In 1996 the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman, completed the single best NBA season that any team has ever posted. The finished with 72 wins and only 10 losses on the entire regular season (also went on to win the title). Ever since, the media and fans have been pulling the “could they break the bulls record?” card on virtually every team that starts the season with a half-way decent winning streak. Is it starting to get on anyone’s nerves but mine?
72-10, 72 and 10, seventy-two and ten…..no matter how you say it, it still adds up to one hell of a record and one that most likely will stand for a very long time. So why does everyone insist on pinning hopes so early on teams that start the season well like this year’s LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, and even Cleveland Cavaliers? For pete’s sake, at least wait until a few weeks after all-star break and see if any team has an actual legit shot at the record.
What people need to realize is that the season is long…..real long. Why do you think analysts always talk about “the rookie wall” for young players not used to the number of games (82) in a season? Is it because we think they are in bad shape and aren’t great athletes like the veterans? Hell no, if they weren’t elite athletes they never would have gotten drafted. It’s because the season is long, physical, and grueling. 82 games is nothing to sneeze at.
To only lose 10 times in an entire season, is pretty close to perfection. That is night in and night out coming out to play focused, ready, and having all the intangibles bounce your way. You need skill, discipline, depth, defense, endurance, and even a bit of luck. Yet for the past 4 or 5 years each year the media has not waited much past late November before discussing if the leading teams have a shot at the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls record.
In 2004-05 it was the new look Phoenix Suns guided by their new point guard Steve Nash (finished at 62-20), 2005-06 it was the Detroit Pistons who started strong and had the hype machine rolling (finished 64-18), 2006-07 it was the Dallas Mavericks led by Disco Dirk that had everyone talking record (finished at 67-15 but didn’t even make the NBA Finals), in 2007-08 it was the Boston Celtics (finished 66-16, won title but had almost as many losses in the playoffs as they did in the entire regular season), and finally this season there were three teams discussed by only December 2009 as possibilities, Cleveland, Boston, and LA (none of which seem to have a legitimate shot as of January 2009).
So do we not learn from history, or is there another reason the media analysts keep raising the possibility of a team breaking the Bulls record so early in the season? Maybe its because just the ‘hope’ of a broken record, and the thought of re-writing the record books is enough to keep us hyped up about the early part of the regular season when the playoffs seem so far away. Personally, if I was a fan of a team on an early streak I wouldn’t want to “jinx” it by talking 73-9.
Either way the Chicago Bulls record of 72-10 looks safe for another year, and I wouldn’t want it any other way….
