Just a decade ago, the Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies to win their 73rd game of the season. The record still stands, tall and proud. And if Steve Kerr is right, it always will.
Speaking to The Athletic, the Warriors coach laid out exactly why he thinks the modern NBA has made that number untouchable.
Why Steve Kerr Believes the Golden State Warriors’ 73-Win Record Is Untouchable
When the Oklahoma City Thunder started this season at 24-1, everyone wondered if they could soon break the record the Bay Area set 10 years ago. They were working at the same blistering pace as Golden State in 2015-16.
OKC did manage to have a great season, but they got nowhere close to 73. And that’s exactly Kerr’s point.
“Earlier this season, I thought OKC had a real shot,” he told The Athletic. “And you just see how difficult it is. One of the reasons it may never be broken is the pace and the space of the modern game. It’s changed things so much, the wear and tear on everybody.”
“The health of the players, we monitor the players much better than we did back then. Guys are playing longer careers, but shorter seasons because we’re making sure we hold them out in case they’ve got injuries. There’s a lot that goes into it, but I just don’t see anybody ever going 74-8. I just don’t know how it would be possible.”
It wasn’t just Kerr, but Draymond Green, too, who reflected on this anniversary. He kept it simple: “We beat the s*** outta everybody,” he told The Athletic.
That’s actually what they did back then. The 2015-16 Warriors were so dominant that they turned a record-breaking finale into almost a snoozefest.
They were up 21 points entering the fourth quarter against Memphis before they pulled their starters.
Kerr had a unique vantage point. He played for the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who went 72-10, the record that Golden State broke. He knows from both sides just how brutal the grind is.
“It’s kind of crazy that it even happened, really,” he said.
These 73 wins came without a championship. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers took over after being down 3-1 to win Game 7 at Oracle Arena.
That’s the part that Warriors fans have spent a decade processing.
Kerr is pretty clear about this, too. “I think just what an incredible accomplishment it was. But because we didn’t win the title, we’ll probably forever remain underappreciated.”
Stephen Curry had won his second MVP unanimously that season, scoring 46 points in 30 minutes in the regular-season finale.
Looking back now, his mind was elsewhere. Kobe Bryant was playing his final game that evening. Curry really wanted to watch that instead.
“I was kinda mad,” Curry told The Athletic. “I really wanted to watch Kob’s last game. Then, when I got out, I heard what happened on the other side… he scored 60? So I was excited, but also as a basketball fan, I felt like I got jipped.”
That Game 7 loss, no matter how painful, set off a chain of events that reshaped the league.
Kevin Durant signed with Golden State that summer and helped deliver two more titles. Kerr still acknowledges, “You could also say we don’t get Kevin Durant if we win that series. And I think that’s probably accurate.”
Green sees it the same way. “We continued to beat the s*** outta everybody with Kev.”
The Warriors eventually put a banner up at their facility honoring the 73-win team. Kerr pushed for it. “Those guys on that banner deserve to be honored for life,” he said rather proudly.
After all, the record still stays untouched.
