Because there have
been so many unforgettable seasons, great teams and legendary
stars, we’ve asked our historical NBA TRACR to
help determine which franchise had the best single season between
2000-01 and 2024-25.
Magic, Larry and the Bad Boy Pistons were a distant memory.
Michael Jordan’s Bulls had finally been broken up, and Shaq and
Kobe’s run was just beginning.
Things were changing fast at the turn of the century.
Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Co. dominated most of the 1990s, but
the San Antonio Spurs were starting to show signs of a future
dynasty at the end of the decade. And Shaquille O’Neal won the
first of his three straight NBA Finals MVPs at the end of the
1999-2000 season for Phil Jackson’s Los Angeles Lakers.
In fact, either the Spurs or Kobe Bryant and the Lakers won the
Western Conference title every season between the 1998-99 campaign
and 2009-10, except for the 2006 playoffs when Dirk Nowitzki’s
Dallas Mavericks beat Dwyane Wade’s Miami Heat in the NBA
Finals.
In the past 25 years, we’ve witnessed the rise of LeBron James,
who led his teams (the Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers) to eight
straight Finals from 2011 to 2018, and Stephen Curry’s Golden State
Warriors, who won four titles in eight years from 2015 to 2022.
More recently, we’ve entered an era with more parity, with
different champs in each of the past seven seasons.
Because there have been so many unforgettable seasons, great
teams and legendary stars, we’ve asked our historical NBA TRACR
(Team
Rating Adjusted for Competition and Roster) for help in
determining which team had the best single season between 2000-01
and 2024-25.
TRACR normalizes performance from league environmental factors
that can either inflate or deflate its numbers, making it possible
to compare teams across eras. It uses advanced metrics and other
factors on both ends of the court to calculate how many points per
100 possessions better or worse teams are or were compared to the
league-average club during a season (including the
playoffs).
It’s important to note that our model measures performance over
the entirety of the season. So when it comes to our rankings, the
best team during a given season may not have won the championship.
We’re looking to do more than just list the title
winners.
More on the NBA
The Top 25 NBA Teams of the Past 25 Years
1. 2016-17 Golden State
Warriors (12.84)
With Kevin Durant on board in 2016-17, the Warriors won 67
games, had the second-best final TRACR between 1986-87 and 2022-23
and won the title. The Bulls went 203-43 (.825) during the regular
season from 1995-96 to ’97-98. It was the best winning
percentage by any team in a three-season span in NBA history before
the Stephen Curry-led Warriors went 207-39 (.841) from 2014-15
to ’16-17.
2. 2024-25 Oklahoma City
Thunder (12.40)
The 2024-25 Thunder that won the team’s first title since
arriving in Oklahoma City finished with one of the best single
seasons of the TRACR era behind regular-season and NBA Finals MVP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a defense that also ranks as one of the
best of this timeframe.
3. 2023-24 Boston Celtics
(12.10)
It might surprise you that the best Celtics team isn’t one with
Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. But the
Celtics had the fifth-best regular-season win percentage (64-18) in
franchise history during their run to the title in 2023-24 and had
one of the best seasons of any franchise over the past 37
years.
The Celtics
celebrate their championship in 2024.
4. 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs
(11.67)
Any argument about which team was the best during the
Spurs’ dynasty could go on for a while. For some perspective,
San Antonio posted a TRACR of 6.0 or better 15 times in 19 seasons
between 1998-99 and 2016-17. The 2015-16 team set a franchise
record with 67 victories but was stunned by the Thunder in the
conference semifinals when the top of the West was about as
daunting as it gets.
5. 2015-16 Golden State
Warriors (10.96)
The Warriors finished 73-9 in 2015-16,
winning the most games in NBA history and causing debates about
whether they were the best team ever. But they were upset by
LeBron, Kyrie Irving and the Cavs in the NBA Finals and weren’t
even the best team in Warriors history (according to our
model).
6. 2014-15 Golden State
Warriors (10.92)
This was the start of a ridiculous three-year stretch in which
the Warriors won 67, 73 and 67 games to go along with the first two
of their four titles in eight years. Curry won back-to-back NBA
MVPs in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
7. 2007-08 Boston Celtics
(10.62)
The Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo
2007-08 Celtics that posted the best record since Larry Bird and
the 1985-86 Celtics at 66-16 are the celebrated franchise’s
second-best team of the past 25 years.
8. 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers
(10.30)
You had to figure this was going to come down to which LeBron
James-led team was No. 1. And the 2008-09 team was the most
dominant overall, winning a franchise-record 66 games before
getting upset by the Orlando Magic in the conference
finals.
9. 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs
(9.92)
The best season of the David Robinson era came in 1998-99 when
he teamed with a young Tim Duncan. The Spurs won 37 games in that
50-game season and beat the Knicks in the NBA Finals. Two
Duncan-led teams topped that mark: the 2013-14 Spurs that beat the
Heat in the Finals and the previously mentioned 2015-16
team.
10. 2024-25 Cleveland
Cavaliers (9.83)
On Jan. 9, 2025, the Cavs were 32-4 after an impressive 129-122
victory over the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder. They
would go on to win an East-best 64 games, but they battled injuries
throughout the playoffs and were stunned by the Indiana Pacers in
the conference semifinals.
11. 2012-13 Oklahoma City
Thunder (9.65)
Where did the best Russell Westbrook-Kevin Durant Thunder team
rank? Though they were upset by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second
round, the 2012-13 team with KD and Westbrook that won 60 games had
the franchise’s second-best season of all time, per
TRACR.
12. 2006-07 San Antonio Spurs
(9.44)
The Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan Spurs were the
third seed in the West, but they went 16-4 in the 2007
playoffs – including a clean sweep of LeBron James and
the Cavaliers in the Finals. San Antonio captured its fourth title
in nine years.
13. 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers
(9.30)
The Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal Lakers. The Kobe and Dwight
Howard Lakers. The Kobe and Paul Gasol Lakers. The LeBron and
Anthony Davis Lakers. So many teams have valid arguments here. But
the Kobe-Gasol Lakers finished with the third-highest victory total
in franchise history (65) and dispatched the Magic in five games in
the 2009 NBA Finals.
14. 2004-05 San Antonio Spurs
(9.24)
The Spurs had to work for their second title in three years.
Facing the defending champion Pistons, San Antonio pulled out a
grueling 81-74 win in Game 7. Duncan was named the Finals MVP after
averaging 23.6 points and 12.4 rebounds in the
postseason.
15. 2018-19 Milwaukee Bucks
(9.06)
If you believe the Bucks’ 2021 title team was the
franchise’s best over the past quarter century, we’re here to tell
you that the data says they were better the two years prior.
Milwaukee won 60 games and had a 9.06 TRACR in 2018-19 but lost
after holding a 2-0 lead in the conference finals against Kawhi
Leonard and the Raptors.
Giannis
Antetokounmpo celebrates the team’s 2021 NBA
title.
16. 2024-25 Boston Celtics
(9.02)
The narrative was that the Celtics would be a threat to win the
title every year after beating the Mavericks in the 2024 NBA
Finals. But things always happen that you don’t expect in the NBA.
Jayson Tatum suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the conference
semifinals and the Celtics’ bid to repeat was over two games
later.
17. 2009-10 Orlando Magic
(8.90)
While Shaq and Penny Hardaway’s Magic had TRACRs of 4.04 in
1993-94, 6.49 in 1994-95 and 6.05 in 1995-96, Dwight Howard’s teams
posted a 5.72 in 2007-08, 7.54 in 2008-09 and 8.90 in 2009-10. And
Howard won three straight NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards
from 2009 to 2011.
18. 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers
(8.71)
For some perspective, the Showtime Lakers with Magic Johnson had
a 9.21 TRACR in 1986-87, while the Kobe-Shaq Lakers ended up at
8.71 in 2001-02 after posting an 8.91 in 1999-2000.
Shaq with his
second NBA Finals MVP Award in 2001.
19. 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs
(8.69)
The Spurs finished with a winning percentage better than .646
for the seventh year in a row before facing the Lakers for the
fourth straight postseason. Los Angeles won for the third time in
those four meetings, but the Spurs would bounce back and win it all
the following year.
20. 2011-12 Miami Heat
(8.63)
The Heat, who started play in 1988-89, have been to seven NBA
Finals, winning three titles with 2006 NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade
playing a key role in each of those championships. However, all
three of their top TRACR performances came during the LeBron James
era.
21. 2000-01 San Antonio Spurs
(8.60)
Two years after winning their first title, the Spurs went 58-24
before losing in the Western Conference finals to Shaq and
Kobe’s Lakers. However, good things were on the horizon.
22. 2017-18 Houston Rockets
(8.56)
The Rockets have won a couple of titles, but the best team in
franchise history by the data – and it really isn’t
close – is the James Harden and Chris Paul-led 2017-18
team that won a franchise-record 65 games and had the mighty
Warriors on the ropes in the West finals. The Rockets had a 3-2
series lead before losing Paul to a hamstring injury and
missing 27 consecutive 3-point attempts in Game
7.
23. 2019-20 Milwaukee Bucks
(8.53)
The Bucks went 56-17 for the third-best winning percentage
(.767) in franchise history in 2019-20 but fell to the Heat while
Giannis Antetokounmpo battled an ankle injury.
24. 2001-02 Sacramento Kings
(8.50)
There was little doubt that Sacramento’s best season was going
to come in the early 2000s when the Kings threatened to overtake
the mighty Lakers. The Kings won 50 or more games five years in a
row between 2000-01 and 2004-05. In 2001-02, Mike Bibby, Chris
Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and Co. won a franchise-record
61 games, marched to the conference finals and had a 3-2 series
lead on the Lakers but ended up losing in a Game 7 overtime
thriller.
25. 2012-13 Miami Heat
(8.47)
The move to team Wade with LeBron and Chris Bosh to create
a “Big 3” paid dividends in 2012-13 when Miami won a
franchise-best 66 games and beat the Spurs in seven games.
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