Ranking Every NBA Franchise on Historical Success
Which of the NBA's 30 franchises is the greatest of all time?
That's the question of the day at Bleacher Report. And though the top two answers are probably obvious, where others fall may surprise you a bit.
To answer the question, senior multiplatform editor Bryan Toporek found the all-time ranks for all 30 franchises in regular-season winning percentage, total playoff appearances, playoff winning percentage, total Finals appearances and total championships. He then sorted all 30 teams by the average of their ranks in those categories and left it to me to determine if any warranted some additional weight.
After much hemming and hawing, the decision to give a little extra weight to regular-season winning percentage, a little extra weight to total Finals appearances and a lot of extra weight to championships was made.
And the following eye-test-approved top 30 came together.
30. Charlotte Hornets
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Best Team: 1994-95
Top Five in Win Shares: Kemba Walker, Gerald Wallace, Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson and Dell Curry
The most notable part of this franchise's history might well be their iconic teal and purple, pinstriped jerseys of the 1990s. And that might go a long way toward explaining their ranking.
The Charlotte Hornets are in the bottom five of every category examined for this exercise, but that doesn't mean they didn't have a handful of fun teams.
The duo pictured above (Muggsy Bogues and Larry Johnson), when combined with Alonzo Mourning was capable of winning 50 games. They hit that mark in three out of four seasons from 1994-95 through 1997-98, a stretch that also featured Glen Rice.
A couple decades later, when led by Kemba Walker, they threatened that plateau again, though they never reached it.
29. Minnesota Timberwolves
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Best Team: 2003-04
Top Five in Win Shares: Kevin Garnett, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kevin Love, Wally Szczerbiak and Sam Mitchell
It may come as a bit of a surprise to see the Minnesota Timberwolves this far down the list, as they've had plenty of success with Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert in recent years.
And when you think about their history, your mind likely goes straight to Kevin Garnett, one of the greatest players of all time.
But even when KG was there, it took a while to start winning consistently. And even after the last four years, which includes a 56-win campaign, Minnesota comes in last in regular-season winning percentage.
28. Memphis Grizzlies
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Best Team: 2012-13
Top Five in Win Shares: Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph and Shane Battier
Like Minnesota, the Memphis Grizzlies' recent track record may make their placement on this list a little surprising.
Since the start of 2010-11 (roughly the start of the Grit 'n' Grind era), the Grizzlies are 10th in the league in winning percentage. A handful of years earlier, they had three playoff appearances with Pau Gasol, too.
But Memphis was truly dreadful for the first eight years of its existence (seven of which were in Vancouver). And it's in the bottom 10 of the exercise in both winning percentage and playoff winning percentage.
That and the lack of time the Grizzlies have had to tally any Finals appearances moved them all the way down here.
27. New Orleans Pelicans
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Best Team: 2007-08
Top Five in Win Shares: Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, David West, P.J. Brown and Jrue Holiday
Pulling apart the team histories of this franchise and the Hornets can seem a little tricky, but it's really not when it comes to the New Orleans Pelicans' side of the equation.
It starts at 2002-03 when Charlotte moved to New Orleans, and each subsequent season (including the two in Oklahoma City) belong to the Pelicans.
And while the lack of organizational runway is definitely working against this team, it's still in the bottom 10 of the two rate categories examined here (regular-season and playoff win percentage).
Still, a handful of rosters over the course of Pelicans history were able to threaten 50 wins or scrap their way into the playoffs.
Anthony Davis had such a campaign in 2017-18. Zion Williamson helped them get to 49 wins in 2023-24. But the high-water mark definitely came in 2007-08, when Chris Paul had an MVP-caliber campaign alongside David West, Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojaković.
26. Los Angeles Clippers
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Best Team: 2013-14
Top Five in Win Shares: Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Elton Brand, Blake Griffin and Bob McAdoo
Yet another team that's been a playoff mainstay in recent years, the Los Angeles Clippers are second in the league in winning percentage since the start of Chris Paul's first season there (2010-11).
That stretch obviously includes the Lob City Clippers era with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, as well as the more recent one headlined by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
But this franchise has been around since 1970-71 and included stops in Buffalo and San Diego. And most of its seasons prior to CP3's arrival were, at best, disappointing.
And even with all the years they've been around, and with all the stars they've had in recent years, the Clippers have just one conference finals appearance to their name.
25. Brooklyn Nets
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Best Team: 2001-02
Top Five in Win Shares: Buck Williams, Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Brook Lopez and Kerry Kittles
If the Brooklyn Nets' ABA history, which included some Julius Erving campaigns, was factored in, they might be a bit higher up the list.
But their time in the NBA, for the most part, has been pretty thoroughly disappointing. They've played at around a 35-win pace and are bottom 10 in all but one of the categories discussed for this exercise.
What saved the Nets from an even lower spot was the early 2000s teams led by Jason Kidd that made back-to-back Finals appearances.
24. Orlando Magic
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Best Team: 1994-95
Top Five in Win Shares: Dwight Howard, Nick Anderson, Nikola Vučević, Shaquille O'Neal and Tracy McGrady
Much of the Orlando Magic's history (which began in 1989-90) has been filled with bad to middling campaigns. They're 22nd in regular-season winning percentage and 20th in playoff winning percentage.
As you can see from their top five in win shares, though, this franchise has also boasted some of the biggest stars in league history. And two of those stars, Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal, led legitimately great teams that made it all the way to the Finals.
Of course, they've yet to break through, but they're again on the verge of another era of elite basketball with Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane all on the roster.
23. Sacramento Kings
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Best Team: 2001-02
Top Five in Win Shares: Oscar Robertson, Jack Twyman, Bobby Wanzer, Peja Stojaković and Jerry Lucas
As you can see from that top five, much of the Sacramento Kings' history comes from the pre-merger days of the NBA and includes their time as the Rochester Royals, the Cincinnati Royals and Kansas City-Omaha Kings.
It wasn't until 1985 that they moved to Sacramento. And outside of a strong stretch in the late 90s and early 2000s, things have been pretty dreadful for the Kings in California. They famously failed to make the postseason in each of the campaigns from 2006-07 through 2021-22.
But those early 2000s teams with Peja Stojaković, Chris Webber and Vlade Divac were among the most entertaining of their era. And though most of us weren't alive when it happened, the Kings (then the Royals) won a title in 1951.
22. Toronto Raptors
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Best Team: 2018-19
Top Five in Win Shares: Kyle Lowry, Chris Bosh, DeMar DeRozan, Vince Carter and Pascal Siakam
The Toronto Raptors' spot on the list is impacted by the fact that they've only been around since 1995-96. They've made the postseason in 13 of their 30 seasons, which isn't a bad track record for such a young expansion team.
Of course, they also have a championship on their resume, thanks to their one-season rental of Kawhi Leonard.
But even with those solid marks and a handful of good teams over time that included Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto is in the bottom 10 in regular-season winning percentage.
The Raptors will need several more good to great seasons to overcome that.
21. Indiana Pacers
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Best Team: 1997-98
Top Five in Win Shares: Reggie Miller, Dale Davis, Rik Smits, Vern Fleming and Myles Turner
Not having a championship certainly hurts the Indiana Pacers' case for a better spot on this list, but they're in the top 20 in each of the other categories and have had multiple different cores truly contend for a title.
The Reggie Miller teams of the 1990s and early 2000s were, in a lot of ways, ahead of their time. Miller's three-point volume, in particular, was a bit of a hack for those squads, one of which made the Finals.
In the 2010s, the teams with Danny Granger, Paul George, David West, George Hill and Roy Hibbert played a gritty, team-first style that threatened LeBron James' dominance in the East.
And most recently, the run-and-gun roster led by Tyrese Haliburton made it all the way to a Game 7 in the Finals.
Again, they haven't broken all the way through yet, but Indiana has been a near-constant presence in the playoffs for over three decades.
20. Washington Wizards
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Best Team: 1977-78
Top Five in Win Shares: Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, Walt Bellamy, Bradley Beal and Greg Ballard
That 1977-78 team is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. And even that one, at least relative to other championship winners, isn't all that impressive.
The then-Bullets of 1977-78 went 44-38 in the regular season. And they didn't have a single player receive a single point in that year's MVP voting.
But a title is a title. And a post-merger title (though those didn't get any extra credit in the methodology) should carry a little more subjective weight.
That and a history that dates all the way back to 1961-62 helped Washington overcome the fact that it's 25th in winning percentage.
And beyond the numbers, despite several long stretches of unintentional comedy (here's looking at those JaVale McGee-and-Nick Young teams), the Wizards have boasted several legitimate superstars over the years, including Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes (who won that 1978 championship), Chris Webber, Gilbert Arenas, John Wall and Bradley Beal.
19. Utah Jazz
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Best Team: 1996-97
Top Five in Win Shares: Karl Malone, John Stockton, Rudy Gobert, Adrian Dantley and Andrei Kirilenko
After the Utah Jazz, there's only one non-championship-winning organization left in the slideshow. So, it's not a stretch to say Utah is one of the most successful franchises in that group.
They're sixth all time in winning percentage and made the NBA Finals twice. And they have multiple distinct eras in which they were among the best teams in the league.
Most fans of a certain age remember the connection between John Stockton and Karl Malone. A few years later, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer had similar chemistry, with Andrei Kirilenko's ahead-of-his-time versatility thrown in. And most recently, the teams led by Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were legitimate title contenders for a handful of years.
Despite the rebuilding seasons that started after Gobert and Mitchell were traded, this is one of the steadiest regular-season teams the NBA has ever seen.
18. Denver Nuggets
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Best Team: 2022-23
Top Five in Win Shares: Nikola Jokić, Alex English, Dan Issel, Carmelo Anthony and Nenê
The Denver Nuggets are sort of middle of the pack in winning percentage (13th), playoff appearances (15th), playoff winning percentage (19th) and Finals appearances (23rd), but landing one of the 15-20 best (and climbing) players of all time in the second round of the draft and winning the 2023 Finals bumped them into the top 20 overall.
Their position isn't entirely a credit to Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and the rest of the current Nuggets, though.
The teams of the 1980s, with Alex English and Dan Issel featured some of the fastest, most dynamic offenses of all time. Carmelo Anthony made Denver, of all places, one of the cultural centers of the league. Even the teams that came right after him, with Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried played some of the most entertaining ball in the NBA.
And with Jokić currently on the roster, the chances of the Nuggets climbing even higher up this list are pretty high.
17. Dallas Mavericks
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Best Team: 2010-11
Top Five in Win Shares: Dirk Nowitzki, Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper, Jason Terry and Michael Finley
Like Denver, the Dallas Mavericks' spot on the list is heavily influenced by their single championship, but their resume certainly goes beyond that, especially after the last two decades and change.
Since the start of 1999-00 (Dirk Nowitzki's first season as a full-time starter), Dallas trails only the San Antonio Spurs in simple rating system (a number that combines point differential with strength of schedule).
The Mavs made two Finals appearances and won their title with Dirk. And at the tail end of his career, they lucked into another generational talent in Luka Dončić. He's since been dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers (in the most inexplicable trade in league history), but before he left, he gave Dallas another Finals trip.
So, despite being an expansion team in the 1980s and failing to make the playoffs for 10 straight years in the 90s, the Mavericks are already threatening a spot in the top half of this exercise.
16. Phoenix Suns
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Best Team: 1992-93
Top Five in Win Shares: Shawn Marion, Kevin Johnson, Steve Nash, Alvan Adams and Amar'e Stoudemire
Here's the other franchise with an argument to be considered the best ever without a title. And, frankly, the Phoenix Suns' is stronger than Utah's.
The Suns are fifth all time in regular-season winning percentage, 14th in playoff appearances, 12th in playoff winning percentage and 15th in Finals appearances (ahead of the Jazz in all four).
And their three Finals appearances all came in dramatically different eras. Alvan Adams and Paul Westphal got them there in 1976. Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson led the way in 1993. And in 2021, it was Chris Paul and Devin Booker.
Add in the Steve Nash era—which never produced a Finals appearance but still featured some of the most entertaining and revolutionary basketball we've seen—and it's easy to see how an organization without a championship is near the top half of this list.
15. Cleveland Cavaliers
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Best Team: 2015-16
Top Five in Win Shares: LeBron James, Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Hot Rod Williams
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been around for over 50 seasons, but their track record was a little spotty before a kid from Akron showed up in the 2000s.
From their first campaign in 1970-71 through the last without LeBron James, the Cavs were 25th in the league in winning percentage and 21st in SRS.
But then LeBron arrived, left and briefly came back. In his first stint in Cleveland, he led the team to two 60-win campaigns and another two 50-win seasons. The Cavs got to 50 in each of the four years in his second go-round.
And of course, that all culminated in the 2015-16 campaign in which Cleveland overcame a 3-1 Finals deficit against the Golden State Warriors to secure the franchise's first and only title.
There are certainly some other great players in the Cavaliers' history.
Mark Price made four All-Star teams there. Larry Nance made two. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love certainly deserve some of the credit for the title year. And Zydrunas Ilgauskas needs a shout for keeping the franchise afloat right before LeBron's arrival.
But perhaps more than any other team on the list, Cleveland owes its spot mostly to one player.
14. Atlanta Hawks
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Best Team: 1986-87
Top Five in Win Shares: Bob Pettit, Dominique Wilkins, Cliff Hagan, Lou Hudson and Al Horford
Chalk this one up, at least in large part, to longevity.
Younger NBA fans maybe think of the Atlanta Hawks as a mediocre team that's rarely, if ever, truly contended for the title.
The 2014-15 team with Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Al Horford won 60 games, played beautiful team basketball and captured our imagination, but they got swept by LeBron James in the conference finals.
The Dominique Wilkins-led squads of the 1980s never got past the second round. Ditto for Mookie Blaylock and Dikembe Mutombo in the 1990s.
But this history goes all the way back to 1949-50. They've been the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Milwaukee Hawks. As the St. Louis Hawks, they won a championship in 1958 and made three other Finals appearances.
Their leader at the time, Bob Pettit retired as one of the greatest big men of all time. He remains in that conversation to this day.
So, while recent history has been a bit less inspiring, there's enough on this resume to come in at No. 14.
13. Portland Trail Blazers
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Best Team: 1976-77
Top Five in Win Shares: Clyde Drexler, Damian Lillard, Terry Porter, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rasheed Wallace
The Portland Trail Blazers have been around since the 1970-71 season. They're in the top 10 in both regular-season winning percentage and playoff appearances. Behind Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, they made it all the way to the Finals in 1990 and 1992.
And in just their seventh season in existence, Bill Walton led the Blazers to a championship. That postseason, the legendary big man averaged 18.2 points, 15.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.4 blocks.
There's plenty to celebrate from more recent history too, even if they haven't won as much in the playoffs.
Brandon Roy looked like he had the potential to be the best shooting guard in the league before injuries cut his career short. LaMarcus Aldridge was one of the most prolific mid-range scorers we've ever seen. Damian Lillard is one of the most clutch players of all time and was named one of the top 75 players by the league itself.
They haven't won the ultimate trophy in half a century, but the Blazers have established themselves as a genuinely iconic NBA brand.
12. Houston Rockets
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Best Team: 1993-94
Top Five in Win Shares: Hakeem Olajuwon, James Harden, Calvin Murphy, Rudy Tomjanovich, Moses Malone
The Houston Rockets are just outside the top 10 in regular-season winning percentage, playoff appearances, playoff winning percentage and Finals appearances. And they're one of 12 teams in league history to win more than one championship.
Both of theirs, of course, came in the 1990s, when Hakeem Olajuwon led them to back-to-back championships with coach Rudy Tomjanovich (who's also in their top five in win shares as a player).
A handful of solid teams before and after Hakeem helped solidify Houston's position in the top half of the slideshow, too. Moses Malone took them to the playoffs five times. James Harden won an MVP for the Rockets and took them to eight straight postseasons.
And now, with Kevin Durant joining Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson, Houston could be on the verge of another strong era.
11. Milwaukee Bucks
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Best Team: 1970-71
Top Five in Win Shares: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Moncrief, Marques Johnson and Bob Dandridge
You don't have to look much further than the first two names in that top five to see how the Milwaukee Bucks climbed as high as they did.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are two of the best big men in NBA history. Both won championships in Milwaukee. And both won multiple MVPs as Bucks.
Both had noteworthy supporting casts, too. Kareem played with Oscar Robertson. Giannis was surrounded by Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez when he won his ring.
But, of course, the history isn't entirely about those two.
There were plenty of other stars in between who helped Milwaukee secure the seventh-best regular-season winning percentage of all time, too.
Sidney Moncrief was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Vin Baker started his career as a walking double-double. Ray Allen is among the greatest shooters in NBA history (and he did a lot more off the bounce than most remember when he was in Milwaukee). And Michael Redd quietly averaged 20.0 points during his 11 years with the franchise.
This team has a steady history that dates all the way back to 1968 and is nearly bookended by two championships.
10. New York Knicks
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Best Team: 1970-71
Top Five in Win Shares: Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Harry Gallatin and Charles Oakley
Outside of a couple seasons with Carmelo Anthony, most of the 2000s and 2010s were a dark time in New York Knicks history that drove their franchise winning percentage all the way down to 17th.
But longevity and the 46 playoff appearances (fifth) that came with that bailed them out. It doesn't hurt that they have eight Finals appearances and two championships in 1970 and 1973, either.
Those early Knicks teams were carried by legends like Walt Frazier and Willis Reed. And a couple decades later, another all-time team came along, this time led by Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and John Starks.
That second group never got over the hump (playing at the same time as Michael Jordan impacted a lot of legacies), but they were still one of the defining teams of their era.
And now, three decades after that, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and the rest of the current Knicks could give this legendary franchise another shot at ring No. 3.
9. Detroit Pistons
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Best Team: 1988-89
Top Five in Win Shares: Bill Laimbeer, Bob Lanier, Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas and Chauncey Billups
They started in Fort Wayne, but the Detroit Pistons have been around since 1948-49, just the third season in NBA history (and back when it was still known as the BAA).
That played a role in the Pistons climbing all the way to No. 9, but they're also 10th in playoff winning percentage. And there are only five teams with more championships than Detroit's three.
Two of those, of course, came courtesy of the "Bad Boys" Pistons that outdueled Michael Jordan behind offense driven by Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars and defense driven by size and brute force.
And roughly a decade and a half after those titles, Detroit captured the spirit of those teams again, this time in the form of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace.
With their team- and defense-first approach, the 2003-04 Pistons upended a superteam that included Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton.
8. Oklahoma City Thunder
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Best Team: 2024-25
Top Five in Win Shares: Gary Payton, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jack Sikma and Shawn Kemp
They were the Seattle SuperSonics from the 1967-68 season through 2007-08, but they've been a borderline juggernaut since relocating and becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In those 17 seasons, OKC trails only the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors in SRS. It has two Finals appearances, one with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and the other with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. And, of course, the Thunder are the league's reigning champions.
When you combine that with a Sonics history that includes the run-and-gun fun from the Ray Allen-and-Rashard Lewis era, a Finals appearance for Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton and a championship for Jack Sikma, it's not hard to see how this franchise got here.
7. Miami Heat
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Best Team: 2012-13
Top Five in Win Shares: Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Alonzo Mourning, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler
A couple things worth noting at the outset.
The Miami Heat have only been in the NBA since 1988-89. Rising this high up the list in so little time is genuinely remarkable. Every team ahead of them (and most of the ones behind) had a significant advantage in terms of how long they've existed.
It's also almost unfathomable for a team that has packed so much success into so little time to have LeBron James at No. 2 on that career win shares leaderboard. He was only on the Heat for four years.
Of course, he's one of the five best players in league history and helped Miami win two of its three championships. That Heatles era clearly impacted the Heat's overall rank, but that's not the only reason they're threatening the top five.
Dwyane Wade, of course, led Miami to a title without LeBron in the 2000s. And even before they started collecting trophies, the 1990s teams led by Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway were always a tough out.
Layer the Jimmy Butler years (which included two more Finals trips) on top of all that, and this placement is pretty easy to wrap your head around.
6. Chicago Bulls
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Best Team: 1995-96
Top Five in Win Shares: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Chet Walker, Artis Gilmore and Horace Grant
The Chicago Bulls had some solid seasons and stretches before and after Michael Jordan. They were a perennial playoff team with Chet Walker for much of the 1970s. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah led multiple rosters to contention in the 2010s.
But Jordan's era obviously set the standard, and not just for the Bulls.
From 1990-91 through 1997-98, Chicago won six titles in eight years. In 1995-96, they went 72-10. Their 7.72 SRS over those eight seasons was nearly two full points clear of second-place Seattle.
In his six Finals appearances, Jordan averaged 33.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists, while posting a double-digit box plus/minus.
Along with Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman and a handful of other solid role players, Jordan authored one of the best team runs in the history of the league.
And that run almost got the Bulls into the top five of this exercise, despite ranking outside the top 10 in franchise winning percentage and total playoff appearances.
5. Golden State Warriors
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Best Team: 2016-17
Top Five in Win Shares: Stephen Curry, Wilt Chamberlain, Paul Arizin, Neil Johnston and Rick Barry
The Golden State Warriors may have a sub-.500 franchise winning percentage (and rank 18th in that category), but there's a lot working in their favor.
For one thing, they've been around from the very beginning. Not only were the then-Philadelphia Warriors among the teams in the BAA's inaugural season, but they also won the championship that year (shout-out Joe Fulks).
And being around since 1946 gave the organization plenty of opportunities to get into the playoffs, which is a big part of why it's eighth in that category.
A solid stretch of seasons and a championship behind Rick Barry in the 1970s pushed the Warriors up a bit too, but ultimately, finishing fifth can be credited largely to their meteoric rise with Stephen Curry.
Curry, with the help of Draymond Green's versatility, Klay Thompson's shooting and Kevin Durant's clutch scoring (for three years), won four championships. It didn't factor directly into these rankings, but he completely changed the way the game is played.
And he took an organization that had generally been a loser from the late 1970s through the 2000s all the way to a well-earned top-five ranking here.
4. Philadelphia 76ers
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Best Team: 1982-83
Top Five in Win Shares: Dolph Schayes, Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Hal Greer and Maurice Cheeks
Another team that has the benefit of longevity, the Philadelphia 76ers joined the BAA in 1949 as the Syracuse Nationals.
By 1955, they already had a championship behind Dolph Schayes. Just over a decade later, they won another, this time in Philadelphia and with Wilt Chamberlain as a 76er. The pattern continued after another decade and change, when Julius Erving and Moses Malone secured a ring in the early 1980s.
And though the Sixers haven't reached that ultimate goal since then, they do have a pair of MVPs (one for Allen Iverson and another for Joel Embiid).
And of this tally, they're 10th in franchise winning percentage, third in total playoff appearances, eighth in playoff winning percentage and fourth in Finals appearances.
3. San Antonio Spurs
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Best Team: 2013-14
Top Five in Win Shares: Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili and George Gervin
The San Antonio Spurs came over in the 1976 merger, and no other ABA team comes close to the resume they've written over the course of their five decades in the league.
From the get-go, thanks to ABA stars like George Gervin and Artis Gilmore, the Spurs were a near-perennial NBA playoff team. In the 1980s, they drafted an athletic phenom in David Robinson who made them even more consistent.
However, things really took off about a decade after Robinson joined the team, when Tim Duncan was the No. 1 overall pick in 1997.
During Duncan's 19-year career, San Antonio's 71.0 winning percentage was over 10 points clear of the second-place Mavericks. Their SRS more than doubled the next best team (Dallas again). They allowed almost three fewer points per 100 possessions than any other team.
And, of course, thanks to help from Robinson, Manu Ginóbili, Tony Parker and a host of other vital role players, Duncan won five championships.
The Spurs came in third in this exercise, but no other team in league history had a two-decade stretch quite like this one. To dominate the modern NBA to that degree is almost unimaginable, even for those of us who watched it.
2. Los Angeles Lakers
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Best Team: 1999-00
Top Five in Win Shares: Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and George Mikan
It's an age-old debate. And this slideshow certainly isn't going to end it.
Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics? Those are really the only two options when discussing the greatest organization in NBA history. They occupy the top two spots in each of the categories included in our criteria.
The weight given to total championships barely nudged the Lakers down to second overall, but there are solid arguments to flip these two.
All of Bill Russell's 11 championships came in a league that hovered around nine or 10 total teams. The international talent pool was nowhere near as deep then as it is now, or even as deep as it was when the Lakers won five championships in the 1980s or five more in the 2000s.
L.A. has had three different dynasty-level teams in three different eras since those Russell years. Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the face of one in the 1980s. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant three-peated in the 2000s. And Kobe won two more with Pau Gasol about a decade later.
Add Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor to the resume, and it's not terribly difficult to argue for the Lakers to move to No. 1.
But their 17 championships and 59.2 winning percentage weren't quite enough to overcome Boston's 18 and 59.6.
1. Boston Celtics
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Best Team: 1985-86
Top Five in Win Shares: Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, John Havlicek and Robert Parish
I don't feel great about it, but I wouldn't have felt great about the Boston Celtics being second, either. That's how close this top two is. And 18 championships is 18 championships.
And for what it's worth, Boston just broke the tie in 2024. The Celtics have the more recent title in the most talent-rich era in NBA history.
And though L.A. tops Boston in playoff appearances (by three), playoff winning percentage and Finals appearances (by nine), it's hard to run through the list of legendary Celtics champions without a sense of awe.
Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Paul Pierce, John Havlicek, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale, Sam Jones, Dave Cowens, Bob Cousy, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Jayson Tatum. The list could go on and on.
Again, you're free to argue otherwise. The Lakers obviously have a case. But Boston's, at least for now, is infinitesimally stronger.
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