Best Regular-Season Record in NBA History

The best regular-season record in NBA history belongs to the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who went 73-9 to break the 72-10 mark set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. In one of the sport’s great ironies, the Warriors lost the Finals that year while the Bulls won the title, so the two best seasons ended in opposite ways.

A great regular-season record is a measure of relentless, months-long excellence, but as the top of this list shows, it does not guarantee a championship. The Warriors and Bulls are the only two teams ever to win 70 games, and the gap between them and the rest is a reminder of just how difficult sustained dominance is. Here is the full leaderboard of the winningest regular seasons in NBA history. All figures are through the 2025 season.

The record holder: the 2015-16 Warriors’ 73-9

Golden State’s 73-9 season is the standard by which all others are measured. Powered by Stephen Curry’s unanimous MVP campaign and a free-flowing offense that redefined how the game was played, the Warriors won 73 of 82 games, a win percentage of .890 that no team has ever bettered.

The season carried a bitter twist. After breaking the wins record, the Warriors built a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and then lost three straight to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It made them the best regular-season team never to win the title in the same year, a fate that sharpens the comparison with the team they surpassed.

The full leaderboard of NBA regular seasons

The table below ranks the best regular-season records in NBA history by win percentage, along with whether each team won the championship.

Rank	Record	Win%	Team	Season	Title?
1	73-9	.890	Golden State Warriors	2015-16	No (lost Finals)
2	72-10	.878	Chicago Bulls	1995-96	Yes
3	69-13	.841	Los Angeles Lakers	1971-72	Yes
3	69-13	.841	Chicago Bulls	1996-97	Yes
5	68-13	.840	Boston Celtics	1972-73	No
6	68-14	.829	Philadelphia 76ers	1966-67	Yes

The Warriors and Bulls stand alone above 70 wins, with the 69-win Lakers and Bulls just behind. Notably, four of the six teams at the top won the championship, but the two greatest by record diverge: the Bulls won it all, and the Warriors did not.

The 1995-96 Bulls: the record with a ring

Before the Warriors, the benchmark belonged to the 1995-96 Bulls’ 72-10 season. Led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, Chicago not only set the wins record but also won the championship, going 15-3 in the playoffs. That combination, record and ring in the same year, is what many point to when arguing the Bulls’ season is greater than the Warriors’ despite the lower win total.

The Bulls also appear again at 69-13 the very next season, 1996-97, underscoring how sustained their peak was during their second three-peat.

The eras behind the numbers

Older teams on this list, like the 1971-72 Lakers and the 1966-67 76ers, dominated their own eras but did so in different competitive contexts. The Lakers’ 69-13 season included the record 33-game winning streak, the longest in league history, detailed in our guide to the longest win streaks in NBA history. Comparing win percentages across eras helps level the field, and even by that measure the modern Warriors and Bulls sit clearly on top.

Why the record matters

The best regular-season record captures pure dominance, but the split fates of the Warriors and Bulls make it one of basketball’s most debated statistics. Is 73 wins without a title greater than 72 wins with one? That question is exactly why these seasons remain endlessly discussed. For how roster-building rules like Bird rights shape teams capable of such runs, the mechanics are worth understanding too.

The short version: the 2015-16 Warriors hold the best regular-season record in NBA history at 73-9, ahead of the 1995-96 Bulls’ 72-10, the only two 70-win teams ever. Through the 2025 season, the Warriors own the record while the Bulls own the last record-setting championship.