Top 5 Most Championships

The Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors. These are just some of the teams that have never won a championship in the NBA, and have never even made an appearance in the Finals. But, which teams have won the most championships in NBA history?

5. Golden State Warriors – 5 championships

the Warriors have appeared in the Finals 9 times, and they won five of those. They won their first two championships when they were still located in Philadelphia (1947, 1956). The Warriors won their first championship during the first season of the BAA, and the NBA officially recognizes that title as the first championship. The team won their other three championships after they relocated to Oakland (1975, 2015, 2017)

4. San Antonio Spurs – 5 championships

Though the Spurs have won the same amount of championships as the Warriors, they did it in less Finals appearances. The Spurs have only appeared in 6 Finals, and they lost only one. All their Finals appearances were since 1999 and the team included both superstar Tim Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich.

3. Chicago Bulls – 6 championships

The Bulls definitely have the best Finals win percentage, as they won 100% of the Finals they’ve appeared in. It has been a while since they last won the title, as their last championship dates back to 1998. They won all their titles during the Michael Jordan era of their team (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998). It is interesting that the Bulls won the championship in three consecutive years, and they managed to do that twice!

2. Los Angeles Lakers – 16 championships

The Lakers have made the most Finals appearances of the teams on this list, with 31, but they also are second on the list of most championships won by a franchise. They have won 16 titles, spread out over almost 70 years. They won their first title back in 1949 and their last title was in 2010. The Lakers have also managed to have two three-peat titles in the history of the franchise, once from 1952-1954 and once from 2000-2002.

1. Boston Celtics – 17 championships

The most successful franchise in the history of the NBA, is the Boston Celtics. They are one of the original teams, and have won 17 championships, in 21 appearances since 1946. Though they have won one titles more than their biggest rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, the two teams have played each other 12 times in the NBA Finals, which is a record. The Celtics have won 9 of those Finals, and the Lakers 3 times.