The NBA has had some wild seasons to date, but the 15-16 season surpasses every one of them. The game was changing, and 2016 perfectly embodied what modern basketball looks like.

Records were broken and playoff shockers ensued. Legends left the game and new stars rose to the top. Sports news was enthralled with the NBA all year, focusing its attention on regular-season games every week that would catch millions of viewers.

The NBA’s popularity peaked that season, and we may never see another year like it.

24 Straight

The Warriors started the year winning 24 straight games until their first loss of the season to the Milwaukee Bucks. They did it all with Interim Head Coach Luke Walton, who took the reins while Steve Kerr took a medical leave from the defending champions. 

They surpassed the once-impossible record of 72 wins in a season and won 73. They are the only team ever to lose single-digit games in the regular season. Their 73rd win was emphatic, but as we’ll find out later, somehow not even the main show of the night for NBA fans.

Legends Hanging it Up

Spurs GOAT Tim Duncan and fellow big-man legend Kevin Garnett both played in their final seasons. Two of the biggest stars of the previous decade, and two future Hall of Famers said goodbye to the league before their inevitable enshrinement in Springfield. 

All-Star Weekend

Probably the most entertaining Dunk Contest and Three-Point Contest happened on All-Star Saturday Night in the Air Canada Center.

Zach Lavine topped Aaron Gordon in controversial style as both consistently put up perfect score dunks. The showdown could’ve been never-ending as the best dunks we’ve seen to date in the contest all came from that duo.

Klay Thompson also went down to the wire against teammate Steph Curry in the three-point contest eventually outlasting him in the final round as the Splash Bros proved once again why they were the best shooters the NBA had ever seen.

Russell Westbrook won his first All-Star Game MVP as well.

Curry’s MVP Season

Curry shattered his own three-point record by making over 400 across the regular season for the first time ever. Mike Breen’s famous “BANG” call as he crossed half-court and sank the long shot to beat the Thunder on national television remains one of the best calls in recent NBA history, and that game would turn out to be the best regular-season game in some time, foreshadowing for the playoffs. 

Kobe Bean

Of course, this was Kobe Bryant’s final season. At each arena, he was given standing ovations as his Lakers team struggled all year. Though on the final day the Warriors were going for an NBA record in wins, it was Bryant’s final game in Staples Center that took center stage.

In the greatest final game ever, Kobe dropped 60 points on the Utah Jazz and declared, “Mamba out,” before dropping the mic and exiting the league. It was truly the most entertaining basketball performance ever.

The Playoffs

And finally, the playoffs. The West provided one of the greatest conference finals series ever, with the Warriors coming back from 3-1 down against Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant’s Thunder to send them to their second straight Finals appearance. Kevin Durant would later join that same team that defeated him, ending his career in OKC and providing some drama for NBA fans to follow.

The second edition of Warriors-Cavs was much different, with the 73-win Warriors leading 3-1, and infamously blowing that lead, losing two games at home including the decisive Game 7 to Lebron and company.

Whether it was Lebron’s overall dominance, proving the NBA was still his, Kyrie’s three over Curry, or Kevin Love’s defense on Curry at the end of the game, every moment was viewership gold. 

Lebron’s chase-down block on Iguodala was revenge for the previous year as he finally declared for his city, “Cleveland, this is for you.”

Nothing will ever top these finals, these playoffs, or this season in general.

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