Sometimes, a defending champion picks up right where it left off when the following season starts up. Case in point: the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder are rolling to start the 2025-26 season. Oklahoma City currently boasts the best record in the NBA at 11-1 with an average point differential of plus-14.4. It strung together eight straight wins to start the season, tied for the sixth-longest win streak by a defending champion to begin a season in NBA history and longest since the Golden State Warriors in 2015-16.
The hot start from the Thunder comes on the heels of a 68-win season and an NBA title. Oklahoma City will look to continue its strong run against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night (9:30 ET, ESPN), further establishing its place on a list of the best starts to a season by a defending champion.
Here's a look back at the best 12-game starts by a defending NBA champion since 1970, and how those teams fared in the postseason.
Golden State Warriors, 2015-16
12-game record: 12-0
Postseason result: NBA Finals loss to Cleveland Cavaliers
There's fast starts to an NBA season, and then there's what the Warriors did during the 2015-16 campaign.
Golden State ran the table with an NBA record 24 straight wins to start the season. The Warriors went 73-9 for the season, also the best in league history, and had a plus-10.8 point differential. Warriors guard Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to become a unanimous MVP winner -- he averaged 30.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals while netting a whopping 402 3-pointers.
The Warriors won each of the first two rounds of the playoffs in five games, then came back from 3-1 down against the Thunder to win the Western Conference finals, setting up a rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State jumped out to a 3-1 lead in that series. However, Cleveland stormed back to win its first NBA championship.
Los Angeles Lakers, 2001-02
12-game record: 11-1
Postseason result: NBA Finals win against New Jersey Nets
The Lakers followed their dominant 15-1 2001 postseason and consecutive titles with a similarly strong start to the next campaign.
The Shaq and Kobe-era Lakers lost just one game from Oct. 30 to Dec. 5, 2001, en route to a 58-24 regular-season record. They used that momentum to steamroll through the first two rounds of the playoffs, dropping just one game.
Los Angeles came back from a 3-2 deficit against the Sacramento Kings to win the Western Conference finals, then dispatched the Nets in four games to win their third straight title.
Chicago Bulls, 1996-97
12-game record: 12-0
Postseason result: NBA Finals win against Seattle SuperSonics
The best way to follow up a 72-10 season and NBA title? Come out of the gates hot in the upcoming campaign.
The Bulls did exactly that, winning 12 straight games to begin the 1996-97 season. Michael Jordan finished second in MVP voting that season, though he averaged a league-high 29.6 points per game.
Chicago would lose consecutive games just twice throughout the season, then dropped just two total playoff games over the first three rounds. The Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in six games to win their fifth championship of the '90s.
Boston Celtics, 1984-85
12-game record: 11-1
Postseason result: NBA Finals loss to Lakers
Coming off its second title of the 1980s, Boston won 15 of its first 16 games to set the tone for the season. Celtics forward Larry Bird won his second of three straight MVPs after averaging 28.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.
The Celtics went 11-4 in the first three rounds of the playoffs before facing their bitter rivals, the Lakers, in the Finals. Boston seemed to be on the way to winning another championship when it defeated Los Angeles by 32 points in Game 1. However, the Lakers bounced back to win the series in six.
Milwaukee Bucks, 1971-72
12-game record: 11-1
Postseason result: Western Conference finals defeat to Lakers
Led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee jumped out to a 30-4 start in 1971-72. In putting together an MVP season, Abdul-Jabbar averaged a league-high 31.7 points per game along with 16 rebounds.
Milwaukee would breeze through the Warriors in five games in the first round of the playoffs. However, the Bucks fell in six games to Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and the eventual champion Lakers in the conference finals.
ESPN Research contributed to this story.