With a stirring 4 games to 2 victory over the heavily-favored Miami Heat, The Dallas Mavericks have won their very first championship. The Mavs have been in the NBA since the 1980-1981 season, which means they had to wait 30 years to hoist the trophy.
However, some other franchises have had even longer waits between titles.
Here are the top ten longest title droughts among NBA clubs (naturally, this list excludes teams which have never won a title, like the Phoenixc Suns, Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves, among many others).
The Houston Rockets won two straight titles in the mid-1990s, led by the immortal center Hakeem Olajuwon. (Of course, some would scoff that they would not have won if Michael Jordan had not taken an ill-advised sabbatical to go play minor league baseball). The Rockets have had some good teams since, but have never won a title since,Creative CommonOne of the greatest NBA teams in history, the Sixers were led two legendary players, Julius Erving and Moses Malone. But they haven’t claimed a title in almost three decades, despite having at least two Hall of Fame-type players in the roster since then (Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson).Creative CommonAlthough the Seattle Supersonics fielded some excellent teams in the 1990s when Gary Payton was their incomparable point guard, they have not won the title since 1979 (a team that included Dennis Johnson, who would later join the championship-laden Boston Celtics).Creative CommonLed by future Hall of Famers Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, the Washington Bullets (formerly of Baltimore) beat the Seattle Supersonics to gain its first and only title. The team has since changed its name to the less-violent Wizards, but has failed to win anything.Creative CommonIn a memorable finals against the favored 76ers of Julius Erving, the Blazers won their sole title behind the much-injured center Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas.Creative CommonThe Warriors beat the Washington Bullets in the first NBA finals featuring two black head coaches (At Attles for Golden State and KC Jones for the Bullets).
The Warriors have largely been mediocre ever since.
Creative CommonOne of the premier franchises in the NBA, the Knicks have not won a title in almost four decades. While they steadily made the playoffs throughout the 1990s behind Patrick Ewing, the Knicks have not held a parade down Broadway since the heady days of Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Willis Reed.Creative CommonLed by a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and an aging Oscar Robertson, the Bucks won their last title in 1971 – long before any of the current roster was even born.Creative CommonDuring the prehistoric days of the NBA, the St. Louis Hawks were one of the dominant clubs in the league. They were led by Hall of Famer Bob Pettit.Creative CommonVirtually at the dawn of the NBA (the Rochester Royals won the championship against the Minneapolis Lakers (who are now in Los Angeles). This was so long ago that one of the Royal players was a reserve guard named Red Holzman, who would later coach the New York Knicks to titles).Creative Common
