This is an excerpt from Berry Tramel's Friday ScissorTales. Read it in its entirety here.
Two teams — the Thunder and the Pacers — remain alive in the NBA Playoffs representing NBA cities that never have won the league championship. Here’s a list of the NBA cities still waiting on their first title, ranked by longevity.
1. Atlanta 57: The St. Louis Hawks moved to Georgia in 1968. The Hawks haven’t so much as reached the NBA Finals.
1. Phoenix 57: The Suns were a 1968 expansion franchise. At least they’ve reached three Finals.
3. Indianapolis 48: The Pacers moved to the NBA from the late, great American Basketball Association in 1976. At least Indy won three ABA titles.
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4. Salt Lake City 46: The Jazz moved from New Orleans — hence the name — in 1979. Utah has won the West twice. But the ABA’s Utah Stars won a championship.
5. Sacramento 40: The Kansas City Kings moved in 1985. The Kings haven’t made the Finals yet.
6. Orlando 36: A 1989 expansion franchise, the Magic has made the Finals twice.
7. Charlotte 35: A 1988 expansion franchise as the Hornets, then another expansion franchise (Bobcats) in 2004 after the original Hornets moved to New Orleans, not even a name change back to Hornets has helped. Charlotte has experienced just four playoff series advancements in 3½ decades.
8. New Orleans 28: The original Jazz (a 1974 expansion franchise) and the relocated Hornets have combined for two playoff advancements in almost 30 years as an NBA city.
9. Memphis 24: The Grizzlies moved from Vancouver in 2001 and have five total playoff advancements.
10. Oklahoma City: 18: The Hornets played in OKC two years (2005-07), then the SuperSonics moved in 2008. The Thunder has reached one Finals and been a frequent playoff winner.
Note: Minneapolis won four NBA titles with the Lakers from 1949-54. Brooklyn has gone 13 years without a title since getting the Nets; decide for yourself if Brooklyn merits status as its own city. And four cities were in the league at least 10 years before losing their franchise, without a title — Cincinnati (Kings) 15, Kansas City (Kings) 13, San Diego (Rockets and Clippers) 10 and Baltimore (Wizards) 10.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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