| Conference | Western Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| First season | 1970–71 season |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Most recent champion(s) | Los Angeles Clippers (3rd title) |
| Most titles | Los Angeles Lakers (24 titles) |
The Pacific Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams: the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings. All teams, except the Suns, are based in California. Along with the American League West of Major League Baseball, they are one of two North American major league divisions with no animal themed nicknames.
The division was created at the start of the 1970–71 season, when the league expanded from 14 to 17 teams with the addition of the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers. The league realigned itself into two conferences: the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, with two divisions each in each conference. The Pacific Division began with five inaugural members: the Lakers, the Blazers, the San Diego Rockets, the San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics.[1] The Lakers, the Rockets, the Warriors and the SuperSonics all joined from the Western Division.
The Lakers have won the most Pacific Division titles with 24. The Phoenix Suns have the second most titles with eight. 19 NBA champions have come from the Pacific Division. The Lakers have won 12 championships, the Warriors won 5, and the Blazers and Sonics won one championship each. All of them, except the 1976–77 Blazers, the 2001–02 Lakers and the 2021–22 Warriors, were division champions. In the 1991–92 season, six teams from the division qualified for the playoffs. In the 1977–78 season, all teams in the division had winning percentages above 0.500 (50%). The most recent division champions are the Los Angeles Clippers.
Since the 2021–22 season, the Pacific Division champion has received the Chuck Cooper Trophy, named after Hall of Famer Chuck Cooper.[2]
- ^ "1970–71 Season Overview: Kareem Rules the League". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ "NBA unveils new trophies for division winners named after 6 NBA legends". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 11, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.