List of NBA players with most championships

This is a list of NBA players with most championships won as a player. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a major professional basketball league in North America. It was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[1] The league adopted its current name at the start of the 1949–50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL).[2] The NBA Finals is the championship series for the NBA and the conclusion of the sport's postseason. The winning team of the series receives the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Players from the winning team usually receive championship rings from the team honoring their contribution, with "rings" becoming shorthand for championships.[3] However, in some rare occasion, the teams opted to give other commemorative items, such as wrist watches, instead of rings.[4][5] The number of championships won by NBA superstars is often used as a measurement of their greatness.[6]

Bill Russell won 11 championships with the Boston Celtics, an NBA record.

Boston Celtics center Bill Russell holds the record for the most NBA championships won with 11 titles during his 13-year playing career.[7] He won his first championship with the Boston Celtics in his rookie year. Afterwards, he went on to win ten championships in the next 12 years, including eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966.[8] He won the last two championships in 1968 and 1969 as player-coach.[7] Russell's teammate, Sam Jones, won ten championships from 1959 to 1969, the second most in NBA history.[9] Four Celtics players, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Satch Sanders and John Havlicek, won eight championships each, with Havlicek being the only one to win championships independently of Russell.[10][11][12][13] Two other Celtics, Jim Loscutoff and Frank Ramsey, won seven championships each.[14][15][16]

Robert Horry also won seven championships (with three teams). Four players, Bob Cousy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, won six championships each.[17][18] Jordan and Pippen are members of the Chicago Bulls team who won three consecutive championships twice in the 1990s.[19][20] George Mikan won two championships in the NBL before it merged with the BAA to form the NBA, and won five championships in the NBA. LeBron James is the only active player who has won four or more championships, several players have won three.

Robert Horry, John Salley, LeBron James and Danny Green are the only players to have won championships with three different teams.[21] Horry won seven championships: two with the Houston Rockets, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and another two with San Antonio Spurs.[16] Salley's four NBA titles came via two championships with the Detroit Pistons and one each with the Bulls and the Lakers.[22] Horry is also the only non-Celtic to win more than six times. Frank Saul, Steve Kerr, Patrick McCaw, Danny Green and Chris Boucher are the only players to win two championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons.[23] Saul won consecutive championships with the Rochester Royals and the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s,[24] Kerr won consecutive championships with the Bulls and the Spurs in the 1990s, McCaw and Boucher with the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors in 2018 and 2019.[25] Both Saul and Kerr won NBA championships for four years in a row, each having participated in three-peats, Saul with the Lakers and Kerr with the Bulls.

The table below shows only one currently active player: LeBron James. He has won 4 championships with three teams: the Miami Heat (2012 and 2013), the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), and the Los Angeles Lakers (2020); winning NBA Finals MVP each time, making him the only player in history to win the award with three different franchises.[26]

List
Pos GGuard FForward CCenter
* Denotes players who have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame
^ Denotes players who are currently active in the NBA
Rank Player Position Seasons Championship teams Ref.
played won
1 Bill Russell* C 13 11 Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969) [27]
2 Sam Jones* G 12 10 Boston Celtics (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969) [9]
3 Tom Heinsohn*[a] F 9 8 Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) [10]
K. C. Jones*[b] G 9 8 Boston Celtics (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966) [11]
Tom "Satch" Sanders*[c] F 13 8 Boston Celtics (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969) [12]
John Havlicek* F/G 16 8 Boston Celtics (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976) [13]
7 Jim Loscutoff F 9 7 Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960[d], 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964) [14]
Frank Ramsey* F/G 9 7 Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964) [15]
Robert Horry F 16 7 Houston Rockets (1994, 1995)
Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002)
San Antonio Spurs (2005, 2007)		 [16]
10 Bob Cousy* G 14 6 Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963) [17]
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*
(formerly Lew Alcindor)[e]		 C 20 6 Milwaukee Bucks (1971)
Los Angeles Lakers (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)		 [18]
Michael Jordan* G 15 6 Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) [19]
Scottie Pippen* F 17 6 Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) [20]
14 George Mikan* C 7 5 Minneapolis Lakers (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954) [28]
Jim Pollard* F 7 5 Minneapolis Lakers (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954) [29]
Slater Martin* G 11 5 Minneapolis Lakers (1950, 1952, 1953, 1954)
St. Louis Hawks (1958)		 [30]
Larry Siegfried G 9 5 Boston Celtics (1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969) [31]
Don Nelson*[f] F 14 5 Boston Celtics (1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976) [32]
Michael Cooper G/F 12 5 Los Angeles Lakers (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) [33]
Earvin "Magic" Johnson* G 13 5 Los Angeles Lakers (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) [34]
Dennis Rodman* F 14 5 Detroit Pistons (1989, 1990)
Chicago Bulls (1996, 1997, 1998)		 [35]
Ron Harper G 15 5 Chicago Bulls (1996, 1997, 1998)
Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001)		 [36]
Steve Kerr[g] G 15 5 Chicago Bulls (1996, 1997, 1998)
San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003)		 [25]
Kobe Bryant* G 20 5 Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010) [37]
Derek Fisher G 18 5 Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010) [38]
Tim Duncan* F/C 19 5 San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) [39]
27 Vern Mikkelsen* F 10 4 Minneapolis Lakers (1950, 1952, 1953, 1954) [40]
Frank Saul G 6 4 Rochester Royals (1951)
Minneapolis Lakers (1952, 1953, 1954)		 [24]
Bill Sharman*[h] G 11 4 Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961) [41]
Gene Guarilia F 4 4 Boston Celtics (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963) [42]
Jamaal Wilkes* G/F 12 4 Golden State Warriors (1975)
Los Angeles Lakers (1980, 1982, 1985[i])		 [43]
Kurt Rambis F 14 4 Los Angeles Lakers (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) [44]
Robert Parish* C 21 4 Boston Celtics (1981, 1984, 1986)
Chicago Bulls (1997)		 [45]
Will Perdue C 13 4 Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993)
San Antonio Spurs (1999)		 [46]
John Salley F/C 11 4 Detroit Pistons (1989, 1990)
Chicago Bulls (1996)
Los Angeles Lakers (2000)		 [22]
Horace Grant F/C 17 4 Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993)
Los Angeles Lakers (2001)		 [47]
Shaquille O'Neal* C 19 4 Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002)
Miami Heat (2006)		 [48]
Manu Ginóbili G 16 4 San Antonio Spurs (2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) [49]
Tony Parker G 18 4 San Antonio Spurs (2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) [50]
LeBron James^ F/G 17 4 Miami Heat (2012, 2013)
Cleveland Cavaliers (2016)
Los Angeles Lakers (2020)		 [51]

See also

Notes
  • a Heinsohn won two additional championships in 1974 and 1976 as head coach of the Boston Celtics.
  • b Jones won four additional championships in 1972 as assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, in 1981 as assistant coach of the Boston Celtics, and in 1984 and 1986 as head coach of the Celtics.
  • c Sanders was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a contributor.[52]
  • d Loscutoff did not play in the 1960 Playoffs and Finals due to injury.[53]
  • e Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 after winning his first championship. He also won two championships as an assistant coach with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.[54]
  • f Nelson was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach.
  • g Kerr won additional championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018 as head coach of the Golden State Warriors.
  • h Sharman won an additional championship in 1972 as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
  • i Wilkes did not play in the 1985 playoffs due to injury, but remained on the roster until after the Finals.[55]

References

Citations
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Sources
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