Fifty-three years ago, a gallon of gas cost less than 50 cents, Richard Nixon sat in the Oval Office and the first “Star Wars” movie was four years away.
It’s no wonder that New York Knicks fans were enthusiastic this weekend; they haven’t celebrated a win this big since then.
Saturday’s victory marks the end to one of the longest championship droughts in the league’s history, according to an NBC News analysis of NBA data going back to the 1946-47 season, when the league was in its Basketball Association of America era.
The Knicks have gone the longest without a championship among teams with at least two titles to their name. In the one-championship club, the Kings, now in Sacramento, California, and the Hawks, now in Atlanta, have endured more years without a subsequent title. And of the NBA teams that have yet to win a first championship, the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers have gone longer.
Dry spells
The 53 years the Knicks went between championships is three years longer than the half-century the Milwaukee Bucks went.
A range plot showing the longest championship droughts in NBA history. The Sacramento Kings have not won a championship in 75 years, ranking No. 1 on the list. The New York Knicks rank No. 5 on this list. It’s been 53 years since their last title in 1973. The Portland Trail Blazers are No. 10, with a previous win in 1977, 49 years ago.
