The Best Basketball Team Ever Seen: 2016-17 Golden State Warriors By: Anmol Puri

 The Best Basketball Team Ever Seen: 2016-17 Golden State Warriors

By: Anmol Puri 

Competition

When talking about the greatest runs of all time, people often mention Bill Russell’s Celtics, Tim Duncan’s Spurs, Kobe Bryant’s or Magic Johnson’s Lakers, Michael Jordan’s Bulls, Stephen Curry’s Warriors, and LeBron James’ Heat. But, when talking about a one year team, the most dominant has gone back and forth between a couple teams. Kobe and Shaq’s Lakers in 2000-2001 went on a historic run. Michael Jordan’s Bulls in 1995-1996 went to win the most games in a regular season for their time (72-10). In 2016, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors broke this infamous record when they totaled 73 wins. After such a historic season, it was disappointing to not see them complete the perfect season by winning the championship. However, that following summer, the 2014 regular season MVP decided to join the Golden State Warriors and create what many call the greatest force ever seen.

Success

The Golden State Warriors took control of the league for the entirety of the NBA season ending with a regular season record of 67-15, and a playoff record of 16-1. Kevin Durant’s game was blown wide open through two of the greatest shooters of all time, Curry and Klay. Draymond orchestrated both ends of the floor, especially the defensive end as he took home the DPOY in this very season. Their starting lineup was undoubtedly one of the greatest ever, but their bench wasn’t lackluster either. Former Final’s MVP and All-Star, Andre Iguodala led the second unit followed by midrange specialist Shaun Livingston. The Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant era was short, but definitely sweet. It ended with three finals appearances and two titles in just 3 years, but egos and contracts ended the championship runs for some time. Perhaps, they were the only thing that could have stopped the team.

Works Cited

“Top 10 All-Time Best NBA Teams - Paris Basketball." Paris Basketball, 15 Jan. 2026, parisbasketball.com/en/basketball-101/top-10-all-time-best-nba-teams/.

Vukašin Nedeljković. “The GOAT Squads: Ranking the Best NBA Teams of All Time.” Basketnews.com, BasketNews.com, 3 Apr. 2025, basketnews.com/news-221896-best-nba-teams-of-all-time.html.

Wikipedia Contributors. “2016.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016.