Los Angeles Lakers

The Warriors tying the '96 Bulls' 72-win record is the best possible outcome

Published Apr. 6, 2016 3:44 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Warriors are stuck at 69 wins, and have to win their final four games (two apiece against the Spurs and the Grizzlies) to beat the '96 Bulls' 72-win record, also known affectionately as "The Best Regular Season Performance Ever, Of All Time."

A little backstory in case you haven't heard it a billion times already: the Chicago Bulls slapped the entire league around during the 1995-96 season (that farcical loss to the Miami Heat notwithstanding), averaging 105.2 ppg en route to a 72-10 record, losing once in the playoffs to secure the first of what would be three consecutive titles.

At this exact same point (the 78th game of the season) in 1996, the Bulls were also sitting at 69-9 after a 98-72 win over the Cavaliers, so this 2016 Warriors team, with four games left, is positioned to pass the Bulls' all-time wins mark.

But in this writer's slightly-less-than-humble opinion, it'd be way more fun if they tied it. The reason is twofold:

First off, if this happens, we get to say that Old Man Kobe Bryant ruined everything one last time before getting carried out on his shield.

The Warriors have lost to eight other teams. There was a home loss to Boston that busted a win streak stretching back to before flowing water was discovered on Mars. There was Tuesday night's overtime loss to a Timberwolves team that's currently last in its division. But the 112-95 loss to the then 13-51 Lakers in early March on national television; that's the one history will remember. It was the first time that a sub .200 team (.190 to be exact) has beaten a plus .900 team (.917) since we started keeping track of things after the merger.

Obviously, the Warriors lost more so than the Lakers won. As a team, they shot an unfathomable 4-for-30 from beyond the arc. And while you can't say it was any one Laker's game, Kobe put up 12 points and made all of his free throws, which is all the clay Kobe stans need to make bricks.

Moreover, Kobe could count himself as a savior to Jordan's hallowed legacy while cementing his own as the biggest killjoy in NBA history. Just imagine him strolling up to Jordan at the Kobe Inc-sponsored retirement party (wearing sunglasses inside most likely) and saying "you're welcome" while blowing cigar smoke in his face.

Second, and most importantly, if they don't make it past 72 wins, we'll get to debate about who was definitely nicer-- the '16 Warriors or the '96 Bulls-- for all eternity.

And neither side will win! Every volley will have an equal and opposite return, and for all the factoids and differences and similarities between the two that we can dredge up, we'll never get any closer to a "real" answer.

We may have to live with the unbearable lightness of never knowing, but we'll never want for bar room banter or watercooler talk ever again. Which, if we're keeping it a buck with ourselves, is all we really want anyway.