We rebuilt every postseason since 1947 for the 30 current franchises: from 1984 with NBA.com's official game logs and standings, and before that from Wikipedia's pages for each season, such as the 1970 playoffs. A franchise keeps its history when it moves, so the Seattle SuperSonics count with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Buffalo Braves with the LA Clippers. ABA seasons do not count.
The longest active playoff droughts in the NBA
Charlotte's 10 seasons lead the league by five. The Washington Wizards have missed five straight playoffs since 2021, the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz four since 2022, and the Brooklyn Nets and the Kings three since 2023. Fourteen teams missed the 2026 playoffs, six of them after making the 2025 playoffs.
Winning records have not been enough for the Hornets. They went 43-39 in 2021-22 and 44-38 last season, when they finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, beat the Miami Heat 127-126 in overtime in the play-in and then lost 121-90 at the Orlando Magic, one win short of the playoffs. Miami, 43-39, and the Clippers, 42-40, also missed with winning records after losing in the play-in.
The longest NBA playoff droughts ever
Only seven droughts in NBA history have reached 10 seasons. The Kings hold the record: after the 2006 playoffs they missed 16 in a row, then went 48-34 in 2022-23, finished third in the West and lost a seven-game first-round series to the Golden State Warriors.
The franchise that is now the Clippers went 15 seasons without a playoff appearance across three cities, from the 1976-77 Buffalo Braves to the 1990-91 Los Angeles Clippers. The Minnesota Timberwolves missed 13 straight and the Warriors 12, a run they ended in 2007 by beating the 67-15 Dallas Mavericks in the first round.
| Seasons | Franchise | Seasons missed | How it ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Sacramento Kings | 2006-07 to 2021-22 | 2023: lost to Golden State 3-4 in the first round |
| 15 | Buffalo Braves / San Diego and LA Clippers | 1976-77 to 1990-91 | 1992: lost to Utah 2-3 in the first round |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2004-05 to 2016-17 | 2018: lost to Houston 1-4 in the first round |
| 12 | Golden State Warriors | 1994-95 to 2005-06 | 2007: beat Dallas 4-2, then lost to Utah 1-4 |
| 10 | Dallas Mavericks | 1990-91 to 1999-00 | 2001: beat Utah 3-2, then lost to San Antonio 1-4 |
| 10 | Phoenix Suns | 2010-11 to 2019-20 | 2021: reached the Finals, lost to Milwaukee 2-4 |
| 10 | Charlotte Hornets | 2016-17 to 2025-26 | Active |
| 9 | New Orleans / Utah Jazz | 1974-75 to 1982-83 | 1984: beat Denver 3-2, then lost to Phoenix 2-4 |
| 9 | Golden State Warriors | 1977-78 to 1985-86 | 1987: beat Utah 3-2, then lost to the Lakers 1-4 |
| 9 | Sacramento Kings | 1986-87 to 1994-95 | 1996: lost to Seattle 1-3 in the first round |
Does the play-in count as a playoff appearance?
No. The play-in comes before the playoffs and, as the NBA's 2026-27 schedule release puts it, "will determine the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference." Its winners are playoff teams and its losers are not, and NBA.com files play-in games apart from playoff games.
Since the format began in 2020-21, four teams a year have gone out in the play-in, 24 in all, plus the Memphis Grizzlies in the one play-in game of the 2020 bubble. Fifteen franchises have lost in it at least once; our play-in study breaks the results down by seed:
- Three times: Charlotte (2021, 2022, 2026), Chicago (2023, 2024, 2025) and Golden State (2021, 2024, 2026).
- Twice: the Atlanta Hawks and the Kings (2024, 2025), the San Antonio Spurs (2021, 2022) and the Clippers (2022, 2026).
- Once: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Memphis, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City, Toronto Raptors, Dallas and Miami.
If the play-in did count, Charlotte's drought would be over, and the longest wait for any postseason game would be Washington's, without one since the 2021 playoffs, ahead of Utah (2022) and Brooklyn (2023). The Wizards went 17-65 last season, the worst record in the league.
NBA playoff series win droughts
Two franchises have gone 22 seasons without winning a playoff series. The Kings last won one in 2004, over Dallas, and the Hornets in 2002, over Orlando, in the original team's last season before it moved to New Orleans. Charlotte had no NBA team in 2002-03 and 2003-04, so both have played 22 seasons since. Only the Clippers have gone longer: 29 seasons, from 1976-77 until they beat the Denver Nuggets in 2006.
Orlando is next at 16 seasons, since sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats and the Hawks in 2010, and in the 2026 first round it lost a 3-1 lead to the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. That comeback, one of 15 from 3-1 down in NBA history, ended Detroit's own run of 17 seasons without a series win, which included four first-round exits.
Every NBA team's playoff drought
Franchises are ordered by current drought, then by their wait for a series win. The 16 with a drought of zero played in the 2026 playoffs.
| Team | Last playoffs | Drought | Play-in losses | Last series win | Series drought |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Hornets | 2016 | 10 | 3 | 2002 | 22 |
| Washington Wizards | 2021 | 5 | 0 | 2017 | 9 |
| Chicago Bulls | 2022 | 4 | 3 | 2015 | 11 |
| Utah Jazz | 2022 | 4 | 0 | 2021 | 5 |
| Sacramento Kings | 2023 | 3 | 2 | 2004 | 22 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 2023 | 3 | 0 | 2021 | 5 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 2024 | 2 | 0 | 2018 | 8 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 2024 | 2 | 1 | 2024 | 2 |
| LA Clippers | 2025 | 1 | 1 | 2021 | 5 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 2025 | 1 | 0 | 2022 | 4 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 2025 | 1 | 0 | 2022 | 4 |
| Miami Heat | 2025 | 1 | 1 | 2023 | 3 |
| Golden State Warriors | 2025 | 1 | 1 | 2025 | 1 |
| Indiana Pacers | 2025 | 1 | 0 | 2025 | 1 |
| Orlando Magic | 2026 | 0 | - | 2010 | 16 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 2026 | 0 | - | 2019 | 7 |
| Houston Rockets | 2026 | 0 | - | 2020 | 6 |
| Toronto Raptors | 2026 | 0 | - | 2020 | 6 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 2026 | 0 | - | 2021 | 5 |
| Phoenix Suns | 2026 | 0 | - | 2023 | 3 |
| Boston Celtics | 2026 | 0 | - | 2025 | 1 |
| Denver Nuggets | 2026 | 0 | - | 2025 | 1 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
| Detroit Pistons | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
| New York Knicks | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 2026 | 0 | - | 2026 | 0 |
The longest active NBA playoff streaks
The Boston Celtics have reached 12 straight playoffs, from 2014-15 through 2025-26, the longest active run, ahead of the Denver Nuggets with eight and the Timberwolves with five. Two long runs ended in 2026: the Milwaukee Bucks' nine in a row and Miami's six.
The record is 22 straight, shared by the franchise that is now the Philadelphia 76ers, which made every playoff from 1949-50 to 1970-71 as the Syracuse Nationals and then in Philadelphia, and the Spurs, from 1997-98 to 2018-19. The two runs were not equally hard: about 68 percent of teams qualified from 1950 to 1971, against 54 percent during the Spurs' streak. The Portland Trail Blazers made 21 in a row and the Jazz 20, both through 2003.
NBA teams that have never won a title or reached the Finals
Ten of the 30 franchises have never won the NBA title: the Nets, Hornets, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Magic, Phoenix Suns and Jazz. The Suns have waited longest, 58 seasons since 1968-69, with three losing trips to the Finals, in 1976, 1993 and 2021.
Five have never reached the Finals: Charlotte, the Clippers, Memphis, Minnesota and New Orleans. The Clippers' 56 seasons are the longest such wait. Among the 20 franchises with a title, the Kings have gone longest since their last: their only one came in 1951 as the Rochester Royals, 75 seasons ago, and the Hawks have not won since 1958 in St. Louis, according to NBA.com's list of champions.
Playoff droughts going into the 2026-27 NBA season
The 2026-27 regular season began on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and ends on April 11, 2027, with the play-in again deciding the last two playoff places in each conference. Charlotte entered it at 10 straight misses and Boston at 12 straight appearances; through Nov. 2 the Hornets were 3-5 and the Celtics 5-2.
The New York Knicks began as champions after their first title since 1973, and our study of defending champions shows that 23 of 79 won the next title. The NBA schedule lists every game, the NBA simulator plays the season out, and our look at the best record shows it has won the title in 21 of 47 seasons since 1979-80.
NBA playoff droughts: frequently asked questions
What is the longest playoff drought in NBA history? Sixteen seasons, by the Sacramento Kings, who missed every playoff from 2007 to 2022, then lost to the Golden State Warriors in seven games in 2023.
Which NBA team has the longest active playoff drought? The Charlotte Hornets, who have missed 10 straight playoffs since losing to the Miami Heat in seven games in the 2016 first round. The Washington Wizards are next with five.
Does the play-in tournament count as making the playoffs? No. The play-in decides the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference, and a team that loses in it has missed the playoffs.
Which NBA teams have never been to the Finals? Five: the Charlotte Hornets, LA Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans.
Which NBA team has the longest playoff streak? The Boston Celtics have the longest active run, 12 straight. The record is 22, shared by the Syracuse Nationals and Philadelphia 76ers franchise, from 1950 to 1971, and the San Antonio Spurs, from 1998 to 2019.
How this was built: all 908 playoff series from 1947 to 2026, for today's 30 franchises. From 1983-84 on, games and final standings come from NBA.com's official game logs; earlier series come from Wikipedia's game-by-game playoff pages, checked against the series score each gives, and earlier teams from its season pages, as does the 2020 bubble play-in game. A drought is a run of seasons played without a playoff appearance through 2025-26; play-in games are not playoff games, and the 1954 round robin counts as an appearance but not a series. As in NBA.com's records, the 1988-2002 Hornets count with Charlotte and the New Orleans Hornets with the Pelicans. All active droughts and streaks, and the longest ones, match Wikipedia's lists of postseason droughts and streaks. Season dates are from NBA Communications as of October 19, 2026.