NBA
Which 5 Teams Have the Longest NBA Championship Droughts?
Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sports7 in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sports7. Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes. In addition to his work here at Sports7, Luke's work has appeared on The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.
Get to know Luke Norris betterUpdated13 Jun 2023
Of the 20 current NBA franchises to have won at least one championship, only the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have hit the double-digit mark as the longtime rivals are tied atop the all-time list with 17 each. Beyond that, only the Golden State Warriors (seven), the Chicago Bulls (six), and the San Antonio Spurs (five) have won five or more.
Of these five franchises, the Bulls are the only team who haven't won a title since the turn of the century, their last championship famously being Michael Jordan's final season in the Windy City in 1997-98.
As for the other 15 teams on the list, seven have won at least one NBA title since Chicago's “Last Dance” campaign, those being the Detroit Pistons, the Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Toronto Raptors, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Denver Nuggets.
That brings the list down to eight. And of those remaining eight, the Houston Rockets were the most recent champions, winning back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995. Before that, you've got the Philadelphia 76ers' most recent championship in 1983. And before that, we've got the lone title in Oklahoma City Thunder franchise history, which occurred in 1979 when the team was still known as the Seattle Supersonics.
So that brings us to our top five, none of whom have hoisted the NBA championship trophy in at least 45 years.
5. The Washington Wizards won the lone title in franchise history in 1978
Kicking off the list at number five are the Washington Wizards, who've gone four and a half decades since their last NBA championship.
Then known as the Bullets, Washington went 44-38 during the 1977-78 regular season, earning the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. After sweeping the Atlanta Hawks in the opening round of the postseason, the Bullets then knocked off the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the second round and then defeated the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the NBA Finals, behind a strong series from Elvin Hayes, who averaged 20.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, Washington bested the Seattle Supersonics in seven games. Wes Unseld, who averaged just 9.0 points per game, somehow won NBA Finals MVP. The two teams met again a year later in the title series, with the Sonics coming out on top.
The Wizards haven't returned to the NBA Finals since.
4. The Portland Trail Blazers haven't won an NBA championship since 1977
The 1976-77 NBA season marked just the seventh in Portland Trail Blazers history. And in those first six, the franchise failed to make the postseason and went through four head coaches. But with Jack Ramsay manning the sideline and Bill Walton finally healthy, this Blazers team was different.
For the first time in team history, Portland finished above .500, ending the regular season with a 49-33 record, good for third in the Western Conference. In their first-ever postseason series, the Blazers knocked off the Chicago Bulls and then defeated the Denver Nuggets and LA Lakers to reach the NBA Finals.
Taking on the Philadelphia 76ers, Portland lost the first two games of the series but won the next four to clinch the franchise's first (and still only) NBA championship. Walton was named NBA Finals MVP after averaging 18.5 points, 19.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.7 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game.
The Blazers have been to the NBA Finals twice since then, losing to the Detroit Pistons in 1990 and the Chicago Bulls in 1992.
3. Five decades and counting for the New York Knicks
The New York Knicks of the early 1970s are legendary, winning two NBA championships over four years. The second came in 1973 and marks the last NBA title the Big Apple has experienced.
With a roster that included Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, and Phil Jackson, the Knicks went 57-25 during the 1972-73 regular season, good for second in the Eastern Conference.
After marching through the Baltimore Bullets and Boston Celtics, the Knicks squared off with the LA Lakers in the NBA Finals for the third time in four years, with the two teams splitting the first two series. New York easily won the rubber match, taking the series in five games. As he had three years earlier, Willis Reed won NBA Finals MVP, averaging 16.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.
Since then, the Knicks have been to the Finals just twice, losing to the Houston Rockets in 1994 and the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.
2. The Hawks' last title was 60-plus years and a city ago
It's been five and a half decades since the Hawks moved from St. Louis to Atlanta, which is obviously quite a long time. But it's been six and a half decades since the franchise won its first and only NBA championship.
In 1957, the Hawks reached the NBA Finals for the first time, losing to the Boston Celtics in seven games. In fact, that was Boston's first title.
In 1957-58, behind a stellar season from future NBA MVP Bob Pettit, who averaged 24.6 points and 17.4 rebounds per game, St. Louis went 41-31, the best mark in what was then known as the Western Division.
There were just eight teams in the league back then, and six made the postseason, giving the Hawks a first-round bye. After disposing of the Detroit Pistons in the Division Finals, St. Louis again matched up with the Celtics in the NBA Finals.
But this time around, the Hawks came out on top, winning the series in six games. Pettit led the way for St. Louis, averaging 29.3 points and 17.0 rebounds, while Cliff Hagan was a strong second, averaging 25.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists.
The Hawks again battled Boston in the NBA Finals in 1960 and 1961, losing both times. These were the last two instances in which the franchise challenged for a championship.
1. The league was in its infancy when the Sacramento Kings franchise won its lone NBA championship
When the franchise now known as the Sacramento Kings won its first and only NBA championship, you could still count on one hand the number of seasons the league had been in existence. And like the Hawks, the Kings were then in another city and went by another name.
In 1950-51, the Rochester Royals went 41-27, good for second in the Western Division. The Royals defeated the then-Fort Wayne Pistons in the Division Semifinals and then knocked off the top-seeded Minneapolis Lakers in the Division Finals.
In the 1951 NBA Finals, Rochester defeated the New York Knicks in seven games behind a strong series from Arnie Risen, who averaged 21.7 points and 14.3 rebounds.
In the 70-plus years since, a span during which the franchise has played its home games in Cincinnati, Omaha, Kansas City, and Sacramento, the Kings have never again appeared in the NBA Finals.
