The Chicago Bulls famously said, via T-shirt, during their then-record 72-win season that it “didn’t mean a thing without the ring.”
That was more than 20 years ago when Michael Jordan and the Bulls went 72-10 before tearing through the NBA playoffs and winning the title in convincing fashion against the Seattle SuperSonics.
The record stood for two decades until the Golden State Warriors knocked the Bulls off the (regular-season) perch with a 73-9 record last season. The Warriors couldn’t finish the job, however, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
As a result, Jordan isn’t very impressed with Golden State’s new record. Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told 95.7 The Game on Tuesday he recently spoke with Jordan as NBA owners (Jordan the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets) met in New York.
“On the collective bargaining agreement, I was on the labor committee and I was in New York having a bunch of dinners with Michael Jordan and other owners,” Lacob recalled Tuesday, per CBS Sports. “There were six of us. Actually, Dan was one of them, (Cavs owner) Dan Gilbert. Anyway, Michael Jordan — people are drinking and having a good time and all that, but there was a moment where he said, you know, ’73 don’t mean (blank).’ He did it, Michael Jordan did that, and I looked at him and I just decided not to make a big deal of it. I said, ‘You know, you’re right, we didn’t win it, we had to get better.’ ”
The Warriors, in an attempt to get better, went out and signed Kevin Durant over the summer, adding one of the NBA’s best players to an already developed super team. But still, Lacob said it “hurt” to hear Jordan’s critique.
“He’s fantastic, and I’m not going to cross him,” Lacob said, according to ESPN.com. “But that kind of hurt, you know?”
Lacob eventually added, “I think that was one of the greatest years you could ever have in any sport.”
Perhaps as it pertains to the regular season, but as His Airness would say, it don’t mean a thing without the ring.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images
