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). The league adopted its current name at the start of the 1949â€"50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). 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. However, in some rare occasion, the teams opted to give other commemorative items, such as wrist watches, instead of rings. The number of championships won by NBA superstars is often used as a measurement of their greatness.
Boston Celtics center Bill Russell holds the record for the most NBA championships won with 11 titles during his 13-year playing career. He won his first championship with the Boston Celtics in his rookie year. Afterwards, he went on to win 10 championships in the next 12 years, including eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. He won the last two championships in 1968 and 1969 as player-coach. Russell's teammate, Sam Jones, won 10 championships from 1959 to 1969, the second most in NBA history. Four Celtics players, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Satch Sanders and John Havlicek, won eight championships each. Two other Celtics, Jim Loscutoff and Frank Ramsey, won seven championships each. Four players, Bob Cousy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, won six championships each. Jordan and Pippen are members of the Chicago Bulls team who won three consecutive championships twice in the 1990s. George Mikan won 2 championships in the NBL before it merged with the BAA to form the NBA, and won 5 championships in the NBA.
Robert Horry and John Salley are the only players to have won the championships with three different teams. Horry won seven championships with the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, while Salley won four championships with the Detroit Pistons, the Bulls and the Lakers. Horry is also the only non-Celtic to win more than 6 times. Frank Saul and Steve Kerr are the only players to win two championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons. Saul won consecutive championships with the Rochester Royals and the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s, and Kerr won consecutive championships with the Bulls and the Spurs in the 1990s. Both Saul and Kerr were NBA champions four years in a row, each having participated in three-peats, Saul with the Lakers and Kerr with the Bulls.
List
See also
- List of NBA champions
- List of NBA championship head coaches
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 is a member of the Naismith Hall, but as a contributor rather than a player.
- d Loscutoff did not play in the 1960 Playoffs and Finals due to injury.
- e Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971. He also won two championships as an assistant coach with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.
- f Wilkes did not play in the 1985 playoffs due to injury, but remained on the roster until after the Finals.
- g Kerr won additional championships in 2015 and 2017 as head coach of the Golden State Warriors.
- h Sharman won an additional championship in 1972 as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
References
- General
- Specific
