There are only 3 Franchises that have competed in all 77 seasons of the NBA. These are the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors. The newest franchise is the New Orleans Pelicans, playing just 21 seasons. The San Antonio Spurs have the best regular season winning percentage of all time (60.3%) the only franchise above 60%. The worst winning percentage belongs to the Minnesota Timberwolves (40.2%). When it comes to the playoffs the LA Lakers boast the best winning percentage at 59.7%, once again it’s the Wolves bringing up the rear with just 33.3% on only 11 trips to the playoffs.
We have pulled all our data before the start of the 2023-24 season and used the official NBA Franchise history to calculate wins, losses and seasons in the NBA. For example, the Golden State Warriors 77 listed seasons include the history for the Philadelphia Warriors, San Francisco Warriors and the current Golden State Warriors. While the Philadelphia 76ers 74 seasons include the Syracuse Nationals and the current Philadelphia 76ers records. We have not included any records from seasons played in the ABA, as these do not form part of official NBA history (sorry Indiana!).
NBA standings all time: Regular Season
Below we have ranked the historical records of the 30 current NBA franchises by regular season winning percentage. Accurate up to the end of the 2022-23 season. We have also listed the number of seasons played in the NBA, number of trips to the NBA Playoffs and number of titles won.
| NBA All Time Winning Percentage: Regular Season | ||||||||
| Franchise | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | NBA Seasons | Wins per Season | Playoff Trips | NBA Titles |
| San Antonio Spurs | 3785 | 2283 | 1502 | 60.3% | 47 | 49 | 39 | 5 |
| Boston Celtics | 6032 | 3571 | 2461 | 59.2% | 77 | 46 | 60 | 17 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 5922 | 3503 | 2419 | 59.2% | 75 | 47 | 63 | 17 |
| Utah Jazz | 3950 | 2146 | 1804 | 54.3% | 49 | 44 | 31 | 0 |
| Phoenix Suns | 4443 | 2380 | 2063 | 53.6% | 55 | 43 | 32 | 0 |
| OKC Thunder | 4524 | 2413 | 2111 | 53.3% | 56 | 43 | 33 | 1 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 4280 | 2271 | 2009 | 53.1% | 53 | 43 | 37 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 4443 | 2340 | 2103 | 52.7% | 55 | 43 | 35 | 2 |
| Miami Heat | 2803 | 1475 | 1328 | 52.6% | 35 | 42 | 24 | 3 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 5859 | 3054 | 2805 | 52.1% | 74 | 41 | 53 | 3 |
| Houston Rockets | 4524 | 2328 | 2196 | 51.5% | 56 | 42 | 34 | 2 |
| Chicago Bulls | 4598 | 2344 | 2254 | 51.0% | 58 | 40 | 37 | 6 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 3461 | 1747 | 1714 | 50.5% | 43 | 41 | 24 | 1 |
| Denver Nuggets | 3787 | 1897 | 1890 | 50.1% | 47 | 40 | 29 | 1 |
| Indiana Pacers | 3786 | 1883 | 1903 | 49.7% | 56 | 34 | 27 | 0 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 5856 | 2893 | 2963 | 49.4% | 74 | 39 | 49 | 1 |
| New York Knicks | 6023 | 2924 | 3099 | 48.5% | 77 | 38 | 44 | 2 |
| Golden State Warriors | 6021 | 2923 | 3098 | 48.5% | 77 | 38 | 37 | 7 |
| Toronto Raptors | 2228 | 1071 | 1157 | 48.1% | 28 | 38 | 14 | 1 |
| Detroit Pistons | 5916 | 2813 | 3103 | 47.5% | 75 | 38 | 42 | 3 |
| Orlando Magic | 2721 | 1268 | 1453 | 46.6% | 34 | 37 | 16 | 0 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 4271 | 1984 | 2287 | 46.5% | 53 | 37 | 23 | 1 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 1686 | 782 | 904 | 46.4% | 21 | 37 | 9 | 0 |
| Sacramento Kings | 5923 | 2702 | 3221 | 45.6% | 75 | 36 | 30 | 1 |
| Washington Wizards | 5005 | 2257 | 2748 | 45.1% | 62 | 36 | 30 | 1 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 2631 | 1153 | 1478 | 43.8% | 33 | 35 | 10 | 0 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 2229 | 971 | 1258 | 43.6% | 28 | 35 | 13 | 0 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 3786 | 1620 | 2166 | 42.8% | 47 | 34 | 24 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 4278 | 1792 | 2486 | 41.9% | 53 | 34 | 17 | 0 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 2712 | 1091 | 1621 | 40.2% | 34 | 32 | 11 | 0 |
Largely due to the Tim Duncan years that saw them win 5 titles, the San Antonio Spurs have the all-time best winning percentage in the NBA. Long time coach Greg Popovich has one of the best winning records in all of sports and with the recent drafting of french megastar Victor Wembanyama it’s going to take something to knock them off the top and keep them down.
As you would expect to see, the Lakers & Celtics, boasting 17 titles each, sit in the top 3. Very impressive given they have played in almost every NBA season. Lakers in-town rivals’ the LA Clippers sit second from bottom, having made the playoffs as many times as the Lakers have won the title. Bottom of all 30 current franchises are the Minnesota Timberwolves, having only played 34 seasons, their winning percentage of 40.2% is the lowest of all-time in the NBA.
What NBA Franchises have made the playoffs the most often?
On the table below we have sorted the data to rank all 30 NBA teams by the percentage of their NBA seasons they have made the playoffs.
| NBA All Time Winning Percentage: Regular Season | |||||
| Franchise | NBA Seasons | Wins per Season | Playoff Trips | NBA Titles | % of postseason trips |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 75 | 47 | 63 | 17 | 84.0% |
| San Antonio Spurs | 47 | 49 | 39 | 5 | 83.0% |
| Boston Celtics | 77 | 46 | 60 | 17 | 77.9% |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 74 | 41 | 53 | 3 | 71.6% |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 53 | 43 | 37 | 1 | 69.8% |
| Miami Heat | 35 | 42 | 24 | 3 | 68.6% |
| Atlanta Hawks | 74 | 39 | 49 | 1 | 66.2% |
| Chicago Bulls | 58 | 40 | 37 | 6 | 63.8% |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 55 | 43 | 35 | 2 | 63.6% |
| Utah Jazz | 49 | 44 | 31 | 0 | 63.3% |
| Denver Nuggets | 47 | 40 | 29 | 1 | 61.7% |
| Houston Rockets | 56 | 42 | 34 | 2 | 60.7% |
| OKC Thunder | 56 | 43 | 33 | 1 | 58.9% |
| Phoenix Suns | 55 | 43 | 32 | 0 | 58.2% |
| New York Knicks | 77 | 38 | 44 | 2 | 57.1% |
| Detroit Pistons | 75 | 38 | 42 | 3 | 56.0% |
| Dallas Mavericks | 43 | 41 | 24 | 1 | 55.8% |
| Brooklyn Nets | 47 | 34 | 24 | 0 | 51.1% |
| Toronto Raptors | 28 | 38 | 14 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Washington Wizards | 62 | 36 | 30 | 1 | 48.4% |
| Indiana Pacers | 56 | 34 | 27 | 0 | 48.2% |
| Golden State Warriors | 77 | 38 | 37 | 7 | 48.1% |
| Orlando Magic | 34 | 37 | 16 | 0 | 47.1% |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 28 | 35 | 13 | 0 | 46.4% |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 53 | 37 | 23 | 1 | 43.4% |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 21 | 37 | 9 | 0 | 42.9% |
| Sacramento Kings | 75 | 36 | 30 | 1 | 40.0% |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 34 | 32 | 11 | 0 | 32.4% |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 53 | 34 | 17 | 0 | 32.1% |
| Charlotte Hornets | 33 | 35 | 10 | 0 | 30.3% |
Top of the board once again are the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics. Franchises that rarely take seasons off. Interestingly the Lebron James era could be seen as a failure for the Lakers who qualify for the NBA Playoffs 84% of the time. Since signing Lebron they have made the Playoffs only 3 out of 5 seasons just 60%. In addition they have “only” won 1 NBA title just 20% of the time. Historically the Lakers win the title 22.5% of the seasons they have played in the NBA.
Obviously this is a small sample size and winning even 1 title in the modern NBA is a massive achievement, but it goes to speak to the staggering history of the Lakers that The Kings time in LA could be considered a barren period. A big caveat is that prior to his arrival in LA the Lakers had missed the playoffs a franchise record 5 times in a row, making it 6 when Lebron got injured in his debut season before leading them to the 2019-20 NBA title the following year.
Propping up the foot of the table are the Charlotte Hornets (30.3%) with just 10 payoff trips in 33 seasons. Joined, predictably, by the Clippers and the Wolves.
NBA standings all time: Post Season (NBA Playoffs)
The below table is ranked by post season winning percentage and shows the teams that rise to the top when it matters most, the NBA Playoffs.
| NBA All Time Winning Percentage: NBA Playoffs | ||||||||
| Franchise | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | NBA Seasons | Wins per Season | Playoff Trips | NBA Titles |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 780 | 466 | 314 | 59.7% | 75 | 6.2 | 63 | 17 |
| Boston Celtics | 719 | 407 | 312 | 56.6% | 77 | 5.3 | 60 | 17 |
| Miami Heat | 290 | 162 | 128 | 55.9% | 35 | 4.6 | 24 | 3 |
| Golden State Warriors | 384 | 212 | 172 | 55.2% | 77 | 2.8 | 37 | 7 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 403 | 222 | 181 | 55.1% | 47 | 4.7 | 39 | 5 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 234 | 126 | 108 | 53.8% | 53 | 2.4 | 23 | 1 |
| Chicago Bulls | 349 | 187 | 162 | 53.6% | 58 | 3.2 | 37 | 6 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 483 | 249 | 234 | 51.6% | 74 | 3.4 | 53 | 3 |
| Detroit Pistons | 372 | 189 | 183 | 50.8% | 75 | 2.5 | 42 | 3 |
| Phoenix Suns | 320 | 160 | 160 | 50.0% | 55 | 2.9 | 32 | 0 |
| OKC Thunder | 331 | 164 | 167 | 49.5% | 56 | 2.9 | 33 | 1 |
| New York Knicks | 391 | 193 | 198 | 49.4% | 77 | 2.5 | 44 | 2 |
| Houston Rockets | 322 | 158 | 164 | 49.1% | 56 | 2.8 | 34 | 2 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 306 | 150 | 156 | 49.0% | 55 | 2.7 | 35 | 2 |
| Indiana Pacers | 241 | 115 | 126 | 47.7% | 56 | 2.1 | 27 | 0 |
| Toronto Raptors | 123 | 57 | 66 | 46.3% | 28 | 2.0 | 14 | 1 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 227 | 105 | 122 | 46.3% | 43 | 2.4 | 24 | 1 |
| Utah Jazz | 292 | 135 | 157 | 46.2% | 49 | 2.8 | 31 | 0 |
| Orlando Magic | 133 | 59 | 74 | 44.4% | 34 | 1.7 | 16 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 147 | 64 | 83 | 43.5% | 53 | 1.2 | 17 | 0 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 274 | 119 | 155 | 43.4% | 53 | 2.2 | 37 | 1 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 393 | 170 | 223 | 43.3% | 74 | 2.3 | 49 | 1 |
| Denver Nuggets | 230 | 98 | 132 | 42.6% | 47 | 2.1 | 29 | 1 |
| Sacramento Kings | 195 | 83 | 112 | 42.6% | 75 | 1.1 | 30 | 1 |
| Washington Wizards | 237 | 99 | 138 | 41.8% | 62 | 1.6 | 30 | 1 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 171 | 70 | 101 | 40.9% | 47 | 1.5 | 24 | 0 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 55 | 22 | 33 | 40.0% | 21 | 1.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 98 | 38 | 60 | 38.8% | 28 | 1.4 | 13 | 0 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 63 | 23 | 40 | 36.5% | 33 | 0.7 | 10 | 0 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 63 | 21 | 42 | 33.3% | 34 | 0.6 | 11 | 0 |
The Miami Heat are worth talking about here. They have the third best playoff winning percentage, behind only the Lakers and the Celtics. This is a start improvement on their regular season record where they rank 9th. The Heat have won only 52% of their regular season games, where in contrast they win 59% of their postseason games. A franchise that truly rises to the occasion.
We should give praise to the Clippers here as well. They don’t make the Playoffs very often, but when they do they outperform their regular season record. Moving from 29th to 20th. If Kawhi and Paul George can stay healthy for the 2023-24 season maybe we’ll see a trip to the Finals coming the Clippers way.
What NBA Franchises win titles the most often?
The following table lists only the 20 current franchises that have won NBA titles. We have ranked them by the percentage of seasons in which they have won an NBA title.
| NBA All Time Winning Percentage: NBA Playoffs | |||||
| Franchise | NBA Seasons | Wins per Season | Playoff Trips | NBA Titles | Titles per season |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 75 | 6.2 | 63 | 17 | 22.7% |
| Boston Celtics | 77 | 5.3 | 60 | 17 | 22.1% |
| San Antonio Spurs | 47 | 4.7 | 39 | 5 | 10.6% |
| Chicago Bulls | 58 | 3.2 | 37 | 6 | 10.3% |
| Golden State Warriors | 77 | 2.8 | 37 | 7 | 9.1% |
| Miami Heat | 35 | 4.6 | 24 | 3 | 8.6% |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 74 | 3.4 | 53 | 3 | 4.1% |
| Detroit Pistons | 75 | 2.5 | 42 | 3 | 4.0% |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 55 | 2.7 | 35 | 2 | 3.6% |
| Houston Rockets | 56 | 2.8 | 34 | 2 | 3.6% |
| Toronto Raptors | 28 | 2.0 | 14 | 1 | 3.6% |
| New York Knicks | 77 | 2.5 | 44 | 2 | 2.6% |
| Dallas Mavericks | 43 | 2.4 | 24 | 1 | 2.3% |
| Denver Nuggets | 47 | 2.1 | 29 | 1 | 2.1% |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 53 | 2.4 | 23 | 1 | 1.9% |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 53 | 2.2 | 37 | 1 | 1.9% |
| OKC Thunder | 56 | 2.9 | 33 | 1 | 1.8% |
| Washington Wizards | 62 | 1.6 | 30 | 1 | 1.6% |
| Atlanta Hawks | 74 | 2.3 | 49 | 1 | 1.4% |
| Sacramento Kings | 75 | 1.1 | 30 | 1 | 1.3% |
The Lakers just clip the Celtics here, having both won 17 titles, but with the Celtics playing 2 more seasons. There’s a huge drop off to the Bulls and the Spurs in 3rd and 4th place. These two franchises are unique in that they have won many titles, but only in one era of the franchise. The Bulls won all 6 of their titles in the 1990’s with Jordan and Pippen dominating the NBA. The Spurs won all 5 of their titles with Tim Duncan controlling the paint. The Warriors in 5th have won titles in 3 era’s. Most recently 4 with Steph, Klay & Dray (Durant may have helped on a couple), in 1975 with Rick Barry and before that in 1956 and 1947 while based in Philadelphia.
What defunct NBA franchise has won a title?
As you may have noticed the current 30 NBA franchises have won 76 of the 77 NBA titles between them. There is only 1 NBA franchise that won a title and is now defunct. Do you know who it is? It’s not the Seattle Supersonics, their record was rolled up with the OKC Thunder when they moved locations and changed names.
The only NBA franchise that has won a title and no longer exists was the original Bullets franchise. The original Baltimore Bullets franchise played 8 seasons in the NBA between the 1947-48 and 1954-55 seasons. The original Bullets posted an all time 158-292 winning record, just 35.1%, by far the lowest of any NBA franchise with a title. The Bullets would only make the Playoffs 3 times winning the title in their first season in the NBA, 1947-48. There is often confusion around this title as the league was known at the time as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) only becoming the NBA by name for the 1949-50 season. The NBA itself counts those first seasons from 1946-47 as part of NBA history.
More confusion is piled on this franchise’s title winning season with the creation of the franchise currently known as the Washington Wizards. The current franchise was established in 1961 as the Chicago Packers, renamed the Chicago Zephyrs after 1 season. Then in 1963, they moved to Baltimore, and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking the name from a previous title winning franchise, but not their history. In 1973, the team moved to the Washington metropolitan area and was renamed the Capital Bullets, then the following season to Washington Bullets. Finally in 1997 they rebranded themselves as the Washington Wizards. In 1978, while known as the Washington Bullets, they won the franchises only NBA title.