Simply the best: Who are the top 10 NBA Championship teams of All Time?

Winning an NBA championship isn't easy, unless your name is Michael Jordan, but for some teams, their incredible quality makes it that little bit easier. Let's take a look at the top 10 NBA Championship teams of all time, and see where each one ranks!

Basketball fans will remember that the 2013 Spurs came so very close to winning it all, but a miraculous shot from Miami Heat guard Ray Allen prevented that from happening. San Antonio was on a mission during the following season, and left no stone unturned on their way to redemption.

Medium wrote in 2014 that this edition of Spurs basketball play the game at as high of a level as had ever been seen in NBA history. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals rematch against Miami, the air conditioning infamously stopped working in San Antonio, but it was the Spurs’ team-first intensity that ended up suffocating the Heat.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

The 2012 Heat are another example of a team who used a prior season’s failure as motivation, which is a common thread on this list. In 2011, Miami was heavily favored against the Dallas Mavericks, but lost to a more connected unit. The Heat were determined to fix their flaws in crunch time in order for LeBron James to win his first ring.

ClutchPoints believes that the 2013 Heat were the strongest team of the mini-dynasty, but Miami had a stronger command in the 2012 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After losing Game 1, and hearing all the whispers about their inability to get it done, Miami rattled off four consecutive victories for the championship.

The NBA’s website wrote about Isaiah Thomas’ heroic performance in Game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals, but the Los Angeles Lakers would win Games 6 and 7 to win the title that year. Still, Thomas and the “Bad Boys” Pistons proved to the league that they were willing to do anything to get to the mountain top.

They left nothing to chance in 1989, sweeping the same Lakers out of the NBA Finals en route to a title. FiveThirtyEight’s website slotted this Detroit team as the ninth best in NBA history, which seems like a fair ranking. It validated a style of play and an identity that is attributed to them until the present day.

There’s an argument to be made that a championship team featuring Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain should be more highly thought of in the annals of NBA history. That’s not even considering the stellar play of Gail Goodrich in 1972, who averaged nearly 26 points per game.

The 1972 Lakers still have the NBA’s record for most consecutive games won in the regular season at 33. Los Angeles finished the job in the playoffs by defeating the New York Knicks in five games en route to the championship. Chamberlain was named NBA Finals MVP, after averaging an absurd 23 rebounds per game.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

The 76ers’ 1983 season is best remembered by a quote articulated by Moses Malone. He infamously said “fo-fo-fo” before their title run, which indicated that he believed Philadelphia would sweep every series on their way to a championship. They came very close to achieving that, as they lost just one game in the playoffs in their title run.

Moses Malone was instant royalty in Philadelphia, as he proved to be the player that helped the 76ers get over the hump. He led the league in rebounding in 1983, and was named NBA Finals MVP. The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a detailed piece in 2023 stacking this team up against the best to ever play.

ClutchPoints believed that the 1987 Lakers might be the best team in NBA history. Magic Johnson seemed to be at the peak of his powers, averaging over 26 points and 13 assists on his way to winning NBA Finals MVP. What made the accomplishment even sweeter was vanquishing the rival Boston Celtics to win the ring.

Bleacher Report thinks that the 1987 Lakers are the third-best team in franchise history, which goes to show how storied the organization is. They point out that Los Angeles lost only one game during the Western Conference playoffs, and that the fast-break attack was at its peak during this season.

Yahoo Sports, Heavy and many other outlets have contended that the 1986 Celtics are the best basketball team of all time. Boston won 67 regular season games, and featured four future Hall of Famer players in the starting lineup. Heavy also wrote about the manner in which they sacrificed for each other in order to achieve a team goal.

Although he might be a little biased, Larry Bird told Basketball Network that he thinks the 1986 Celtics team was the best to ever do it. The Athletic believes that Bird was probably at his best during that campaign, as a lethal scorer, savvy playmaker and rugged rebounder.

There wasn’t much the NBA could do against Golden State in the latter part of the 2010s, as they added a generational player to their already potent mix. Kevin Durant fit in seamlessly into the Warriors’ attack. Although they won the title in 2017, they seemed to reach their apex in 2018.

Defenses were afraid to help off of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, which allowed Durant to operate one on one. He took full advantage on his way to winning his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP in 2018. Bleacher Report believes that Golden State featured one of the best rosters in league history in 2018, in addition to one of the premier teams of all time.

The Lakers won three consecutive titles from 2000-2002, but their second one was arguably the most impressive. Los Angeles dominated their way to the title, losing just one game in four playoff rounds. In a podcast interview re-posted by Bleacher Report, current Los Angeles Clippers coach and former Lakers player Ty Lue called them the best team ever.

Shaquille O’Neal jumped over and ran through anyone who was in his way in 2001. Dikembe Mutombo was one of the best defensive players of his era, and O’Neal made him look like a college player during the 2001 NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant had also come into his own by then, which gave them a dynamic duo that was nearly impossible to contain.

While NBA history has witnesses greatness from many different championship teams over the years, the 1996 Bulls remain at the top of the list. Michael Jordan had returned to the NBA in his first full season after his baseball hiatus, and Chicago was better than ever as a result. They won a then-record 72 regular season games, running circles around the rest of the NBA.

Slam Magazine put the 1996 Bulls as the best team of all time, and it’s difficult to dispute that. From start to finish, Chicago put their foot down, making the end result of a title a formality. Steve Kerr, who was part of the 2018 Warriors as a coach and the 1996 Bulls as a player, believes the latter squad is the best to ever do it.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!