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There have been many great teams who have failed to win a title in this century. As they say, no one remembers who came second and that might as well be true. The great teams on this list are likely to be forgotten as time goes by. Most of them, have the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers to thank for their misery. The two franchises have won a combined 8 titles since the 2000-01 season. Both of them have had a key role in ensuring that the teams on this list never went on to win the biggest prize in the sport
Also read: 10 Best NBA Finals Series of all time
PS: Only those franchises who didn't win a title in the 2000's are counted. So the Mavs in 06/07, the Cavs in 08/09 and the 15/16 Warriors won't be on the list as they all eventually won.
Honorable Mention: Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies have had the best stretch in franchise history in the Grit and Grind Era. Unlike most teams in the league, they were more of a throwback to the past, playing with a slower pace and a big-man dominated system. They've had some terrific Playoff series over the years against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Spurs and the LA Clippers. Their style of play doesn't exactly get people off their seats which is why they don't get the recognition they deserve.
They reached one Conference Finals, in 2013 after beating the Clippers and the Thunder but they got swept by the Spurs. Their championship window has more or less closed now with Marc Gasol and Mike Conley both in their 30s. Both have had injury problems the last couple of years and they don't have a great supporting cast either.
#5 Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic had failed to get past the first round of the playoffs since Shaquille O'Neal left in 1996. That finally changed over a decade later as Dwight Howard emerged as the premier big man in the league and Stan Van Gundy took over as coach. While they lost to the Pistons, who were the resident power in the East in 2008, the Magic would win 59 games in each of the next 2 seasons and make deep playoff runs.
In 2009, they squeezed past the Celtics who didn't have Kevin Garnett in the semifinals to set up a clash against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Magic shot the Cavs out of the series, hitting 3s at a 40% clip and winning 4-2. They would face the Lakers in the NBA Finals and game 4 would decide the series. Down 1-2, the Magic led 87-84 with 11 seconds left, but Howard would miss both his free throws and the Lakers would go on to win in Overtime. The Lakers would comfortably win game 5 and close out the series.
The following season, they would lose in the Conference Finals to the Celtics who had Garnett healthy this time. First round exits in the next two seasons led to increased tensions and Howard reportedly wanted Van Gundy out. They both would end up leaving in 2012 and the Magic have been struggling since.
#4 New Jersey Nets
It's easy to forget that there was a time when the Nets were the best team in the Eastern Conference. Led by Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and an emerging Richard Jefferson, the Nets reached the Conference and NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003
They were more of a defensive oriented team and ranked in the top 5 in points allowed in both seasons. They were, however, limited offensively as they didn't really have a go-to scorer. Martin led the team with 14.9 ppg in 2002 and Kidd with 18.7 in 2003.
They've made as many Finals appearances as the rest of the teams combined on this list, but they really took advantage of an incredibly weak conference and it showed when they got to the Finals. The Nets were swept 4-0 in 2002 by a Lakers team which had just come off a grueling 7 game Conference Finals and it felt more like a 1st round match-up against the Nets.
They would put up a better fight in the 2003 Finals as Jefferson emerged as a scoring option. The Spurs defense, however, still stymied the the Nets offense, not allowing them to score 100 points even once as they won the series 4-2. The next season, the Pistons established themselves as the best team in the East and the Nets while still good, never reached those heights again.
#3 Sacramento Kings
While they have been a dumpster fire for the last decade, there was a time when the Kings were pretty damn good. With All-Stars Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic leading the way, along with a supporting cast of Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby, and Doug Christie, the Kings reached four successive Conference Semi-Finals from 2000-01 to 2003-04. They'd win at least 55 games in all four seasons.
The Kings peaked in 2001-02, winning 61 games for the best record in the NBA. They'd easily brush aside the Jazz and the Mavericks to reach the Conference Finals for a showdown with the reigning back-to-back champions the Lakers. It would go down in history as one of the most memorable and controversial series ever. Up 2-1 in the series, the Kings had a chance to go 3-1 up but Robert Horry hit a 3 with time expiring to win the game 100-99 for the Lakers.
Game 6 would prove to be the most controversial and there have been suspicions that the game was rigged. Many calls went in favor of the Lakers and they shot a staggering 27 free throws in the 4th quarter. The Kings would go on to lose the series in 7. They'd lose in 7 games in the next 2 Conference Semi-Finals, after which Webber was traded and their title hopes were over for good.
#2 Phoenix Suns
No team on this list suffered more bad breaks than perhaps the Suns. They signed Steve Nash in 2004 to kickstart a 6-year stretch when they were one of the top teams in the league. Nash would go on to win 2 MVP's while Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion would get voted multiple times into the All-Star team. The Suns lost in the Conference Finals in 2005, 2006, and 2010. In 2005, they'd lose Joe Johnson to injury in the semifinals and Stoudemire missed basically the whole 2006 season. They were however perhaps at their best in 2006/07.
Winning 61 games, the Suns finally seemed to have shaken off the injury bug and even had Leandro Barbosa winning 6th man of the year. After brushing aside the Lakers in 5 games, they'd face off against the Spurs. They lost game 1 after Nash went down late with an injury. They fought back and leveled the series at 2-2, but game 4 would be the turning point. With the Suns up late, Robert Horry would hip check Nash to the scorer's table, which led to Stoudemire and Boris Diaw leaving the bench. That would get them suspended for game 5 and the Suns eventually lost the series in 6 games.
After losing in the Conference Finals in 2010, Amare would leave and that ended Phoenix's hopes of contending for the title
#1 Oklahoma City Thunder
How did this lot never win a title together?
When the Thunder lost the NBA Finals in 2012, the general consensus was that they'd definitely win a title in the near future. The team was too talented not to. With a young core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka many thought they could perhaps win multiple championships down the line, but that didn't happen.
The Thunder had to make a choice after the 2012 Finals on whether to keep Harden or Ibaka and they chose Ibaka. They chose wrong as Harden would go on to be a perennial All-Star while Ibaka didn't live up to the hype. Despite that, however, they remained a legit title threat thanks to Durant and Westbrook. The Thunder also drafted extremely well to make sure the two had a solid supporting cast most of the time. They'd reach the Conference Finals in 10/11, 13/14 and 15/16. The only two times they missed out during that run, was when Westbrook got injured in 12/13 and Durant in 14/15.
The loss to the Warriors in 15/16 was especially painful. Up 3-1 in the series, the Thunder eventually ended up losing 4-3. This led to Durant deciding to leave the team in search for a title. It speaks to the talent of the duo that despite KD supposedly not wanting to play with Russ, they were so damn good for so long.
Guess the Lakers players!
