History UsefulNotes / NationalBasketballAssociation

** ''Most Recent Winner:'' Victor Wembanyama, C, Spurs[[note]]#1 overall pick who more than lived up to the hype, putting together one of the best rookie campaigns in league history on his way to a unanimous ROY selection[[/note]] (2024)

** ''Most Recent Winner:'' Paolo Banchero, F, Magic[[note]]#1 overall pick who lived up to the hype, leading rookies in scoring and greatly increasing Orlando's win count[[/note]] (2023)
** ''2024 finalists:'' Chet Holmgren, C, Thunder; Brandon Miller, PF, Hornets; Victor Wembanyama, C, Spurs

[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nba_map_23_24.png]]

[[caption-width-right:1000:[[labelnote:Map of NBA teams in the 2024-25 season]]:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nba_map_24_25.png The Los Angeles Clippers plan this offseason to move out of the [=Crypto.com=] Arena in Downtown LA, with whom they share with the Lakers, to their own arena: the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.[[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:175:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clippers.png]]

'''Home Arena:''' Crypto.com Arena (1999-2024)\\
'''Future Home Arena:''' Intuit Dome (2024 onwards)\\

The ''other'' Los Angeles team, they currently share Crypto.com Arena (previously known as Staples Center) with the Lakers. Born as the Buffalo Braves in 1970, they became the San Diego Clippers (as in the boats, not the hair-cutting instruments) in 1978 and moved to L.A. in 1984. After 15 years at the aging L.A. Memorial Sports Arena (with occasional home games in Orange County), they became joint tenants of the newly opened Staples Center with the Lakers and the NHL's Kings in 1999.\\\

Shortly after Kawhi and PG came on board, the team announced plans to finally crawl out from under the shadows of the Lakers and build a new arena in Inglewood next to the stadium that opened in 2020 for the NFL's Rams and Chargers, set to open in 2024.[[note]]Though, ironically, it will literally be down the street from the Lakers' former home, The Forum.[[/note]]

The NBA also has a second tournament taking place in November and December--the NBA Cup.[[note]]In its inaugural year in 2023, the league simply called the event the "In-Season Tournament." Following a [[ProductPlacementName sponsorship deal]] with [[UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates Emirates]] being signed in February 2024, the tourney has since been renamed to the NBA Cup.[[/note]] This in-season competition works similarly to UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup, in that the 30 teams are split into groups with the winners going into a single-game knockout bracket. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings, and the semifinals and final take place at T-Mobile Arena in UsefulNotes/LasVegas. There are three five-team groups per conference that play a round robin with each other, with the six winners advancing to the knockout stage along with one wild card second-place team from each conference. The current NBA Cup champions are the UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Lakers, winning the inaugural tournament in 2023.

The NBA also has a second tournament taking place in November and December--the NBA Cup.[[note]]In its inaugural year in 2023, the league simply called the event the "In-Season Tournament." Following a [[ProductPlacementName sponsorship deal]] with [[UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates Emirates]] being signed in February 2024, the competition has since been renamed to the NBA Cup.[[/note]] This in-season tourney works similarly to UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup, in that the 30 teams are split into groups with the winners going into a single-game knockout bracket. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings, and the semifinals and final take place at T-Mobile Arena in UsefulNotes/LasVegas. There are three five-team groups per conference that play a round robin with each other, with the six winners advancing to the knockout stage along with one wild card second-place team from each conference. The current NBA Cup champions are the UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Lakers, winning the inaugural tournament in 2023.

The NBA also has a second tournament taking place in November and December--the NBA Cup.[[note]]In its inaugural year in 2023, the league simply called the event the "In-Season Tournament." Following a [[ProductPlacementName sponsorship deal]] with [[UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates Emirates]] being signed in Feburary 2024, the competition has since been renamed to the NBA Cup.[[/note]] This in-season tourney works similarly to UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup, in that the 30 teams are split into groups with the winners going into a single-game knockout bracket. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings, and the semifinals and final take place at T-Mobile Arena in UsefulNotes/LasVegas. There are three five-team groups per conference that play a round robin with each other, with the six winners advancing to the knockout stage along with one wild card second-place team from each conference. The current NBA Cup champions are the UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Lakers, winning the inaugural tournament in 2023.

The NBA also has a second tournament taking place in November and December--the NBA Cup.[[note]]In its inaugural year in 2023, the league simply called the event the "In-Season Tournament." Following a [[ProductPlacementName sponsorship deal]] in Feburary 2024, the competition has since been renamed to the NBA Cup.[[/note]] This in-season tourney works similarly to UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup, in that the 30 teams are split into groups with the winners going into a single-game knockout bracket. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings, and the semifinals and final take place at T-Mobile Arena in UsefulNotes/LasVegas. There are three five-team groups per conference that play a round robin with each other, with the six winners advancing to the knockout stage along with one wild card second-place team from each conference. The current NBA Cup champions are the UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Lakers, winning the inaugural tournament in 2023.

The NBA also has a second tournament taking place in November and December--the NBA Cup.[[note]]The trophy is the NBA Cup, but the league is simply calling the event the "In-Season Tournament" before getting its [[ProductPlacementName inevitable corporate name]].[[/note]] This in-season tourney works similarly to UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup, in that the 30 teams are split into groups with the winners going into a single-game knockout bracket. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings, and the semifinals and final take place at T-Mobile Arena in UsefulNotes/LasVegas. There are three five-team groups per conference that play a round robin with each other, with the six winners advancing to the knockout stage along with one wild card second-place team from each conference. The current In-Season Tournament champions are the UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Lakers, winning the inaugural NBA Cup in 2023.

As noted above, the 2023–24 season was the first for the NBA Cup.

The 2023–24 season saw the debut of a new in-season tournament--the NBA Cup,[[note]]The trophy is the NBA Cup, but the league is simply calling the event the "In-Season Tournament" before getting its [[ProductPlacementName inevitable corporate name]].[[/note]] which is the effective [[DistaffCounterpart Spear Counterpart]] of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup. Like the WNBA version, it's built into the regular-season schedule. The NBA Cup was deliberately scheduled to fall within what is traditionally the least relevant period of the schedule, namely November and early December. The league's 30 teams are split into five-team groups, with all groups consisting of teams from the same conference. The group stage is a single round-robin within each group. The team that tops each group advances to the knockout stage, as well as the team from each conference that has the best record among the second-place teams. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings.

The playoffs proper run from April to June, and consist of the six best records in each conference plus the winners of both play-in tournaments. The resulting sixteen team postseason is stratified into four rounds consisting of best-of-seven series, where whoever is the first to win four games is declared the victor.[[note]]For those curious in how location is considered, the higher seed hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while the lower seed hosts games 3, 4, and 6.[[/note]] The seeding determines who plays against who in the first round: the 1st seed plays the second play-in winner, the 2nd seed plays the first play-in winner, the 3 plays the 6, and the 4 plays the 5. The victors of the first round then advance to the Conference Semifinals, where the 1/8 plays the 4/5 and the 2/7 plays the 3/6. The gauntlet continues with the two winners playing each other in the Conference Finals, and reaches its apex with the two conference champions playing each other in the NBA Finals. Whoever wins this series is declared the year's champion of the NBA, highlighted with the champion reciving the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy and a player on the team winning the NBA Finals MVP. Currently, the defending NBA champions are the UsefulNotes/{{Denver}} Nuggets, who won their first NBA Finals in 2023 in their first ever appearence in the series.

The 2023–24 season saw the debut of a new in-season tournament--the NBA Cup,[[note]]The trophy is the NBA Cup, but the league is simply calling the event the "In-Season Tournament" before getting its [[ProductPlacementName inevitable corporate name]].[[/note]] which is the effective [[DistaffCounterpart Spear Counterpart]] of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup. Like the WNBA version, it's built into the regular-season schedule. The NBA Cup was deliberately scheduled to fall within what is traditionally the least relevant period of the schedule, namely November and early December. The league's 30 teams are split into five-team groups, with all groups consisting of teams from the same conference. The group stage is a single round-robin within each group. The team that tops each group advances to the knockout stage, as well as the team from each conference that has the best record among the second-place teams. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings.

The primary route from which new players enter the league is the NBA Draft, held each June. Players come mostly from college basketball, though increasingly overseas players and players from other North American leagues are also chosen.[[note]]The NBA previously allowed for players to be drafted after high school, until a 2005 rule change negotiated between players and the league mandated that non-international players be at least age 19 and one year removed from high school before they are draft eligible.[[/note]] The draft consists of 2 rounds, the shortest (by far) of any of the major North American sports[[note]](The UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer [=SuperDraft=] is four rounds. The [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]] and [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL]] drafts are seven rounds each. The [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball MLB]] draft lasts ''20 rounds'', and it was ''40'' before 2021.)[[/note]], due to basketball not needing as many players on the court as other sports leagues would, with teams having a maximum 17 signed players at any time. Teams that miss the playoffs are entered into a weighted draft lottery, which determines the first 4 picks. Under the current system, introduced in 2019, the three teams with the worst records get equal chances of getting the first pick[[labelnote:*]](unless one or more of those teams owns the first-round pick of another lottery team, such as via a trade; in that case, the team(s) in question not only have the odds of their own team's percentage, but also of the other team in mind as well, if possible)[[/labelnote]], with the chances for other teams decreasing as their records improve. Subsequently, players scouted to go as early draft picks are said to be "lottery picks" (a good thing), while teams likely to miss the playoffs are said to be "lottery bound". The remaining first round picks are awarded in inverse order of record, so the team with the best regular season record gets the 30th and last pick in the first round. The second round is purely based on inverse record.

* Glenn '''"Doc" Rivers''' was a former player (drafted out of Marquette in the second round in 1983 by the Atlanta Hawks, where he set the franchise record for assists) who went on to a long and mostly successful coaching career after his retirement from play in '96. In his first year as a head coach with the Orlando Magic, Rivers was named Coach of the Year despite missing the playoffs by one game, the only coach with that distinction. They did make the playoffs the next three years, but Rivers was sacked early in his fifth season after a disastrous 1-10 start. His hiring by the Boston Celtics in 2004 was widely questioned by the hostile and insular Boston fanbase, particularly as the team's performances declined year over year, but the acquisitions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in '07 helped him turn the team around and win the franchise's first championship in two decades. He had several more strong seasons in Boston before he was acquired by the Clippers for a first-round pick in 2013, where he coached his son Austin and became the franchise's all-time winningest coach, but [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut multiple playoff chokes]] led to him departing for the 76ers in 2020. Unfortunately, his reputation for playoff ineptitude continued; Rivers has more Game 7 losses and blown series leads than any coach in NBA history, and he was fired in 2023 after another playoff disappointment, though he was hired in the middle of the next season to be HC for the Bucks.

Arguably the most consistently dominant team in NBA history, boasting the highest win percentage of any team in the league (.611 in 2022, better than any team in North American pro sports besides the young Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL). From their entrance into the NBA from the ABA in 1976 to 2019, they only missed the playoffs ''four times'', never in back-to-back years. Originating in Dallas as the Chaparrals, they moved to San Antonio in 1973, becoming the city's sole Big Four sports team.\\\

While the Spurs saw moderate successes with George Gervin in the late '70s and '80s (with three Conference Final visits) and David Robinson in the mid-'90s (with one), it was the arrival of Tim Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich in 1997, alongside the acquisition of Tony Parker in 2001 and Manu Ginóbili in '02, that propelled the Spurs into championship success and made them one of the most premier franchises in sports. The Spurs won five championships ('99, '03, '05, '07, '14) with another Finals loss in '13 and four other Conference Finals appearances, and they consistently won 50 games or more year in and year out. They have seen soaring victories[[note]]Sean Elliott's Memorial Day Miracle in '99 and Robert Horry's '05 Finals Game 5 takeover[[/note]], and heart-wrenching losses[[note]]Derek Fisher's 0.4 second shot in '04 and Ray Allen's dagger three-pointer '13[[/note]]. Interestingly, they were NOT among the NBA's most popular teams, with their play frequently described as "{{boring|ButPractical}}", but the Spurs just kept on winning until finally trailing off in the late '10s into a long rebuild that has yet to produce results.\\\

Their streak of consecutive postseason appearances ended in 2020 at a NBA record-tying 22, making them the last team in the four major American sports leagues to miss the playoffs in the 21st century.[[note]]Or at least, the last one founded in the 20th century or earlier.[[/note]] They've been struggling to return to their old winning ways ever since, though the drafting of the immensely hyped prospect Victor Wembanyama in 2023 have given fans hope for the future.

->''"The game of basketball is one of the greatest teachers of life there is. It teaches you first and foremost to believe in yourself. You must develop physical and mental toughness in order to succeed because there's going to be many disappointments and setbacks along the way. You learn quickly that basketball is a team game. You must be unselfish and accept the role that helps the team the most. Basketball teaches you the importance of setting high standards and never accepting anything other than your best effort."''
-->--'''Tom Crean'''

->''"The game of basketball is one of the greatest teachers of life there is."''

!NBA G League History

The NBA currently has 30 teams split into two conferences (Eastern and Western). Each 15-team conference has three five-team divisions. Each conference sends eight teams to the playoffs. Since the 2015–16 season, seeding for the playoffs has been based purely on record; this makes the NBA the first major U.S. professional sports league to eliminate automatic playoff berths for division winners. NBA regular seasons are 82 games in length, with some rare exceptions.[[note]]Besides the lockout shortened seasons in (1998-)99 and 2011-12, the NBA didn't have a consistent amount of games played until the 1967-68 season, when the league established its current 82-game schedule. The 2019-20 season was suspended on March 11, 2020 due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, with each team having played between 63 to 67 games; after the NBA resumed play, the 22 teams that were still in playoff contention at the time of the stoppage had played between 71 to 75 games. The 2020-21 season began play on December 22, 2020 and was truncated to 72 games as a result. Other local events have resulted in individual teams voiding or rescheduling games as necessary. From 2023–24, two teams will play 83 games during the regular season, but one will not count toward regular-season standings; see below.[[/note]] As of 2003, all playoff series are best-of-seven series. As of 2020 (yes, it relates to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic), the NBA has also implemented the play-in tournament for teams with records towards the middle of each conference. The current play-in tournament now allows for the 7th through 10th seed to compete for the final two seeds in each conference: The winner of a game between the 7th and 8th teams receives a berth. The 9th and 10th teams play a game, with the winner of that match facing the loser of the 7/8 match. The winner of this third game takes the final playoff spot.

The 2023–24 season saw the debut of a new in-season tournament--the NBA Cup,[[note]]The trophy is the NBA Cup, but the league is simply calling the event the "In-Season Tournament" before getting its [[ProductPlacementName inevitable corporate name]].[[/note]] which is the effective [[DistaffCounterpart Spear Counterpart]] of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup. Like the WNBA version, it's built into the regular-season schedule. The NBA Cup was deliberately scheduled to fall within what is traditionally the least relevant period of the schedule, namely November and early December. The league's 30 teams are split into five-team groups, with all groups consisting of teams from the same conference. The group stage is a single round-robin within each group. The team that tops each group advances to the knockout stage, as well as the team from each conference that has the best record among the second-place teams. All games except the Cup championship game count in the regular-season standings.

Each team's final regular-season games are determined by how the NBA Cup plays out:
* The 22 teams that fail to qualify for the knockout stage play two games against other teams eliminated in the group stage, giving them all 82 games.
* The teams that lose in the quarterfinals, which will have played 81 games by the last day of the season, will play a single game to end the regular season, with losers from each conference playing one another.
* Since the teams that lose in the semifinals will have played their full allotment of 82 games, they won't play another game.
* The Cup finalists will have actually played 83 regular-season games, but the Cup championship game does not count in the standings. Statistics from that game also don't count toward regular-season totals.

The primary route from which new players enter the league is the NBA Draft, held each June. Players come mostly from college basketball, though increasingly overseas players and players from other North American leagues are also chosen.[[note]]The NBA previously allowed for players to be drafted after high school, until a 2005 rule change negotiated between players and the league mandated that non-international players be at least age 19 and one year removed from high school before they are draft eligible.[[/note]] The draft consists of 2 rounds, the shortest (by far) of any of the major North American sports[[note]](The UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer [=SuperDraft=] is four rounds. The [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]] and [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL]] drafts are seven rounds each. The [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball MLB]] draft lasts ''20 rounds'', and it was ''40'' before 2021.)[[/note]], due to basketball not needing as many players on the court as other sports leagues would, with teams having a maximum 17 signed players at any time. Teams that miss the playoffs are entered into a weighted draft lottery, which determines the first 4 picks. Under the current system, introduced in 2019, the three teams with the worst records get equal chances of getting the first pick[[labelnote:*]](unless one or more of those teams owns the first-round pick of another lottery team, such as via a trade; in that case, the team(s) in question not only have the odds of their own team's percentage, but also of the other team in mind as well, if possible)[[/labelnote]], with the chances for other teams decreasing as their records improve. Subsequently, players scouted to go as early draft picks are said to be "lottery picks" (a good thing), while teams likely to miss the playoffs are said to be "lottery bound". The remaining first round picks are awarded in inverse order of record, so the team with the best regular season record gets the 30th and last pick in the first round. The second round is purely based on inverse record.

'''Current Head Coach:''' Darvin Ham\\

'''Home Arena:''' Wells Fargo Center (since 1996)\\

One of the oldest, most storied, and most successful teams in the history of the NBA (not to mention American pro sports in general). Founded in 1946 as one of the league's original teams, the Celtics have recorded the most wins of any NBA team and have won 17 championships, long the most in the league.

This number was greatly inflated by an unprecedented ''eight'' straight championship wins between 1959-66, by far the longest such streak in North American pro sports. Behind legends such as UsefulNotes/BillRussell, Bob Cousy, and John Havlicek and coach Red Auerbach, the Celtics were the most dominant team in basketball in the late '50s and '60s even outside their unbroken run--five-time MVP Russell won ''11'' total championships within 13 seasons, his first in his rookie '57 season and the last two as a player coach in 1968-69.[[note]]This success was ''somewhat'' helped, of course, by the much smaller size of the league at the time, with only eight teams for the start of that run.[[/note]]

However, behind a revived "Big Three" of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, the Celtics won their 17th championship in 2008 after defeating the Lakers (however it failed to break the curse), who returned the favor in the Finals two years later. They remained generally competitive in years since and finally returned to the Finals in 2022 after a 12-year absence, though they have yet to add another O'Brien Trophy to the case, allowing their championship record to be tied by their hated ArchEnemy.

The Celtics are also one of the most ''hated'' teams in the league (with only their rival Lakers coming close) by both opposing fans and sometimes even ''their own'' players due to Boston generally being a tough city to play for and the way their fans and media acts when their team don't perform. While especially hated in Los Angeles (to the point that ''Beat LA'' became an iconic chant amongst Celtics fans whenever they face off against the Lakers; the chant has also been directed at the Lakers' less successful sibling the Clippers due to Boston's hatred of anything LA), fans in Houston[[note]]Both of their Finals losses came against the Larry Bird-led Celtics in TheEighties back when they had a young Hakeem, though the rivarly has since cooled as they haven't faced each other in the finals since.[[/note]], Atlanta,[[note]]Due to their numerous historic playoff battles that dates back to the late '50s, when the Hawks were still in St. Louis. The Hawks' only championship against the Celtics actually proceeded to kick off the Celtics legendary '60s Dynasty, and they have had many legendary playoff battles since, though mostly one-sided in favor of Boston.[[/note]] Philadelphia,[[note]]The Celtics have ''always'' had a winning record against the 76ers in the playoffs, with the 76ers only major wins came in 1968 (ending Boston's 8-0 Finals streak) and in 1982, in which Boston's fanbase famously chanted the departing 76ers squad to ''Beat LA'', since the Finals matchup was against the far more hated Lakers (who would go on to win the championship).[[/note]] New Jersey/Brooklyn,[[note]]Due to the infamous Red Sox-Yankee rivalry bleeding into basketball. The rivalry first got heated during the early 2000s due to both teams being really good, though the Nets would win out; one of those wins cost the surprising Celtics a trip to the Finals against the Lakers. Then it got weirder when the Nets landed long-time Celtics Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (making many Celtics fans actually root for the ''Nets'' since the Celtics were losing badly at the time), followed a few years later when Kyrie Irving signed with the Nets after an extremely alienating stint in Boston.[[/note]] Cleveland, and Miami[[note]]Both mainly because of [=LeBron's=] personal dislike of the team, dating back to an incident with Pierce during his first game against them; his last loss to them during his first stint is what propelled him to sign with Miami. It also doesn't help that the man responsible for Miami's winning ways who courted [=LeBron=] over to South Beach in Pat Riley was head coach of the legendary Showtime Era Lakers squad during the '80s. The rivarly with Cleveland softened following [=LeBron's=] signing with the hated Lakers.[[/note]] all have a personal dislike of the Celtics.

The Knicks (short for [[InherentlyFunnyWords "Knickerbockers"]][[note]]either a reference to New York's Dutch population or the team's shorts, depending on who you ask[[/note]]) are one of the NBA's most valuable franchises in terms of net worth[[labelnote:*]]Both the Knicks and the Lakers are worth over $2.5 billion[[/labelnote]], though they have been TheChewToy of the NBA for a long time. A charter member of the league[[note]]They beat the Toronto Huskies 68-66 on 11/1/1946 in what is now considered the first NBA game.[[/note]], the Knicks won two titles in 1970 and '73 led by Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, and Willis Reed. In the '90s, the team was led by Patrick Ewing and went to two Finals in 1994 and '99 but [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut came up short of a championship win]] against the other dominant teams of the era.

Beginning in the 2000s, the Knicks have been the victim of several seasons of mismanagement and horrible front office moves, primarily led by executive owner James Dolan, whose considered to be one of the ''worst'' owners in the NBA. They tried to shed this image in the 2010s with Carmelo Anthony and Latvian forward Kristaps Porziņģis on the court and Phil Jackson in the front office, but all of these moves proved disastrous. However, the team appears to finally be rebounding to relevance in the 2020s with stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.

A charter team of the NBA. Dating back to 1946 as the Syracuse Nationals, the Sixers have called Philly home since 1963. They have boasted some of the greatest players in NBA history, including UsefulNotes/WiltChamberlain, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, and Allen Iverson. The franchise won three titles in their history ('55 as the Nationals and '67 and '83 as the 76ers) and have logged nine total trips to the Finals, with four of them coming in a run of strength in the late '70s/early '80s (fittingly kicking off in the 1976-77 season) and the most recent coming in 2001.

In the 2010s, after years of inconsistency, they went through perhaps the most extreme rebuilding process the NBA has ever seen in hopes of building a more sustained winning franchise, with [[AudienceAlienatingEra three seasons featuring]] [[TheChewToy all-time record losing streaks and fewer than 20 victories]] while continually sending away most competitive players in exchange for draft picks. Fans were told during this period to "trust the Process"; diehard Sixers fans during the wilderness years thus came to be called "[[FanCommunityNickname Process-Trusters]]". The [[HopeSpot saving grace]] from all this is that they got a bunch of early draft picks thanks to the equally mismanaged Kings; since the late 2010s, the team has been competitive and featured a generational talent in Joel Embiid but has a bad case of EveryYearTheyFizzleOut, leaving many to question if "The Process" was worth it.

They have notable rivalries with the Celtics, the Lakers, and the Bullets (now the Wizards).

One of the youngest franchises in the NBA and are the only team still based in Canada after the league's attempted expansion into the country in 1995[[labelnote:*]](the other team, the Grizzlies, relocated to Memphis from Vancouver in 2001 due to poor results early on)[[/labelnote]]. By the late 2000s, they started to focus on that aspect, trading their primary color from purple to red and coining the slogan "We the North". ''Film/JurassicPark'' not only inspired the team name but became the nickname of Maple Leaf Square during public viewings of the team's games.

''The'' franchise of the '90s as the team of the great UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan and thus remain one of the [[WolverinePublicity NBA's most popular teams]] despite generally underperforming through the rest of their Jordan-less history.

The Bulls date back to 1966 and started out generally decent, even making back-to-back Conference Finals appearances in 1974-75 under coach Dick Motta. After a few years out of contention, the franchise ascended to its greatest heights with the arrival of Jordan, Scottie Pippen, coach Phil Jackson, and a host of other stars in the late '80s. During Jordan's peak, Chicago won six championships in two separate threepeats (1991-93, 1996-98) and put forth some of the greatest basketball the NBA has ever seen. (The 1995-96 Bulls, which added Creator/DennisRodman to the mix, went 72-10, a single-season record until the 2015–16 Warriors came along.)

Cleveland's team is best known as having been the home of UsefulNotes/LeBronJames for most of his career. Founded in 1970, the Cavs were borderline mediocre throughout much of their history before James' arrival, having never made it to the NBA Finals and only getting to the prior round twice in '76 (a relative outlier deemed "the Miracle of Richfield") and in '92 (in the midst of their most successful pre-Bron era).

In 2003, they drafted James #1 overall and became one of the best teams in the East for the next few seasons, reaching their first Finals in 2007 where they got swept by the dynastic Spurs. After a few more seasons of playoff disappointments, James left for Miami in 2010, and Cleveland went roughly nowhere without their best player. Cleveland fans resented James mightily during his four years in Miami, only to change their tune completely when he decided to come home; the Cavs got back near the top of the league with four straight Finals appearances and [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally won a championship in 2016]]; not only was it Cleveland's first in any major league sport since ''1964'', it was against the team with the most regular season wins in NBA history who were leading the series 3-1.

The Pistons actually predate the NBA itself by nine years, having been founded in 1937 in Fort Wayne, Indiana as a semi-professional team created by a request from the workers of the team's original owner, Fred Zollner of the Zollner Corporation. The [[ProductPlacement Zollner Pistons]] later became professional in 1941 as part of the NBL (where they won two championships in 1944-45) before joining the NBA (removing the Zollner from the team name in favor of just Fort Wayne) in 1948. They became a key figure for the NBL/BAA merger into the NBA a year later, with the leagues literally agreeing to the merger in Zollner's house at his kitchen table. The team made back-to-back Finals appearances in 1955-56 before moving to Detroit in 1957.

They struggled through most of the '60s and '70s before entering their most famous era, that of the infamous [[{{Heel}} "Bad Boys"]] teams of the late '80s and early '90s. Led by Isiah Thomas and with supporting players such as Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, and Dennis Rodman, they used ''brutal'' defense to reach five straight Conference Finals, three straight Finals appearances, and win two consecutive championships in 1989-90, knocking out UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan and his Bulls in the process.

After another regression, the team had another impressive run in the 2000s, when a core of Chauncey Billups, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Ben Wallace dominated the Eastern Conference and reached ''six'' straight Conference Finals, though they only reached the next round twice (2004-05) and only won the championship in '04. The team has since regressed back to the bottom of the league, with the nadir being a 28-game losing streak in 2023, equaling the all-time record and also ''the'' longest within a single season.

Playing in UsefulNotes/{{Indianapolis}} and named in reference to the pace cars of UsefulNotes/IndyCar, the Pacers are one of the four teams that joined the NBA from the ABA merger in 1976. While the Pacers won three championships in the ABA, but they are best known for their '90s teams led by Reggie Miller; however, they lost their only trip to the NBA Finals in 2000. In recent years, the Pacers were one of the most competitive teams in the Eastern Conference before star player Paul George was dealt to the Thunder in the 2017 offseason. They are now rising back to contention under a high-scoring offense.

The former team of Lew Alcindor (later known as Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar) and Oscar Robertson and the current team of Greek swingman and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. They won a championship in 1971, their third season of existence, and had another Finals appearance three years later, but were generally average to mediocre after that, with some good teams in the mid-'80s and a deep run in 2001 thanks to the shooting star Ray Allen.

The acquisition of Giannis turned the Bucks' fortunes around in the late 2010s, and after he bucked (no pun intended) the trend of small-market superstars leaving through free agency or forcing a trade, [[OlderThanTheyThink something Kareem did to the Bucks in the seventies,]] by signing a supermax extension[[labelnote:*]]The league's collective bargaining agreement with its players' union allows players who are entering their eighth or ninth season in the league, and meet specified elite performance criteria, to sign contract extensions with their current teams for salaries that would otherwise not be allowed until the player's 10th season.[[/labelnote]] in the 2020 offseason, he took the team to their first title in a half-century in 2021.

Have been around for as long as the NBA itself, though they have not spent all that time in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 as the Buffalo Bisons, they moved after barely a month of play to become the Tri-Cities Blackhawks[[note]]referring to the shared metro area of Moline and Rock Island, Illinois; and Davenport, Iowa (East Moline, Illinois eventually joined in to make it the Quad Cities, and still later Bettendorf, Iowa joined the group, making the "Tri-Cities" and "Quad Cities" names an ArtifactTitle)[[/note]]. The franchise moved to Milwaukee in 1951 and to St. Louis in 1955. The franchise experienced the most success in Missouri with the great Bob Pettit leading the way, winning their sole championship in 1958 (and losing three more Finals appearance to the [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter dominant Celtics]]).

They landed in Atlanta in 1968, and UsefulNotes/TedTurner bought the team in the late '70s, mostly so his [[Creator/{{TBS}} Superstation WTBS]] would have sports to air; Turner had also bought the Atlanta Braves of UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball around the same time for the same reason. In the 1980s, Slam Dunk Contest champions Spud Webb and Dominique Wilkins made the team very entertaining to watch, even if they didn't have much postseason success (always getting bounced by the dominant Larry Bird and his Celtics), a trend that has continued ever since.

From 2004-15 (after [[Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery Time Warner]] sold off Turner's sports teams), the Hawks were noted for a circus of discord among its ownership group, featuring numerous lawsuits (with some owners even suing ''each other''), that finally ended with the team's sale. Ironically, the team was pretty solid on the court during most of this era, including their first Conference Finals visit since the conferences were formed in 2015. After this, the team entered into a brief rebuilding mode before emerging for another Conference Finals appearance in 2021 under current star Trae Young.

This team has an... [[ContinuitySnarl interesting history]].

The original Hornets were founded in 1988 and were one of the most exciting and popular teams of the '90s, helped by their very decade-appropriate teal and purple color scheme. However, falling attendance, uninspired play, and a souring relationship between the fans and the owner prompted the Hornets to move to New Orleans.

In the aftermath of the Hornets move, the NBA awarded Charlotte an expansion team for the 2004-05 season to give the league an even 30 teams, and the '''Charlotte Bobcats''' were born. In their 10 seasons as the Bobcats, they only made the playoffs twice and became known for [[JokeCharacter some really bad basketball]]; the strike-shortened 2011-12 season saw the Bobcats log the worst winning percentage in NBA history, winning just 7 of 66 games (.106).

In 2013, the New Orleans Hornets renamed themselves the Pelicans, thus opening the door for the Bobcats to "return" the Hornets name and colors back to Charlotte. By agreement with the NBA and the Pelicans, the team also [[RetCon regained the rights to the history and records of the original Charlotte Hornets.]]

One of the more decorated and successful teams in the league, garnering seven Finals appearances and three NBA championships since stepping on the court as an expansion franchise in 1988.

The arrival of the Showtime Lakers' coach Pat Riley in the '90s, first as coach and then as GM/president, elevated the young team. They had their first era of success with legendary defender Alonzo Mourning, then broke through for their first title in 2006 thanks to [[MyNaymeIs Dwyane]] Wade and Creator/ShaquilleONeal.

From 2010-14, UsefulNotes/LeBronJames and Chris Bosh formed a PowerTrio with Wade, turning the Heat into the go-to polarizing team in all of basketball and earning back-to-back league titles in 2012-13. [=LeBron=] returned to Cleveland after 2014 and the Heat were forced to rebuild.

Once they landed on current star Jimmy Butler, the Heat quickly bounced back to the Finals in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season (amusingly against [=LeBron=]'s Lakers, which defeated them in 6 games. They made the Conference Finals in 2022 (losing to the rival Celtics in 7) and returned to the Finals in '23, in the latter becoming only the second #8 seed to go that far[[note]]and first to have played a full regular season, let alone have to play through the play-in tournament[[/note]], though they would lose to the highly dominant Nuggets in 5.

Have only been around since 1989, yet were competitive in the East for a good part of their history, with players like Creator/ShaquilleONeal, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Tracy [=McGrady=], and Dwight Howard leading the Magic to five division titles and two trips to the NBA Finals in 1994 and 2009. Unfortunately, they have been closer to the bottom of the league since Howard left in 2012 and are currently in the midst of a rebuilding process.

Dating back to 1961, this team has seen [[IHaveManyNames plenty of moves and name changes]] in their history: Chicago Packers in 1961, Chicago Zephyrs in 1962, Baltimore Bullets (2.0) in 1963, Capital Bullets in 1973, Washington Bullets in 1974, and finally the current name in 1997 after enough people pointed out that having a gun-related name in a city with a high crime rate was a poor marketing strategy (and [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague they wouldn't be the last team based in DC to change names]]).

As the Bullets, they had a dominant run in the '70s, led by Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, that saw them make four trips to the Finals and win the championship in 1978. Sadly, the Bullets/Wizards have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs since their '78 championship, through the '90s couldn't even ''get'' to the postseason, and were known in the early 2000s as the place where an aged UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan un-retired for two years and failed to develop Kwame Brown into his heir apparent (which many Bulls and Wizards fans want to forget actually happened).

The current Wizards are still trying to establish themselves as a legit contender in the East, as the past decade has seen a rotating cast of stars like John Wall, Russell Westbrook, and Bradley Beal lead the team to playoff spots and the occasional division title but never past the conference semis.

Founded in 1967 as an ABA team called the Rockets[[labelnote:*]]They originally had Kansas City in mind before moving to Denver, and originally sought to be called the Larks before changing to the Rockets right before the inaugural season began.[[/labelnote]] and are one of the four ABA teams that merged into the NBA in 1976 (just after they lost in that league's Finals).

They spent the next half-century establishing a reputation for general regular season excellence with [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut little to show for it in the postseason]], reaching just four Conference Finals ('78, '85, '09, '20) prior to 2023 and losing each. This trend for postseason ineptitude was especially painful considering the Nuggets visited the playoffs more than ''any'' team in North American pro sports that hadn't won a single championship. Throughout the '80s and early '90s, under coaches Doug Moe and Paul Westhead, the Nuggets were recognized for their [[GlassCannon high-scoring offense led by Alex English and their so-so defense]].[[note]]Critics called the Nuggets the "Enver Nuggets" due to their lackluster D. They were the losing team of both the highest-scoring overall game in league history (a 186-184 triple OT affair against the Pistons in 1983) and the highest-scoring regulation game (162-158 to the Warriors in 1990). Westhead's tenure (1990-92) especially saw them give up comically astronomical numbers, including a game where they allowed the Suns to score 107 points ''in the first half alone''.[[/note]]

They were anchored defensively by Dikembe Mutombo in the early '90s and notched the very first #8 seed upset in the first round of the 1994 playoffs over Seattle before entering another period of irrelevance. Their prospects were somewhat turned around by Carmelo Anthony in the 2000s, but they continued to struggle in the playoffs and were torn asunder by interpersonal drama.

Today, the team is led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokić, whose outstanding all-around play took them to regular season success and the franchise's long-awaited first championship in 2023.

Based in [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities Minneapolis]], but following the tradition of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Vikings]] and the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Twins]], Timberwolves are named for the state, largely to appeal to [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities St. Paul]]. The Timberwolves hold the dubious [[MedalOfDishonor "honor"]] of having the worst lifetime win percentage in the NBA and in major North American pro sports.

Founded in 1989, the T-Wolves' biggest successes are tied with Kevin Garnett's prime years in the late '90s and early 2000s, which culminated in 2004 with an MVP award and the team's only division title and trip to the Conference Finals. During this span, they rival Sacramento in the biggest draft misses, frequently taking poor-middling players over future superstars.[[note]]A few notable examples include Ricky Rubio ''and'' Jonny Flynn over Steph Curry, and Derrick Williams over Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, and Jimmy Butler (though they would get Butler back later on... only for him to leave due to being dissatisfied with the team's losing culture, which was also the same reason he would leave the 76ers for the Miami Heat)[[/note]]

Ever since then, the T-Wolves have finished at or near the bottom of a hyper-competitive Western Conference, only making the playoffs ''twice'' since. Garnett left Minnesota for Boston in 2007 to finally win a championship, then returned to the T-Wolves in 2015 for one final season as a mentor to the current young roster, though that ended on an ''extremely'' sour note.[[note]]Garnett has more or less exiled himself from the organization and allied himself with the Celtics due to the way he was treated throughout his tenure there, which stemmed from how the team's original ownership handled the tragic death of his close friend and fellow T-Wolves teammate Malik Sealy who was killed in a car accident, which Garnett felt was a huge disservice (despite them retiring Sealy's #2); this is why Garnett's number hasn't been worn nor retired since, and it's speculated that they'll only retire Garnett's number if the two sides reconcile their differences[[/note]]. The team is now led by Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns and is finally showing signs of improvement.

Formerly known as the '''UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} [=SuperSonics=]'''. Founded in 1967, the Sonics had a history of moderate successes in the Northwest, winning the NBA title in 1979, reaching the Finals on two other occasions ('78, '96), and appearing in three other Conference Finals. Unfortunately, the lack of a new arena deal in Seattle, coupled with the owners' ties to Oklahoma and the feverish support OKC gave the Hornets when they were displaced for two seasons by Hurricane Katrina, prompted their move to become the Thunder in 2008. This is still a major sore point in Seattle[[note]]However, in the years since the Sonics' relocation to Oklahoma City, their former arena in Seattle has been renovated into Climate Pledge Arena, and has been used for both college basketball as well as professional ice hockey (specifically, UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague's Seattle Kraken). This, combined with the ensuing litigation from their relocation forcing the owners of the Thunder to leave the Sonics name and color scheme in Seattle and the confirmations by the NBA of them seeking to expand in the near future, has led to speculation that the Sonics might return in the foreseeable future, though a major realignment would need to take place [[/note]].

As the only major pro sports franchise in Oklahoma, the team quickly grew powerful under superstars Kevin Durant (who became the final superstar the ''Sonics'' would draft before the move), Russell Westbrook (drafted in the same year as Durant), and James Harden. The young core of talent led the Thunder to a Finals appearance in 2012 (where they lost to Miami Heat's polarized PowerTrio in 5 games) and three other Conference Finals, [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut coming up short each time]]. Harden left to become a superstar in Houston, and Durant's departure would follow soon after for [[TheJuggernaut the Warriors]] as a free agent after 2016. Westbrook carried the team to a playoff appearance and an MVP title, but an attempt to create a new Big 3 with Carmelo Anthony and Paul George fell flat, leading to the team entering rebuild mode in 2019.

In September 2023, the Thunder [[https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38388729/okc-unveils-plan-new-arena-keep-thunder-2050 campaigned for a new arena]] to keep themselves in Oklahoma City until ''2050''. In December of that year, [[https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/news/oklahoma-city-votes-to-approve-future-arena-of-okc-thunder the people of Oklahoma City voted in favor of tax increases]] to cover the cost of the arena, in spite of the overal ambivalence on spending public money for such an expensive project (especially given the economy of the state of Oklahoma)[[note]]One sore point was that the Thunder would contribute $50 million for their new arena, while the public would spent ''$900 million''[[/note]]. Prior to this election, there were doubts about their future in OKC due to these circumstances -- [[https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/nba/15-years-after-moving-sonics-now-its-the-thunder-asking-for-publicly-funded-arena/ a situation whose irony was not lost on Seattle-based press]]. The team's colors are [[OrangeBlueContrast orange, sky blue,]] and yellow.

The 'Blazers,' as they're sometimes known, date back to 1970 and are the former team of Bill Walton (who won the team's only championship in 1977, their first ever winning season) and Clyde Drexler (who led Portland to the Finals in '90 and '92). They had another run of success in the late '90s with the help of Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal, and former nemesis Scottie Pippen (who was on the Bulls team that beat Drexler's Blazers in '92), reaching consecutive Conference Finals before its players had so many off-field legal issues that they gained the nickname "The Jail Blazers".

The Blazers are also unfortunately associated with not one but TWO drafts which they passed up picking a superstar in favor of a player whose career got cut short due to injuries (Sam Bowie over both UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan and UsefulNotes/CharlesBarkley in 1984 and Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in 2007) and are known for having ''terrible'' injury luck more generally[[note]]Bill Walton still hasn't forgiven the team for allowing him to play on shot knees in the '77 Finals, derailing his once promising career. They're also signed Arvydas Sabonis despite his knees having been so destroyed by Soviet mismanagement that he would have ''qualified for a handicapped parking space'', and budding superstar Brandon Roy's career was likewise slashed by injuries.[[/note]].

In recent years, the Blazers have overcome setback after setback to try to stay competitive in the Western Conference, thanks in large part to the exploits of Damian Lillard, who took them to a Conference Finals appearance in 2019.

Playing in the state's capital, Salt Lake City, the Jazz are the former team of "Pistol" Pete Maravich, John Stockton, Karl "The Mailman" Malone, and longtime head coach Jerry Sloan.

The Jazz have been one of the league's stronger teams, being the only one to never post more than 60 losses in a season and making the playoffs 19 years straight from 1984-2003, being led for many of those years by the tandem of Stockton and Malone.

However, despite their regular season dominance, they have [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut no championships to show for it]]. The team have only made the Finals twice ('97-'98), losing both to Michael Jordan's Bulls, and came up short in three other Conference Finals in the Stockton-Malone era. Their last Conference Finals visit came in '07, late in Sloan's career, and they have yet to come any closer to contending for a title. Donovan Mitchell and three-time [=DPotY=] Rudy Gobert returned the Jazz to strength in the early 2020s until both were traded in the 2022 offseason, as one part of a vast, multi-year plan by director of basketball operations Danny Ainge to reboot the team. Needless to say, a championship still eludes them.

...Oh, right; if you're wondering what UsefulNotes/{{Mormon|ism}} UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} (where, [[Film/{{BASEketball}} according to some sources]], music is forbidden), has to do with {{Jazz}}, this is yet another team with an ArtifactTitle. The franchise started in New Orleans in 1974, with the name Jazz obviously alluding to the city as the place where the genre was born. They also further cemented a connection with local culture by adopting the Mardi Gras shades of purple, green and gold as team colors.[[note]]Eventually purple got replaced with blue, and green got phased out, and black was added, first as an alternate color, then becoming a primary one.[[/note]] Despite boasting local hero Maravich (who'd played college ball up the road at LSU), the New Orleans Jazz struggled on the court and in the financial ledgers, and after the 1978-79 season they packed up and moved to Salt Lake City.[[note]]While Salt Lake might seem like a weird random place for an NBA team to relocate, there were several reasons why it got chosen. For one thing, the team's co-owner Sam Battistone was Mormon and his wife was from Utah. For another, the Utah Stars had been one of the top-drawing ABA teams, and their former arena, the Salt Palace, was still fairly new and had a capacity (nearly 13,000 seats) in line with NBA standards at the time. Also, the state had a well-entrenched basketball culture, with popular school and church youth league programs, and four successful local Division I college basketball teams (BYU, Utah, Utah State and Weber State) who all boasted big arenas and huge home crowds. Salt Lake had also just come off of a wildly successful stint hosting the NCAA Final Four at the University of Utah's Special Events Center (now the Hunstman Center), culminating with the much-hyped championship game matchup of Magic Johnson and Michigan State versus Larry Bird and Indiana State.[[/note]] The move had been fairly rushed (only about six weeks after the regular season ended), and the team's ownership considered the relocation a gamble and were prepared for another move in the near future, so they kept the Jazz name and the Mardi Gras colors despite their incongruity in their new home (a team called the Jazz in Music/LouisArmstrong's hometown, yes; in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's hometown, not so much). After potential moves to Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Miami were nixed and the team committed to Utah for good, the name has become an entrenched part of NBA culture and decades later, few even question it anymore.[[note]]It's even become something of a quirky Utah tradition to append one or two Z's to the end of a professional team name or have a Z somewhere (the WNBA and women's soccer's "Starzz", the former moved away and the latter defunct; the minor league "Orem Owlz", also moved from Utah; the "Blitzz" of a long forgotten soccer league; the minor league hockey Grizzlies; and the minor league baseball team of ''Film/MajorLeague: Back to the Minors'', the "Buzz", since renamed the Stingers and then the Bees).[[/note]] When Tom Benson acquired the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012, he attempted to reclaim the Jazz name for New Orleans, but the Jazz owners weren't interested in giving it up.

The [[UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco Bay]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}} Area]]'s team, and while their recent accomplishments stand out most clearly, they have a deep and well-traveled history.

Formed as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the NBA, the franchise has won seven championships, the most in the league behind only the Lakers and Celtics: two in Philly in 1947 (the first in league history) and '56, and five in California in 1975, 2015, '17, '18, and '22. UsefulNotes/WiltChamberlain played for the Warriors before and after their cross-country move prior to his return to Philadelphia. The team took the "Golden State" name in 1971 after moving to neighboring UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}}, and Rick Barry led them to the title in '75. Unfortunately, they [[SeasonalRot declined into]] [[AudienceAlienatingEra nearly three decades]] of mediocre basketball soon after (save for a glimmer of promise in the late '80s/early '90s with the "Run-TMC" trio of Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, and Tim Hardaway).

However, [[TookALevelInBadass things changed dramatically for the Warriors]] in the 2010s when they drafted [[BashBrothers "Splash Brothers"]] UsefulNotes/StephenCurry and Klay Thompson, who led them to five straight Finals appearances from 2015-19. With the additions of power forward [[LightningBruiser Draymond]] [[BloodKnight Green]] in '12 and head coach Steve Kerr in '14, the Warriors established themselves as arguably [[ImprobableAimingSkills the greatest shooting team]] in NBA history, winning the title in '15. They followed that up by [[TheJuggernaut going 73–9]] in the 2015–16 regular season, surpassing the 1995–96 Bulls for the best regular-season record in league history (though unlike the Bulls, [[DownerEnding they were defeated in the finals]] despite having a 3-1 series advantage over the Cavaliers). Thanks to the "Dubs"[[note]]as in"[=DOUBle=] u"s[[/note]] relative youth, they appeared to be a title threat for years to come... and [[FromBadToWorse that]] was ''before'' they [[OhCrap added Kevin Durant]] [[TookALevelInBadass in 2016,]] which helped them go on a historic rampage through the playoffs, with their only postseason loss coming in Game 4 of the Finals against TheRival Cleveland. They swept the Cavs completely in their next Finals, effectively sending UsefulNotes/LeBronJames [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere to the Lakers]] in the process.

The Dubs had less luck in the '19 Finals, where they lost 4–2 to the Lowry-Leonard-led Raptors due to injuries to Durant and Thompson. They subsequently departed Oakland for a new arena in San Francisco, which seemed to curse the team for the next two seasons; however, the dynasty resumed with his return in 2021-22, winning the Warriors another title over the Boston Celtics.

The ''other'' Los Angeles team, they currently share Crypto.com Arena (previously known as Staples Center) with the Lakers. Born as the Buffalo Braves in 1970, they became the San Diego Clippers (as in the boats, not the hair-cutting instruments) in 1978 and moved to L.A. in 1984. After 15 years at the aging L.A. Memorial Sports Arena (with occasional home games in Orange County), they became joint tenants of the newly opened Staples Center with the Lakers and the NHL's Kings in 1999.

For a long time, they were regarded as [[ButtMonkey the worst team in the league]], if not in all four major sports leagues. This was largely due to the ineptitude of longtime owner Donald Sterling, though a lack of talent (either due to draft busts or poor signing decisions) and the raving success of the crosstown Lakers didn't help matters either.

Things started to look up for them in the 2010s when they drafted Blake Griffin, acquired Chris Paul, and Sterling was permanently banned from league operations thanks to his history of racist comments, giving up the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The Lob City era was born in that time, being named that after Paul's skillful passing and Griffin and [=DeAndre=] Jordan's awe-inspiring dunks, and the Clippers became perennial playoff contenders. The team's fortunes continued to improve at the end of the decade when they obtained two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and All-Star Paul George, who finally managed to take the team to a conference championship for the first time in its half-century history of existence in 2021, though they [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut lost to the Suns in six games]], keeping them as the only NBA team founded before TheEighties to never make the finals.

The ArtifactTitle name comes from their original city, Minneapolis, located in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", which were originally created for the then-rivaling NBL after the wretched Detroit Gems folded and were pretty much sold off to a Minneapolis owner after the Gems' only season of existence. The Lakers began stacking up championships immediately, winning the NBL's title in 1948 after their very first season before jumping over to the BAA (the precursor to the NBA) the next year and claiming five of the next six championships there.

They moved to L.A. in 1960 and quickly established themselves as the city's favorite sports franchise by bringing titles to multiple generations of Angelenos while also developing a deep hated famous bitter rivalry with the Boston Celtics (who won every single Finals matchup against the Lakers during TheSixties, helping give the franchise their current record for the most Finals losses). L.A. fans of different ages can remember Chamberlain winning a late-career championship in '72 shortly after an NBA record 33-game win streak; the "Showtime" era of Magic, Kareem, and coach Pat Riley in the '80s that saw them win five championships and engage in an epic rivalry with Larry Bird and the Celtics (dramatized in the series ''Series/WinningTime''); and the Kobe-Phil Jackson years, with either the Shaq three-peat from 2000-02 or the back-to-back titles in 2009-10.

The following decade was not as kind to the Lakers, as Bryant fell victim to injuries and attempts to follow the superteam trend fizzled out; after never posting a playoff drought longer than two seasons in the franchise's entire history, they missed out on the postseason for six years.

However, the arrival of James and Anthony Davis brought them back to the top of the league once again after the COVID-impacted 2019–20 season, finally tying their [[TheRival rival]] Celtics for the most championships.

They also are [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the only team to win an NBA Cup (for now)]]. The Lakers' colors are [[YellowPurpleContrast purple and gold]] with black being added as an accent color following [=LeBron's=] arrival.

Date back to 1968 and are the former team of UsefulNotes/CharlesBarkley in the early-to-mid '90s and Steve Nash for much of the 2000s. Despite generally being a strong team, the Suns' successes have almost always [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut flamed out in some fashion or another]] and the franchise has never won a championship; in fact, they have the most Finals appearances of any team without a title.

They have been involved in many benchmark moments in NBA history, including what many consider the greatest NBA game ever played, Game 5 of the '76 Finals, where the Suns lost to Boston 128-126 in triple overtime. After two more Conference Final visits, the team's performance dipped until they returned to consecutive Conference Finals appearances in the early '90s. The acquisition of Barkley in 1992 helped them get to the next stage and reach the '93 Finals, where they were cut short by Jordan's Bulls. In the 2000s, Nash took the Suns to the top of the standings and another two Conference Finals with a [[GlassCannon high octane offense]], but the franchise slumped mightily following his departure.

In 2020-21, after not reaching the postseason [[AudienceAlienatingEra for a full decade]], the team went on a resurgent run led by Devin Booker and Chris Paul all the way to a third Finals appearance, only to come up short against the Bucks.

At around this same time, however, franchise owner Robert Sarver became embroiled in serious allegations of racism, sexism, and misogyny that had not been seen since Donald Sterling owned the Clippers; while serving a suspension through the 2022–23 season, he officially sold the team to Mat Ishbia, a benchwarmer on Michigan State's 2000 NCAA title team, and his older brother Justin Ishbia for $4 billion in 2023, the largest such sale for any NBA franchise.

The journeyman franchise of the NBA. They're also by far the oldest franchise in the league, tracing their roots back to ''1923'', when they were founded as the semi-pro Rochester Seagrams. After going pro and eventually renaming themselves the Royals in 1945[[labelnote:*]](after previously being the Rochester Eber Seagrams for one season and the Rochester Pros for two more)[[/labelnote]], they won the NBL Championship. Three years later, they joined the BAA/NBA. They moved to Cincinnati in 1957, became the Kansas City(-Omaha) Kings in 1972, and finally settled in Sacramento in 1985, becoming the only Big Four sports team in the market.

Despite their long history, the Kings only have one NBA title to their name, won in 1951, and haven't even made it to the Finals since, the longest such droughts of any franchise. They have come agonizingly close, though, taking both UsefulNotes/BillRussell's Celtics and Creator/{{Shaq|uilleONeal}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kobe|Bryant}}'s Lakers to seven games in the Conference Finals. During the early 2000s, the team was a perennial contender thanks to a strong starting five and the home-court advantage of its raucous crowd. Unfortunately, that core of players could never defeat the Shaq and Kobe Lakers [[note]]though that series was ultimately marred by scandal, as disgraced referee Tim Donaghy alleged the NBA had rigged a game to extend the series[[/note]] and were never able to reach the Finals before entering the longest playoff drought in NBA history from 2006-22, a stretch that brought into question the team's future in the small market of California's capital.

After many relocation rumors, including a close call in 2013 where the team almost moved to Seattle (where they would have become the Sonics, which would have ''wiped'' the Kings' history out due to being forced to share the Sonics' original history, creating a massive ContinuitySnarl), a local entrepreneur (and former minority owner of the Warriors) bought the Kings, and Sacramento was able to get a deal in place to build a new downtown arena.[[note]]The Kings' first Sacramento home, ARCO Arena, was a hastily converted warehouse (!) that, at 10,000 seats, was the league's smallest arena. After three years they built a much larger facility nearby, also called ARCO Arena (later renamed Power Balance Pavilion and Sleep Train Arena), but by 2013 it was deemed outdated and in an undesirable suburban location, mostly surrounded by business parks. The original ARCO Arena was eventually converted to office space and is now the home of the State of California's Department of Consumer Affairs.[[/note]] This transaction made the Kings the second NBA team with a non-white majority owner, as said entrepreneur, Vivek Ranadivé, is originally from India.

The Mavericks (who got their name because ''Series/{{Maverick}}'' star Creator/JamesGarner [[InJoke was a part of the founding ownership]]) were founded in 1980 and were home to some okay basketball in the '80s (reaching the Conference Finals in '88) and some truly awful basketball in the '90s.Then [[AscendedFanboy dot-com bubble billionaire Mark Cuban]] bought the team in 2000. Since then, the Mavs have consistently been one of the best teams in the NBA led by players like Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Jason Terry, and Dirk Nowitzki. Despite being one of the toughest teams to play in the 21st century, reaching Conference Finals in 2003 and being a regular competitor, the Mavs could never seem to win it all until 2011, when they upset [=LeBron=] and the Heat to give the franchise its first championship. With Nowitzki having retired in 2019, the Mavs are now led by Luka Dončić, who helped lead the team back to the Conference Finals in 2022.

Dating back to 1967, they were the San Diego Rockets for their first four seasons before moving to Houston; obviously, with Houston's UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} roots, there was no reason for a name change. After a Conference Finals appearance in 1977 and a Finals appearance in 1980, the team picked up local college star Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984. "The Dream" led them to another Finals appearance in '86. They became a true dynasty in the '90s under former player -turned-head coach Rudy Tomjanovich, winning back-to-back championships in '94-'95 (and reaching one last Conference Finals in '97).

One of the youngest teams in the league and started out in UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}} in 1995. After six seasons of some REALLY bad basketball in Canada, compiling an all-time winning percentage of .220 in Canada, the Grizzlies moved to Memphis (a region without any native grizzly bears) in 2001, becoming the city's only Big Four sports team.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, they played home games in Oklahoma City for two years, making them the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for two seasons (and contributing to Seattle losing the [=SuperSonics=]). A deal struck with the current Charlotte Hornets in 2014 has officially deemed the Pelicans [[CanonDiscontinuity as though they never were in Charlotte]], having been founded in 2002 instead of 1988.

Arguably the most consistently dominant team in NBA history, boasting the highest win percentage of any team in the league (.611 in 2022, better than any team in North American pro sports besides the young Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL). From their entrance into the NBA from the ABA in 1976 to 2019, they only missed the playoffs ''four times'', never in back-to-back years. Originating in Dallas as the Chaparrals, they moved to San Antonio in 1973, becoming the city's sole Big Four sports team.

While the Spurs saw moderate successes with George Gervin in the late '70s and '80s (with three Conference Final visits) and David Robinson in the mid-'90s (with one), it was the arrival of Tim Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich in 1997, alongside the acquisition of Tony Parker in 2001 and Manu Ginóbili in '02, that propelled the Spurs into championship success and made them one of the most premier franchises in sports. The Spurs won five championships ('99, '03, '05, '07, '14) with another Finals loss in '13 and four other Conference Finals appearances, and they consistently won 50 games or more year in and year out. They have seen soaring victories[[note]]Sean Elliott's Memorial Day Miracle in '99 and Robert Horry's '05 Finals Game 5 takeover[[/note]], and heart-wrenching losses[[note]]Derek Fisher's 0.4 second shot in '04 and Ray Allen's dagger three-pointer '13[[/note]]. Interestingly, they were NOT among the NBA's most popular teams, with their play frequently described as "{{boring|ButPractical}}", but the Spurs just kept on winning until finally trailing off in the late '10s into a long rebuild that has yet to produce results.

The Knicks (short for [[InherentlyFunnyWords "Knickerbockers"]][[note]]either a reference to New York's Dutch population or the team's shorts, depending on who you ask[[/note]]) are one of the NBA's most valuable franchises in terms of net worth[[labelnote:*]]Both the Knicks and the Lakers are worth over $2.5 billion[[/labelnote]], though they have been TheChewToy of the NBA for a long time.

A charter member of the league[[note]]They beat the Toronto Huskies 68-66 on 11/1/1946 in what is now considered the first NBA game.[[/note]], the Knicks won two titles in 1970 and '73 led by Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, and Willis Reed. In the '90s, the team was led by Patrick Ewing and went to two Finals in 1994 and '99 but [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut came up short of a championship win]] against the other dominant teams of the era.

More recently, the Knicks have been the victim of several seasons of mismanagement and horrible front office moves, primarily led by executive owner James Dolan, whose considered to be one of the ''worst'' owners in the NBA. They tried to shed this image in more recent seasons with Carmelo Anthony and Latvian forward Kristaps Porziņģis on the court and Phil Jackson in the front office, but all of these moves proved disastrous.

The Knicks currently play in Madison Square Garden, the oldest (opened in 1967 but a relatively new facility thanks to a 2010s renovation) and arguably most iconic arena in the league. The arena's fame as a concert and boxing venue in America's biggest market means it's ''more'' valuable than the team is.[[note]]The Garden has been valued at $4.8 billion.[[/note]] Following a 2020 corporate spin-off, the company that runs the Garden is separate from the one that owns the Knicks, but James Dolan and his family hold voting control of both companies.

Creator/SpikeLee is a devout fan of the team, and his escalating despair over the team's struggles from his front-row seat in the Garden has arguably eclipsed the entertainment value of the team itself.

A charter team of the NBA. Dating back to 1946 as the Syracuse Nationals, the Sixers have called Philly home since 1963.

They have boasted some of the greatest players in NBA history, including UsefulNotes/WiltChamberlain, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, and Allen Iverson. The franchise won three titles in their history ('55 as the Nationals and '67 and '83 as the 76ers) and have logged nine total trips to the NBA Finals, with four of them coming in a run of strength in the late '70s/early '80s (fittingly kicking off in the 1976-77 season) and the most recent coming in 2001.

They have notable rivalries with the Celtics, the Lakers, and the Bullets (now the Wizards). The team's colors, reflecting their [[PatrioticFervor patriotic name]] (a reference to the date the U.S. Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia), are red, white, and blue; they also had black during the Iverson Era where they switched to a new hip-hop inspired look.

''The'' team of the '90s as the team of the great UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan and thus remain one of the [[WolverinePublicity NBA's most popular teams]] despite generally underperforming through the rest of their Jordan-less history.

The Bulls date back to 1966 and started out a generally good team, even making back-to-back Conference Finals appearances in 1974-75 under coach Dick Motta. However, after a few years out of contention, the franchise ascended to its greatest heights with the arrival of Jordan, Scottie Pippen, coach Phil Jackson, and a host of other stars in the late '80s. During Jordan's peak, Chicago won six championships in two separate threepeats (1991-93, 1996-98) and put forth some of the greatest basketball the NBA has ever seen. (The 1995-96 Bulls, which added Creator/DennisRodman to the mix, went 72-10, a single-season record until the 2015–16 Warriors came along.)

The team's colors are red and black.

Best known as having been the team of UsefulNotes/LeBronJames for most of his career.

Founded in 1970, the Cavs were borderline mediocre throughout much of their history before James' arrival, having never made it to the NBA Finals and only getting to the prior round twice (in '76, a relative outlier deemed "the Miracle of Richfield" whom would have likely won the NBA championship that season had they not lost their best player due to injury, and in '92, in the midst of their most successful pre-Bron era).

In 2003, they drafted James #1 overall and became one of the best teams in the East for the next few seasons, reaching their first Finals in 2007 where they got swept by the dynastic Spurs. After several seasons of playoff disappointments that began with said Finals sweep, James left the Cavs and signed with Miami in 2010, and Cleveland went roughly nowhere without their best player. Cleveland fans resented James mightily during his four years in Miami, only to change their tune completely when he decided to come home; the Cavs got back near the top of the league with four straight Finals appearances and [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally won a championship in 2016]] (Cleveland's first in any major league sport since ''1964'').

After another regression, the team had another impressive run in the 2000s, when a core of Chauncey Billups, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Ben Wallace dominated the Eastern Conference and reached ''six'' straight Conference Finals, though they only reached the next round twice (2004-05) and only won the championship in '04.

The team has since regressed back to the bottom of the league, with the nadir being a 28-game losing streak in 2023, equaling the all-time record and also ''the'' longest within a single season.

The Pistons are also noted for having a colorful arena history. After nearly two decades in Cobo Arena, an unusual Mid-Century Modern venue with a U-shaped seating arrangement on the Detroit River, they split for Detroit's northern suburbs in 1978, first sharing the cavernous Pontiac Silverdome with the NFL's Lions, then opening the Palace of Auburn Hills, the UrExample of the current NBA arena standard (with its innovation of dozens of luxury suites and multi-deck stands) in 1988. The team finally returned to downtown Detroit in 2017 to share the arena built by the NHL's Red Wings. Their colors are blue and red, a look that dates back to TheEighties Bad Boys era. They did briefly change their colors to teal and brick red during the wildly weird [[TheNineties '90s]] era; Detroit fans remain split on that look.

Playing in UsefulNotes/{{Indianapolis}} and named in reference to the pace cars of UsefulNotes/IndyCar, the Pacers are one of the four teams that joined the NBA from the ABA merger in 1976. While the Pacers won three championships in the ABA, they lost their only trip to the NBA Finals in 2000.

They are best known for their '90s teams led by Reggie Miller, who had an outstanding rivalry with the Knicks. In recent years, the Pacers were one of the most competitive teams in the Eastern Conference before star player Paul George was dealt to the Thunder in the 2017 offseason.

The Pacers' home arena, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, is often held up as one of the best atmospheres in the NBA due to being the only venue in the league designed primarily for basketball.[[note]]It ''can'' accomodate hockey, but a rink would require reduced and asymmetrical seating.[[/note]] Their colors are navy blue and gold, and their slogan is "Boom, Baby".

Their colors are black, red, and yellow, and before that orange, but they and their fans typically sport all-white at home.

Have only been around since 1989, yet were competitive in the East for a good part of their history, with players like Creator/ShaquilleONeal, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Tracy [=McGrady=], and Dwight Howard leading the Magic to five division titles and two trips to the NBA Finals in 1994 and 2009.

Unfortunately, they have been closer to the bottom of the league since Howard left in 2012 and are currently in the midst of a rebuilding process.

Their name is a lawyer-friendly allusion to nearby Ride/WaltDisneyWorld's Magic Kingdom, as they are the only Big Four sports franchise to call the Theme Park Capital of the World home,[[note]]The next-highest level teams to call Orlando home are the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences UCF Knights]], [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer Orlando City]], and the latter's {{distaff counterpart}}, the Orlando Pride.[[/note]] and their colors are blue, black, and silver. They have become beloved and famous for wearing pinstripes on their uniforms considered by many to be the best look in the league, a look that dates back to TheNineties which was revived for the team's 20th anniversary.

Their colors, fitting with their position in the nation's capital, are [[PatrioticFervor red, white, and blue]], a color scheme they share with their NHL tenants the Capitals and the MLB Nationals (though prior to that, they went with blue and bronze until around when the team got John Wall).

Their colors are blue, yellow, and red. Long before that, they wore a rather famous rainbow look during the '80s, then swapped them out for dark blue, red, and bronze in the '90s, then to sky blue, yellow, and navy blue during the Anthony-Iverson era, before phasing out sky blue in favor of their current look.

They are another NBA team that recently changed hands--kind of. In May 2021, e-commerce mogul Marc Lore and [[UsefulNotes/HistoricalPeopleToKnowInMLB former MLB superstar Alex Rodriguez]] struck a deal with owner Glen Taylor to buy a controlling interest in the T-Wolves for $1.5 billion. Lore and A-Rod initially bought a 40% stake, but missed a March 2024 deadline on a final payment that would have given them an additional 40%, as well as a right of first refusal on the final 20%. Thus, Taylor retains 60% ownership. Their colors are navy blue and green, but during the KG era, they wore a lighter shade of blue with black as an alternate color which they retained throughout Kevin Love's tenure until KG's return.

The Blazers are both the only Big Four sports team in Portland and, with the moving of the rival [=SuperSonics=], the only NBA team in the Pacific Northwest (they actually share owners with the Seattle Seahawks of the UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague, the only football team in the region). Their colors are red, black and silver, and their "pinwheel" logo is meant to be an abstract illustration of a 5-on-5 player matchup (yes, really -- what can we say, it's Portland). One contribution they've made to local culture is Portland's nickname of Rip City, which originated from longtime radio play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely enthusiastically yelling "Rip City, baby!" in response to a score-tying basket in the second half of a 1971 game against the Lakers. It became one of Schonely's catchphrases, even though he admitted that he didn't really know why he said it originally, or what it's supposed to mean.

Formed as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the NBA, the franchise has won seven championships, the most in the league behind only the Lakers and Celtics: two in Philly in 1947 (the first in league history) and '56, and five in California in 1975, 2015, '17, '18, and '22. UsefulNotes/WiltChamberlain played for the Warriors before and after their cross-country move prior to his return to Philadelphia. The team took the "Golden State" name in 1971 after moving to neighboring UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}}, and Rick Barry led them to the title in '75.

They [[SeasonalRot declined into]] [[AudienceAlienatingEra nearly three decades]] of mediocre basketball soon after (save for a glimmer of promise in the late '80s/early '90s with the "Run-TMC" trio of Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, and Tim Hardaway).

Their colors are yellow and royal blue, though they would go throughout the 2000s with navy blue and orange.

Shortly after Kawhi and PG came on board, the team announced plans to finally crawl out from under the shadows of the Lakers and build a new arena in Inglewood next to the stadium that opened in 2020 for the NFL's Rams and Chargers, set to open in 2024.[[note]]Though, ironically, it will literally be down the street from the Lakers' former home, The Forum.[[/note]] Their colors are red, blue, and black (the latter was added in following Sterling's banishment).

Their colors are purple and orange, with either black or silver subbing in as the accent color.

Their colors are royal purple, gray, and black.

Founded in 1980 and were home to some okay basketball in the '80s (reaching the Conference Finals in '88) and some truly awful basketball in the '90s.

Then [[AscendedFanboy dot-com bubble billionaire Mark Cuban]] bought the team in 2000. Since then, the Mavs have consistently been one of the best teams in the NBA led by players like Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Jason Terry, and Dirk Nowitzki. Despite being one of the toughest teams to play in the 21st century, reaching Conference Finals in 2003 and being a regular competitor, the Mavs could never seem to win it all until 2011, when they upset [=LeBron=] and the Heat to give the franchise its first championship.

With Nowitzki having retired in 2019, the Mavs are now led by Luka Dončić, who helped lead the team back to the Conference Finals in 2022.

The Mavericks got their name because ''Series/{{Maverick}}'' star Creator/JamesGarner [[InJoke was a part of the founding ownership]]; their mascot is a stallion and their colors are blue and silver.

Dating back to 1967, they were the San Diego Rockets for their first four seasons before moving to Houston; obviously, with Houston's UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} roots, there was no reason for a name change.

After a Conference Finals appearance in 1977 and a Finals appearance in 1980, the team picked up local college star Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984. "The Dream" led them to another Finals appearance in '86, but it was when the Rockets named former player Rudy Tomjanovich their coach that they became a true dynasty in the '90s, winning back-to-back championships in '94-'95 (and one last Conference Finals in '97).

The Rockets made an international splash in 2002 when they won the right to draft Chinese superstar Yao Ming. Sadly, injuries shortened not only Yao's career but also that of fellow superstar Tracy [=McGrady=], which affected the Rockets' chances of competing against Kobe's Lakers, Dirk's Mavs, and Duncan's Spurs.

After Yao retired in 2011, the Rockets were left in mediocrity limbo until they traded for James Harden in 2012 to pair with the recently acquired Dwight Howard. Harden's play established them as a true contender in the West, advancing to the Conference Finals in '15 and '18, finishing the latter season with the league's best record. However, the team [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut was never able to get over the hump]] to return to the Finals, and they entered a rebuild in 2021, engineering a four-team trade that sent Harden to the Nets.

Their colors are red and black, though before that, they were another red and yellow team during Hakeem's tenure, before phasing out yellow in favor of silver and navy blue during the mid-'90s during the short-lived Barkley-Drexler-Pippen era and during the early part of the [=McGrady=]-Yao era, before returning to red as the primary color during their most dominant years (where they brought yellow back briefly as a third uniform), which they kept all the way up until the Harden era ended.

Their colors are blue, grey, and gold.

Their colors are navy blue, gold, and red.

Their streak of consecutive postseason appearances ended in 2020 at a NBA record-tying 22, making them the last team in the four major American sports leagues to miss the playoffs in the 21st century.[[note]]Or at least, the last one founded in the 20th century or earlier.[[/note]]

Their colors are black and silver, and they famously had a weird fiesta themed logo during the '90s, consisting of sky blue and pink (which has begun to return to prominence in recent years).