Best Teams To Never Win A Championship

Best Team to Never Win a Championship: Time to Vote!

In the next phase of SB Nation’s “TITLELESS” project, fans can now vote on who they believe was the best non-champion team in NBA history.

By Kyle Theige Apr 20, 2020, 5:20pm CDT

Last week, the talented people over at SB Nation released their latest project known as “TITLELESS,” which essentially broke down the 64 best teams to never win a NBA championship. Led by SBN’s own Mike Prada, the field included at least one team from every active franchise, and was constructed based on “regions” that grouped various teams into the four following subcategories:

Flameouts
Overachievers
Not Good Enough
What Might Have Been

Your beloved Minnesota Timberwolves, more specifically the 2003-2004 squad, came in as the 8-seed in the “Not Good Enough” region. Last Wednesday I took an extended look back at everything that happened during that season, including Kevin Garnett’s journey to the MVP award, the historic 7-game series against the Sacramento Kings, and the disastrous Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

With that in mind, the next phase in Mike’s project involves fan voting based on the bracket that he developed over the weekend, with the first round matchups looking something like this:

Western Conference

(1) 1996-97 Utah Jazz vs. (16) 2014-15 Memphis Grizzlies

(8). 2004-05 Phoenix Suns vs. (9) 1997-98 Los Angeles Lakers

(5) 2017-18 Houston Rockets vs. (12) 2003-04 Minnesota Timberwolves

(4) 1993-94 Seattle Supersonics vs. (13) 1994-95 San Antonio Spurs

(6) 1990-91 Portland Trail Blazers vs. (11) 2013-14 Los Angeles Clippers

(3) 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (14) 2007-08 New Orleans Hornets

(7) 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks vs. (10) 1963-64 San Francisco Warriors

(2) 2001-02 Sacramento Kings vs. (15) 1984-85 Denver Nuggets

Eastern Conference

(1) 1994-95 Orlando Magic vs. (16) 2001-02 Boston Celtics

(8) 2009-10 Orlando Magic vs. (9) 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers

(5) 1981-82 Philadelphia 76ers vs. (12) 2002-03 New Jersey Nets

(4) 1992-93 New York Knicks vs. (13) 2017-18 Toronto Raptors

(6) 1997-98 Indiana Pacers vs. (11) 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks

(3) 2010-11 Chicago Bulls vs. (14) 1968-69 Washington Bullets

(7) 1985-86 Milwaukee Bucks vs. (10) 1996-97 Miami Heat

(2) 2018-19 Milwaukee Bucks. vs. (15) 1996-97 Detroit Pistons

More information on how the 64-team field was narrowed down to 32 and how Mike ultimately seeded the tournament can be found here.

With all that said, if you’re interested in trying to help the 2003-2004 Wolves accomplish something that they originally could not (you know, WIN), click this link and get your Josh Okogie on against the James Harden-led 2018 Houston Rockets. Voting for this round will close at 10am EST Tuesday morning, so time is (already) running out.

Go Wolves.