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List of NBA champions facts for kids

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The NBA Finals is the 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 (formerly Divisions before 1970), 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 is awarded since 1977 (between 1947 and 1976 the winning team received the Walter A. Brown Trophy).

The current home-and-away format in the NBA Finals is 2–2–1–1–1 (the team with the better regular-season record plays on its home court in Games 1, 2, 5, and 7), which has been used in 1947–1948, 1950–1952, 1957–1970, 1972–1974, 1976–1977, 1979–1984, and 2014–present. It was previously in a 2–3–2 format (the team with the better regular season record plays on its home court in Games 1, 2, 6, and 7) during 1949, 1953–1955, and 1985–2013, in a 1–1–1–1–1–1–1 format during 1956 and 1971, and in a 1–2–2–1–1 format during 1975 and 1978.

As of 2024, the Eastern champions have a 41–37 advantage in NBA titles over the Western champions, with their most recent being the Boston Celtics who have won 18 titles, recently winning in 2024.


Champions

  • 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
dagger Only defunct team to win championship


Results by team

Team Win Loss Apps Pct Year(s) won Year(s) lost
Boston Celtics 18 5 23 .783 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2008, 2024 1958, 1985, 1987, 2010, 2022
Los Angeles Lakers 17 15 32 .531 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2020 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 2004, 2008
Golden State Warriors 7 5 12 .583 1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022 1948, 1964, 1967, 2016, 2019
Chicago Bulls 6 0 6 1.000 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
San Antonio Spurs 5 1 6 .833 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014 2013
Philadelphia 76ers 3 6 9 .333 1955, 1967, 1983 1950, 1954, 1977, 1980, 1982, 2001
Detroit Pistons 3 4 7 .429 1989, 1990, 2004 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
Miami Heat 3 4 7 .429 2006, 2012, 2013 2011, 2014, 2020, 2023
New York Knicks 2 6 8 .250 1970, 1973 1951, 1952, 1953, 1972, 1994, 1999
Houston Rockets 2 2 4 .500 1994, 1995 1981, 1986
Milwaukee Bucks 2 1 3 .667 1971, 2021 1974
Cleveland Cavaliers 1 4 5 .200 2016 2007, 2015, 2017, 2018
Atlanta Hawks 1 3 4 .250 1958 1957, 1960, 1961
Washington Wizards 1 3 4 .250 1978 1971, 1975, 1979
Oklahoma City Thunder 1 3 4 .250 1979 1978, 1996, 2012
Portland Trail Blazers 1 2 3 .333 1977 1990, 1992
Dallas Mavericks 1 2 3 .333 2011 2006, 2024
Baltimore Bullets (original) (folded in 1954) 1 0 1 1.000 1948
Sacramento Kings 1 0 1 1.000 1951
Toronto Raptors 1 0 1 1.000 2019
Denver Nuggets 1 0 1 1.000 2023
Phoenix Suns 0 3 3 .000 1976, 1993, 2021
Utah Jazz 0 2 2 .000 1997, 1998
Brooklyn Nets 0 2 2 .000 2002, 2003
Orlando Magic 0 2 2 .000 1995, 2009
Chicago Stags (folded in 1950) 0 1 1 .000 1947
Washington Capitols (folded in 1951) 0 1 1 .000 1949
Indiana Pacers 0 1 1 .000 2000
Charlotte Hornets
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans

Consecutive championships

Eight consecutive

Three consecutive

Two consecutive

Frequent 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 St. Louis Hawks (Atlanta Hawks) vs Boston Celtics Celtics, 3–1 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961
4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors 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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anexo:Campeones de la NBA para niños

  • List of ABA champions
  • List of National Basketball Association longest winning streaks
  • List of National Basketball League (United States) champions
  • List of NBA championship head coaches
  • List of NBA franchise post-season droughts
  • List of NBA franchise post-season streaks
  • List of NBA G League champions
  • WNBA Finals
  • List of NBA players with most championships
  • NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
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