Western Conference (NBA)

Western Conference

Formerly	Western Division
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1970
No. of teams	15
Most recent champion(s)	Dallas Mavericks (3rd title)
Most titles	Los Angeles Lakers (19 titles)

The Western Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Eastern Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions.

The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the now Charlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Pelicans (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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Notes

• c – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• y – Clinched division title
• x – Clinched playoff spot
• pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot
• * – Division leader

Notes

• † denotes an expansion team.
• ‡ denotes a team that merged from the American Basketball Association (ABA).

Seattle supersonics

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

• a 1 2 3 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.