against any opponent, who would you pick?

Many would pick Jordan’s Bulls. Others would pick these Warriors. But with the way the game and its players have evolved, even the greatest player of all time’s team might not hold a candle to this Warriors behemoth.