Buddy Hield has officially snapped the longest active streak for not making the playoffs at 632 games! The new longest playoff drought streak belongs to Lauri Markkanen: 403 games
Buddy Hield of the Philadelphia 76ers will play his first NBA playoff game this weekend. That's a huge accomplishment made even bigger by the fact that he went 632 games before playing in the postseason.
That's an awfully long time but it's not the longest. Tom Van Arsdale, for example, played in over 900 games during his 12 seasons in the NBA and never once got to participate in an NBA postseason.
Here are some other players who have suffered from painfully long playoff droughts.
Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Smith Jr. was drafted back in 2017 and has played in 326 games, but none of them were in the playoffs.
He has played for the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets, and now the Nets. But none of those teams have reached the postseason during his time.
If it weren't for his current injury, Christian Wood could have finally made the playoffs this year. The Los Angeles Lakers big man used to play for the Houston Rockets and then the Dallas Mavericks but neither team reached the postseason. Now he will sit on the sidelines as his Lakers take on the Denver Nuggets in the opening round. He has played in 339 overall games during his career.
Sexton plays for the Utah Jazz right now but he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers before that. He has participated in 344 games but hasn't been in the playoffs, yet.
Although the Cavaliers did reach the postseason during his time with the team, he was out due to an ACL injury.
Bridges has played in 360 games since joining the league but he hasn't been lucky enough to be in the postseason yet.
Bridges is a member of the Charlotte Hornets, which means that he might continue this long playoff drought. Even though the team is changing a lot, it might be some time before the Hornets are back in the playoffs.
It is surprising to hear that Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz has never been in a playoff game but none of his 403 matches have been in the postseason.
That could change soon as the Jazz are seemingly on the verge of being great again. Before his time in Utah, the Finnish star played for the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. Right now, he is the start player for the Jazz but they could decide to ship him to another team soon if they don't get much better. Would he be sent to a playoff contender?
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