The National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded in 1946 and began operations as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Following the BAA's merger with the National Basketball League (NBL), the BAA rebranded as the NBA. The 1949–50 NBA season marked the first season following the merger. The NBA has kept a record of its win–loss statistics since its inception. These records include wins and losses recorded during a team's playing time in the BAA. Defunct BAA/NBA franchises are also accounted for, provided that they played at least one season in the BAA or NBA. NBA win–loss records also do not include wins and losses recorded during a team's playing time in the American Basketball Association (ABA), despite the 1976 ABA–NBA merger.[1]
The San Antonio Spurs have the highest win–loss record percentage, with 2,305–1,562 .[2] Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves have the lowest win–loss record percentage, with 1,147–1,647 . The Boston Celtics leads the most played games, with 6,114. Conversely, the New Orleans Pelicans have played the fewest overall games, with 1,768. The Celtics have also recorded the most wins, with 3,634; the Sacramento Kings have recorded the most losses with 3,257. The Pelicans have also recorded both the fewest wins (831) and losses (937) in regular season history.
In the 2023–24 NBA season, the NBA hosted its inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament (IST), later dubbed the NBA Cup. Games played during the IST are included in a team's regular season results and thus, count toward a team's win–loss record, with the exception of the NBA Cup Finals.[3] [4]
At the end of the regular season, 12 teams (the top 6 seeds in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference) will have clinched a NBA playoffs. Meanwhile, the 7th through 10th seeds in Eastern Conference and Western Conference enter a play-in tournament to determine their playoff seeds. Through the end of the 2023-24 NBA season, the Pelicans are tied with the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Miami Heat for most play-in tournament games played, with four. The Lakers have the best play-in tournament record, having won all three of their games. Conversely, the Golden State Warriors have the worst play-in tournament record, having lost all three of their games.
As of the end of the 2024 NBA Finals, the Lakers have the most post-season games played (782), wins (465), and losses (317), and highest post-season winning percentage with 465–317 .[5] The Charlotte Hornets have the lowest post-season winning percentage with 23–40 .[6] The Pelicans have the fewest post-season games played (59), wins (22), and losses (37).[7]
See also: List of NBA regular season records.
| Best win–loss record in division ⁂ |
| Rank | Team | Won | Lost | First NBA season | Division | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3,867 | 2,305 | 1,562 | Southwest ⁂ | |||||
| 2 | 6,114 | 3,634 | 2,480 | Atlantic ⁂ | |||||
| 3 | 6,004 | 3,550 | 2,454 | Pacific ⁂ | |||||
| 4 | 4,032 | 2,177 | 1,855 | Northwest ⁂ | |||||
| 5 | 4,525 | 2,429 | 2,096 | ||||||
| 6 | 4,606 | 2,470 | 2,136 | ||||||
| 7 | 4,525 | 2,389 | 2,136 | Central ⁂ | |||||
| 8 | 2,885 | 1,521 | 1,364 | Southeast ⁂ | |||||
| 9 | 4,362 | 2,292 | 2,070 | Northwest | |||||
| 10 | 5,941 | 3,101 | 2,840 | ||||||
| 11 | 4,606 | 2,369 | 2,237 | ||||||
| 12 | 4,680 | 2,383 | 2,297 | ||||||
| 13 | 3,543 | 1,797 | 1,746 | Southwest | |||||
| 14 | 3,869 | 1,954 | 1,915 | ||||||
| 15 | 3,868 | 1,930 | 1,938 | Central | |||||
| 16 | 5,937 | 2,927 | 3,010 | ||||||
| 17 | 6,105 | 2,974 | 3,131 | Atlantic | |||||
| 18 | 6,103 | 2,969 | 3,134 | ||||||
| 19 | 2,310 | 1,096 | 1,214 | Atlantic | |||||
| 20 | 5,998 | 2,827 | 3,171 | ||||||
| 21 | 1,768 | 831 | 937 | ||||||
| 22 | 2,803 | 1,315 | 1,488 | Southeast | |||||
| 23 | 4,353 | 2,032 | 2,321 | Central | |||||
| 24 | 6,005 | 2,748 | 3,257 | ||||||
| 25 | 5,087 | 2,272 | 2,815 | Southeast | |||||
| 26 | 2,713 | 1,174 | 1,539 | ||||||
| 27 | 2,311 | 998 | 1,313 | ||||||
| 28 | 3,868 | 1,654 | 2,214 | ||||||
| 29 | 4,360 | 1,843 | 2,517 | ||||||
| 30 | 2,794 | 1,147 | 1,647 | Northwest | |||||
| This list is accurate through the end of the 2023–24 NBA season. | |||||||||
See also: NBA play-in tournament.
The NBA introduced a play-in tournament in the 2019–20 NBA season to compensate for the suspension of the regular season and a difference in the amount of games played between teams, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 2019–20 NBA season, if both conference's 9th seed was within 4 games of the 8th seed in the standings, a play-in matchup between the two seeds would be triggered.[8] The 8th seed would need to win one game, while the 9th seed would need to win two in the matchup.[8] Ultimately, the Western Conference's Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies would face off in a play-in game.[8]
The future of the play-in tournament was then explored, with many reports concurring that it would indeed become a permanent fixture in the NBA.[9] [10] Due to the success of the play-in tournament and the COVID-19 pandemic persisting into the 2020–21 NBA season, the league installed a play-in tournament involving both conference's 7th through 10th-place teams in the regular season standings.[11] [12] The format of the play-in tournament involves the 7th-place team playing the 8th-place team with the winner clinching the 7th seed in the playoffs. The 9th-place team plays the 10th-place team with the loser being eliminated from playoff contention. The loser of the 7th-8th matchup will then play the winner of the 9th-10th matchup, with the winner clinching the 8th seed and the loser being eliminated.[13]
| Best win–loss record in division ⁂ |
| Team | Won | Lost | Division | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | Pacific ⁂ | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Atlantic ⁂ | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Atlantic ⁂ | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Atlantic ⁂ | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Northwest ⁂ | |||||
| 4 | 3 | 1 | Southeast ⁂ | |||||
| 4 | 3 | 1 | Southwest ⁂ | |||||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Southwest | |||||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Northwest | |||||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | Central ⁂ | |||||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | Southeast | |||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Central ⁂ | |||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Northwest | |||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Southeast | |||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | Central | |||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | Southeast | |||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | Pacific | |||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | Southwest | |||||
| 3 | 0 | 3 | Pacific | |||||
| This list is accurate through the end of the 2024 NBA play-in tournament. | ||||||||
See also: List of NBA post-season records.
See also: List of NBA franchise post-season droughts and List of NBA franchise post-season streaks.
| Best win–loss record in division ⁂ | |
| Most recent champion ★ < | -- Change to "Team active in playoffs ✔" during playoffs and "Most recent champion ★" during off-season for championship-winning team --> |
|---|---|
| Qualified for most recent playoffs ✔ < | -- Change to "Team eliminated from playoffs ✘" during playoffs and "Qualified for most recent playoffs ✔" during the following off-season and regular season --> |
| Team in playoff drought † |
| Rank | Team | Won | Lost | Last playoff appearance | Division | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 64 | 782 | 465 | 317 | ✔ | 17 | Pacific ⁂ | |||
| 2 | 61 | 738 | 423 | 315 | ★ | 18 | Atlantic ⁂ | |||
| 3 | 25 | 295 | 163 | 132 | ✔ | 3 | Southeast ⁂ | |||
| 4 | 37 | 384 | 212 | 172 | † | 7 | Pacific | |||
| 5 | 39 | 403 | 222 | 181 | † | 5 | Southwest ⁂ | |||
| 6 | 36 | 349 | 187 | 162 | † | 6 | Central ⁂ | |||
| 7 | 25 | 246 | 131 | 115 | ✔ | 1 | Central | |||
| 8 | 54 | 488 | 250 | 238 | ✔ | 3 | Atlantic | |||
| 9 | 42 | 370 | 188 | 182 | † | 3 | Central | |||
| 10 | 33 | 341 | 170 | 171 | ✔ | 1 | Northwest ⁂ | |||
| 11 | 45 | 404 | 200 | 204 | ✔ | 2 | Atlantic | |||
| 12 | 33 | 324 | 160 | 164 | ✔ | 0 | Pacific | |||
| 13 | 34 | 322 | 158 | 164 | † | 2 | Southwest | |||
| 14 | 36 | 312 | 152 | 160 | ✔ | 2 | Central | |||
| 15 | 28 | 258 | 123 | 135 | ✔ | 0 | Central | |||
| 16 | 25 | 249 | 118 | 131 |