List of NBA champions
The National Basketball Association 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, except in 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, 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.
The current home-and-away format in the NBA Finals is 2–2–1–1–1, which has been used in –, –, –, –, –, –, and –present. It was previously in a 2–3–2 format during, –, and –, in a 1–1–1–1–1–1–1 format during and, and in a 1–2–2–1–1 format during and.
The Eastern Conference/Division leads the Western Conference/Division in series won. 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., the defending champions are the Toronto Raptors, making history as the first team from outside of the United States to win.
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 |
Year | Western champion | Coach | Result | Eastern champion | Coach | Ref. |
1947 | Chicago Stags | Harold Olsen | 1–4 | Philadelphia Warriors | Eddie Gottlieb | |
1948 | Baltimore Bullets | Buddy Jeannette | 4–2 | Philadelphia Warriors | Eddie Gottlieb | |
1949 | Minneapolis Lakers | John Kundla | 4–2 | Washington Capitols | Red Auerbach | |
Minneapolis Lakers | John Kundla | 4–2 | Syracuse Nationals | Al Cervi | ||
Rochester Royals | Les Harrison | 4–3 | New York Knicks | Joe Lapchick | ||
Minneapolis Lakers | John Kundla | 4–3 | New York Knicks | Joe Lapchick | ||
Minneapolis Lakers | John Kundla | 4–1 | New York Knicks | Joe Lapchick | ||
Minneapolis Lakers | John Kundla | 4–3 | Syracuse Nationals | Al Cervi | ||
Fort Wayne Pistons | Charles Eckman | 3–4 | Syracuse Nationals | Al Cervi | ||
Fort Wayne Pistons | Charles Eckman | 1–4 | Philadelphia Warriors | George Senesky | ||
St. Louis Hawks | Alex Hannum | 3–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
St. Louis Hawks | Alex Hannum | 4–2 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
Minneapolis Lakers | John Kundla | 0–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
St. Louis Hawks | Ed Macauley | 3–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
St. Louis Hawks | Paul Seymour | 1–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Fred Schaus | 3–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Fred Schaus | 2–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
San Francisco Warriors | Alex Hannum | 1–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Fred Schaus | 1–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Fred Schaus | 3–4 | Boston Celtics | Red Auerbach | ||
San Francisco Warriors | Bill Sharman | 2–4 | Philadelphia 76ers | Alex Hannum | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Butch van Breda Kolff | 2–4 | Boston Celtics | Bill Russell | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Butch van Breda Kolff | 3–4 | Boston Celtics | Bill Russell | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Joe Mullaney | 3–4 | New York Knicks | Red Holzman | ||
Milwaukee Bucks | Larry Costello | 4–0 | Baltimore Bullets | Gene Shue | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Bill Sharman | 4–1 | New York Knicks | Red Holzman | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Bill Sharman | 1–4 | New York Knicks | Red Holzman | ||
Milwaukee Bucks | Larry Costello | 3–4 | Boston Celtics | Tom Heinsohn | ||
Golden State Warriors | Al Attles | 4–0 | Washington Bullets | K. C. Jones | ||
Phoenix Suns | John MacLeod | 2–4 | Boston Celtics | Tom Heinsohn | ||
Portland Trail Blazers | Jack Ramsey | 4–2 | Philadelphia 76ers | Gene Shue | ||
Seattle SuperSonics | Lenny Wilkens | 3–4 | Washington Bullets | Dick Motta | ||
Seattle SuperSonics | Lenny Wilkens | 4–1 | Washington Bullets | Dick Motta | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Paul Westhead | 4–2 | Philadelphia 76ers | Billy Cunningham | ||
Houston Rockets | Del Harris | 2–4 | Boston Celtics | Bill Fitch | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Pat Riley | 4–2 | Philadelphia 76ers | Billy Cunningham | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Pat Riley | 0–4 | Philadelphia 76ers | Billy Cunningham | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Pat Riley | 3–4 | Boston Celtics | K. C. Jones | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Pat Riley | 4–2 | Boston Celtics | K. C. Jones | ||
Houston Rockets | Bill Fitch | 2–4 | Boston Celtics | K. C. Jones | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Pat Riley | 4–2 | Boston Celtics | K. C. Jones | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Pat Riley | 4–3 | Detroit Pistons | Chuck Daly | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Pat Riley | 0–4 | Detroit Pistons | Chuck Daly | ||
Portland Trail Blazers | Rick Adelman | 1–4 | Detroit Pistons | Chuck Daly | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Mike Dunleavy | 1–4 | Chicago Bulls | Phil Jackson | ||
Portland Trail Blazers | Rick Adelman | 2–4 | Chicago Bulls | Phil Jackson | ||
Phoenix Suns | Paul Westphal | 2–4 | Chicago Bulls | Phil Jackson | ||
Houston Rockets | Rudy Tomjanovich | 4–3 | New York Knicks | Pat Riley | ||
Houston Rockets | Rudy Tomjanovich | 4–0 | Orlando Magic | Brian Hill | ||
Seattle SuperSonics | George Karl | 2–4 | Chicago Bulls | Phil Jackson | ||
Utah Jazz | Jerry Sloan | 2–4 | Chicago Bulls | Phil Jackson | ||
Utah Jazz | Jerry Sloan | 2–4 | Chicago Bulls | Phil Jackson | ||
San Antonio Spurs | Gregg Popovich | 4–1 | New York Knicks | Jeff Van Gundy | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Phil Jackson | 4–2 | Indiana Pacers | Larry Bird | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Phil Jackson | 4–1 | Philadelphia 76ers | Larry Brown | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Phil Jackson | 4–0 | New Jersey Nets | Byron Scott | ||
San Antonio Spurs | Gregg Popovich | 4–2 | New Jersey Nets | Byron Scott | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Phil Jackson | 1–4 | Detroit Pistons | Larry Brown | ||
San Antonio Spurs | Gregg Popovich | 4–3 | Detroit Pistons | Larry Brown | ||
Dallas Mavericks | Avery Johnson | 2–4 | Miami Heat | Pat Riley | ||
San Antonio Spurs | Gregg Popovich | 4–0 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Mike Brown | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Phil Jackson | 2–4 | Boston Celtics | Doc Rivers | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Phil Jackson | 4–1 | Orlando Magic | Stan Van Gundy | ||
Los Angeles Lakers | Phil Jackson | 4–3 | Boston Celtics | Doc Rivers | ||
Dallas Mavericks | Rick Carlisle | 4–2 | Miami Heat | Erik Spoelstra | ||
Oklahoma City Thunder | Scott Brooks | 1–4 | Miami Heat | Erik Spoelstra | ||
San Antonio Spurs | Gregg Popovich | 3–4 | Miami Heat | Erik Spoelstra | ||
San Antonio Spurs | Gregg Popovich | 4–1 | Miami Heat | Erik Spoelstra | ||
Golden State Warriors | Steve Kerr | 4–2 | Cleveland Cavaliers | David Blatt | ||
Golden State Warriors | Steve Kerr | 3–4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Tyronn Lue | ||
Golden State Warriors | Steve Kerr | 4–1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Tyronn Lue | ||
Golden State Warriors | Steve Kerr | 4–0 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Tyronn Lue | ||
Golden State Warriors | Steve Kerr | 2–4 | Toronto Raptors | Nick Nurse |