What is a record-breaking season, without the Championship Ring to top it off?

In the 1995-96 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls had arguably the best roster in all of basketball history. The Bulls had a historic season, going 72-10, and eventually defeating the Seattle Supersonics to win the NBA Championship. With players such as Michael Jordan, Steve Kerr, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman, the Bulls were unstoppable. Their 72-10 overall record was awe-inspiring, as it was the best record in NBA History – until the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors came into the picture.

The record-breaking 2015-16 Golden State Warriors surpassed the Chicago Bulls for the best overall record in NBA History, at 73-9 – one game better. This team was filled with shooters, most notably the “Splash Brothers”: back-to-back reigning MVP, Stephen Curry, and his counterpart, Klay Thompson. Golden State broke over twenty NBA records and more than ten franchise records this past season, including most wins ever recorded in a season (regular-season and postseason combined); with 88. Curry broke his own NBA record for made three-pointers in a season of 286, finishing with 402, won the scoring title, averaging 30.1 points per game, led the league in steals, and had the best free throw percentage.

The only problem was: this Warriors team did not win the NBA Championship. They were defeated by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7, at Oracle Arena (Warriors Stadium). How was a team as good as Golden State, going to lose in the last game of the NBA Finals, while playing at home? Without the Larry O’Brien Trophy and the Championship Rings, it is unethical that the Warriors should be called the “greatest team of all-time.” Are they able to be regarded as a “great team” or as “a team that just had a great year?”

In his postgame press conference, Curry said, “We’ve obviously been on the other side of the situation last year and know how great a feeling that is when you accomplish your goal. It sucked to watch them celebrate, and we wish that would have been us. But at the end of the day, you congratulate them for accomplishing what they set out to do.” This was Cleveland’s first ever NBA Championship.

So, the question is Who would win in a normal, 5-on-5 game?

Dennis Rodman, voiced his opinion via Twitter: “Congrats @cavs for winning @NBA title. @warriors u had a great regular season. But the greatest team of all time is the 95-96 @chicagobulls”

Scottie Pippen was asked by a producer for “The Dan Patrick Show” in a Twitter video about a hypothetical best-of-seven series between the Warriors and Bulls, and said, “Bulls in four.”

Ironically, Steve Kerr was a member of both record-breaking teams: as a backup Point Guard for the ‘95-’96 Bulls and as the Head Coach of the ‘15-’16 Warriors. He said after the Game 7 loss, that the Warriors were “stunned,” but said the better team won the NBA Finals.”That’s the beauty of the NBA playoffs. You play a seven-game series. The best team wins and they were better than us in this series.” Kerr said. After the game, he said to the team, “It was really an amazing year. It’s been an incredible two-year run. We’re disappointed that it didn’t go our way at the end, but that’s life.”

So who really is the better team? It is impossible to say which team would win in a game against the other, but one could guess that if said game was possible, the whole world would be watching.