List of NBA franchise postseason droughts
This is a list of National Basketball Association franchise post-season appearance droughts. This list includes the all-time and the active consecutive non-playoffs. Aside from the NBA playoff appearance droughts, this list also includes droughts of series wins, appearances in the NBA Finals and NBA championship wins. The oldest franchise to never win the championship is the Suns, while the Royals/Kings and the Hawks have even longer championship droughts. Five franchises have never been to the NBA Finals, tied with the National Hockey League for the highest number among the major North American sports. The oldest such team is the Braves/Clippers franchise ; the Kings and the Hawks have appearance droughts that are even longer. The longest a franchise has gone without appearing in the playoffs at all is 16 seasons: the Kings franchise from 2006 to 2023.
Of the 20 franchises that have won an NBA championship, 6 have droughts of 41 seasons or more, which is to say that the past 40 championships have been shared among only 14 franchises: the Lakers, Bulls, Spurs, Warriors, Pistons, Celtics, Heat, Rockets, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Raptors, Bucks, Nuggets, and Thunder. By contrast, the other three major North American sports have each had at least 18 franchises become champions over the same period of time.
Active droughts
NBA Playoffs appearance droughts
| ^ | Longest drought in team history |
| † | Tied for longest drought in team history |
NBA Playoffs series win droughts
| ^ | Longest drought in team history |
| ♦ | Most consecutive series losses in team history |
Charlotte was also inactive for two years following the season.
NBA Conference Finals appearance droughts
| ^ | Longest drought in team history |
NBA Finals appearance droughts
- The Sacramento Kings last appeared in the 1951 NBA Finals as the Rochester Royals. Predates NBA-ABA merger.
- The Atlanta Hawks last appeared in the 1961 NBA Finals as the St. Louis Hawks. Predates NBA-ABA merger.
- The Washington Wizards last appeared in the 1979 Conference Finals and NBA Finals as the Washington Bullets.
- The Brooklyn Nets last appeared in the 2003 Conference Finals and NBA Finals as the New Jersey Nets.
NBA championship title droughts
- The Sacramento Kings last won an NBA championship in 1951 as the Rochester Royals.
- The Atlanta Hawks last won an NBA championship in 1958 as the St. Louis Hawks.
- Predates the NBA-ABA merger.
- The Washington Wizards last won an NBA championship in 1978 as the Washington Bullets.
All-time droughts
NBA championship droughts
| Team | Seasons | Last title | Drought | Next title |
| Sacramento Kings | 74 | –present | ||
| Atlanta Hawks | 67 | –present | ||
| Phoenix Suns | 57 | –present | ||
| Los Angeles Clippers | 55 | –present | ||
| New York Knicks | 51 | –present | ||
| Utah Jazz | 51 | –present | ||
| Brooklyn Nets | 49 | –present | ||
| Milwaukee Bucks | 49 | – | ||
| Indiana Pacers | 48 | –present | ||
| Portland Trail Blazers | 48 | –present | ||
| Washington Wizards | 47 | –present | ||
| Denver Nuggets | 46 | – | ||
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 45 | – | ||
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 45 | – | ||
| Philadelphia 76ers | 42 | –present | ||
| Detroit Pistons | 40 | – | ||
| Golden State Warriors | 39 | – | ||
| Charlotte Hornets | 37 | –present | ||
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 36 | –present | ||
| Orlando Magic | 35 | –present | ||
| Dallas Mavericks | 30 | – |
Closest approaches without winning
Updated through the 2025 NBA Finals.| Team | Conference Quarter-Final appearances | Conference Semi-Final appearances | Conference Final appearances | NBA Final appearances | Fewest wins short of NBA Championship |
| Indiana Pacers | 29 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 win short : 2025 |
| Phoenix Suns | 33 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 2 wins short : 1976, 1993, 2021 |
| Utah Jazz | 31 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 2 wins short : 1997, 1998 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 24 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 wins short : 2003 |
| Orlando Magic | 18 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 wins short : 2009 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 19 | 9 | 1 | 6 wins short : 2021 | |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 13 | 3 | 3 | 6 wins short : 2004 | |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 14 | 4 | 1 | 8 wins short : 2013 | |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 9 | 2 | 9 wins short : 2008 | ||
| Charlotte Hornets | 10 | 4 | 9 wins short : 2001 |
Longest post-season droughts in team history
Updated through the 2024–25 season.Longest post-season series win droughts in team history
Updated through the 2024–25 season.| Team | Longest streak with no post-season series wins | Seasons |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 1976–77 through | 29 |
| Washington Wizards | 1982–83 through | 22 |
| Charlotte Hornets ^ | through 2024–25 | 21 |
| Sacramento Kings ^ | 2004–05 through | 21 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | through | 19 |
| Indiana Pacers | through | 17 |
| Brooklyn Nets | through | 17 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | through | 17 |
| Detroit Pistons ^ | through | 16 |
| New York Knicks | through | 15 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | through | 15 |
| Golden State Warriors | through | 15 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | through | 15 |
| Denver Nuggets | through | 14 |
| Toronto Raptors | through | 14 |
| Orlando Magic ^ | through | 14 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | through | 13 |
| Dallas Mavericks | through | 12 |
| Houston Rockets | through | 11 |
| Phoenix Suns | through | 10 |
| Chicago Bulls ^ | through | 10 |
| Utah Jazz | 1974–75 through | 9 |
| Boston Celtics | through | 9 |
| Atlanta Hawks | through | 9 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 2008–09 through 2016–17 | 9 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | through through | 8 |
| Miami Heat | through | 8 |
| San Antonio Spurs ^ | through | 8 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | through 2016–17 through 2022–23 | 7 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | through | 7 |
Longest NBA Playoffs appearance droughts
| ^ | Denotes [|active drought] |
Longest Conference finals droughts
| ^ | Denotes active drought |
| † | Year the team joined the NBA |
| Seasons | Team | NBA Conference Finals appearance droughts | Reference |
| 50 | Los Angeles Clippers | 1971†–2020 | |
| Washington Wizards^ | 1980–present | ||
| 44 | Atlanta Hawks | 1971–2014 | |
| 38 | Golden State Warriors | 1977–2014 | |
| Charlotte Hornets^ | 1989†–present | ||
| 25 | New Jersey Nets | 1977†–2001 | |
| 24 | New York Knicks | 2001–2024 | |
| Philadelphia 76ers^ | 2002–present | ||
| 23 | Denver Nuggets | 1986–2008 | |
| Sacramento Kings | 2003–present | ||
| New Orleans Pelicans^ | 2003†–present | ||
| Brooklyn Nets^ | 2004–present | ||
| 20 | Toronto Raptors | 1996†–2015 | |
| 20 | Sacramento Kings | 1982–2001 |
- Streak includes seasons as Buffalo Braves and San Diego Clippers.
- Team last qualified for the Conference Finals as Washington Bullets.
- Franchise inactive for two seasons between 2002 and 2004.
- Current Brooklyn Nets; includes one season as New York Nets.
- Includes four seasons as Kansas City Kings.
NBA Division Championship droughts
Updated through the 2024–25 season.| ^ | Longest drought in team history |
| ♦ | 2024–25 Division Champion |
Left click once on Seasons since win column heading then once on Division column heading
to show teams listed in order of division championships.
Finals droughts
NBA Finals in which neither team had previously won a championship
In these instances, the matchup ensured that one team would win the first NBA championship in its history.| Season | Won | Lost | Number of years until loser's drought ended |
| 2006* | Miami Heat | Dallas Mavericks | 5 |
| 1978 | Washington Bullets | Seattle SuperSonics | 1 |
| 1971* | Milwaukee Bucks | Baltimore Bullets (WAS) | 7 |
| 1957* | Boston Celtics | St. Louis Hawks (ATL) | 1 |
| 1955 | Syracuse Nationals (PHI) | Fort Wayne Pistons ^ | 34 |
| 1951* | Rochester Royals (SAC)^ | New York Knicks | 19 |
| 1949* | Minneapolis Lakers (LAL)^ | Washington Capitols† | folded 2 years later |
| 1947* | Philadelphia Warriors (GSW) | Chicago Stags† | folded 3 years later |
^ - Team had previously appeared in the National Basketball League finals before said league was merged for the NBA's formation.† - Defunct franchise.- Abbreviation in parentheses – Current location of NBA franchise.
NBA Finals in which neither franchise had won a championship in 20-plus seasons
Teams that had never won the NBA championship are included, even if they were less than 20 seasons old at the time.The 2025 NBA Finals featured the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder; the last championship won by either team was in 1979.
Numbers marked with * indicates that the number is counted from either the franchise's first year in the NBA or the first year of the league.
† - Defunct franchise.
Teams awaiting their first NBA championship
This list includes teams within the current NBA that have never won an NBA championship—sorted by the number of seasons played in the NBA.| Total seasons | Franchise | Last NBA Finals appearance |
| seasons | Phoenix Suns | 2021 |
| seasons | Los Angeles Clippers§ | — |
| seasons | Utah Jazz§ | 1998 |
| seasons | Indiana Pacers‡ | 2025 |
| seasons | Brooklyn Nets§‡ | 2003 |
| seasons | Minnesota Timberwolves | — |
| seasons | Orlando Magic | 2009 |
| seasons | Charlotte Hornets† | — |
| seasons | Memphis Grizzlies§ | — |
| seasons | New Orleans Pelicans† | — |
;Notes
Cities awaiting first NBA championship
Listed according to seasons waited.Current NBA cities/regions only.