How Many NBA Teams Have Three-peated?

The NBA has seen some truly dominant teams over the years, but only a handful have been able to three-peat. Here’s a look at the teams that have accomplished this feat.

Three-peating in the NBA

The Boston Celtics were the first team to three-peat in the NBA, winning championships in 1957, 1958, and 1959. The Los Angeles Lakers later did it twice, winning titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002, and then again from 2009 to 2010. The most recent team to three-peat are the Golden State Warriors, winning championships in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

The Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are one of the most successful NBA teams of all time. They have won a total of 17 championships, which is the most in NBA history. They also have the most appearances in the NBA Finals, with 21. The Celtics have a long-standing rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers, who have won 16 championships.

The Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, having won 16 NBA championships, their last being in 2010.

As of 2020, the Lakers are 25th in the league in three-point shooting percentage, and 28th in free-throw shooting percentage.

The Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are the only team in NBA history to win three consecutive championships on two separate occasions (1991-1993 and 1996-1998). They are also the only team to win back-to-back-to-back titles on three separate occasions (1991-1993, 1996-1998, and 2010-2012).

Other teams that have come close to three-peating

There have only been three teams in NBA history to three-peat: the Minneapolis Lakers, the Boston Celtics, and the Chicago Bulls. The Lakers did it twice, the Celtics three times, and the Bulls six times. The most recent team to come close to three-peating was the Golden State Warriors, who won back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016 and made it to the NBA Finals in 2017.

The San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The Spurs have won 22 division titles, four conference championships, and four NBA championships, which are the fourth most in NBA history and tied for second-most behind only the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. As of 2020, the Spurs have the second-best winning percentage among active NBA teams after the Lakers; as well as, behind only the Lakers and Celtics, have more playoff appearances than any other active NBA team with 53. The team has made the playoffs in 31 consecutive seasons (as of 2020), posting a winning record in 28 of them. Those streaks include 20 straight playoff appearances with a winning record (as of 2020), 15 division titles (1999–2000 to 2013–14; 16 if counting the canceled 1998–99 season), and four trips to the Western Conference Finals or better (1999 to 2008). In their last 23 seasons they posted only 6 losing seasons. Given their success over such a long period, many pundits consider them one of dynasty’s in North American professional sports history.

The Miami Heat

The Miami Heat have come the closest to three-peating in recent years, winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. They made it to the Finals again in 2014, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

The last team to successfully three-peat was the Los Angeles Lakers, who won titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Prior to that, it was the Chicago Bulls, who won three consecutive championships from 1996 to 1998.

The Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are a professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, the Warriors relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 and took the city’s name, before changing its geographic moniker to Golden State in 1971. They play their home games at the Chase Center.

The Warriors have reached nine Finals, winning six NBA championships between 1947 and 1975. The team has five divisional titles, 17 conference championships (second most in NBA history) and 26 playoff appearances (third most in NBA history). The Warriors hold several all-time franchise records, including best regular season record (73–9), most points scored in a season (3,190), best season average for points per game (118.9) and wins, and best postseason record (16–1). They are also tied with the Chicago Bulls for having appeared eight times in an NBA Finals series and are second behind only the Los Angeles Lakers for having won three NBA championships consecutively from 1959 to 1966 as well as four championships consecutively from 1976 to 1979.

The Warriors’ dynasty of the early 1950s was interrupted after team founder Franklin Mieuli lost control of the franchise following one poor season while he was out sick; however, he eventually regained enough financial backing to buy back majority ownership of the team by 1964. The team would go on to enjoy much success under head coach George Karl including making ten straight playoff appearances from 1987 to 1996; however they only made it past the first round twice during that time span despite boasting such star players as Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Latrell Sprewell. In 2000, new ownership was brought in led by Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver which saw significant changes to both the personnel on the court as well as within management which included installing general manager Garry St. Jean and head coach Eric Musselman. After several disappointing seasons Musselman was replaced by former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Montgomery who had some success but was unable to cure all ills affecting the team; this included continued poor attendance despite an increase up to nearly 20 wins over their previous season’s total under Musselman’s leadership as well having disagreements over playing style with then-newly acquired superstars Baron Davis and Jason Richardson. Consequently, Montgomery would be let go near the end of 2006 with Don Nelson being brought back for his third stint as head coach.

Why three-peating is so difficult

Three-peating is when a team wins three championships in a row. It is one of the hardest things to do in professional basketball. Only four teams have ever done it in the NBA. The last team to do it was the Los Angeles Lakers, who did it from 2000 to 2002.

The NBA Finals are a best-of-seven series

The NBA Finals are a best-of-seven series. The first team to win four games is the champion. No matter how good a team is, winning four out of seven games against another great team is difficult.

Only ten teams in NBA history have won three consecutive championships. The most recent team to do it was the Los Angeles Lakers, who won titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The Lakers also did it twice in the 1980s (1982-1984 and 1987-1989), making them the only team to three-peat three times.

The Boston Celtics were the first team to win three consecutive championships, doing it from 1959 to 1966. They also did it twice more in the 1970s (1974-1976) and once more in the 1980s (1981-1983).

The other teams to have won three consecutive championships are the Minneapolis Lakers (1952-1954), the New York Knicks (1970-1973), the Oakland Athletics (1972-1974), the Miami Heat (2012-2013), and the Golden State Warriors (2017-2018).

The Warriors are currently trying to become the first team since the Lakers in 2002 to win three consecutive championships. They will have to go through a tough Houston Rockets team in order to do it.

The other team is always trying to dethrone the champion

The other team is always trying to dethrone the champion
In an NBA Finals rematch, the desire to avenge a loss is palpable. From the moment one team wins the championship, the defeated franchise and its fans start thinking about what could have been and how things will be different next time around. No matter how much talent the champion has, or how badly they want to win, they can never take their foot off the gas.

The Boston Celtics are the most successful dynasty in NBA history, winning eight championships in a row from 1959 to 1966. But even they had their fair share of close calls. In 1962, they narrowly defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 by two points. The following year, they won Game 7 by four points against the San Francisco Warriors. And in 1964, they eked out a three-point victory against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The margin for error is simply too narrow for any team to win three consecutive championships. Even when a team is at the peak of its powers, it only takes one injury, one bad break, or one poor shooting night to doom their chances at history.

There is a lot of pressure to repeat

The last team to three-peat was the Los Angeles Lakers, who did it from 2000 to 2002. Since then, only two teams have come close: the Miami Heat, who lost in the NBA Finals in 2011 and 2014 after winning championships in 2012 and 2013; and the Golden State Warriors, who lost in the Finals in 2016 after winning in 2015 and 2017.

It’s hard to win an NBA title. It’s even harder to win back-to-back titles. And it’s nearly impossible to win three straight titles. That’s why three-peating is so rare and so difficult.

Here are some of the reasons why three-peating is so difficult:

1) There is a lot of pressure to repeat. The team that wins the NBA championship is immediately labeled as a “dynasty” and expected to win again. The pressure to repeat can be overwhelming and often leads to players trying too hard or forcing things that aren’t there.

2) There is a target on the team’s back. Every team wants to beat the defending champions. They play with a sense of urgency and focus that they might not otherwise have. This can often lead to upsets or close games against teams that the champions should otherwise easily handle.

3) The other teams get better. While the defending champions are trying to stay at the top, everyone else is trying to catch them. This means that there is usually a lot of movement in the standings from one year to the next and it becomes more difficult for a team to maintain its position at the top of the league.

4) Injuries happen. No team is immune from injuries and they can often have a big impact on a team’s chances of repeating as champions. Just ask the Warriors, who lost superstar Kevin Durant to an Achilles injury in Game 5 of this year’s Finals against Toronto.

5) Fatigue sets in. Winning back-to-back titles is an exhausting feat, both mentally and physically. By the time a team gets to its third straight Finals, it may be running on fumes and not have enough left in the tank to win another championship