Best Record Ever OR Championship?

[ropjhk]

Championship. Best record without a championship shines a negative light on your team.

[Scalabrine]

Records can always be broken. A championship can never be taken from you.

Exactly what i was thinking.

First, by not winning the championship, means that your team got BEAT by another team that year. Beat. No way can you claim your team is the GOAT because you couldn't even prove it in the best year your team had. 2nd place (or worse if you lost before the Finals). Finishing your record season with a loss wont feel too good.

Second, Imagine Mark McGuire breaking the home run record and then 3 years later, it getting beat by a roided up Bonds. Now, it's a footnote. A Championship lasts forever in the sport history. That means your team beat the rest of the league when it counted and proved your worth.

McGuire was on roids too. Not sure why you distinguished.

[Doctor MJ]

If you could have one or the other but not both, which would you rather have, a championship victory and the best regular season of all time?

Without giving it much thought, the Championship should be the pretty obvious choice, but a team wins the championship every year, whereas the best record in regular season history has been a record for 20 years now and still gets brought up all the time ("better than the 95-96 Bulls?"), so I think it's actually a little bit more of a thinker than most would initially imagine.

Where do you stand on this?

This is one of those things that only becomes debatable with sufficient context.

If, say, the Warriors annihilate everyone in the regular season, then Curry goes out with injury in the playoffs and they lose, and then the team comes back healthy the next year and basically does the same thing again slightly less dominantly but wins the title, then it will be foolish to act like the Warriors this year isn't a GOAT contender, which is far more impressive than a run of the mill title winner.

However no matter what the Warriors do in the regular season, they get legit beat in the playoffs, then it's not as impressive as winning the title this year.

Of course the one additional caveat is that perhaps the Spurs will end up being seen as a GOAT team this year, and then the Warriors being 2nd best to those Spurs would certainly be more impressive than some title winners still, but no one would take them seriously as a GOAT candidate team.

[choppermagic]

Records can always be broken. A championship can never be taken from you.

Exactly what i was thinking.

First, by not winning the championship, means that your team got BEAT by another team that year. Beat. No way can you claim your team is the GOAT because you couldn't even prove it in the best year your team had. 2nd place (or worse if you lost before the Finals). Finishing your record season with a loss wont feel too good.

Second, Imagine Mark McGuire breaking the home run record and then 3 years later, it getting beat by a roided up Bonds. Now, it's a footnote. A Championship lasts forever in the sport history. That means your team beat the rest of the league when it counted and proved your worth.

McGuire was on roids too. Not sure why you distinguished.

Yup. It was inadvertent. Creatine spokesperson McGuire definitely had help.

[choppermagic]

This is one of those things that only becomes debatable with sufficient context.

If, say, the Warriors annihilate everyone in the regular season, then Curry goes out with injury in the playoffs and they lose, and then the team comes back healthy the next year and basically does the same thing again slightly less dominantly but wins the title, then it will be foolish to act like the Warriors this year isn't a GOAT contender, which is far more impressive than a run of the mill title winner.

However no matter what the Warriors do in the regular season, they get legit beat in the playoffs, then it's not as impressive as winning the title this year.

Of course the one additional caveat is that perhaps the Spurs will end up being seen as a GOAT team this year, and then the Warriors being 2nd best to those Spurs would certainly be more impressive than some title winners still, but no one would take them seriously as a GOAT candidate team.

Sorry, injuries are a part of the NBA. Lots of championships have been won/lost based on injuries but the championships still stand. That's why its so hard to win, because luck and health both have to be on your side that year.

A team losing their best player and then getting eliminated will just join the chorus of other teams arguing "what ifs". Only one team proves they are the best by being the last team standing.

[Hoop Hunter]

My Colts team had a chance at a prefect season and management CHOOSE not to go for it, rest the final 3 games instead. The dumbest decision ever. I'll always believe we didn't win the super bowl because of that. Sports Gods, Karma, whatever you want to call it.

I would have felt better going undefeated in the regular season and losing in the SB, than ending up getting neither.

Winning it all is still the ultimate goal though.

Even if you went .500 got hot and some how won it all, the ring would still be the same size.

[Lambosrock]

This isn't a black or white matter as OP makes out to be. The Bulls set the record for the greatest regular season to date but they also won the championship that year! So to be pegged as the greatest team ever you have to set the record in the regular season and win the championship otherwise its all for naught

[G35]

Kind of a pointless poll. I'd pick championship and so will everyone else.

But if I had a chance to win more than 72 games, I'd take that chance every single time as well.

Don't underestimate the power of numbers over people. Many people do not value winning as much as other things.....

[Effigy]

Championship, easily. Regular season records are nice and all, but championships are an accomplishment that will be remembered forever.

Nobody ever talks about how the Mavs won an amazing 67 games in 06-07 in Dirk's MVP seaason. On the other hand, everybody will remember their incredible 2011 post season and championship against the Heat.

That wasn't a record though. The 2001 seattle Mariners have the best modern day record in baseball with 117 wins. Most people know that but couldn't tell you who actually won it that year. You'd rather have the title, but people stop talking about you pretty soon if you just won a title, that happens every year. Records aren't broken every year, particularly the important ones.

[Ancalagon]

My Colts team had a chance at a prefect season and management CHOOSE not to go for it, rest the final 3 games instead. The dumbest decision ever. I'll always believe we didn't win the super bowl because of that. Sports Gods, Karma, whatever you want to call it.

I would have felt better going undefeated in the regular season and losing in the SB, than ending up getting neither.

Winning it all is still the ultimate goal though.

Even if you went .500 got hot and some how won it all, the ring would still be the same size.

For exactly this reason I can never cheer for Jim Caldwell.

[HiRez]

I can't even believe 20% of you people answered best record. ARE YOU F'N SEROUS?

[ILOVEIT]

I may be alone in this, but I'd take the best record ever. A new team wins a championship every year and no one cares at all who won even 3-4 years previously.The best record is something that will stand the test of time.

I agree with this, but you would hope if you had the best record you would also win the ring of course.

Especially if you just won the championship the year before

[jpengland]

Championship is the goal and it doesn't matter how you win one.
However in terms of achievement, the regular season record is a harder feat. But your always be remembered for missing the championship

[kayliecee]

Championship, easily. Regular season records are nice and all, but championships are an accomplishment that will be remembered forever.

Nobody ever talks about how the Mavs won an amazing 67 games in 06-07 in Dirk's MVP seaason. On the other hand, everybody will remember their incredible 2011 post season and championship against the Heat.

It may be unfair, but I think the opposite is true. If a team ever went 82-0, they'd be remembered forever. But if you asked me who won the championship in 1987, I have no clue without looking it up.

[Ben-N1ce]

Pats 18-1 was freaking awesome...yeah no.

[gts1]

They play to win titles, they're paid to win titles... anything else is secondary

[Blame Rasho]

You don't play each and every season for a record... you play to win the championship.

If you get the record and don't win the championship... what is the point?

[ThaRegul8r]

How many people know anything about the '72-73 Celtics, and when's the last time anyone recalls them being mentioned (aside from by me)?

[narmerguy]

How many people know anything about the '72-73 Celtics, and when's the last time anyone recalls them being mentioned (aside from by me)?

No idea

[DusterBuster]

Quite honestly, I think you guys are wrong and the Best Record is more important than a title. Teams win titles ever year, best record is something that stands the test of time and you can't be dethroned from as easily as being the current champion.

That being said, these kind of have to go hand in hand honestly. If you get the best record ever but don't win a title, that record has an asterisk beside it forever which is bad.