The 20 greatest NBA teams to never win a title

The Bucks were fresh off the franchise's first NBA title, and opened the 1971-72 campaign with seven consecutive victories amid an impressive 17-1 start. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (34.8 ppg, 16.6 rpg) won his second straight NBA MVP. It appeared the Bucks were destined to repeat, finishing the regular season 63-19, even though fellow star Oscar Robertson missed time due to injury. Milwaukee opened the playoffs by taking down Golden State in five games, but could not get the best of Wilt Chamberlain and the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals.

To date, the 63 wins posted by this Blazers squad remains a club record. The group won its first 11 games of the season en route to a ridiculous 27-3 start. Seven players averaged at least 11.1 points, led by Clyde Drexler (21.5 ppg). The starting five of Drexler, Terry Porter, Kevin Duckworth, Jerome Kersey and Buck Williams was the best in the game. Portland ended the Los Angeles Lakers' streak of nine straight Pacific Division titles. However, it would be Magic Johnson and Co. who got the last laugh, halting the Blazers' special season with a six-game triumph in the Western Conference finals.

Part of three straight Knicks teams to finish first in the Atlantic Division. New York won 24 of its final 28 contests to finish 60-22 and earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Under the guidance of legendary coach Pat Riley and with Patrick Ewing   averaging 24.2 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks and John Starks one of the league's best 3-point shooters and lead agitator, the Knicks reached the East finals. In a testy series against the two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls, New York went up 2-0, but never won again and bowed out in a highly disappointing finish.

The great Charles Barkley made his only appearance in the NBA Finals with this Suns group. Averaging 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists, Barkley, that season's MVP, led Phoenix to a then-club record 62 wins and was backed by six teammates who also averaged at least 11.8 points. The Suns went 14-0 in December and won 11 straight later in the season. When it came to the playoffs, however, Phoenix had to work just to reach the Finals, where it ran into the Chicago Bulls amid their dynasty. The Suns took the Bulls to six games, but its four losses came by a combined 18 points.  

After falling short of the NBA Finals one year earlier, the Knicks reached the promised land after a 57-win campaign. Patrick Ewing, John Starks and Charles Oakley again paced the Knicks, who finished second in the East and once again reached the conference finals after knocking off the Chicago Bulls (minus a retired Michael Jordan) in seven games. New York then needed seven games again to knock off Reggie Miller and Indiana in one of the most iconic and heated playoff series in NBA history. Playing for an NBA title for the first time since 1973, the Knicks squared off with a talented Houston Rockets team, and led 3-2 in the series before dropping the final two games on the road.

Six seasons into the franchise's existence, Orlando reached the NBA Finals. Led by the dynamic duo of Shaquille O'Neal (29.3 ppg, 11.4 rpg) and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway (20.9 ppg, 7.2 apg), the Magic won 57 games to claim their first division title. The club became a favorite even outside of Central Florida, and were extremely fun to watch. Following a highly entertaining seven-game series triumph over Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Magic met defending champion Houston with the title on the line. However, Shaq, Penny and the rest of the Magic proved no much for the Rockets, getting swept in the series. 

The former Sonics have enjoyed tremendous success since relocating to Oklahoma City, but this should still be considered one of the favored teams in franchise history. Gary Payton (19.3 ppg, 7.5 apg) and Shawn Kemp (19.6 ppg, 11.4 rpg) were two of the league's biggest stars at the time, and ably backed by Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins and Sam Perkins. Seattle won 30 of its final 36 games to finish with a club-record 64 wins that clinched first place in the Western Conference. But, after surviving Utah in seven games to reach the NBA Finals, it was those dominant Bulls — with a newly-unretired Michael Jordan — who took down the Sonics in six.

Not before or since have the Utah Jazz enjoyed a two-season span of success that should have resulted in at least one NBA title. Standing in the way: the mighty Chicago Bulls, of the day. This 1996-97 team is widely considered the best in franchise history, going a record 64-18, including an impressive 38-3 at home. Legends Karl Malone (27.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg) and John Stockton (14.4 ppg, 10.5 apg) paced these Jazz, which reached the NBA Finals for the first time in club history. But, those aforementioned Bulls stymied the Jazz in six games.

The sting of falling short in the '97 NBA Finals didn't seem to hinder the Jazz for 1997-98. With essentially the same cast of characters from the season prior, Utah went 62-20, and after needing to go the distance in its first-round playoff tilt with Houston, it dropped just one game over the next two rounds to set up an NBA Finals rematch with Chicago. The Jazz held the home-court in the series, and won Game 1 via overtime. However, the Bulls responded, and Michael Jordan hit that memorable title-clinching shot off a cross-over on Utah's Bryon Russell in Game 6.

Since moving to Sacramento in 1985, the Kings franchise has not experienced much consistent success. However, the late 1990s into the mid-2000s remain the glory years for the Sacramento version of the club. The Kings made eight straight playoff appearances from 1999-2006, and set a club record with 61 victories in 2001-02. With stars Chris Webber (24.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg), Mike Bibby (13.7 ppg) and Peja Stojakovic (21.2 ppg), these feel-good Kings reached the Western Conference Finals. Sacramento led the Shaq and Kobe Los Angeles Lakers 3-2, but then lost the next two — with Game 7 ending in a painful overtime loss at home.

The 61 wins recorded by this installment of Pacers basketball remains a franchise record. Indiana won 14 of its first 16 contests and never looked back during the regular season. Thanks to the overall strong play of Jermaine O'Neal (20.1 ppg, 10.0 rpg), the Pacers earned the No. 1 seed in the East and seemed like a good bet to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history. However, Indiana ran into a sizzling Detroit Pistons group in the conference finals, where the fun ended after six games.

Another extremely talented Suns team that won 31 of their first 35 games to open the season. Amar'e Stoudemire (26.0 ppg) and Shawn Marion (19.4 ppg, 11.3 rpg) were two of the game's biggest young stars at the time, and Phoenix matched the franchise record for regular-season wins. After sweeping Memphis to open the playoffs, the Suns got by Dallas in six, but ran out of gas and fell in five games to eventual NBA champion San Antonio in the West finals. 

Dallas would win its first NBA championship four years later, but this 2006-07 campaign still holds the club record with 67 victories during the most bittersweet season in franchise history. Dirk Nowitzki (24.6 ppg), Josh Howard (18.9 ppg) and a deep roster won the West by six games and had the makeup of a serious NBA championship contender. However, the playoffs proved to be a different story. Dallas did not have an answer for No. 8-seeded Golden State, which held the Mavericks to 42.3-percent shooting and averaged 105.2 points per contest to pull off the first-round stunner in six games. 

This had the makings of a special season for the Cavs. LeBron James (28.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 7.2 apg) won his first MVP and Cleveland posted a club-best 66-16 record during the regular season. Aside from James, there were no other bonafide stars on the Cavaliers roster, but they proved dominant, especially through the first two rounds of the playoffs in posting sweeps of Detroit and Atlanta, respectively. Then came the East finals, where Orlando shot 48.2 percent and made nearly 41 percent of its 3-point attempts to upset the Cavs in six games. 

One year after reaching the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history, the Magic seemed poised to take the next step and bring a title to Orlando. These Magic matched the 2008-09 team with 53 wins and rolled through the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, sweeping Charlotte and Atlanta. However, Dwight Howard (18.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg) and Co. ran in to a buzzsaw known as the Boston Celtics in the conference finals, bowing out in six games. 

It seems like the Thunder of the early 2010s were interchangeable when it came to success and promise. This particular group was part of four consecutive OKC squads to win the Northwest Division title. Kevin Durant (28.1 ppg) and Russell Westbrook (23.2 ppg, 7.4 apg, 5.2 rpg) were two of the most exciting superstars in the league and gave Oklahoma City the look of a champion. However, Westbrook suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the Thunder's first-round series versus the Rockets. Though they advanced past Houston, Westbrook's absence was too much to overcome and led to a second-round upset at the hands of Memphis. 

Is this the greatest regular-season team in NBA history? In terms of wins, yes. The Warriors went 73-9, breaking the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' record of 72 wins. With Stephen Curry (30.1 ppg, Klay Thompson (22.1 ppg) and Draymond Green (14.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg) all at their best, Golden State opened the season with 24 straight victories and smashed 25 NBA records by the time the playoffs began. However, the Warriors weren't as dominant in the postseason, needing seven games to dispatch Oklahoma City in a memorable seven-game conference final. That triumph set up the second of four straight Finals meetings with Cleveland, which trailed Golden State 3-1 in the series. Then, the Cavs pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in league history, blowing out the Warriors the next two games before winning Game 7, 93-89 in the Bay Area to claim the franchise's first title. 

Stuck in the shadow of that legendary Warriors team of 2015-16, the Spurs set a franchise record with 67 victories that season. Kawhi Leonard (21.2 ppg) became a true NBA star that season, and iconic stalwarts in Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan still had a significant presence amid the club's success. Though getting through the Warriors in the postseason was expected to be chore, the notion of San Antonio losing the final three games to Oklahoma City in the second round and dropping that series in six games didn't seem possible. But that was the disappointing reality for the Spurs.

Just like the aforementioned 1971-72 Bucks, this installment won its first seven games of the season. With NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (27.7 ppg, 12.5 rpg) in tow, the Bucks went 60-22 to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the league for the first time since 1973-74. Milwaukee rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs, but could not cool off upstart Toronto. After winning the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks lost four straight — three of which came by a six-point margin — to the eventual NBA champion Raptors. 

After losing to Milwaukee in the NBA Finals a season earlier, Phoenix was the pride of the regular season in 2021-22. The Suns earned the top seed in the Western Conference while recording a club-best 64 victories. Devin Booker (26.8 ppg) again paced these Suns, who finally had a look of a group that could bring the franchise its first championship. However, the Suns were upset by Dallas in the second round of the playoffs, and joined the 2006-07 Mavericks and 2015-16 Spurs as the only teams with at least 64 wins not to reach the conference finals.