The 5 Worst Teams to Win the NBA Finals (2024)

It can be argued that the hardest accomplishment in sports is to win a championship. Every team is competing for that same goal, and only one will rise to the top, beating out the rest to achieve that glory. Winning a championship, therefore, is reserved for the best teams — except for when it isn’t.

Throughout the history of the NBA, most teams that have gone on to win the Finals finished that year’s regular season with a substantial record. Oftentimes, that record far exceeds other teams that have made the playoffs (for instance, the 2024 Boston Celtics, who finished with a record of 64-18, seven games higher than any other team).

But rarely, teams have gone on to win the Finals that not only had worse records than their opponents, but had worse records than most of the teams competing. That therefore makes them the ‘worst’ team to win the Finals, although teams certainly cannot be bad to win it all.

The following are the five ‘worst’ teams to win the NBA Finals in the modern era.

1 1978 Washington Bullets

The Bullets finished the 1977-78 season with a record of 44-38

The Washington Wizards were known as the Bullets prior to 1997, dating back from their days in Baltimore. And in 1978, the Bullets became the ‘worst’ team to ever win the NBA Finals, when they won the championship despite finishing the season with only 44 wins, the lowest amount of any champion to this date.

The Bullets began the season by losing six of their first ten games, but would then embark on an 18-5 run to become competitive. After facing multiple injuries, they would hover around .500 for the rest of the season, squeaking into the playoffs with a 44-38 record.

Once they reached the playoffs, the Bullets defeated the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, and the Philadelphia 76ers in the Conference Finals. Once in the NBA Finals, the Bullets defeated a Seattle SuperSonics team that had only won 47 games themselves, to clinch their first and to date only title in franchise history.

2 1995 Houston Rockets

The Rockets finished the 1994-95 season with a record of 47-35

The Houston Rockets walked away with their very first championship in 1994. That year, they finished with a record of 58-24, second place in the Western Conference. When they finished the following season with a record of 47-35 and 6th in the West, significantly worse than the previous year, they were not expected to repeat as champions.

However, the Rockets shocked the world when they won the 1995 NBA Finals. To do so, they upset the 60-win Utah Jazz in the opening round in five games, and then beat the 59-win Phoenix Suns in the second round in seven games.

In the Conference Finals, the Rockets defeated the 62-win Spurs in six games, and would go on to sweep the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals to clinch their second straight title, despite having a winning percentage of just .573. That title would mark the Rockets’ last to this date.

3 1975 Golden State Warriors

The Warriors finished the 1974-75 season with a record of 48-34

The 1970s featured a unique brand of bland basketball, earmarked by an era of star power which was arguably weaker than the decades that succeeded it. The decade, therefore, saw an increased number of teams reach the playoffs and in multiple cases win the championship, despite having less than 50 wins.

The 1975 Golden State Warriors were yet another representation of this fabric. The team was led by Rick Barry, who cemented himself as a legitimate superstar in the league.

In 1975, he averaged 30.6 points per game, and led the league in steals and free throw percentage. His play allowed the team to clinch the number one seed in the Western Conference with a record of just 48-34.

In the playoffs, the Warriors defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in six games in the first round (which was the Conference Semifinals — a fourth round had not been implemented until 1977), and then the Chicago Bulls in the Conference Finals in seven games.

Finally, the Warriors would sweep the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals to win their third championship and last until 2015.

4 1969 Boston Celtics

The Celtics finished the 1968-69 season with a record of 48-34

Arguably the weakest Boston Celtics team of the dozen-year-long dynasty, the 1969 iteration of the team finished with a record of just 48-34. The Celtics possessed the best defense in the league but only the 10th best offensive rating, out of 14 teams.

But 1969 was Bill Russell’s final year as a coach, and he wanted to go out with a bang. No team in the league had more championship experience than the Celtics, who had already won ten championships in the early days of the league, including eight straight from 1959 to 1967.

But all it took in 1969 was 48 wins to reach the playoffs. In the first round, the Celtics defeated the 76ers in five games, and then beat the New York Knicks in six games in the Division Finals.

Finally, the Celtics (once again) defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in seven games (they became the first team to ever surmount an 0-2 series deficit) to notch their 11th title.

5 1977 Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers finished the 1976-77 season with a record of 49-33

In the late 1970s, “Blazermania” took over the streets of Portland, Oregon. That was thanks to their Trail Blazers not only reaching the playoffs for the very first time in 1977, but winning it all.

Once again, the 1970s featured a weaker, slightly less competitive NBA landscape, which allowed the Trail Blazers to finish third in the Western Conference with a record of 49-33, and make the playoffs.

Make no mistake about it however, as the Trail Blazers were anything but weak in 1977: they went a whopping 45-6 at home. In the playoffs, they knocked off the Bulls in the first round, the Denver Nuggets in the second round, and swept the Lakers in the Conference Finals.

Finally, the Trail Blazers defeated the 76ers in the NBA Finals in six games, after dropping the first two games and overcoming an 0-2 deficit. The 1977 title still remains the only one in franchise history.