All 30 NBA Franchises Statistically Ranked By All-Time Greatness
By Daniel
Many NBA fans like to claim their favorite team is one of the best franchises in league history, if not the best. We’ve taken away the bias and replaced arguments with cold hard facts in this all-time ranking of NBA franchises from 30 to 1.
Every debate about the greatest franchise in NBA history involves only two teams. Even the most casual NBA fan knows that those two teams are the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Although once this is read through, the debate will be settled once and for all. But the purpose of this ranking isn’t to just name the greatest franchise of all-time. The purpose of this ranking system is to use objective facts and statistics to rank all 30 NBA franchises from 30 to 1.
With this list every NBA fan can see how their favorite team stacks up against every other franchise all-time.
The franchise that comes in ranked as the No. 1 franchise in NBA history has had the highest level of consistent greatness throughout its existence. Los Angeles and Boston fans are both confident that they’re the number one franchise. The teams that comprise this top 10 are the NBA franchises that year-in and year-out have more success than the rest of the league. Fans of these franchises should be proud of their placement.
Why did I put this together? Well, if you ask 50 people to assemble their top 10 franchises in NBA history you’d likely get 50 different combinations of teams because everyone rightly has their opinion. This ranking system is not an opinion at all. It’s a weighted formula that is factually based in logic. The way the NBA’s 30 teams are ranked are not my doing — it’s just how the numbers shook out.
This ranking system doesn’t just reward longevity, or simply being an old franchise with built-up success. There are numerous old franchises ranked low and new franchises ranked high. It measures each franchise’s greatness per year. I took the point system below to accurately and fairly measure each franchise’s success. I then divided each franchise’s point total by how many years they’ve been in the NBA.
Point Breakdown:
Division Championship: 5 Points
Conference Championship: 10 Points
League Championship (1948-1965): 15 Points
League Championship (1976-Present): 20 Points
As previously stated, each franchise’s total points were divided by how many years they’ve been in the NBA. This is the only way to fairly rank all NBA franchises considering some have been around for nearly 70 years and others have been around for less than 15 years. Since this ranking system is based on the average level of greatness it’s fair to all franchises old and new. Some franchises were around for years before joining the NBA, but those years and accomplishments are not included in this list.
Note: I decided to choose 1976 as the cutoff to award more points for championships because that is the year the NBA absorbed the ABA’s top four franchises and the league got better. That year is as good of a ‘beginning of modern-day NBA’ year as any. Plus, only a few years later (1979-80) the three-point shot was added to the game. Is it somewhat arbitrary? Sure, but it’s the best year we have to make the appropriate switch in points. Obviously the 2014-15 NBA season isn’t accounted for in this ranking.
Since more teams were added to the league in 1976 (and for years after) and the game began to be played more like the way it is today, I awarded slightly more points for championships from that point on. Simply put, it’s less impressive to win a championship when there are only 11 teams (like when the NBA was formed). Also, it should also be noted that many franchises have changed cities and names throughout NBA history. Those changes have been accounted for on this list. Each franchise’s full NBA history has been put through the above point system.
Where does your favorite team land on the NBA’s all-time ranking?
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