Parity often reigns in the modern NBA, with teams such as the Raptors and Nuggets winning their first championships or the Bucks snapping a long drought, but the rest of the league has more catching up to do.
The history of the NBA is largely dominated by the Celtics and Lakers, and each team has added a championship in the 2020s. The Lakers lifted the Larry O'Brien Trophy again in the 2020 bubble, while Boston climbed back to the mountaintop in 2024.
Still, this newer era of parity has seen more than a few fresh faces bask in the glory of an NBA championship — and it's shaken up the list of teams with the most titles.
Here's a complete look at which NBA teams have won the most championships in the league's history.
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1. Boston Celtics, 18 titles
NBA championships:
- 1957: vs. St. Louis Hawks (4-3)
- 1959: vs. Minneapolis Lakers (4-0)
- 1960: vs. St. Louis Hawks (4-3)
- 1961: vs. St. Louis Hawks (4-1)
- 1962: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-3)
- 1963: vs. Lost Angeles Lakers (4-2)
- 1964: vs. San Francisco Warriors (4-1)
- 1965: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)
- 1966: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-3)
- 1968: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)
- 1969: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-3)
- 1974: vs. Milwaukee Bucks (4-3)
- 1976: vs. Phoenix Suns (4-2)
- 1981: vs. Houston Rockets (4-2)
- 1984: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-3)
- 1986: vs. Houston Rockets (4-2)
- 2008: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)
- 2024: vs. Dallas Mavericks (4-1)
Championship history: The Celtics lead the way with 18 NBA championships after breaking a tie with the Lakers with their 2024 title.
The vast majority of Boston's banners came in either the 1960s or 1970s, when the franchise dominated the league. The Celtics won nine championships in 10 years in the 1960s, with 1968 the only exception.
By the 1970s, the Celtics remained a force in the NBA but didn't dominate quite the same way. After winning championships in 1974 and 1976, the arrival of Larry Bird reinvigorated Boston and resulted in titles in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
The late 1990s saw some of the worst years in Celtics history, including a 15-67 season, and it would be 22 years between championships for the franchise. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen led Boston back to the top for banner No. 17 in 2008, though they didn't achieve their dynasty goals with an NBA Finals loss in 2010.
After close calls in 2022 and 2023, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the Celtics to their 18th NBA championship in 2024, defeating the Mavericks in five games to give the storied franchise an advantage over the Lakers again.
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2. Los Angeles Lakers, 17 titles
NBA championships:
- 1949: vs. Washington Capitols (4-2)
- 1950: vs. Syracuse Nationals (4-2)
- 1952: vs. New York Knicks (4-3)
- 1953: vs. New York Knicks (4-1)
- 1954: vs. Syracuse Nationals (4-3)
- 1972: vs. New York Knicks (4-1)
- 1980: vs. Philadelphia 76ers (4-2)
- 1982: vs. Philadelphia 76ers (4-2)
- 1985: vs. Boston Celtics (4-2)
- 1987: vs. Boston Celtics (4-2)
- 1988: vs. Detroit Pistons (4-3)
- 2000: vs. Indiana Pacers (4-2)
- 2001: vs. Philadelphia 76ers (4-1)
- 2002: vs. New Jersey Nets (4-2)
- 2009: vs. Orlando Magic (4-1)
- 2010: vs. Boston Celtics (4-3)
- 2020: vs. Miami Heat (4-2)
Championship history: The Lakers are right there with the Celtics as one of the NBA's most dominant franchises, with 17 championships spread out between seven decades.
L.A. won five championships in six years in the NBA's early years, winning in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953 and 1954, but it took another 18 years for the organization to get back to the top. The Lakers added to their record of success in the 1980s, winning five titles in a span of nine years during the "Showtime" era with Magic Johnson as a face of the team.
The Lakers added five championships during the Kobe Bryant era, three-peating from 2000-2002 and going back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. With LeBron James in tow, the Lakers won banner No. 17 in the NBA's COVID-19 bubble in 2020.
While the Celtics' 2024 championship removed the Lakers' share of the NBA championship record, their 17 banners still far exceed every franchise outside of Boston.
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3. Golden State Warriors, 7 titles
NBA championships:
- 1947: vs. Chiacgo Stags (4-1)
- 1956: vs. Fort Wayne Pistons (4-1)
- 1975: vs. Washington Bullets (4-0)
- 2015: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-2)
- 2017: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1)
- 2018: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0)
- 2022: vs. Boston Celtics (4-2)
Championship history: The Warriors went 40 years between championships, but they have had enough success over the course of their history to rank third in NBA history with seven titles.
After a pair of early championships, the Warriors won it all behind Rick Barry's dominance in 1975. Barry averaged 30.6 points per game during that regular season and earned Finals MVP honors for his performance against the Washington Bullets.
Golden State's more recent success vaulted the franchise into one of the most successful in NBA history. Stephen Curry helped lead the Warriors to titles in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022, with Golden State dominating the NBA when Curry overlapped with Kevin Durant in 2017 and 2018. A resurgent 2021-22 season resulted in the Warriors' seventh championship, breaking a tie with the Bulls.
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4. Chicago Bulls, 6 titles
NBA championships:
- 1991: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-1)
- 1992: vs. Portland Trail Blazers (4-2)
- 1993: vs. Phoenix Suns (4-2)
- 1996: vs. Seattle SuperSonics (4-2)
- 1997: vs. Utah Jazz (4-2)
- 1998: vs. Utah Jazz (4-2)
Championship history: The Bulls have only won a championship in one decade of their existence, but they won enough of them to rank among the most successful franchises in NBA history.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen authored two three-peats in the 1990s, winning more than 60 games in five of their six championship seasons and setting a single-season wins record that stood for 20 years with a 72-10 regular season in 1995-96. The Bulls dynasty, interrupted only by a shocking but brief retirement by Jordan, defined the NBA for a decade and made Chicago the face of dominance in the NBA.
Since that point, the Bulls have not been able to add onto their total. They seemed like they were headed for championship contention in the early 2010s, but a devastating ACL tear for Derrick Rose derailed the franchise's hopes.
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5. San Antonio Spurs, 5 titles
NBA championships:
- 1999: vs. New York Knicks (4-1)
- 2003: vs. New Jersey Nets (4-2)
- 2005: vs. Detroit Pistons (4-3)
- 2007: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0)
- 2014: vs. Miami Heat (4-1)
Championship history: Like the Bulls, the Spurs' championships can all be classified under the same era, even if their first and fifth titles were 15 years apart. All of those title-winning teams included Tim Duncan and were coached by the legendary Gregg Popovich, the NBA's all-time winningest coach.
San Antonio, which arrived from the ABA in 1976 and found consistent success with David Robinson in the 1990s, finally got over the hump in 1999 with Duncan in the fold next to the Admiral, and the Spurs' wise draft selections of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili helped pave the way for a prolonged dynasty.
San Antonio's emphasis on fundamentals led to three championships in five years from 2003-2007, and the Spurs won banner No. 5 in 2014 after coming painfully close a year earlier.
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T-6. Detroit Pistons, 3 titles
NBA championships:
- 1989: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-0)
- 1990: vs. Portland Trail Blazers (4-1)
- 2004: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-1)
Championship history: Led by Isiah Thomas, the "bad boy" Pistons won back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990 after coming up just short against the Lakers in the 1988 NBA Finals. Defined by their physicality, the Pistons dominated the NBA just before Michael Jordan and the Bulls took over as the face of the league.
The Pistons added a third championship in 2004, when a defense-first group led by Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace knocked off the favored Lakers in the Finals.
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T-6. Miami Heat, 3 titles
NBA championships:
- 2006: vs. Dallas Mavericks (4-2)
- 2012: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (4-1)
- 2013: vs. San Antonio Spurs (4-3)
The Heat have long been a model of stability in a volatile NBA, but it took some true star power to win three championships. A young Dwyane Wade and veteran Shaquille O'Neal teamed up to deliver Miami's first title in 2006, and the famous "Big 3" of LeBron James, Wade and Chris Bosh won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013.
The 2012 title was a weight off the shoulders of James, who spent nine years trying to win his first championship, and some heroics from Ray Allen to force Game 7 in the 2013 Finals set the stage for a second consecutive Miami title. The Heat have since been back to the NBA Finals three times but haven't been able to add to their banners.
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T-6. Philadelphia 76ers, 3 titles
NBA championships:
- 1955: vs. Fort Wayne Pistons (4-3)
- 1967: vs. San Francisco Warriors (4-2)
- 1983: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-0)
Championship history: The 76ers won their first championship as the Syracuse Nationals in 1955, led by Dolph Schayes, and they would win one for Philadelphia 12 years later with MVP Wilt Chamberlain leading the way. The 76ers' 1967 title marked the only championship not won by the Celtics in the 1960s, as Philadelphia knocked off Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Sixers would add a third championship in 1983, with the Hall of Fame duo of Julius Erving and Moses Malone overpowering the Lakers in the NBA Finals; Philadelphia lost just one game throughout its entire playoff run.
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T-9. Houston Rockets, 2 titles
NBA championships:
- 1994: vs. New York Knicks (4-3)
- 1995: vs. Orlando Magic (4-0)
Championship history: The Rockets took full advantage of Jordan's brief retirement from the NBA in the mid 1990s, winning back-to-back championships between the Bulls' three-peats. Houston narrowly knocked off the Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals, led by MVP Hakeem Olajuwon, before sweeping the Magic in 1995 with Clyde Drexler in the fold.
In all likelihood, the Rockets' best chance to add a third title came in 2018, when they came one win away from upsetting the Warriors and advancing to the NBA Finals as favorites before allowing Golden State to win the final two games of the series.
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T-9. Milwaukee Bucks, 2 titles
NBA championships:
- 1971: vs. Baltimore Bullets (4-0)
- 2021: vs. Phoenix Suns (4-2)
Championship history: The Bucks' two championships were separated by 50 years and plenty of dark days, but the presence of two otherworldly talents helped bring Milwaukee to the top of the NBA five decades apart.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated his way to a title in 1971, assisted by Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, and Giannis Antetokounmpo achieved his dream of bringing a championship to Milwaukee in 2021 with an NBA Finals victory over the Suns.
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T-9. New York Knicks, 2 titles
NBA championships:
- 1970: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-3)
- 1973: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (4-1)
Championship history: It's been more than five decades since the Knicks last won a championship, but they do have two to their name from the early 1970s. Walt Frazier, Willis Reed and Dave DeBuscchere powered New York to a title in 1970, defeating the Lakers in seven games even with Reed famously battling through a serious injury, and the Knicks climbed back to the top in 1973 with Earl Monroe on board to capture title No. 2.
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