Worst Franchises in NBA History

The Celtics and the Lakers are the two top NBA organizations in the league. I mean, they both have 17 championships apiece, and combined together, they account for nearly half of all championships in league history. After these two comes the Golden State Warriors, who now have seven championship banners, which also includes the very first NBA championship back in 1947, and the latest they just won in 2022. After them comes the Chicago Bulls at six championships, which is then followed by the San Antonio Spurs at five. These are the most successful franchises in NBA history, but have you ever wondered which teams are at the bottom of this spectrum? Well, let's take a look into it. At number six, we begin this countdown with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now, you might argue that they shouldn't be on this list because they just made the playoffs last year, right? Well, true as that may be, if you zoom out a bit and take a look at the big picture, aside from last season and their playoff appearance in 2018, the Timberwolves actually missed out on the postseason 16 times in the past 18 years, which also includes a 13-year drought. When they arrived in the NBA back in 1989, they weren't expected to win that much since they were just the new kids on the block, and true enough. The Timberwolves only won 126 games out of 492 in their first six seasons, which comes out to about a 25% win team. Luckily though, their fortune shifted when they drafted this guy back in 1995. Under KG's watch, the Timberwolves became a legit team. In fact, they made the playoffs for eight straight seasons, and they were actually two wins away from their first ever finals appearance in 2004, which was the same year when KG was also named MVP. But then, it all just collapsed. Right after 2004, things began to fall apart for the T-Wolves when their big three got broken up. Latrell Sprewell turned down a three-year extension, while Sam Cassell was traded to the Clippers, leaving KG all by his lonesome self. The T-Wolves thought they had a chance to turn things around when they drafted Brandon Roy in 2006, but they blew up that one too by trading him for Randy Foy. Then in 2009, their biggest mistake was when they drafted two point guards at No. 5 and No. 6, right before Steph Curry was drafted at No. 7. Anyway, the next team we got here at No. 5 is the Sacramento Kings. As of today, the Sacramento Kings holds the record for the longest playoff drought in NBA history, with 16 seasons and running. The last time they made the playoffs was way back in 2006. Before 2006 however, it was actually the golden era of Kings basketball, where they would make the playoffs year after year, and if it weren't for some controversial calls in their playoff series against the Lakers in 2002, many believed that the Kings would have won the title that year. After their strong runs from 2000 to 2004, the Kings got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in back-to-back years, and basically, that was the last time we've seen a competing Sacramento Kings basketball team. Since their last playoff appearance, the Kings have never won more than 40 games in a single season, and throughout the next 16 years, the Kings shuffled between 12 different coaches, including several changes to their front office to try and get back to winning ways. But in the end, it didn't matter, because the result remains the same. And although they have successfully drafted marquee names like Tyreek Evans, Isaiah Thomas, and DeMarcus Cousins in the past, it was never enough to get them over the hump. Anyway, moving on here, at number 4, we got the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets were a formidable franchise back in the 90s and early 2000s, but things started to dwindle in the 04-05 season, when they began wearing this jersey. The Bobcats opened up its first NBA campaign by just winning 18 games, and they would continue struggling for the next 5 seasons, specifically during the 2011-2012 lockout season where they've only won 7 out of 59 games in total, making it the worst record in NBA history in terms of winning percentage. I mean, this team was so horrendously bad that their leading scorer was Gerald Henderson, who averaged just 15.1 points per game. Anyway, when the Bobcats reverted back to the Hornets in 2014, the struggle would continue as they couldn't find any winning formulas that would put them over the hump. Overall, the Hornets only made the playoffs 3 times in the last 20 years, and those playoff appearances were hardly significant. I mean, 2 of those were sweeps, and the other one was a 7-game loss to a post-Big 3 Miami Heat team. Aside from their struggles on the court, the Hornets also had a long history of drafting busts and subpar players. I mean, over the last 20 years, the only notable players that they've drafted who eventually became all-stars were Kemba Walker, and more recently, LaMelo Ball. And on top of this, the Hornets also made questionable trades and head-scratching roster moves in the past that might have worsened their troubles. I mean, they did trade away Kobe Bryant, right? Anyway, let's move on here. At number 3 for the worst franchises in NBA history, we've got the Vancouver Grizzlies. Following the huge success the NBA had in the mid-90s, the league began exploring new markets beyond the border, and in 1995, two Canada-based teams were awarded a franchise. The first one was the Toronto Raptors, and the other one was the Vancouver Grizzlies. Now, just like any other expansion teams, the Grizzlies struggled to win ball games early on, and as you can see here, throughout their 6-year existence in the league, the Grizzlies didn't even breach the 25-win mark, and they only managed to win 30% of all of their games in total. Despite drafting top prospects like Sharif Abdul-Rahim, Mike Bibby, and big country Brian Reeves, the Grizzlies still struggled and had a hard time putting up wins. Among the players that they drafted, however, Steve Francis has got to be the most interesting one. See, right before the draft in 1999, Francis already informed the Grizzlies that he's not interested in going up north to play for them, because, uh, they weren't that good. But despite his warnings, they still selected him. You can see how sad Francis was when his name got called, and in an interview, he said what was running through his head at the time. I damn near cried when I got taken by the Grizzlies at number two. I was not about to go up to freezing s*** Canada, so far away from my family, when they were about to move the franchise anyway. I'm sorry, but actually, I'm really not even sorry. Everybody sees the business of basketball now. That team was gone. The only thing I'm sorry about is that I went up there and gave probably the rudest press conference in NBA history before they traded me. Sheesh, guys, when was the last time you saw a player bury in a team like that? Anyway, after trading Francis, the team continued to plummet along with their ticket sales, and because of that, the Vancouver Grizzlies eventually folded before relocating to Memphis in 2001. Alright guys, at number two, we got the New York Knicks. Now, we all know that the Knicks were a powerhouse in the East throughout the 90s, but, uh, if you take a deeper look at their playoff history, they've only gotten past the first round Apart from their playoff appearance two seasons ago, the last time they made the postseason was during the Carmelo Anthony era when they got defeated by the Pacers in the second round of the 2013 NBA playoffs, and the crazy thing is, that was their most successful season in 22 years. One of the main reasons why the Knicks have been labeled as a cursed franchise is both because of bad luck in drafting potential superstars and bad decision making in trying to acquire big names. I mean, take a look at some of the big names they missed out on on draft night. In the stacked 2003 draft, the Knicks picked the overweight forward Mike Sweetney at number 9, bypassing the likes of David West, Leandro Barbosa, and Kyle Korver. In 2006, they selected Ronaldo Balkman at number 20 over the next pick, which happened to be Raejean Rondo. And two picks after Rondo, well, that pick turned out to be Kyle Lowry. In 2009, the Knicks wanted Steph Curry so bad, but again, Lady Luck was not on their side so they settled for Jordan Hill. Now, if that wasn't bad enough, the next guy who came after Hill was DeMar DeRozan, and, uh, there was also Drew Holiday at 17 and Jeff Teague at 19 as well. In 2017, the Knicks once again had a top 10 pick in their hands, but to the surprise of everyone, they picked Frank Nielakina, and uh, because of this, they missed out on drafting Jared Allen, Bam Edobayo, and Donovan Mitchell. Speaking of Mitchell, they were targeting him via trade just recently, but uh, they botched that one too, cause he ended up getting traded to the Cavs. Now, outside of draft night, the Knicks also tried swinging for the fences by acquiring KD and Kyrie as well as LeBron when he was a free agent back in 2010, but uh, y'all know how that went down. The New York Knicks are trash! Man, I feel for you Stephen A. Anyway guys, we're down to the last team, and at number 1, we have the Los Angeles Clippers. They're famously known as the Flippers, and many fans around the league say that they live in the basement of the Staples Center. I mean, since their inception, which took place in 1971, this team never made it past the second round of the playoffs for 3 long decades, until 2021. And before the Chris Paul era, the Clippers only made the playoffs 4 times from 1976 to 2011. Now, although they seem to be doing okay right now with Kawhi and Paul George at the helm, just remember, a few seasons ago, they choked a 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets, and going forward, I probably wouldn't bet on them. I mean, Kawhi's health is never certain, and PG-13 can be really inconsistent, especially during the playoffs. They can perhaps change their fate if they somehow win a championship, but until then, they're gonna occupy the top spot on this list.