Warriors’ Fan Perspective: What Winning 72 Games Would Mean

Chasing 72 wins seems surreal for many Warriors fans 

Last season, the Golden State Warriors cemented themselves as one of the best teams in NBA history on their way to winning 83 total games and the NBA title.

Coming into the 2016 season, many people who follow the league called the Warriors “lucky” claiming they had an easy road to the Finals and wouldn’t be able to duplicate their success. I spent way too many late nights on Twitter defending the Warriors, positive that this was the best basketball team to play since the Bulls of the ’90s. At the very least, there’s no doubt that the Warriors are the best team in today’s NBA, and it’s no longer a question of if this team can realistically chase the single-season wins record, it’s whether they SHOULD chase the 72 win mark set by the ’96 Bulls.

It’s crazy to think that we are watching one of the best teams that have ever and will ever play in NBA history. What’s even crazier is that it’s MY team! The Warriors! I’m not old enough to have watched the “Run TMC” Warriors, so I’ve watched a lot of pathetic Warriors’ basketball in my 20 years of life.

I remember the days when I’d come home from school and have to watch Kobe drop 40 on Mike Dunleavy or when Corey Maggette was the best player on the team and Stephen Curry just couldn’t stay on the court.

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“At least we’re the ninth seed,” I shamefully admit to saying, trying to reassure myself of Warriors progress. The definition of “lovable losers”. The “We Believe” years was the first time the Warriors were in the playoffs in my life, and that team was fun, but at the end of the day they weren’t going anywhere. They weren’t playing 25 national TV games back then. That’s where things are different nowadays. The Warriors are fun AND good. Really good. The fact that the Warriors could even realistically chase 72 regular season wins is unfathomable. It makes all those 20-win seasons worth it.

Say for the sake of this article, the Warriors win 72 games and hoist the trophy again this season. You can’t convince me one can’t make a legit argument that these Warriors are better than the ’96 Bulls. It’s no secret that that portion of the 90s wasn’t flooded with talent, especially compared to today’s game. Don’t get me wrong, the “expansion era” did have some great players and teams, but the Warriors doing it in this era, playing a majority of their games in the superpower Western Conference, has to add a little sprinkle to their case.

Those who oppose going for 72 wins say that the Warriors should focus on the postseason and chasing a title rather than the wins record. But who’s to say they can’t do both? Even though the Warriors have had some too close for comfort games this season, they still manage to win with ease.

There have been some close calls this season: Bulls game, both Clippers games, and of course Brook Lopez missing a shot he probably makes 99/1oo times that would have won the game for the Nets, but no matter how badly the Warriors are playing, you know they can go from 0-100 real quick and end their opponents’ chance of winning the game.

It’s almost like when you fight your older brother. You hit him and hit him until he gets annoyed, and eventually he hits you and you’re in a lot more pain than he ever was. The Dubs are the big brother in this case, capable of flipping the game on its head with one Curry three, or one Iguodala steal or a Bogut block. The Warriors are still relatively healthy and have already won their first 18 games and broke a long list of records on the way…why not go for it?