Golden State Warriors Clinch 6th Straight 50 Win Season

It’s tough to win a championship in any professional sport. It’s equally as difficult to maintain a high level of consistent excellence in the regular season. The Golden State Warriors have done both. They’ve won the NBA Championship in back to back years and three of the last four seasons. They’re looking to become the first team to ‘Threepeat’ winning three straight titles since the 2000,2001 and 2002 Los Angeles Lakers which featured Shaq and Kobe Bryant.

They’ve also just surpassed 50 wins in the regular season for the sixth straight year. During the Warriors run of excellence they’ve won 51, 67, 73, 67 and 58 games. As impressive as that is it can’t touch the San Antonio Spurs–before their streak ended last year they won 50+ games in an absurd 18 straight seasons. It might have been more than that had the 1998-99 season not been shortened by a lockout. The Spurs went 37-13 in that short season and won the NBA title.

San Antonio’s ungodly run of regular season success notwithstanding, the Warriors have clearly set a high standard for excellence in a NBA era marked by a significant amount of parity. Following the Warriors’ win #50 over the Detroit Pistons today superstar guard Stephen Curry called the run ‘surreal’:

“It’s kind of surreal, to be honest. You talk about the history of the organization, how hard it is to win NBA games, win championships and string together year after year after year. It takes a collection of talented guys, a commitment to trying to put together the best team possible every year. That’s front office, coaching staff, all the way down. So I think I have a true appreciation for what we’ve been able to do and want to continue it for as long as we can.”

Head coach Steve Kerr credited his team’s tenacity and pointed out that Golden State’s record over the last four seasons is the best in any four year period in the history of the NBA:

“It’s hard for anybody to understand what these guys go through, physically, emotionally, spiritually, trying to defend the crown, trying to win the title, trying to stay on top of the mountain. It’s hard. And [Saturday] night they had nothing, we had nothing in the tank. And the great thing about this team is they always bounce back because they have so much pride. But what they’ve accomplished — this team has the best record over the last four seasons of any four-year period in the history of the NBA. So what they’ve done is just remarkable.”

Unlike most seasons of late the Warriors are in for a serious fight down the stretch. They currently lead the Denver Nuggets by 1/2 game for the top spot in the Western Conference. They’ve also got to worry about the Houston Rockets (3.5 games back) and the Portland Trailblazers (4.5 games back). Despite the group of challengers lined up behind Golden State the betting marketplace still has considerable confidence in the Warriors’ ability to win the West and repeat as NBA Champions. Current NBA futures betting odds have the Warriors installed at -300 to emerge as Western Conference champions and a -200 choice to complete their ‘three-peat’ by winning the NBA title.