Warriors’ owner Lacob: Michael Jordan told him 73 wins without a ring ‘don’t mean s---'

The Warriors case for being the greatest single-season team ever fell apart last season when they blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals to the Cavaliers.

Don’t think Michael Jordan let the Warriors forget that, either.

Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob was in the studio on 95.7 The Game’s “The Afternoon Delight” show with Greg Papa on Tuesday and told a Jordan story from this summer (hat tip to James Herbert at CBSSports.com for the transcription):

“On the collective bargaining agreement, I was on the labor committee and I was in New York having a bunch of dinners with Michael Jordan and other owners. There were six of us. Actually, Dan was one of them, Dan Gilbert. Anyway, Michael Jordan -- people are drinking and having a good time and all that, but there was a moment where he said, you know, ’73 don’t mean s---.’ He did it, Michael Jordan did that. And I looked at him and I just decided not to make a big deal of it. I said, you know, you’re right, we didn’t win it, we had to get better.”

Michael Jordan is still one competitive.... you know what I’m saying. And Lacob was wise to let it drop.

I don’t completely buy MJ’s argument, because I don’t believe titles are the only measure of success. John Stockton, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley and on down the line still had phenomenal careers and deserve to be Hall of Famers, they are not lesser players than Mark Madsen because he got a couple rings and they didn’t. Being a sports fan should not be only about championships, if it is not about enjoying the journey you’re doing it wrong. That doesn’t mean you don’t want your team to win titles, but fandom needs to be broader than that — when your team wins a title, you should feel joy, not relief.

Winning 73 games was a tremendous, historic journey that Warriors fans should not forget.

But Jordan is right about this: In the discussion of the greatest single-season team of all time, the 72-win Bulls do get the upper hand because they got the title, too.