Warriors, Bulls are top-notch

Who is better?
That’s a question we ask all the time in sports. It’s the reason we play the games.
But there are those cases in which teams can never meet in competition to determine which was the best.
That’s how it is with the only NBA teams to win 70 games in a season.
The Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, did it first, going 72-10 during the 1995-96 season. That was a record — three more wins than any other team in the history of the game — many thought would never be touched.
But the Golden State Warriors have done it this year. They tied the Bulls’ mark with a six-point win Sunday over the San Antonio Spurs (a 65-win team), and have a chance to break it Wednesday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies at Oracle Arena.
So the question has been asked over and over again: Which team is better? If we lined up the 1995-96 Bulls against the 2015-16 Warriors for a seven-game series, which team would win?
Both squads are incredible.
The Bulls had Michael Jordan, who remains the best player I have ever seen. Statistics aside, he just seemed to have the ability to will his team to victory. When Jordan was at his peak, he simply seemed unstoppable.
Jordan averaged 30.1 points per game for his career, even after his two seasons in Washington. His playoff numbers were even better — 33.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.
And he had another Hall of Fame player — Pippen — at his side throughout the championship runs. Scottie often gets downplayed because of Jordan’s greatness, but he was the perfect complementary player.
Together they were named to the all-defensive first team 17 times — Jordan a record nine (along with Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Gary Payton) and Pippen eight.
The Warriors do things I have never seen before. Specifically, they shoot the 3-pointer astonishingly well.
Steph Curry’s 392 triples this season are far-and-away the most by any player in history. He had set the previous record last season at 286, which broke the record (272) he had posted in 2013-14.
His teammate Klay Thompson is currently tied for third on the list with 272 triples this year. Together, they own six of the top 11 all-time spots. And at the pace they’re going, they may very well own the top 10 in a few years.
The Warriors have made 1,057 3-pointers this season, obliterating the record of 933. But their prowess is more than just making long-distance shots, it’s their seeming ability to hit them anytime, from anywhere, at any angle. It’s mind-blowing.
And after leading the league in defensive field-goal percentage last season, they rank third in that category this year.
Jordan’s Bulls — the team as a whole from the first championship in 1991 to the last in 1998 — probably deserve the mantle as the best of all time. Those teams occupy three of the top 11 spots in NBA history in terms of winning percentage.
The season after winning 72 games, the Bulls went 69-13 in 1996-97. And the 1991-92 squad finished with a 67-15 record en route to the NBA championship.
But it’s impossible to discount the present-day Warriors. They also won 67 games last season. They have a chance for 73 this year. If they’re able to finish the job with an NBA title in June and then sometime in the next few years reach the high 60s (or low 70s) again on the way to a third crown, they will have solidified their position as one of the best teams in the history of the professional game.
No other squad made up of the same core of players has won 65 games more than once.
So which 72-win team is better? I’d lean toward Chicago, but arguments could be made for either.
Rather than trying too hard to figure it out, I prefer to sit back and enjoy the greatness. When the Warriors take the court Wednesday against Memphis, they will have a chance to make history.
And really, that’s the reason we play the games.