Conference of the National Basketball Association
TheWestern Conference is one of twoconferences that make up theNational Basketball Association (NBA), the other being theEastern Conference . Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into threedivisions . The Western Conference comprises theNorthwest ,Pacific , andSouthwest Divisions.
The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the2004–05 season , when the nowCharlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of theNew Orleans Pelicans (named New Orleans Hornets at the time) from the Eastern Conference'sCentral Division to the newly createdSouthwest Division of the Western Conference.
The NBA first started awarding a Western Conference championship trophy during the2000–01 season , renaming it after Hall of FamerOscar Robertson in the2021–22 season .[ 1] Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy to theWestern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player , named after Hall of FamerMagic Johnson .[ 2]
Notes
z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffsy – Clinched division titlepi – Clinched play-in tournament spot (locked into a play-in spot but not able to clinch a playoff spot directly)x – Clinched playoff spot* – Division leaderTeam Division Location Year From Joined Dallas Mavericks Southwest Dallas, Texas 1980 –present—† Denver Nuggets Northwest Denver, Colorado 1976 –presentABA ‡Golden State Warriors Pacific San Francisco, California 1970 –presentWestern Division Houston Rockets Southwest Houston, Texas 1970 –presentWestern Division Los Angeles Clippers Pacific Los Angeles, California 1978 –presentEastern Conference Los Angeles Lakers Pacific Los Angeles, California 1970 –presentWestern Division Memphis Grizzlies Southwest Memphis, Tennessee 1995 –present—† Minnesota Timberwolves Northwest Minneapolis, Minnesota 1989 –present—† New Orleans Pelicans Southwest New Orleans, Louisiana 2004 –presentEastern Conference Oklahoma City Thunder Northwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1970 –presentWestern Division Phoenix Suns Pacific Phoenix, Arizona 1970 –presentWestern Division Portland Trail Blazers Northwest Portland, Oregon 1970 –present—† Sacramento Kings Pacific Sacramento, California 1972 –presentEastern Conference San Antonio Spurs Southwest San Antonio, Texas 1980 –presentEastern Conference Utah Jazz Northwest Salt Lake City, Utah 1979 –presentEastern Conference
Notes Denotes team that is currently in the conference Denotes team that has left the conference
Conference champions [ edit ] Bold Winning team of theNBA Finals ^ Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season
Conference championships by team [ edit ] ^Note: Milwaukee joined theEastern Conference during the 1980–81 season.
a 1 2 3 The New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City due to theeffect of Hurricane Katrina . The majority of home games were played in Oklahoma City, while a few remained in New Orleans.^ Golliver, Ben (May 12, 2022)."NBA redesigns Finals trophy, adds awards named after Magic Johnson, Larry Bird" .The Washington Post .To complete the postseason collection, the NBA updated its conference championship trophies, first created in 2001, and renamed them after Hall of Famers Bob Cousy (for the East) and Oscar Robertson (for the West) ^ Powell, Shaun (May 12, 2022)."NBA introduces new lineup of postseason hardware" .NBA.com . RetrievedMay 12, 2022 . ^ NBA Season Recap |NBA.com