Western Conference (NBA)
The Western Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association, the other being the Eastern Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions. The Western Conference comprises the Northwest, Pacific, and Southwest Divisions.
The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the now Charlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Pelicans from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference.
The NBA first started awarding a Western Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season, renaming it after Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson in the 2021–22 season. Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy to the Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player, named after Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.
2025–26 standings
Notes- z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
- y – Clinched division title
- pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot
- x – Clinched playoff spot
- * – Division leader
Teams
Former teams
;Notes- denotes an expansion team.
- denotes a team that merged from the American Basketball Association.
Team timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25
Period = from:1970 till:2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:60 left:20 bottom:20 top:0
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id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1980 text:Chicago Bulls
bar:2 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1978 text:Detroit Pistons
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Los Angeles Lakers
bar:4 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1980 text:Milwaukee Bucks
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Phoenix Suns
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Portland Trail Blazers
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1970 till:1972 text:San Diego / Houston Rockets
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:San Francisco / Golden State Warriors
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1972 till:end text:Kansas City-Omaha / Kansas City / Sacramento Kings
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1976 till:end text:Denver Nuggets
bar:12 color:tan2 from:1976 till:1979 text:Indiana Pacers
bar:13 color:tan1 from:1978 till:end text:San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers
bar:14 color:tan1 from:1979 till:end text:Utah Jazz
bar:15 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text:Dallas Mavericks
bar:16 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text:San Antonio Spurs
bar:17 color:tan2 from:1988 till:1989 text:Miami Heat
bar:18 color:tan2 from:1989 till:1990 text:Charlotte Hornets
bar:19 color:tan1 from:1989 till:end text:Minnesota Timberwolves
bar:20 color:tan2 from:1990 till:1991 text:Orlando Magic
bar:21 color:tan1 from:1995 till:end text:Vancouver Grizzlies / Memphis Grizzlies
bar:22 color:tan1 from:2004 till:end text:New Orleans Hornets / Pelicans
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:3 start:1970
Conference champions
| Bold | Winning team of the NBA Finals |
| ^ | Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season |
Conference championships by team
| Team | Championships won | Last |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 19 | 2020 |
| Golden State Warriors | 7 | 2022 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 6 | 2014 |
| Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder | 5 | 2025 |
| Houston Rockets | 4 | 1995 |
| Phoenix Suns | 3 | 2021 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 3 | 1992 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 3 | 2024 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 2 | 1974^ |
| Utah Jazz | 2 | 1998 |
| Denver Nuggets | 1 | 2023 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 0 | N/A |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | N/A |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 0 | N/A |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 0 | N/A |
| Sacramento Kings | 0 | N/A |
^Note: Milwaukee joined the Eastern Conference during the 1980–81 season.