In the NBA, banners are forever. A single championship can define a franchise for decades, and a collection of them builds a dynasty that echoes through the history of the league. For more than 75 years, two storied franchises have stood far above the rest, while a handful of others have built their own impressive cases. So which NBA team has won the most titles, and how does every other franchise stack up?
The all-time championship race had a famous tie at the top for years, until one franchise finally pulled ahead in 2024, and the newest name joined the list just last year. The full picture runs from those two giants all the way down to the teams still chasing their first banner.
The chart below ranks every franchise by total NBA championships, with the years they won and their most recent title. Take a look, then we’ll break down the highlights.
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The Team With the Most NBA Championships
The Boston Celtics hold the record with 18 NBA championships, the most of any franchise. For years they were tied with the Lakers at 17 apiece, but Boston broke the deadlock by winning the 2024 title, their first since 2008. The bulk of those banners came during one of the greatest dynasties in all of sports: the Celtics won 11 titles in 13 seasons from 1957 to 1969, including eight in a row, a streak that may never be matched in any major American sport.
The Lakers Are Right Behind
The Los Angeles Lakers sit second with 17 championships, and their history spans both Minneapolis and Los Angeles. The franchise won titles in five different decades of dominance, from the Minneapolis dynasty of the early 1950s through the Showtime era of the 1980s, the Shaq and Kobe three-peat in the early 2000s, and the 2020 title in the bubble. Together, the Celtics and Lakers account for 35 championships, nearly half of all the titles in NBA history, and their rivalry has decided many of them head to head.
The Chasing Pack
After the big two, there is a steep drop. The Golden State Warriors rank third with 7 titles, a total boosted by their recent dynasty that won four championships between 2015 and 2022. The Chicago Bulls have 6, all of them won by Michael Jordan’s teams in two three-peats during the 1990s. The San Antonio Spurs follow with 5, earned across the long Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich era from 1999 to 2014. These are the only franchises besides Boston and Los Angeles with more than three.
The Newest Champion
The most recent name to join the list is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who won the 2025 title behind MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, beating the Indiana Pacers in seven games. There is a wrinkle worth knowing: the NBA officially counts the franchise’s 1979 championship, won when the team was the Seattle SuperSonics, as part of Thunder history, which gives the franchise two titles on the books. Oklahoma City does not hang the 1979 banner or claim it emotionally, out of respect for Seattle, but in the league’s records it counts.
Teams Still Chasing a Title
A large share of the league’s 30 teams have never won a championship at all. Long-suffering franchises like the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and Indiana Pacers have reached the Finals but never broken through, while several newer expansion teams are still building toward their first appearance. In a league where the same few franchises have hoarded so many banners, a first title remains one of the hardest things to achieve in sports.
The Bottom Line
The Boston Celtics lead all NBA franchises with 18 championships, edging the Los Angeles Lakers at 17, with the Warriors (7), Bulls (6), and Spurs (5) rounding out the top five. Between them, those teams hold the overwhelming majority of the league’s history, while the Thunder’s 2025 title added the newest chapter. Banners may be forever, but the race to add to them never stops, and every June another franchise gets the chance to climb this list.