Five reasons why the Warriors could break the Bulls' 72-win record

The most difficult achievement in sports isn't getting to the top. It's not impossible to win a championship. Someone does it every year.

The most difficult achievement in sports is getting to the top, winning a championship … and then doing it again.

Why is that so hard? If you managed to win once, shouldn't you be able to do it again? If you can hold together the same players, same coaching staff, same organization, same philosophy, shouldn't the journey be easier the second time?

It's not.

You think winning takes the pressure off? No way. The pressure builds – every day, in every way. Greater expectations. More ego. More drama. Injuries. Free agency. An explosion of media appearances, endorsements and plenty of new friends wanting to get in on the action. There are countless reasons why most teams can't win and win again.

Yet the Golden State Warriors keep winning. They just became the fastest team to get 50 victories in a season. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls were 50-6 on their way to an NBA record of 72 regular-season victories.

How are the Warriors doing it? A few reasons you may not have considered – and none of them has to do with analytics or X's and O's:

 

They don't think: When Steph Curry is having one of his are-you-kidding-me nights, what you're seeing is a player who doesn't think. He doesn't have to: His instincts are so refined that he steps on the court and goes right into the zone. He and his teammates trust themselves and each other so completely that don't think about what they're going to do, they just execute.

So many teams can't function without a game plan and someone to spoon feed it to them; most teams would have imploded if their six-time NBA champion head coach had to take an indefinite leave from the team as Steve Kerr did, leaving them with the untested Luke Walton. But this team didn't use Walton's inexperience as an excuse. It responded by playing from the gut, doing what got it to the top once before, only this time even better. No hesitation, no distractions. They don't have to think. They just know.

 

Reduced risk of injuries: Two things that increase the chance of injury: explosive athleticism and physical contact. Somehow, Golden State has figured out how to win without much of either.

Fact: The more explosive an athlete, the more likely he'll damage his body. Steph, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green are athletic, but not super explosive like Russell Westbrook or Jimmy Butler. They'll beat you with quickness, both physically and mentally, not just up and down the court but in all directions, at all speeds; arms and legs flying everywhere, without relentless physical force, without explosive power, especially on jumping and landing. Result: less trauma to joints and muscles, fewer injuries.

Their bodies also benefit from their style of play: more spacing on the court, more perimeter shooting, that extra pass to spread out the floor, the wide-open layup as everyone else rushes to the perimeter. Result: less physical contact, fewer injuries.

And it doesn't hurt that they can go 10 deep on the bench, giving everyone more time to rest, and reducing the risk of injury from fatigue. Getting a big lead helps, too. In 15 of the Warriors' first 50 victories, Curry didn't even play in the fourth quarter.

Five individuals, one identity:

Personal style is for before and after the game. Once you step on the floor, you have one identity: the team. For the Warriors, that means no individual drama. The biggest controversy surrounding this team was whether Steph's little girl should have been on the podium during a news conference. Whatever personal differences they may have, whether they love or hate each other, it all goes away when they step onto the court. This is a team whose players are willing to fill up any category on the stat sheet, not just scoring. Everyone is willing to make that extra pass. They don't focus on points; they focus on wins. They don't have to rely on one predictable last-shot taker; they have a variety of last-shot makers. Result: The other guys can't stop you if they can't figure you out.

Confidence is silent: When you're truly the best, you don't have to announce it. Success speaks for itself. For the Warriors, there's no bragging about how many rings they're going to win, no one proclaiming himself MVP or an All-Star. They don't tell you how great they are, they just show you. No commentary necessary – except laughter as they crush you.

Now, this is not to say the Warriors don't indulge in the legendary art of NBA trash talk. There are some world-class trash talkers on the Golden State roster, from Curry saying he hopes the Cavs' arena still smells like champagne or Green recently cited as the league's current leading trash-talker in a Los Angeles Times poll.

Here's my take on trash talk, and I learned this from the greatest trash talkers in the history of the game, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird: They didn't talk trash to pressure the other guy. They'd use it to elevate their own games, because once you've said it, you have to back it up. So as long as Golden State keeps backing it up, it's not bragging. It's just the truth.

 

No nights off: The Warriors don't care who they're playing, every game matters. Last season, lots of questions and asterisks: They got to the Finals by facing underdogs New Orleans, Memphis and Houston, not San Antonio or OKC or the Clippers. They beat the Cavs who were playing without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. This year, they're leaving no doubt. No nights off, even against an easy opponent. They don't compete with you, they make you compete with them.

Can they break the Bulls' iconic 72-win record? I wouldn't be surprised. Even MJ himself told Klay Thompson to give it a shot.

But you have to go the distance. Breaking the Bulls' 72-10 record and NOT winning the championship turns the Golden State Warriors into the Carolina Panthers. All the W's don't matter if you're not the last team standing at the end.

Only one celebration counts.