5 greatest teams since 2000 to not win an NBA title

#1 Oklahoma City Thunder

Russell Westbrook (L) and Kevin Durant (R)

How did this lot never win a title together?

When the Thunder lost the NBA Finals in 2012, the general consensus was that they'd definitely win a title in the near future. The team was too talented not to. With a young core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka many thought they could perhaps win multiple championships down the line, but that didn't happen.

The Thunder had to make a choice after the 2012 Finals on whether to keep Harden or Ibaka and they chose Ibaka. They chose wrong as Harden would go on to be a perennial All-Star while Ibaka didn't live up to the hype. Despite that, however, they remained a legit title threat thanks to Durant and Westbrook. The Thunder also drafted extremely well to make sure the two had a solid supporting cast most of the time. They'd reach the Conference Finals in 10/11, 13/14 and 15/16. The only two times they missed out during that run, was when Westbrook got injured in 12/13 and Durant in 14/15.

The loss to the Warriors in 15/16 was especially painful. Up 3-1 in the series, the Thunder eventually ended up losing 4-3. This led to Durant deciding to leave the team in search for a title. It speaks to the talent of the duo that despite KD supposedly not wanting to play with Russ, they were so damn good for so long.