Over the last eight years, there have been eight different NBA champions. During that stretch, the Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought, and three teams have won their first championship.
With the league in an era of parity, it seems as if every year every team has a chance at the NBA Finals, including the 10 teams without a Larry O’Brien trophy.
With a new season on the horizon for these teams, let’s see which team is the closest to removing themselves from this dreaded list.
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10 Teams Without an NBA Championship
From NBA Finals heartbreaks to seasons they’d rather forget, here’s a brief rundown of these teams’ competitive history and where they are headed into the 2026 offseason.
The 10 teams that have never won an NBA championship are:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Hornets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Orlando Magic
- Phoenix Suns
- Utah Jazz
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets, whether in New Jersey or New York, have yet to claim a title since joining the NBA for its 76th season. They made their mark in the early 2000s with back-to-back NBA Finals appearances led by Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson, and with the trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving they came a big toe away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.
But for the last three seasons Brooklyn has toiled at the bottom of the league, including a 20-win season in 2025. The Nets hold the No. 6 pick this year in a draft that is deep with future All-Star caliber players, and they hope to find one as their rebuild continues.
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets have yet to win a title in their franchise history. They made the playoffs seven times from the early 1980s to the early 2000s and flirted with the postseason again in the 2010s, but have been without a playoff appearance since 2017.
The 2025-26 Hornets squad put together their best regular season in a decade and fell just short of a playoff berth in the play-in tournament. With rookie Kon Knueppel, LaMelo Ball and young wing Brandon Miller, the Hornets are on the upswing. They may not remove themselves from this list next season, but they are trending in the right direction.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers took the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in the 2024-25 NBA Finals before losing Tyrese Haliburton to an Achilles injury, a setback that knocked Indiana down to one of the worst teams in the NBA. Adding insult to injury, the Pacers also lost their top pick in a trade for Ivica Zubac.
Indiana has made impressive runs in its franchise history, particularly during the career of Reggie Miller. From 1989 to 2006 the Pacers missed the playoffs just once, reaching the conference finals five times and the NBA Finals once. They surged back to relevance in the 2010s with Paul George and later Domantas Sabonis and have now found a new era with Haliburton as their franchise star. Should he return healthy, he could single-handedly bring Indiana back into playoff contention in a seemingly wide-open Eastern Conference.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers suffered through terrible seasons for much of their franchise history. But starting in the early 2010s with the arrival of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, LA became Lob City and the Clippers’ fortunes changed dramatically. Since 2011 they have missed the playoffs just three times and cemented a reputation as a well-coached, hard-nosed unit nobody wants to face come playoff time.
The Clippers took a big swing to bring home their first championship, acquiring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for the 2018-19 season. That has translated to only one Western Conference Finals appearance and four first-round exits. With George gone, the Clippers still feel the weight of the draft picks they gave up in that deal, but they lucked into the No. 5 overall pick in a trade with the Indiana Pacers, giving them much-needed young talent and a potential next franchise superstar.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies are the only NBA team to have existed in both Canada and the United States in their franchise history, but they still don’t have a Larry O’Brien Trophy to show for it. The grit and grind Grizzlies of the late 2000s and early 2010s helped Memphis fall in love with their team and brought them as far as the Western Conference Finals.
With the drafting of Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, it seemed like the Grizzlies had found their next core to bring back annual playoff contention. But that core has imploded. Bane was traded to the Magic for a handful of picks; Jackson was traded to the Jazz for picks and Morant’s future with the team is up in the air after consecutive seasons of limited play. It is disappointing that this iteration wasn’t able to take the Grizzlies further, but the consolation for fans in Memphis is an arsenal of first-round picks that could help end this drought.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves have yet to take home an NBA championship but have consistently knocked on the door as of late. Since the ascension of Anthony Edwards, they have made a pair of Western Conference Finals and a Western Conference Semifinal appearance, taking the Lakers to six games in the 2024 series. Beyond that, Minnesota has languished outside of playoff contention for much of its history.
Entering the 2026-27 season, Minnesota will once again be a team to be reckoned with in the Western Conference as it hopes to break through for its first NBA Finals appearance.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans have changed team names and cities but still can’t bring home an NBA championship. It seemed like they might when they drafted Chris Paul, then again when they drafted Anthony Davis and then it really seemed like they might do it when they drafted Zion Williamson. But so far, all three stars have failed to deliver a championship, and none of them led the team past the Western Conference Semifinals.
New Orleans remains in rebuild mode, focused on reconstructing its core and hoping for an appearance in the play-in tournament.
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic have had some of the most exciting players in the NBA between Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady and Dwight Howard, but none of them delivered a championship to Orlando. Both O’Neal and Howard took the Magic to the Finals, only to lose handily each time. Over their last seven playoff appearances dating back to 2011, Orlando has been bounced in the first round every time.
This past year might have been the toughest, as the Magic blew a 3-1 lead to the Detroit Pistons to end their season early, leaving fans to wonder how such a promising season could end so disappointingly. There are plenty of questions remaining for Orlando, and though the roster is loaded with young talent, it’s unclear whether the combination of Paolo Banchero, Bane and Franz Wagner is the core that can take the Magic over the edge to a championship.
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns have been one of the most overlooked success stories in NBA history. From the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, Phoenix made the playoffs eight straight seasons, reaching the Western Conference Finals twice and the Conference Semifinals three times. They lost to the Michael Jordan-led Bulls in the 1993 Finals, made back-to-back Western Conference Finals in the early 2000s and lost in the Finals again in 2021.
Still desperate for a title, Phoenix later went for it by acquiring Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, hoping the pair alongside Devin Booker would provide unstoppable offensive firepower. It never panned out. The Suns traded Durant and Beal in a reset, and in their first year with a completely new look they shocked the NBA world, posting a winning record and a spot in a competitive Western Conference playoff field. Phoenix still needs a handful of pieces to overcome the juggernauts of the West, but on the right night they can take down anybody.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz have had an overall highly successful franchise history. They made the playoffs in 20 consecutive years from the early 1980s to the early 2000s, led by John Stockton and Karl Malone, falling to Michael Jordan’s Bulls twice in the Finals along with a handful of Western Conference Finals losses. They had another resurgence with Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, and yet another with Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
But for the last four years the Jazz have not only missed playoff contention, but they have also put together some of the worst basketball in the league. Last year they played so poorly that the NBA penalized them for obvious tanking to improve their draft position. Utah now holds the No. 2 pick and has traded for Jaren Jackson Jr. It seems like it should only be a matter of time before Utah stops chasing the future and starts trying to win in the present.
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