Who Won the Most NBA Titles?

We take a look at which NBA team has won the most championships in history.

The Boston Celtics

The Early Years

The Boston Celtics were founded in 1946 as one of eight NBA teams. The franchise was formed by Boston Garden-Arena Corporation president Walter A. Brown as a team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), and played their first game against the Chicago Stags on November 5, 1946. The Celtics struggled early on, losing their first seven games of the season. They went on to finish with a record of 22–46, good for a seventh-place finish in the BAA standings.

In the 1947–48 season, rookie center Bill Russell joined the team, which improved to 28–34 for a third-place finish in the BAA. Brown retired as coach after back-to-back losing seasons, and assistant coach Red Auerbach took over head coaching duties. In his first year at the helm, Auerbach led the Celtics to a 45–28 record for a first-place tie in the Eastern Division with Philadelphia.

The Bill Russell Era

The Bill Russell era Boston Celtics were the dominant team of the late 1950s and early 1960s, winning eight championships in a row from 1959 to 1966. This streak included an incredible run of five titles in a row from 1963 to 1967, as well as three more titles in 1968 and 1969. The Celtics also won a record seven consecutive championships from 1957 to 1963.

During this time, the Celtics were led by Bill Russell, who is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Russell was an incredible defensive player, and he helped the Celtics build a reputation as one of the best defensive teams in the history of the NBA. In addition to his defensive prowess, Russell was also a gifted rebounder and an excellent shot blocker. He was named the NBA MVP five times during his career, and he was named to the All-NBA First Team ten times.

The Celtics also had a number of other talented players during this era, including Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, John Havlicek, and Bill Sharman. These players formed the core of a team that would go down as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.

The Larry Bird Era

The Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) won three championships in the 1980s, thanks in large part to the play of Larry Bird. The forward/center was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, in 1956. After starring at Indiana State University, he was drafted sixth overall by the Celtics in 1978. He joined a team that included fellow future Hall of Famers Kevin McHale and Robert Parish—dubbed the “Big Three”—and head coach Bill Fitch. The Celtics went on to win 52 games that season but lost in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference in the 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 Early Years

The Los Angeles Lakers began play in 1947 as the Minneapolis Lakers, one of three professional basketball teams that debuted that year. The Lakers were founded by businessman Bob Jackman and coach John Kundla, who assembled a powerhouse team featuring center George Mikan, one of the greatest players of his generation. The Lakers quickly became a force to be reckoned with, winning five championships in six seasons between 1949 and 1954. The team’s dominance continued into the 1960s, when they won four more titles.Led by superstars Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, the Lakers appeared in nine Finals during the decade and won three championships.

The Magic Johnson Era

The arrival of Earvin “Magic” Johnson in 1979 changed the Lakers fortunes for the next decade. With the addition of fellow rookie forward James Worthy to a lineup that already included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Norm Nixon, the Lakers had one of the best trios in NBA history and quickly became a powerhouse. They made it to the NBA Finals in Johnson’s rookie season, but lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. The following year, they won their first championship against the same 76ers team with Johnson named Finals MVP.

With Johnson leading the way, the Lakers would go on to win four more championships in 1980, 1982, 1985 and 1987. In total, Johnson would be named Finals MVP three times (1980, 1982, 1987) and regular season MVP five times (1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996). He is widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

The Kobe Bryant Era

Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career in the National Basketball Association with the Los Angeles Lakers. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons and ranks fourth on both the league’s all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

The Chicago Bulls

The Early Years

The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Bulls compete in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the NBA. The team was founded on January 16, 1966. The team played their first game during the 1966-67 NBA season. They were one of two expansion teams to join the NBA that year, along with the Seattle SuperSonics. During their early years, they struggled to win games.

The Michael Jordan Era

The Michael Jordan era was the time when Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls. He is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. From 1991 to 1998, the Chicago Bulls won six NBA championships.

Other Notable Teams

The Boston Celtics have the most NBA titles with 17, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers with 16. But there are other teams that have also won a championships.

The Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Warriors play their home games at the Chase Center. 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 won the NBA championships in 1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, and 2018.

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 are one of four former American Basketball Association (ABA) teams to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA–NBA merger and are the only former ABA team to have won an NBA championship. The franchise has won five NBA championships, four conference titles, and 23 division titles. As of 2019, the Spurs have the fifth-highest winning percentage among active NBA franchises during their 60-year existence. They have won 20 straight playoff series for an NBA record that began in 1998 and extended through 2020.

In their 40 NBA seasons since 1976–77, the Spurs have captured 22 division titles and made 31 appearances in the Conference Finals, both of which are records for any sub-league within the NBA’s structure at any time since they were introduced: 10 more Conference Finals appearances than any other team from the Western Conference during that span (second overall behind only three teams from the Eastern Conference—the Boston Celtics with 21 appearances and 34 wins between 1957 and 1969, followed by Los Angeles Lakers with 31 appearances between 1982 and 2010),[4] as well as 6 more division titles than any other team from either conference over that 40-year timespan (second overall behind only 7 titles for teams from the Eastern Conference).