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List of NBA champions

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
10 min read
Source updated September 13, 2026

The NBA Finals is the annual championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference (prior to 1971 it was played between division playoff winners), except in 1950 when the Eastern Division champion faced the winner between the Western and Central Division champions. From 1946 through 1949, when the league was known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the playoffs were a three-stage tournament where the two semifinal winners played each other in the finals. The winning team of the series receives the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, which has been awarded since 1977 (between 1947 and 1976 the winning team received the Walter A. Brown Trophy).

01Champions

The most recent champions are the New York Knicks, who won their first championship since 1973. The Boston Celtics have won the most championships of any team in the league at 18. As of 2026, the Eastern champions have a 42-38 advantage in NBA titles over the Western champions. The 1949-50 Minneapolis Lakers, who won the NBA Finals, are counted in the Eastern versus Western champions record as they played that sole season in the Central Division before returning to the Western Division.

  • The first parentheses in the Western champions and Eastern champions columns indicate the teams' playoff seed. The second parentheses indicate the number of times that teams have appeared in an NBA Finals as well as each respective team's NBA Finals record to date.
Bold Winning team of the BAA/NBA Finals
Italics Team with home-court advantage
Italics Finals MVP was on losing team
† Only defunct team to win championship
Year Western champion Coach Result Eastern champion Coach Finals MVP Ref
1947Chicago Stags (1) (1, 0-1)Harold Olsen1-4Philadelphia Warriors (2) (1, 1-0)Eddie Gottlieb n/a
1948Baltimore Bullets† (2) (1, 1-0)Buddy Jeannette4-2Philadelphia Warriors (1) (2, 1-1)
1949Minneapolis Lakers (2) (1, 1-0)John Kundla4-2Washington Capitols (1) (1, 0-1)Red Auerbach
1950Minneapolis Lakers (1) (2, 2-0)4-2Syracuse Nationals (1) (1, 0-1)Al Cervi
1951Rochester Royals (2) (1, 1-0)Les Harrison4-3New York Knicks (3) (1, 0-1)Joe Lapchick
1952Minneapolis Lakers (2) (3, 3-0)John Kundla4-3New York Knicks (3) (2, 0-2)
1953Minneapolis Lakers (1) (4, 4-0)4-1New York Knicks (1) (3, 0-3)
1954Minneapolis Lakers (1) (5, 5-0)4-3Syracuse Nationals (1) (2, 0-2)Al Cervi
1955Fort Wayne Pistons (1) (1, 0-1)Charles Eckman3-4Syracuse Nationals (1) (3, 1-2)
1956Fort Wayne Pistons (1) (2, 0-2)1-4Philadelphia Warriors (1) (3, 2-1)George Senesky
1957St. Louis Hawks (1) (1, 0-1)Alex Hannum3-4Boston Celtics (1) (1, 1-0)Red Auerbach
1958St. Louis Hawks (1) (2, 1-1)4-2Boston Celtics (1) (2, 1-1)
1959Minneapolis Lakers (2) (6, 5-1)John Kundla0-4Boston Celtics (1) (3, 2-1)
1960St. Louis Hawks (1) (3, 1-2)Ed Macauley3-4Boston Celtics (1) (4, 3-1)
1961St. Louis Hawks (1) (4, 1-3)Paul Seymour1-4Boston Celtics (1) (5, 4-1)
1962Los Angeles Lakers (1) (7, 5-2)Fred Schaus3-4Boston Celtics (1) (6, 5-1)
1963Los Angeles Lakers (1) (8, 5-3)2-4Boston Celtics (1) (7, 6-1)
1964San Francisco Warriors (1) (4, 2-2)Alex Hannum1-4Boston Celtics (1) (8, 7-1)
1965Los Angeles Lakers (1) (9, 5-4)Fred Schaus1-4Boston Celtics (1) (9, 8-1)
1966Los Angeles Lakers (1) (10, 5-5)3-4Boston Celtics (2) (10, 9-1)
1967San Francisco Warriors (1) (5, 2-3)Bill Sharman2-4Philadelphia 76ers (1) (4, 2-2)Alex Hannum
1968Los Angeles Lakers (2) (11, 5-6)Butch van Breda Kolff2-4Boston Celtics (2) (11, 10-1)Bill Russell
1969Los Angeles Lakers (1) (12, 5-7)3-4Boston Celtics (4) (12, 11-1) Jerry West
1970Los Angeles Lakers (2) (13, 5-8)Joe Mullaney3-4New York Knicks (1) (4, 1-3)Red Holzman Willis Reed
1971Milwaukee Bucks (1) (1, 1-0)Larry Costello4-0Baltimore Bullets (1) (1, 0-1)Gene Shue Lew Alcindor
1972Los Angeles Lakers (1) (14, 6-8)Bill Sharman4-1New York Knicks (2) (5, 1-4)Red Holzman Wilt Chamberlain
1973Los Angeles Lakers (2) (15, 6-9)1-4New York Knicks (2) (6, 2-4) Willis Reed
1974Milwaukee Bucks (1) (2, 1-1)Larry Costello3-4Boston Celtics (1) (13, 12-1)Tom Heinsohn John Havlicek
1975Golden State Warriors (1) (6, 3-3)Al Attles4-0Washington Bullets (2) (2, 0-2)K.C. Jones Rick Barry
1976Phoenix Suns (3) (1, 0-1)John MacLeod2-4Boston Celtics (1) (14, 13-1)Tom Heinsohn Jo Jo White
1977Portland Trail Blazers (3) (1, 1-0)Jack Ramsay4-2Philadelphia 76ers (1) (5, 2-3)Gene Shue Bill Walton
1978Seattle SuperSonics (4) (1, 0-1)Lenny Wilkens3-4Washington Bullets (3) (3, 1-2)Dick Motta Wes Unseld
1979Seattle SuperSonics (1) (2, 1-1)4-1Washington Bullets (1) (4, 1-3) Dennis Johnson
1980Los Angeles Lakers (1) (16, 7-9)Paul Westhead4-2Philadelphia 76ers (3) (6, 2-4)Billy Cunningham Magic Johnson
1981Houston Rockets (6) (1, 0-1)Del Harris2-4Boston Celtics (1) (15, 14-1)Bill Fitch Cedric Maxwell
1982Los Angeles Lakers (1) (17, 8-9)Pat Riley4-2Philadelphia 76ers (3) (7, 2-5)Billy Cunningham Magic Johnson
1983Los Angeles Lakers (1) (18, 8-10)0-4Philadelphia 76ers (1) (8, 3-5) Moses Malone
1984Los Angeles Lakers (1) (19, 8-11)3-4Boston Celtics (1) (16, 15-1)K.C. Jones Larry Bird
1985Los Angeles Lakers (1) (20, 9-11)4-2Boston Celtics (1) (17, 15-2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1986Houston Rockets (2) (2, 0-2)Bill Fitch2-4Boston Celtics (1) (18, 16-2) Larry Bird
1987Los Angeles Lakers (1) (21, 10-11)Pat Riley4-2Boston Celtics (1) (19, 16-3) Magic Johnson
1988Los Angeles Lakers (1) (22, 11-11)4-3Detroit Pistons (2) (3, 0-3)Chuck Daly James Worthy
1989Los Angeles Lakers (1) (23, 11-12)0-4Detroit Pistons (1) (4, 1-3) Joe Dumars
1990Portland Trail Blazers (3) (2, 1-1)Rick Adelman1-4Detroit Pistons (1) (5, 2-3) Isiah Thomas
1991Los Angeles Lakers (3) (24, 11-13)Mike Dunleavy1-4Chicago Bulls (1) (1, 1-0)Phil Jackson Michael Jordan
1992Portland Trail Blazers (1) (3, 1-2)Rick Adelman2-4Chicago Bulls (1) (2, 2-0)
1993Phoenix Suns (1) (2, 0-2)Paul Westphal2-4Chicago Bulls (2) (3, 3-0)
1994Houston Rockets (2) (3, 1-2)Rudy Tomjanovich4-3New York Knicks (2) (7, 2-5)Pat Riley Hakeem Olajuwon
1995Houston Rockets (6) (4, 2-2)4-0Orlando Magic (1) (1, 0-1)Brian Hill
1996Seattle SuperSonics (1) (3, 1-2)George Karl2-4Chicago Bulls (1) (4, 4-0)Phil Jackson Michael Jordan
1997Utah Jazz (1) (1, 0-1)Jerry Sloan2-4Chicago Bulls (1) (5, 5-0)
1998Utah Jazz (1) (2, 0-2)2-4Chicago Bulls (1) (6, 6-0)
1999San Antonio Spurs (1) (1, 1-0)Gregg Popovich4-1New York Knicks (8) (8, 2-6)Jeff Van Gundy Tim Duncan
2000Los Angeles Lakers (1) (25, 12-13)Phil Jackson4-2Indiana Pacers (1) (1, 0-1)Larry Bird Shaquille O'Neal
2001Los Angeles Lakers (2) (26, 13-13)4-1Philadelphia 76ers (1) (9, 3-6)Larry Brown
2002Los Angeles Lakers (3) (27, 14-13)4-0New Jersey Nets (1) (1, 0-1)Byron Scott
2003San Antonio Spurs (1) (2, 2-0)Gregg Popovich4-2New Jersey Nets (2) (2, 0-2) Tim Duncan
2004Los Angeles Lakers (2) (28, 14-14)Phil Jackson1-4Detroit Pistons (3) (6, 3-3)Larry Brown Chauncey Billups
2005San Antonio Spurs (2) (3, 3-0)Gregg Popovich4-3Detroit Pistons (2) (7, 3-4) Tim Duncan
2006Dallas Mavericks (4) (1, 0-1)Avery Johnson2-4Miami Heat (2) (1, 1-0)Pat Riley Dwyane Wade
2007San Antonio Spurs (3) (4, 4-0)Gregg Popovich4-0Cleveland Cavaliers (2) (1, 0-1)Mike Brown Tony Parker
2008Los Angeles Lakers (1) (29, 14-15)Phil Jackson2-4Boston Celtics (1) (20, 17-3)Doc Rivers Paul Pierce
2009Los Angeles Lakers (1) (30, 15-15)4-1Orlando Magic (3) (2, 0-2)Stan Van Gundy Kobe Bryant
2010Los Angeles Lakers (1) (31, 16-15)4-3Boston Celtics (4) (21, 17-4)Doc Rivers
2011Dallas Mavericks (3) (2, 1-1)Rick Carlisle4-2Miami Heat (2) (2, 1-1)Erik Spoelstra Dirk Nowitzki
2012Oklahoma City Thunder (2) (4, 1-3)Scott Brooks1-4Miami Heat (2) (3, 2-1) LeBron James
2013San Antonio Spurs (2) (5, 4-1)Gregg Popovich3-4Miami Heat (1) (4, 3-1)
2014San Antonio Spurs (1) (6, 5-1)4-1Miami Heat (2) (5, 3-2) Kawhi Leonard
2015Golden State Warriors (1) (7, 4-3)Steve Kerr4-2Cleveland Cavaliers (2) (2, 0-2)David Blatt Andre Iguodala
2016Golden State Warriors (1) (8, 4-4)3-4Cleveland Cavaliers (1) (3, 1-2)Tyronn Lue LeBron James
2017Golden State Warriors (1) (9, 5-4)4-1Cleveland Cavaliers (2) (4, 1-3) Kevin Durant
2018Golden State Warriors (2) (10, 6-4)4-0Cleveland Cavaliers (4) (5, 1-4)
2019Golden State Warriors (1) (11, 6-5)2-4Toronto Raptors (2) (1, 1-0)Nick Nurse Kawhi Leonard
2020Los Angeles Lakers (1) (32, 17-15)Frank Vogel4-2Miami Heat (5) (6, 3-3)Erik Spoelstra LeBron James
2021Phoenix Suns (2) (3, 0-3)Monty Williams2-4Milwaukee Bucks (3) (3, 2-1)Mike Budenholzer Giannis Antetokounmpo
2022Golden State Warriors (3) (12, 7-5)Steve Kerr4-2Boston Celtics (2) (22, 17-5)Ime Udoka Stephen Curry
2023Denver Nuggets (1) (1, 1-0)Michael Malone4-1Miami Heat (8) (7, 3-4)Erik SpoelstraNikola Jokić
2024Dallas Mavericks (5) (3, 1-2)Jason Kidd1-4Boston Celtics (1) (23, 18-5)Joe MazzullaJaylen Brown
2025Oklahoma City Thunder (1) (5, 2-3)Mark Daigneault4-3Indiana Pacers (4) (2, 0-2)Rick CarlisleShai Gilgeous-Alexander
2026San Antonio Spurs (2) (7, 5-2)Mitch Johnson1-4New York Knicks (3) (9, 3-6)Mike BrownJalen Brunson
The Boston Celtics have won the most championships of any NBA team. Shown are the championship banners hanging in their home arena, TD Garden.
The Boston Celtics have won the most championships of any NBA team. Shown are the championship banners hanging in their home arena, TD Garden.

02Records by franchise

TeamWinsLossesApps PctYear(s) wonYear(s) lost
Boston Celtics18523 .7831957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2008, 20241958, 1985, 1987, 2010, 2022
Los Angeles Lakers171532 .5311949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 20201959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 2004, 2008
Golden State Warriors7512 .5831947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018, 20221948, 1964, 1967, 2016, 2019
Chicago Bulls606 1.0001991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998,
San Antonio Spurs527 .7141999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 20142013, 2026
Philadelphia 76ers369 .3331955, 1967, 19831950, 1954, 1977, 1980, 1982, 2001
New York Knicks369 .3331970, 1973, 20261951, 1952, 1953, 1972, 1994, 1999
Detroit Pistons347 .4291989, 1990, 20041955, 1956, 1988, 2005
Miami Heat347 .4292006, 2012, 20132011, 2014, 2020, 2023
Oklahoma City Thunder235 .4001979, 20251978, 1996, 2012
Houston Rockets224 .5001994, 19951981, 1986
Milwaukee Bucks213 .6671971, 20211974
Cleveland Cavaliers145 .20020162007, 2015, 2017, 2018
Atlanta Hawks134 .25019581957, 1960, 1961
Washington Wizards134 .25019781971, 1975, 1979
Portland Trail Blazers123 .33319771990, 1992
Dallas Mavericks123 .33320112006, 2024
Baltimore Bullets (original) (folded in 1954)101 1.0001948,
Sacramento Kings101 1.0001951,
Toronto Raptors101 1.0002019,
Denver Nuggets101 1.0002023,
Phoenix Suns033 .000, 1976, 1993, 2021
Utah Jazz022 .000, 1997, 1998
Brooklyn Nets022 .000, 2002, 2003
Orlando Magic022 .000, 1995, 2009
Indiana Pacers022 .000, 2000, 2025
Chicago Stags (folded in 1950)011 .000, 1947
Washington Capitols (folded in 1951)011 .000, 1949

03Consecutive championships

Eight consecutive

Three consecutive

Two consecutive

04Frequent matchups

Count Matchup Record Years
12 Boston Celtics vs Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers Celtics, 9-3 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1984, 1985, 1987, 2008, 2010
6 Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers vs Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers Lakers, 5-1 1950, 1954, 1980, 1982, 1983, 2001
5 Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers vs New York Knicks Lakers, 3-2 1952, 1953, 1970, 1972, 1973
4 Boston Celtics vs St. Louis Hawks (Atlanta Hawks) Celtics, 3-1 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961
4 Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers Warriors, 3-1 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
3 Detroit Pistons vs Los Angeles Lakers Pistons, 2-1 1988, 1989, 2004
2 Seattle SuperSonics (Oklahoma City Thunder) vs Washington Bullets (Washington Wizards) Tied, 1-1 1978, 1979
2 Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets Celtics, 2-0 1981, 1986
2 Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz Bulls, 2-0 1997, 1998
2 Dallas Mavericks vs Miami Heat Tied, 1-1 2006, 2011
2 Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs Tied, 1-1 2013, 2014
2 Boston Celtics vs San Francisco/Golden State Warriors Tied, 1-1 1964, 2022
2 San Antonio Spurs vs New York Knicks Tied, 1-1 1999, 2026
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This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “List of NBA champions”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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