List of NBA champions
National Basketball Association awards and honors |
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Team awards |
Individual awards |
Honors |
The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals is the championship series for the NBA and the conclusion of its postseason. All 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.[1][2][3] The winning team of the series receives the Larry O'Brien Championship 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 their 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 their home court in Games 1, 2, 6, and 7) during 1949, 1953–1955, and 1985–2013,[4][5][6][7][8][9] in a 1–1–1–1–1–1–1 format during 1956 and 1971,[10][11] and in a 1–2–2–1–1 format during 1975 and 1978.[12][13]
The Eastern Conference/Division leads the Western Conference/Division in series won (39–33). The defunct Central Division, in existence during the 1949–50 NBA season when the NBA was divided into three divisions and different from the current Central Division created in 1970 when the then existing Eastern Division was upgraded as a conference, won one championship. The Boston Celtics and the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers alone own almost half of the titles, having won a combined 33 of 73 championships. The two also have the most Finals meetings with 12; the Celtics own a 9–3 edge over their arch rivals. As of 2019[update], the defending champions are the Toronto Raptors, making history as the first team from outside of the United States to win the title.
Champions
- The first parentheses in the Western champion and Eastern champion 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 NBA Finals |
Italics | Team with home-court advantage |
Results by teams
- ^ Includes record as Minneapolis Lakers
- ^ Includes record as Philadelphia and San Francisco Warriors
- ^ Includes record as Syracuse Nationals
- ^ Includes record as Fort Wayne Pistons
- ^ Includes record as St. Louis Hawks
- ^ Includes record as Baltimore and Washington Bullets
- ^ Includes record as Seattle SuperSonics
- ^ Not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards, known as the Baltimore Bullets from 1963 to 1973.
- ^ Includes record as Rochester Royals
- ^ Includes record as New Jersey Nets
Frequent matchups
Count | Matchup | Record | Years |
---|---|---|---|
12 | Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers/Minnneapolis Lakers | Celtics, 9–3 | 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1984, 1985, 1987, 2008, 2010 |
6 | Los Angeles Lakers/Minneapolis Lakers vs Philadelphia 76ers/Syracuse Nationals | Lakers, 5–1 | 1950, 1954, 1980, 1982, 1983, 2001 |
5 | Los Angeles Lakers/Minneapolis Lakers vs New York Knicks | Lakers, 3–2 | 1952, 1953, 1970, 1972, 1973 |
4 | Atlanta Hawks/St. Louis 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 | Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle SuperSonics vs Washington Wizards/Washington Bullets | 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 |
See also
- NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
- List of NBA G League champions
- List of NBA championship head coaches
- List of NBA players with most championships
- List of NBA franchise post-season droughts
- List of NBA franchise post-season streaks
- List of National Basketball Association longest winning streaks
- List of National Basketball League (United States) champions
Notes
- ^ Minneapolis was the Central Division (now defunct, no relation to the current Central Division) playoff champion, while the Anderson Packers were the Western Division playoff champion.[17] Due to the NBA's realignment into three divisions,[18][19] the team with the best regular season record after the Divisional Finals advanced automatically to the NBA Finals, while the other two teams faced off in the NBA Semifinals to determine the other finalist. Eastern Division playoff champion Syracuse had the best regular season record among the division playoff champions, causing Minneapolis to face Anderson in the NBA Semifinals.[17][20]
- ^ The trophy was renamed for Walter A. Brown.
- ^ The trophy was replaced by a new design.[48][49]
- ^ The trophy was renamed for Larry O'Brien.
- ^ After a lockout, the season started on February 5, 1999, and all 29 teams played a shortened 50-game regular season schedule.[72]
- ^ After a lockout, the season started on December 25, 2011, and all 30 teams played a shortened 66-game regular season schedule.[86][87]
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External links