Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Stephen Curry – the only players to win 65+ games in 3 different seasons

Akash Murty | 26/07/2022
Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Stephen Curry – the only players to win 65+ games in 3 different seasons

As surprising as it might be, Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan have had a similar career path in terms of wins, not individual accolades.

Both Michael Jordan and Stephen Curry are detrimental to the game of basketball and both of them had similar sort of trajectories. Obviously, MJ was much better in every way possible, but their career graphs have a similar projectile.

Jordan came in the 80s and instantly became one of the three biggest names in the league alongside Larry Bird and Magic Johnson who were the faces of the league at the time. While Stephen Curry came into the league when Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were the two biggest names.

It took Mike 7 years and the Bulls drafting Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant in 1987 to make it to his first ever NBA finals. Similarly, after the Warriors drafted Klay Thompson in 2011 and Draymond Green the next year, Steph made his first finals appearance 6 years after he was drafted in 2009.

Both of them led their teams to win the very first championship they appeared in. But there’s more. The Bulls won 2 more championships following their first championship, Warriors won 2 more after losing one after their first.

And after a two-year break from dominance, the 2022 Warriors won their 4th one like the Bulls of 1996. Even their regular season win patterns had some uncanny similarities.

Also read: Stephen Curry is the 47th highest-scorer in NBA history, despite being 200th on the all-time minutes played list

Stephen Curry is the only player with three 65+ win-seasons other than Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen 

The 2015-16 Warriors made a lot of noise when they one-upped (73-9) the 1995-96 Bulls who had shattered the regular season wins record (72-10) and held that record for 20 years.

That was one of three seasons where Steph would lead the Dubs to a 65+ win season. The only players that have been able to lead their teams to three separate 65+ win seasons are Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen who led the Bulls to 67 wins in 91-92 season, 69 wins in 96-97, and the 95-96 season with 72 wins.

Curry-led Warriors did that in three straight seasons from 2014 to 2017. After winning their 4th chip in the space of 8 years, the Dubs are now just the third dynasty of the NBA to win 4 or more Larry O’Briens since those Bulls who were followed by Tim Duncan’s Spurs and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.

Even though he doesn’t have as many individual accolades as His Airness, if The Chef manages to lead his team to another championship or two he will certainly close the gap between him and Bryant and Jordan to be one of the greatest of all time.

Also read: 6″6′ Grant Williams throws shade at Stephen Curry on Instagram post the 2022 ESPY award night

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Chicago Bulls Golden State Warriors Michael Jordan Scottie Pippen Stephen Curry

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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