From Boston Celtics to San Antonio Spurs, here are the top five most successful teams in the history of basketball’s biggest league, the NBA.
BOSTON CELTICS – 17 Titles
FILE PHOTO: Larry Bird (#33) was a star player for the Boston Celtics. | Photo Credit: SPORTSTAR ARCHIVES
Founded in 1946 as one of the NBA’s original eight teams, Boston Celtics is the joint most successful franchise with 17 titles. A member of the Eastern Conference, Celtics play their home games at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. It clinched its first NBA title in 1957, while its last title came in 2008.
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Celtics have produced legendary players such as Larry Bird, Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett. Coach Joe Mazzulla has talented stars such as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown this season.
Los Angeles Lakers – 17 Titles
FILE PHOTO: Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant.
Like the Celtics, the Lakers have also been crowned NBA champions 17 times. Founded in 1947, the team is a member of the Western Conference, and plays its home matches held at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as the Staples Center). The team won its first title in 1949 and the most recent one in 2020.
Under the leadership of Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, it reached six NBA Finals in the 1960s but lost to the Celtics every time. The Lakers have produced some of the biggest superstars of basketball, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James. Its current head coach is Darwin Ham.
The Lakers hold the record for the longest winning streak in NBA history: 33 matches in the 1971-72 season.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS – 7 Titles
FILE PHOTO: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry holds the record for the most number of three pointers in the history of the NBA.
Golden State Warriors is the reigning NBA champion. GSW is a part of the Western Conference and plays home games at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The first of its seven titles came in 1947, a year after the team was founded.
Nicknamed Dubs, the fortunes of the team changed at the turn of the decade when it started reaching the play-offs regularly.
It has won four titles in the last eight seasons, courtesy of sensational 3-point shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Kevin Durant, too, was a part of the GSW’s recent successes under head coach Steve Kerr, a titan of the Chicago Bulls in the 90s.
The team holds the record for the best regular season: 73 wins and nine losses in 2015-16.
CHICAGO BULLS – 6 Titles
FILE PHOTO: Michael Jordan played an instrumental road in all six NBA titles for the Chicago Bulls.
Founded in 1966, Chicago Bulls is a member of the Eastern Conference. It plays its home games at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Bulls took center stage during the 1990s by achieving the three-peat twice: 1991 to 1993; and 1996 to 1998. Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with their coach Phil Jackson got the spotlight for the enviable success, but the team had massive contributions from a host of players, including current GSW coach Kerr.
During the 1995-96 regular season, the Bulls had a win-loss record of 72-10, the best by any team until the Golden State Warriors bettered it in 2015-16.
The current team is young and with the head coach being Billy Donovan, has exciting players Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan on his roster.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS – 5 Titles
Tony Parker (#9), Tim Duncan (#21) and Manu Ginobili (#20) of the San Antonio Spurs celebrate after defeating the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2014 NBA Finals at the AT&T Center on June 15, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio Spurs made its NBA debut in 1973 and is a member of the Western Conference. It plays its home games at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
The team first tasted championship glory in 1999 courtesy of skilled offensive players David Robinson (7’1″) and Tim Duncan (6’11”). , together known as The Twin Towers. Robinson led Spurs to his second title in 2003, his final season.
The team’s last title came in 2014, when it beat Miami Heat 4-1 in the finals, with Kawhi Leonard leading from the front.
The team is under seasoned head coach Gregg Popovich.
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