SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr does not think there is “any way” another team is going to break the Golden State Warriors’ record of 73 regular-season wins set in the 2015-16 season.
“I remember at the time I thought, ‘No way,’” Kerr said before Saturday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. “And then, about a month ago, I thought it would be broken. And now, I don’t think there’s any way anybody’s gonna break it again. It’s such a difficult thing, but Oklahoma City looked like they were on their way to doing it. But the reason it’s so hard is just you have to have good health — you have to have some luck. And most teams probably aren’t going to push themselves that hard to get there. It’s so difficult. My guess is it won’t be broken.”
Kerr spoke about the record-setting season after a reporter mentioned to him that there has been a recent social media trend to look back on moments from 10 years ago. The Warriors went 73-9 during the 2016 campaign, but ultimately lost Game 7 of the NBA Finals to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers after leading the series 3-1. Kerr said that though he remains very proud of the accomplishment, the record, and the season, isn’t something the group discusses.
“Never,” Kerr said. “We have a banner hanging in the facility commemorating the record, and, other than that, we never talk about it. It’s an incredible accomplishment. I mean, just stunning to think about winning that many games. I think my favorite stat from that whole stretch was — we went like 135 games without losing two in a row.
“Because losing two in a row in this league, it’s almost inevitable. Just given the way the schedule pans out and injuries, everything else. So, to go 130-odd games without losing two in a row was just stunning. So, I’m really proud to be part of that team, but I don’t spend a whole lot of time looking back at it.”
The streak Kerr referenced nearly spanned two seasons, lasting 146 games. Golden State became the first team in NBA history to go an entire season (in 2015-16) without back-to-back losses. The streak ended when the Warriors lost Feb. 28, 2017, against the Washington Wizards and again March 2, 2017, against the Chicago Bulls.
That 2015-16 Warriors team finished with a point differential of plus-822, which, at the time, was the sixth-highest mark in league history, according to Basketball Reference. It is now ninth in history.
The Thunder, who, like the Warriors did in 2015-16, started this season 24-1, set a record of plus-1,055 in 2024-25. After that record-tying start to the season, the Thunder entered Saturday night’s action with a 35-7 record, but they are still on pace to break last season’s mark for point differential. This season, Oklahoma City is outscoring opponents by an average of 13.4 points per game compared with last season’s figure of 12.9.
Kerr recalled a story about how seriously the players were taking the new achievement while that season was wrapping up.
“There’s no regrets. That’s for sure,” Kerr said. “I remember we had a game, we were in Memphis late in the year, and I was playing a lot of people in the first half. It was a close game at halftime. I think I played 11, 12 people. Draymond (Green) came to me at halftime and said, ‘Coach, we all want this. Don’t mess around. Let’s go get this.’ That was the mentality of the team.
“We won that game, and I think we won our last two or whatever to break the record. It’s an incredible accomplishment. There’s no way that we were gonna, at any point in that season, just say, ‘No, we’re not gonna play hard this game. We’re gonna rest.’ It just wasn’t even a thought.”
Kerr has a unique perspective on record-setting seasons because he played for the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who went 72-10 and set the single-season standard before his Warriors team broke the mark 20 years later. However, he said he didn’t need the benefit of time to understand how difficult the mental toll those kinds of seasons take on a group.
“It doesn’t even require looking back at it,” Kerr said. “It’s just being in any NBA season as a player or as a coach. You just know. You feel the strain of the marathon that the 82-game season represents. There’s just too many things that can happen that throw you off for a game or two. Then, it’s gone. It’s kind of crazy that it even happened, really.”