Most Dominant NBA Title Teams All-Time ('47-'19)

Intro

(Skip to the section titled Top 40 Ranks if you just want to see my list of title teams without explanation)

I wanted to objectively rank all 73 NBA title teams in order of their dominance on the league for their year. I consulted four team stats evenly:

• Regular Season Win Percentage
• Playoff Win Percentage
• Regular Season Point Differential
• Playoff Point Differential

I chose these statistics because I believe they are objectively linked with the meaning of "dominance".

I compared these stats for each title team to the averages of all the title teams. The following rankings are based solely off of these relative statistical standings.

Possible Biases

• Parity & Quality Opponent Scrutiny - Teams who played in competitive leagues and faced tougher playoff opponents are short-changed here.
• Changes in Season Length and Playoff Brackets - the length of regular season schedules and format of playoff brackets have changed several times since 1947. I suspect shorter seasons and playoffs are statistically favored.
• The Data I Chose to Observe and the Choice to Weigh them Evenly - Some might consider the regular season or playoffs more important. Some might consider playoff loses less relevant. Some might not care about point differential. Some might care about a stat I did not observe.

Reference:

My Spreadsheet of work (including all 73 ranks, scores and charts).

My source of data.

Top 40 Ranks

40. 2005 San Antonio Spurs

39. 2012 Miami Heat

38. 1980 Los Angeles Lakers

37. 2000 Los Angeles Lakers

36. 1981 Boston Celtics

35. 2002 Los Angeles Lakers

34. 1960 Boston Celtics

33. 1990 Detroit Pistons

32. 1982 Los Angeles Lakers

31. 1959 Boston Celtics

30. 1993 Chicago Bulls

29. 2007 San Antonio Spurs

28. 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers

27. 2008 Boston Celtics

26. 1998 Chicago Bulls

25. 1965 Boston Celtics

24. 2013 Miami Heat

23. 2009 Los Angeles Lakers

22. 2018 Golden State Warriors

21. 1964 Boston Celtics

20. 2014 San Antonio Spurs
Regular Season Record (%): 62-20 (0.756)
Playoff Record (%): 16-7 (0.696)
Regular Season Point Differential: 7.8
Playoff Point Differential: 9.3

-San Antonio's most recent title outranks any LeBron run and is the highest showing for Tony Parker, Ginobili & Kawhi. They took more playoff losses than some but are above-average in every other statistical category.

19. 1949 Minneapolis Lakers
Regular Season Record (%): 44-16 (0.733)
Playoff Record (%): 8-2 (0.800)
Regular Season Point Differential: 7.3
Playoff Point Differential: 7.4

-Time for some Mikan love. The season and playoff bracket may have been short but these champs clocked in solid win percentages and differentials overall.

--Tier 3 - Above Average Dominance--

18. 1992 Chicago Bulls
Regular Season Record (%): 67-15 (0.817)
Playoff Record (%): 15-7 (0.682)
Regular Season Point Differential: 10.4
Playoff Point Differential: 6.2

-Chicago's fourth highest ranking title team had an impressive regular season but faced more difficulties in the playoffs.

17. 1961 Boston Celtics
Regular Season Record (%): 57-22 (0.722)
Playoff Record (%): 8-2 (0.800)
Regular Season Point Differential: 5.6
Playoff Point Differential: 11.6

-Russell's top rank and Boston's second highest title season lands here for inverse reasons of the previous team: a bland regular season and an impressive playoff run.

16. 1989 Detroit Pistons
Regular Season Record (%): 63-19 (0.768)
Playoff Record (%): 15-2 (0.882)
Regular Season Point Differential: 5.8
Playoff Point Differential: 7.7

-While each category is solid, Isiah's first championship nearly hits the top 15 mainly because of their impressive playoff record (which includes 3 sweeps).

15. 1985 Los Angeles Lakers
Regular Season Record (%): 62-20 (0.756)
Playoff Record (%): 15-4 (0.789)
Regular Season Point Differential: 7.3
Playoff Point Differential: 10.1

-While this is Magic Johnson's second highest ranking championship team, this is Kareem's third. Oddly, while this team lost more games in both the regular season and the playoffs, these Lakers had better differentials than the '89 Pistons (ranked 16th).

14. 1999 San Antonio Spurs
Regular Season Record (%): 37-13 (0.740)
Playoff Record (%): 15-2 (0.882)
Regular Season Point Differential: 8.1
Playoff Point Differential: 7.2

-This first title run for David Robinson, Popovich & Tim Duncan may get overlooked because of the shortened regular season but they won at a high rate with strong margins. The highest ranking Spurs swept a young Kobe/Shaq squad and only caught two total playoff losses.

13. 2001 Los Angeles Lakers
Regular Season Record (%): 56-26 (0.683)
Playoff Record (%): 15-1 (0.938)
Regular Season Point Differential: 3.4
Playoff Point Differential: 12.8

-Speaking of the devils, here we have the highest ranking appearance of Kobe or Shaq specifically because of their playoff run (which is arguably the second best of all time). Despite the relatively mediocre regular season, losing one playoff game and winning them by more than a dozen apiece is true dominance.

12. 1950 Minneapolis Lakers
Regular Season Record (%): 51-17 (0.750)
Playoff Record (%): 11-2 (0.846)
Regular Season Point Differential: 8.4
Playoff Point Differential: 9.1

-Another Mikan surprise. The season and playoffs were more compact so that might be skewing the data but this title team won a consistently strong amount of games with strong margins. Our final kudos to the original beast of the NBA.

11. 1972 Los Angeles Lakers
Regular Season Record (%): 69-13 (0.841)
Playoff Record (%): 12-3 (0.800)
Regular Season Point Differential: 12.3
Playoff Point Differential: 3.2

-Here's a stacked team: Riley, Goodrich, West and Chamberlain. Unfortunately, they only had Elgin Baylor for nine regular season games. The only category dragging these champs down is their unusually low playoff point differential which is a result of their series against the Milwaukee Bucks where the Lakers won despite a negative point differential.

10. 2015 Golden State Warriors
Regular Season Record (%): 67-15 (0.817)
Playoff Record (%): 16-5 (0.762)
Regular Season Point Differential: 10.1
Playoff Point Differential: 7.8

-Perhaps the most controversial ranking here, Curry's first title is top ten mainly because of this squad's dominant regular season. Winning over eighty percent by more than ten a game is significant enough to elevate the original Splash Brothers here.

9. 1997 Chicago Bulls
Regular Season Record (%): 69-13 (0.841)
Playoff Record (%): 15-4 (0.789)
Regular Season Point Differential: 10.8
Playoff Point Differential: 5.5

-This edition of Jordan's Bulls has a similar resume as the previous team listed: an elite regular season with a checkered playoff run. The slightly more impressive regular season is the edge here.

8. 1967 Philadelphia 76ers
Regular Season Record (%): 68-13 (0.840)
Playoff Record (%): 11-4 (0.733)
Regular Season Point Differential: 9.4
Playoff Point Differential: 9.4

-Possibly to the chagrin of Celtic fans, Wilt's only victory over Russell is the highest ranking title team for either player because of the dominant regular season and good differentials. Other contributors to this team where Hal Greer, Chet Walker, and Billy Cunningham.

7. 1983 Philadelphia 76ers
Regular Season Record (%): 65-17 (0.793)
Playoff Record (%): 12-1 (0.923)
Regular Season Point Differential: 7.7
Playoff Point Differential: 6.5

-Here we have our Moses Malone and Julius Erving moment. This championship team has strong numbers but what really stands out is the 12-1 playoff run. All-time, there are only three title teams to take a single lose in the playoffs.

--Tier 2 - Elite Dominance--

6. 1991 Chicago Bulls
Regular Season Record (%): 61-21 (0.744)
Playoff Record (%): 15-2 (0.882)
Regular Season Point Differential: 9.0
Playoff Point Differential: 11.7

-The top choice of Jordan's first trilogy, 1991's campaign sticks out for its elite playoff run. Beating Ewing, Barkley, Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson in four consecutive series is amazing. Taking only two loses along the way with a margin of nearly a dozen points per game is iconic.



5. 1986 Boston Celtics
Regular Season Record (%): 67-15 (0.817)
Playoff Record (%): 15-3 (0.833)
Regular Season Point Differential: 9.4
Playoff Point Differential: 10.3

-Larry Bird & Co.'s highest ranking title team starts off the top five because of a very strong regular season and playoff run. With names like Carlisle, Ainge, Walton, Parish, and McHale on the roster, it is no wonder this team was so statistically consistent.

4. 1987 Los Angeles Lakers
Regular Season Record (%): 65-17 (0.793)
Playoff Record (%): 15-3 (0.833)
Regular Season Point Differential: 9.3
Playoff Point Differential: 11.4

-The height of Showtime, it really is remarkable just how similar these numbers are to the 1986 Celtics. Trading two less regular season wins for a point more in the playoff win differential is the statistical edge apparently (but the margin is razor thin). Either way, shout out to Scott, Worthy, Riley, and, of course, Magic and Kareem.

--Tier 1 - Outlier Dominance--

3. 1996 Chicago Bulls
Regular Season Record (%): 72-10 (0.878)
Playoff Record (%): 15-3 (0.833)
Regular Season Point Differential: 12.3
Playoff Point Differential: 10.6

-Likely the biggest shock of these rankings is seeing peak Jordan ranked only third. The greatest regular season of all title teams is surprisingly outdone here because their playoff run was slightly less dominant.

2. 1971 Milwaukee Bucks
Regular Season Record (%): 66-16 (0.805)
Playoff Record (%): 12-2 (0.857)
Regular Season Point Differential: 12.2
Playoff Point Differential: 14.5

-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's first title run and the only championship for Oscar Robertson & Milwaukee is special for having the best playoff point differential here. All the other stats are quite impressive as well so, while it may be an obscure choice, the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks have a strong claim to the most dominant season ever.

1. 2017 Golden State Warriors
Regular Season Record (%): 67-15 (0.817)
Playoff Record (%): 16-1 (0.941)
Regular Season Point Differential: 11.6
Playoff Point Differential: 13.5

-Millennials rejoice, the first Curry/Durant Warriors' title run tops my statistical dominance rankings because they paired an elite regular season with the greatest playoff run of all time. Sporting the best playoff record and second best point differential ever ultimately trumps this list.