Best and Worst NBA Title Defenses Since 1983-84

I was inspired by a recent article to undertake a survey of NBA title defenses. Below, after an introduction, I will examine the team stats of every NBA championship defense from 1983-84 through 2024-25, finding the best and worse in various statistical categories for the regular season and playoffs.

Project Introduction: The Thunder Title Defense

I read a November 14, 2025 article by Zach Harper in The Athletic titled Are the Thunder on track to have the best NBA title defense ever?. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the defending NBA championship after having snapped a long championship drought for the franchise last June. Mr. Harper explains that they are off to a blistering start in 2025-26:

After posting one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history last year (greatest margin of victory, tied for the fourth-most regular-season wins at 68), they’re off to an even more destructive start this season. The Thunder sit at 12-1, and their 15.54 margin of victory, just 13 games into the season, is outpacing what they did a year ago (12.87).

During the 2024 NBA offseason, I published a research article on the relative offensive and defensive ratings of every NBA champion from 1973-74 through 2023-24 (note: offensive rating refers to points scored per 100 possessions and defensive rating to points allowed per 100 possessions, relative offensive and defensive ratings compare a specific team’s offensive and defensive ratings against the average ). In researching that article, I was interested in assessing whether the colloquialism “defense wins championships” is true with respect to NBA champions (I determined that it is so long as you note that defense and offense win championships). That article does not include the 2024-25 Thunder. But if it did, I would have noted that the Thunder were one of the most dominant regular season performers in NBA history. I present the 2024-25 Thunder’s net rating (offensive rating minus defensive rating), offensive rating, and defensive rating rankings among the previous 52 NBA champions (1973-74 through 2024-25):

• Net Rating: +12.8 (2nd behind the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (+13.4))
• Relative Offensive Rating: +5.8 (11th)
• Relative Defensive Rating: -7.0 (5th)

The Thunder were just one spot shy of finishing among the top 10 in both relative offensive and defensive rating among the post-1973-74 NBA Champions, a feat achieved only by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (3rd in relative offensive rating and 8th in relative defensive rating). The Thunder were less dominant in the playoffs, needing the full seven games to outlast both the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals and the underdog Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, but taken together, it was one of the most dominant championship campaigns in NBA history.

Of course, defending a championship is no easy task, as evinced by the absence of a repeat champion since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors. Mr. Harper noted that the Thunder are off to a scorching start to their title defense. While I am reasonably confident that they will not quite maintain their 75-76 win pace, the champion with the third best net rating since 1973-74 is the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls, which posted a +12.0 net rating to go with a 69-13 record, following the +13.4 and 72-10 1995-96 champion Bulls. Perhaps the Thunder can come similarly close to replicating their 2024-25 dominance in 2025-26.

Introducing My Title Defense Survey

I am not following the NBA closely enough to offer an expert opinion on this year’s Thunder, but Mr. Harper’s article inspired me to undertake a new survey. I present the parameters of my survey below.

• I will look at every NBA championship defense beginning with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983-84. I am starting with 1983-84 because that was the first season the NBA used a 16-team playoff format.
• I will evaluate the regular season and playoff performances of each defending champion. For the regular season, I will note the team’s winning percentage, Pythagorean winning percentage, net rating, relative offensive rating, relative defensive rating, and SRS. For the playoffs, I will evaluate each defending champion’s winning percentage, Pythagorean winning percentage, net rating, relative offensive rating, and relative defensive rating (all relative to the league averages for the playoffs in the season in question). I will also use a number between 0-5 to denote how far the defending champion advanced in the playoffs (5 = champion, 4 lost in finals, 3 lost in conference finals, 2 lost in conference semifinals, 1 lost in first round, and 0 missed playoffs).
• I will then examine the best and worst of championship defenses and attempt to draw some summary conclusions from the data.
• Finally, I will offer a few opinions on the best and worst championship defenses since 1983-84.

Statistical Chart of NBA Title Defenses (1983-84 through 2024-25)

Before continuing, please note that I collected all of the stats referenced in this article and my tables from Basketball Reference.

I created a table with the following information for every defending champion from 1983-84 through 2025:

• Regular Season: Actual W-L record, Pythagorean W-L record, Net Rating, Relative Offensive Rating, Relative Defensive Rating, SRS
• Playoffs: Same, but no SRS and a “Result” column with a number between 0-5. (5 = Championship, 4 = NBA Finals, 3 = Conference Finals, 2 = Conference Semifinals, 1 = First Round of the Playoffs, 0 = Missed Playoffs)

The table is too big to display neatly on The New Leaf Journal and I do not want to install a plugin for that purpose. Thus, I turned the table into an HTML webpage and uploaded it to our server. You can view it in your web browser here:

HTML NBA Defending Champion Regular Season and Playoff States (83-84 through 24-25)

Now that you have the table open, let us start extracting some fun notes from the data.

Defending Champion Playoff Success

12 of the previous 42 defending champions successfully defended their NBA championship, with the most recent team being the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors.

Champion (12): 2017-18 Golden State Warriors, 2012-13 Miami Heat, 2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers, 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers, 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers, 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, 1996-97 Chicago Bulls, 1994-95 Houston Rockets, 1992-93 Chicago Bulls, 1991-92 Chicago Bulls, 1989-90 Detroit Pistons, 1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers

We have three instances where a team made two consecutive championship defenses (otherwise known as winning three championships in a row): the 1991-92 and 92-93 Chicago Bulls, the 1996-97 and 97-98 Bulls, and the 2001-02 and 02-03 Los Angeles Lakers.

Eight defending champions lost in the NBA Finals.

NBA Finals (8): 2018-19 Golden State Warriors, 2016-17 Cleveland Cavaliers, 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, 2013-14 Miami Heat, 2004-05 Detroit Pistons, 1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers, 1986-87 Boston Celtics, 1984-85 Boston Celtics.

Taken together, 20 of the previous 42 defending champions reached the NBA Finals and 12 of those 20 won the championship round. Special mention here goes to the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors and the 2004-05 Detroit Pistons, which saw their championship defense bids end in a decisive game seven in the Finals by just 4 and 7 points respectively.

Only three of the previous 42 defending champions fell in the conference finals.

Conference Finals (3): 2007-08 San Antonio Spurs, 1990-91 Detroit Pistons, 1985-86, Los Angeles Lakers.

Defending champions are 20/23 when they reach the conference finals in our sample, a series win rate of about 87%. The three who lost went a combined 2-12 in their series defeats, so we can gather that when defending champions lose in the conference finals, they lose big.

Twelve of the previous 42 defending champions lost in the second round of the playoffs.

Conference Semifinals (12): 2024-25 Boston Celtics, 2023-24 Denver Nuggets, 2022-23 Golden State Warriors, 2021-22 Milwaukee Bucks, 2019-20 Toronto Raptors, 2010-11 Los Angeles Lakers, 2008-09 Boston Celtics, 2005-06 San Antonio Spurs, 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs, 2002-03 Los Angeles Lakers, 1995-96 Houston Rockets, 1993-94 Chicago Bulls.

As many defending champions have lost in the conference semifinals as have won the championship. This category has grown due to the fact that five of the six previous defending champions had lost in the conference semifinals.

Just six defending champions lost in the first round of the playoffs, including the only defending champion of the previous six to have not fallen in the semifinals.

First Round (6): 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers, 2014-15 San Antonio Spurs, 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks, 2006-07 Miami Heat, 1999-00 San Antonio Spurs, 1983-84 Philadelphia 76ers.

Finally, just one of the previous 42 defending champions missed the playoffs entirely. The 1997-98 Chicago Bulls season was called the “last dance” for a reason. But while no one took the 1998-99 Bulls seriously as any sort of “contender” in the lockout-shortened 1999 season, the Bulls were technically the defending champion.

Missed Playoffs (1): 1998-99 Chicago Bulls.

At 13-37, the Bulls found themselves 14 games behind the eventual Eastern Conference Champion New York Knicks for the last playoff spot, so they really missed the playoffs. The closest any other defending champion came to missing the playoffs was the 2011-12 Mavericks (seventh seed out of eight, but just two games clear of ninth).

The Best Title Defenses By Regular Season Record

10 defending champions finished with records of 62-20 or better (champions in bold).

• 73-9: 2015-16 Golden State Warriors
• 69-13: 1996-97 Chicago Bulls
• 67-15: 1991-92 Chicago Bulls
• 66-16: 2012-13 Miami Heat
• 63-19: 2005-06 San Antonio Spurs; 1984-85 Boston Celtics
• 62-20: 2008-09 Boston Celtics; 1997-98 Chicago Bulls; 1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers; 1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers

Five of the 10 champions with the best win-loss records successfully defended their championship. Notable among the unsuccessful defenses is the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, which finished with an all-time best 73-9 regular season record, but ultimately fell in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. The 1997-98 Chicago Bulls are the only second-time defending champion with a record of 62-20 or better.

Next, let us look at the top ten by Pythagorean wins instead of raw win-loss. As Basketball Reference explains:

Pythagorean Wins; the formula is G * (Tm PTS14 / (Tm PTS14 + Opp PTS14)). The formula was obtained by fitting a logistic regression model with log(Tm PTS / Opp PTS) as the explanatory variable. Using this formula for all BAA, NBA, and ABA seasons, the root mean-square error (rmse) is 3.14 wins. Using an exponent of 16.5 (a common choice), the rmse is 3.48 wins

Ten teams had an expected win-loss record of at least 60-22 (champions in bold).

• 68-14: 1996-97 Chicago Bulls
• 66-16: 1991-92 Chicago Bulls
• 65-17: 2015-16 Golden State Warriors
• 62-20: 2024-25 Boston Celtics; 2012-13 Miami Heat
• 61-21: 2008-09 Boston Celtics; 2005-06 San Antonio Spurs; 1997-98 Chicago Bulls
• 60-22: 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs; 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers

Going by Pythagorean wins yields five champions just like going by actual wins and losses, but with the 2001-02 Lakers replacing the 1987-88 Lakers.

The Worst Title Defenses By Regular Season Record

Every defending champion save for one has finished above .500 in the win-loss department. Seven failed to win 50 games or have an equivalent winning percentage. I present the list below, with the one champion in bold.

• 1998-99 Chicago Bulls (13-37)
• 2022-23 Golden State Warriors (44-38)
• 2006-07 Miami Heat (44-38)
• 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks (36-30)
• 1994-95 Houston Rockets (47-35)
• 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers (42-30)
• 1995-96 Houston Rockets (48-34)

The 1994-95 Rockets not only defended their championship despite finishing the regular season with a 47-35 record, they defeated the 60-22 Utah Jazz, 59-23 Phoenix Suns, 62-20 San Antonio Spurs, and 57-25 Orlando Magic in so doing. The next “worst” record for a successful championship defense is the 2000-01 Lakers, which finished 56-26, a full 9 games better than the 1994-95 Rockets. Regarding Pythagorean wins, I will note that the 2006-07 Miami Heat had an expected win loss record of 38-44, making then the only defending champion other than the 1998-99 Bulls (expected record 9-41) to be on the wrongs side of .500 in expected wins.

The Best Title Defenses By Regular Season SRS and Net Rating

SRS refers to a team’s margin of victory minus strength of schedule. I present the top 10 defending champions by SRS (champions in bold).

1. 1996-97 Chicago Bulls (+10.7)
2. 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (+10.4)
3. 1991-92 Chicago Bulls (+10.1)
4. 2024-25 Boston Celtics (+8.1)
5. 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs (+7.5)
6. 2008-09 Boston Celtics (+7.4)
7. 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers; 1997-98 Chicago Bulls (+7.2)
8. 2012-13 Miami Heat (+7.0)
9. 1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers (+6.8)

Five of the ten top defending champions by regular SRS won the championship (the same five we saw on the Pythagorean wins chart).

Net Rating refers to how many points a team scores per 100 minus points allowed per 100 possessions. I present the top-10 defending champion net ratings (champions in bold).

1. 1996-97 Chicago Bulls (+12.0)
2. 1991-92 Chicago Bulls (+11.0)
3. 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (+10.7)
4. 2024-25 Boston Celtics (+9.5)
5. 2012-13 Miami Heat (+8.6)
6. 2008-09 Boston Celtics (+8.2)
7. 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs (+8.1)
8. 1997-98 Chicago Bulls (+7.9)
9. 2005-06 San Antonio Spurs; 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers (+7.7)

Five of the ten defending champions with the best regular season net ratings defended their championships (the same five from the Pythagorean and SRS lists).

As I noted above, Net Rating takes into account a team’s offensive and defensive ratings. Let us see the best defending champions by relative regular season offensive and defensive ratings. By relative, I mean we will consider how each team’s offensive and defensive rating compares to the league average in the year in question rather than their offensive and defensive ratings in a vacuum, which would not take into account the league environment in the season in question.

Below, I present the best relative offensive ratings amount defending champions (champions in bold).

1. 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (+8.1)
2. 1996-97 Chicago Bulls (+7.7)
3. 1991-92 Chicago Bulls (+7.3)
4. 2012-13 Miami Heat (+6.3)
5. 2024-25 Boston Celtics; 1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers (+6.1)
6. 1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers (+6.0)
7. 2018-19 Golden State Warriors (+5.5)
8. 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers (+5.4)
9. 1986-87 Boston Celtics (+5.2)

Just four of the ten teams on the best relative offensive ratings list won the championship. The fourth, the 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers, is arguably the most interesting champion in the last 42 seasons for reasons we will discuss shortly. But I will note here that I discovered while putting together my survey of NBA champions that the Lakers are the only champion since 1973-74 to have allowed more points per 100 possessions than the league average.

Next, let us look at the best relative defensive ratings of defending champions (champions in bold). Note that I am using positive numbers to indicate if a team allows fewer points than the league average (I used negative numbers in previous surveys).

1. 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs (+8.8)
2. 2005-06 San Antonio Spurs (+6.6)
3. 2008-09 Boston Celtics (+6.0)
4. 2007-08 San Antonio Spurs (+5.7)
5. 2019-20 Toronto Raptors (+5.6)
6. 1999-00 San Antonio Spurs (+5.5)
7. 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers; 1997-98 Chicago Bulls (+5.2)
8. 2004-05 Detroit Pistons (+4.9)
9. 1989-90 Detroit Pistons (+4.6)

Only two of the ten best defenses won the championship, with one being a team we have not seen yet in our top-10 lists: The 1989-90 Pistons. Six of the ten teams were eliminated in the first or second rounds of the playoffs. Astute readers will notice that one reason the best defenses do not grade out well in championship defenses is because four of the top six defenses are from the San Antonio Spurs, who have gone 0/5 in championship defenses.

The Worst Title Defenses By Regular Season SRS and Net Rating

Only two defending champions posted negative SRS. The 1998-99 Bulls had a ghastly -8.6 SRS while the 2006-07 Miami Heat posted -1.2. Nine other teams posted SRS between 0 and 2.9:

SRS Between 0-2.9: 1995-96 Houston Rockets (+1.6), 2022-23 Golden State Warriors (+1.7), 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks (+1.8), 1994-95 Houston Rockets (+2.3), 1983-84 Philadelphia 76ers (+2.4), 2002-03 Los Angeles Lakers (+2.7), 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers (+2.8), 1993-94 Chicago Bulls (+2.9)

Middling regular season SRS do seem to be predictive of unsuccessful championship defenses. Other than the champion 1994-95 Rockets, 10 of the 11 defending champions with the worst regular season SRS failed to make it beyond the second round of the playoffs. After the Rockets, the next lowest SRS defending champions to successfully defend their titles are the 2000-01 Lakers (+3.7) and the 1987-88 Lakers (+4.8).

Similarly to SRS, only two defending champions posted negative regular season net ratings: The 1998-99 Bulls (-10.6) and the 2006-07 Heat (-1.0). I round out the bottom 10 below.

SRS Between 0-3.3: 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks (+1.0), 2022-23 Golden State Warriors (+1.7), 1995-96 Houston Rockets (+1.9), 1983-84 Philadelphia 76ers (+2.2), 1994-95 Houston Rockets (+2.3), 2002-03 Los Angeles Lakers (+2.5), 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers (+2.8), 2016-17 Cleveland Cavaliers (+3.3), 2021-22 Milwaukee Bucks (+3.3)

The worst Net Rating list looks similar to the worst SRS list, but it notably includes the 2016-17 Cavaliers, which had a dominant playoff run through the Eastern Conference before falling in five games to the historically great 2016-17 Golden State Warriors in the finals (who of course were not a defending champion due to the 2015-16 Cavaliers). After the 94-95 Rockets, the weakest Net Rating defending champions to successfully defend their titles are the 2000-01 Lakers (+3.6) and the 2009-10 Lakers (+5.1).

Now let us look at the worst relative offensive and defensive ratings among defending champions.

I will confess that I was surprised to learn that 9 of the last 42 defending champions had negative relative offensive ratings.

• 1998-99 Chicago Bulls (-9.8)
• 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers (-2.4)
• 2006-07 Miami Heat (-2.2)
• 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks (-1.3)
• 1983-84 Philadelphia 76ers (-0.8)
• 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs (-0.7)
• 2004-05 Detroit Pistons (-0.5)
• 2007-08 San Antonio Spurs (-0.3)
• 1993-94 Chicago Bulls (-0.2)

None of these nine teams successfully defended their championship, although the 2004-05 Pistons came painfully close, out-scoring the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the 2005 Finals and losing the decisive game 7 by 7 points (I wrote an article about the Pistons’ upset win the 2004 Finals). Speaking of the Spurs, the 2003-04 Spurs remarkably led the NBA in net rating despite being 0.7 points per 100 possessions worse than the league average in a historically offensively challenged season. Unsurprisingly, the Spurs relative defensive rating of 8.8 points per 100 possessions better than the league average is the best since the NBA began tracking turnovers in 1973-74. The most offensively offensive defending champion to successfully defend its championship is (the trend continues) the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, which clocked in with a relative offensive rating of +1.4 (27th place in our survey). Not far ahead were the 1989-90 champion Detroit Pistons at +1.8 (25th).

Only four defending champions had below-league average defensive ratings (champion in bold).

• 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers (-1.8)
• 2016-17 Cleveland Cavaliers (-1.5)
• 2002-03 Los Angeles Lakers (-1.1)
• 1998-99 Chicago Bulls (-0.8)

Had you asked me going into the survey, I would have assumed that the hapless 13-37 1998-99 Chicago Bulls would have had the worst offense and defense of defending champions. However, to my surprise, the 98-99 Bulls had just the fourth weakest defense among defending champions. 42nd out of 42 defending champions is the 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers, who went on a 15-1 rampage through the playoffs (more on that shortly) en route to successfully defending their championship. The second worst defense among the defending champions, the 2016-17 Cleveland Cavaliers, went 12-1 through the first three rounds of the playoffs before losing to the loaded Golden State Warriors in the Finals. Eight additional defending champions posted relative defensive ratings less than one point better than the league average.

• 1995-96 Houston Rockets (+0.2)
• 2021-22 Milwaukee Bucks (+0.2)
• 2022-23 Golden State Warriors (+0.4)
• 1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers (+0.7)
• 2018-19 Golden State Warriors (+0.9)
• 2017-18 Golden State Warriors (+0.9)
• 2013-14 Miami Heat (+0.9)
• 1994-95 Houston Rockets (+0.9)

Approximately 23% of the defending champions in our survey successfully defended their championship. Yet 33% of the defending champions with the bottom 12 relative defenses among defending champions won the championship. Consider this a strong counter-point to people who say defense wins championships. The worst defenses were more successful than the best defenses.

Playoffs

I included playoff statistics in my big table for readers who are interested in ranking the best championship defenses. It should go without saying that with a few exceptions, defending champions usually go all in on trying to defend their championship. Regular season numbers are valuable for assessing these teams, but playoff success counts the most in a title defense. Below, I rank the top-10 playoff runs by net rating, but excluding playoff runs which ended before the conference finals.

Rank	Team	Rec	Result	Net
1	2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers	15-1	Champion	+13.7
2	2017-18 Golden State Warriors	16-5	Champion	+10.3
3	1997-98 Chicago Bulls	15-6	Champion	+8.3
4	2016-17 Cleveland Cavaliers	13-5	L NBA Finals	+8.2
5	1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers	8-6	L West Finals	+7.7
6	1989-90 Detroit Pistons	15-5	Champion	+7.5
7	2012-13 Miami Heat	16-7	Champion	+7.3
8	1991-92 Chicago Bulls	15-7	Champion	+6.9
T9	1996-97 Chicago Bulls	15-4	Champion	+6.5
T9	1992-93 Chicago Bulls	15-4	Champion	+6.5

Eight of the ten best playoff net ratings came from champions, with the 2016-17 runner-up Cleveland Cavaliers and the 1985-86 Western Conference runner-up Los Angeles Lakers being the lone exceptions in 4th and 5th. One team jumps way out on the list. The 2000-01 Lakers had a pedestrian regular season by defending champion standard as well as the worst relative defensive rating of the previous 42 champions. The Lakers then went nuclear in the playoffs, finishing a then-record 15-1 against four opponents with 50, 55, 58, and 56 wins respectively. Of the teams to have won at least two playoff rounds, the Lakers had the best playoff relative offensive rating (+7.1) and, in a dramatic reversal from the regular season, the third best relative defensive rating (+6.6), trailing only the 2004-05 and 1989-90 Pistons.

Next, I present positions 11-20 on the list of defending champions which advanced to the conference finals or further. This list includes the four teams to successfully defend their championship that did not rank in the top 10 playoff net rating.

Rank	Team	Rec	Result	Net
11	2004-05 Detroit Pistons	15-10	L NBA Finals	+5.5
12	1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers	11-4	L NBA Finals	+4.9
13	2015-16 Golden State Warriors	15-9	L NBA Finals	+4.4
14	2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers	16-7	Champion	+4.2
15	2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers	15-4	Champion	+4.1
16	2018-19 Golden State Warriors	14-8	L NBA Finals	+3.5
17	1994-95 Houston Rockets	15-7	Champion	3.0
18	1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers	15-9	Champion	2.7
19	2013-14 Miami Heat	13-7	L NBA Finals	+2.0
20	1984-85 Boston Celtics	13-8	L NBA Finals	+1.1

The 2007-08 Spurs, 1986-87 Celtics, and 1990-91 Pistons all advanced to at least the conference finals (the 86-87 Celtics made the Finals) but posted negative playoff net ratings,

While playoff net rating is worth considering, it does come with several caveats.

• The playoffs present a smaller sample size than the regular season. If a team went the full seven game distance in four playoff series, it would have played 28 playoff games, far fewer games than even the lockout-shortened 50-game 1998-99 regular season, much less a normal 82-game regular season.
• Net Rating alone does not take into account strength of schedule, which is a very relevant metric in the context of evaluating playoff runs. For example, the 1989-90 Pistons, which have the 6th best playoff SRS in our sample and 4th among champions, had a relatively easy Eastern Conference slate, with their best opponent based on regular season metrics being the Chicago Bulls with the league’s 9th best +2.74 SRS and +3.3 Net Rating in the East Finals. Conversely, the 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers defeated, in order, the teams with the 5th, 2nd, 1st, and 7th best SRS and, in the same order, with the 5th, 2nd, 1st, and 4th best Net Ratings.
• Net Rating also does not contemplate how competitive any given series may be. For example, the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls has the best Net Rating of the four Bulls title defenses. But those Bulls went the full seven game distance in the East Finals against the Indiana Pacers, surviving game seven at home 88-83. Moreover, the Bulls’ playoff margins were at least somewhat inflated by an anomalous 96-54 beatdown of the Utah Jazz in game 3 of what was an otherwise close six game Finals series (the Bulls were a combined +4 in the other five games). Conversely, while the 1996-97 Bulls had a lower Net Rating, they were not taken beyond five games until a six game series against the Jazz in the Finals while facing a similarly difficult four-series slate in the aggregate.

I will submit that another good example of strength of schedule is the 1993-94 Rockets, which won four consecutive series against teams with at least 57 regular season wins, only going the full distance in the first and second rounds before going a combined 8-2 in the West and NBA Finals.

What Was the Best Championship Defense?

Mr. Harper’s article, which inspired the instant article, asked whether the Oklahoma City Thunder are on pace to having the best title defense season in NBA history. Because the Thunder’s title defense has a long way to go as of this writing, he suggested four candidates for the current title:

• 2015-16 Golden State Warriors
• 2012-13 Miami Heat
• 1996-97 Chicago Bulls
• 1991-92 Chicago Bulls

Choosing the best title defense requires weighing different equities. The most significant consideration in my book is balancing regular season success against playoff success.

While I am sympathetic to process first arguments, which is evinced by my interest in using SRS and Net Rating to evaluate teams instead of relying solely on win-loss records, With that being said, I would be disinclined to crown the 2015-16 Warriors, as great as they were. The Warriors did not in fact successfully defend their title. To be sure, the Warriors came up just 4 points short in game 7 of the Finals, but that game 7 was at home (it should go without saying after winning 73 games), the Cavaliers were better in the context of a seven-game playoff series (I predicted that the Cavaliers would win at the time and proudly stick with my pick when the Warriors went up 3-1), and the Warriors very nearly lost in the Western Conference Finals before being upset by the Cavaliers in the Finals. I would not categorically say that the best defense could not be an unsuccessful one if we are viewing the season as a whole. The 2015-16 Warriors obviously had a more impressive season in the aggregate than the 1994-95 Rockets, but they were not so great as to overcome all of the defending champions that repeated as champions. (Note this is not an anti-Warriors take; the 2016-17 Warriors have a very fair argument for being the greatest team of all time and would have been the easy choice for best title defense had the Warriors won in 2015-16 and everything about the 2016-17 team been the same). Thus, our best championship defense will be one which ends with a championship.

There are three obvious candidates for the best title defense regular season: The aforementioned 2015-16 Warriors and the 1991-92 and 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. These three teams top the win-loss, SRS, and Net Ratings charts on our list. While the Warriors had the best record, I dare say more of the equities point toward favoring the 1996-97 Bulls regular season. As Mr. Harper correctly noted, the 96-97 Bulls are overshadowed by the 72-10 1995-96 Bulls. There is no doubt the 95-96 Bulls were better, but the 96-97 Bulls were (relative to the competition) only slightly worse on offense than the 15-16 Warriors but quite a bit better on defense. Defense is also why I am inclined to favor the 96-97 Bulls over the 91-92 edition, although the 91-92 Bulls had a slightly better version of a certain Michael Jordan.

One can debate the best championship defense regular season, but there is no serious question about the best playoff run. The 2000-01 Lakers had the best championship defense playoff run going away. The Lakers had strong competition, including a San Antonio Spurs squad with a league-best +7.9 SRS and +8.6 SRS in the West Finals, and they absolutely demolished said competition. It was only on account of an extraordinary performance by Allen Iverson in game 1 of the Finals that the Lakers did not complete an undefeated playoff run. Of course, as I noted, the Lakers were not particularly impressive in the regular season, especially on defense. The Lakers also pass the “eye test.” The 2000-01 Playoff version of Shaquille O’Neal was the best player in the NBA at the time and Kobe Bryant was in the mix for the title of best perimeter player in the NBA, especially after his excellent playoff run.

Taken together, I think the 1991-92 and 1996-97 Bulls and, despite their regular season malaise, the 2000-01 Lakers have fair cases for the best championship defense. While conceding I have not hammered out a formula for making the selection, I will give my personal nod to the 1996-97 Bulls. They have a strong case for the best regular season championship defense. While they only had the 7th best playoff net rating out of the 12 defending champion champions, +6.5 is excellent, the Bulls had strong competition in the last three rounds – including one of the best non-champions in NBA history in the 64-18 Utah Jazz (+8.0 SRS, +9.7 Net Rtg) in the Finals – and the the Bulls went 12-4 against said strong competition in the last three rounds. The 2000-01 Lakers’ playoff run is too good to leave out of the top three given our choices, and another spot should go to the 91-92 Bulls for similar reasons to the 96-97 edition.

I would have to think about what to do with the 2015-16 Warriors, but their regular season combined with their coming very close to the title should place them ahead of several champions in the top 10. The 2012-13 Heat are an obvious top-10 pick but I think they are a clear cut below the top three (especially given their weak competition prior to the Finals, which included a rough seven game series in the East Finals, and then coming one missed Kawhi Leonard free throw away from falling in six games in the NBA Finals against an admittedly excellent Spurs squad). One obvious top 10 pick that has been relatively quiet in this article is the 1992-93 Bulls. While they had the weakest regular season of the six Bulls championship teams in the 90s, their latter three playoff opponents all ranked in the top five in SRS and Net Rating that year, and the Bulls went 12-4 in those rounds while posting the sixth best championship defense playoff SRS in our sample.

Two Honorable Mentions

The title for best non-champion on our list clearly goes to the 2015-16 Warriors, while both the 2016-17 Cavaliers and 1988-89 Lakers (Magic Johnson was injured in the Finals after the Lakers had an 11-0 run through the West) have interesting cases for the next spot. Based on the stats, I suppose we also have to consider the 2004-05 Pistons, who I noted came very close to having a successful championship defense.

But here I direct your attention to another unsuccessful title defense: The 2008-09 Boston Celtics. The 08-09 Celtics are tied for the 7th best regular season record (62-20), 6th best expected win-loss record (61-21), and 6th best SRS (+7.4) and Net Rating (+8.2) in our sample. They were bounced in the East Semifinals in seven games after having barely survived a seven game first round series against a Chicago Bulls team with a -0.16 SRS and -0.3 Net Rating, so these Celtics are not in contention for a high ranking on a full list of championship defenses, but context is warranted. The 2008-09 Celtics began their title defense with a 27-2 record. They cooled off a bit, but were sitting at 44-12 after a February 19, 2009 loss against the Utah Jazz. The Celtics’ best player, Kevin Garnett, left that game early and would only play limited minutes in four games for the remainder of the season while missing the entire playoffs. The Celtics were 44-13 in games in which Mr. Garnett played and 18-7 without him in the regular season. But with Mr. Garnett, the Celtics had a +10.1 Net Rating, whereas they were just +4.2 without him. The Celtics were also 10.6 points better per 100 possessions with Mr. Garnett on the floor than off (+14.3 per 100 total with Mr. Garnett playing). While we will never know for certain, the 2008-09 Celtics would have had a good chance to repeat as champion with a healthy Mr. Garnett, especially in consideration of the fact that they pushed the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic to a decisive game seven in the second round and led going into the fourth quarter in a potential series-clinching game six.

Another fun honorable mention is the 2005-06 San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs only advanced to the conference finals on one occasion in their five championship defenses, that occasion coming in 2007-08. But the best Spurs title defense team was the 2005-06 edition, which led the NBA in Net Rating (+7.7) and SRS (+6.7) and featured a more balanced roster than the 2003-04 Spurs, which also led the league in Net and SRS. In the second round of the playoffs, the Spurs faced the 4th seeded Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks had a 60-22 record and rated third in SRS and Net Rating. However, the Mavericks were only the “4th” seed due to a quirk in seeding based on divisional rankings: The Mavericks and Spurs were in the same division and the Spurs were the division champion. On the other side of the West bracket, the “second” seeded 54-28 Phoenix Suns faced the sixth seeded 47-35 Los Angeles Clippers (which conveniently fell into sixth seed to ensure a first round matchup against the “third seeded” 44-38 Denver Nuggets instead of the Mavericks). The Spurs lost a hard-fought seven game series against the Mavericks with game seven being decided in overtime. The Mavericks went on to defeat the Suns in the West Finals before being upset by the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals after having jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Had the Spurs survived the Mavericks series, they would have been favored against the Suns, and I dare say would have matched up better against Miami than did Dallas (to be sure, the Suns would have also matched up better with Miami despite not being as good as Dallas in a vacuum). While the 2005-06 Spurs would not have been on the top of a championship defense list, they would have been in line for a high ranking had the chips fallen a little differently.

Conclusion

It is too early to say whether the 2025-26 Thunder will ultimately build a case for the best championship defense in NBA history, but our survey shows that there is room at the top. Three defending champions produced regular season SRS and Net Ratings in excess of 10, but none of them had historically dominant playoff runs (granting the 91-92 and 96-97 Bulls had excellent playoff runs). The 2000-01 Lakers had a dominant playoff run, rivaled only by the 1995-96 Bulls and 2016-17 Warriors in our sample period, but their regular season was more notable for internal drama than on-court dominance. If the Thunder were to come close to matching their 2024-25 regular season (much less surpassing it) and combine that with a stronger playoff run, they would have a strong case for the title of best championship defense in the modern era.