'96 Chicago Bulls Ranked as 2nd-Best Team All-Time by Sporting News

Undeniably, the 1996 Chicago Bulls are one of the greatest collections of NBA talent to ever exist. The '96 Bulls were the Michael Jordan-led team to complete the second three-peat in Chicago, winning championships in 1995, 1996, and 1997. The '96 Bulls specifically, went 72-10--then the best NBA regular season record off all-time--and capped off their run by taking down the Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp-led Seattle SuperSonics 4-2 in the NBA Finals.

This team is regarded by many as the best team of all-time, but in a recent ranking of best NBA teams to grace the floor, they were placed second behind the 2017 Golden State Warriors, a decision I disagree with, although I understand. 

The Sporting News ranked the top-20 NBA teams of all-time, allowing only championship teams on the list. A panel of 11 NBA writers voted to get the results, which were elaborated on here.

The '96 Bulls come in at second, right behind the 2017 Warriors, a team that went 67-15 before taking down the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1 in the NBA Finals.

The main reason I disagree with the '96 Bulls ranking behind the '17 Warriors is the fact that they outpace them--even if only slightly--in most of the metrics presented by the Sporting News. 

Obviously, the two squads played in very different eras. So with that being said, it wasn't shocking to see the '17 Warriors averaged more PPG than the '96 Bulls (115.9 vs 105.2) and had a better strength of schedule. But what was shocking was that the '96 Bulls had a better 3-point percentage 40.3%), rebound margin (+6.6) and scoring margin (+12.3).

The star power was, of course, loaded with both teams. Future NBA Hall of Famers Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green powered a Golden State team that was unstoppable offensively, while having the versatility to switch everything defensively. 

The '96 Bulls were led by Hall of Famers Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, with MJ being an unstoppable scoring force and the trio playing a versatile and physical style of defense that Golden State would run 21 years later, with a head coach (Steve Kerr) who was a member of those same squads. 

In the article, Sporting News does have some further explanation that the '96 Bulls were penalized in part because of the lack of depth in the NBA in the late '90s. It is, again, a fair assessment, as the expansion of the late '90s (Vancouver Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves all launched in the 1990s). But the numbers are the numbers, and the Jordan-led Bulls being a more proficient 3-point shooting team--albeit on a lesser volume--matters considerably to me. As the Sporting News pointed out, the '96 Bulls were very much ahead of their time and because of that, I believe they stand the test of time as the greatest team to ever grace an NBA floor.