Dart Adams & Amp said:

No mention of the Celtics winning their 18th straight game to go 26-2 while the Lakers have dropped two straight?
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Nobody cares till the playoffs, Dart.

In theory…yes. But I’m talking about where are all of the Laker and Cavs stans at right now? TSS will do NBA drop and the C’s get minimal love meanwhile they’re breaking longstanding records and having a historic season.

I can’t front. With the NFL playoffs about to start, it’s hard to concentrate on the NBA right now.

That being said, barring injury, malaise, or something tragic, the Celtics are on pace to go 76-6 and break the ’95-’96 Bulls record of 72-10. But if everything remains the same, the Cavs could advance to 70-12 –falling short of the record by two games. While these teams are on historic tracks, what will it mean in terms of history? Because on the flipside, the Oklahoma City Thunder are set to go 9-73, tying them with the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers for the worst record in NBA history.

So what does this say about the current state of the league?

In trying to channel my inner John Hollinger , I compared the winning percentage for the whole league when the Bulls set the win record and the projected winning percentage of the entire league stayed on their current paces for the rest of the year. Both ended up being 50%, suggesting that the talent levels would be the same. To some degree, the league is a lot younger and inexperienced now with the influx of underclassmen joining the league earlier now than in the late ‘90’s. But the migration of European players has to deter this somewhat. I personally think that teams don’t play as hard from game to game, but that’s debatable. Seeing how the expansion teams joined the league during the ’95-’96 Bulls team run and there’s only been one team (Charlotte Bobcats) added since, the talent pool can’t be too diluted because only roughly 15-20 players total have been added to the mix.

I was hoping the stats would show some huge discrepancy to discredit what the Celtics are doing. But the numbers don’t and if the Celts do set the record, I think that we’ll have to give them their due. It will by no means crown them the best team to ever lace up in NBA history, but I think they’d deserve to be in the discussion. However, that’s another discussion in itself, because it’s hard to compare teams across eras on an even slope. So KG, Jesus, & The Truth: if your team does for some reason break the record, I’ll be one of the first to congratulate and vouch for you. While I’m still partial to MJ & the Jordanaires, the avid sports fan in me will take history whenever and wherever I can get it. So I’ll DVR the game today and catch up with y’all again in February.

Because in the infamous words of Mercury Morris: “Ya’ll are in the neighborhood, but you ain’t on the street yet.”