The Western Conference is one of two conferences that make up the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), the other being the Eastern Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three

divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

. The Western Conference comprises the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, and

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Divisions. The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the now

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

(named New Orleans Hornets at the time) from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The NBA first started awarding a Western Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season, renaming it after Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson in the 2021–22 season. Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy to the Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player, named after Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.

2024–25 standings

Notes * z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs * y – Clinched division title * pi – 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 leader * o– Eliminated from the playoffs

Teams

Former teams

;Notes * denotes an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

. * denotes a team that

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

from the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA).

Team timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:1970 till:2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:60 left:20 bottom:20 top:0 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1980 text:

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

(1970–1980) bar:2 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1978 text:

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

(1970–1978) bar:3 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

(1970–present) bar:4 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1980 text:

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

(1970–1980) bar:5 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: Phoenix Suns (1970–present) bar:6 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

(1970–present) bar:7 color:tan1 from:1970 till:1972 text: San Diego / Houston Rockets (1970–1972, 1980–present) bar:7 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end bar:8 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: San Francisco / Golden State Warriors (1970–present) bar:9 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: Seattle SuperSonics /

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

(1970–present) bar:10 color:tan1 from:1972 till:end text: Kansas City-Omaha / Kansas City / Sacramento Kings (1972–present) bar:11 color:tan1 from:1976 till:end text:

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

(1976–present) bar:12 color:tan2 from:1976 till:1979 text:

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

(1976–1979) bar:13 color:tan1 from:1978 till:end text: San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers (1978–present) bar:14 color:tan1 from:1979 till:end text:

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

(1979–present) bar:15 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text:

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

(1980–present) bar:16 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text:

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

(1980–present) bar:17 color:tan2 from:1988 till:1989 text:

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

(1988–1989) bar:18 color:tan2 from:1989 till:1990 text:

(1989–1990) bar:19 color:tan1 from:1989 till:end text: Minnesota Timberwolves (1989–present) bar:20 color:tan2 from:1990 till:1991 text: Orlando Magic (1990–1991) bar:21 color:tan1 from:1995 till:end text:

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

/ Memphis Grizzlies (1995–present) bar:22 color:tan1 from:2004 till:end text: New Orleans Hornets / Pelicans (2004–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:3 start:1970

Conference champions

Conference championships by team

^Note: Milwaukee joined the Eastern Conference during the 1980–81 season.

Season results

Notes

* The New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City due to the effect of Hurricane Katrina. The majority of home games were played in Oklahoma City, while a few remained in New Orleans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Western Conference (Nba) Western Conference (NBA) Sports in the Western United States