NBA FINALS

The Boston Celtics lead all franchises with 18 NBA championships, including their most recent title in 2024. The Los Angeles Lakers are second with 17. The rivalry between these two teams has defined the NBA for decades — they have met in the Finals 12 times, with Boston winning 9 of those series. The Celtics built their dynasty during the Bill Russell era of the 1960s (winning 9 consecutive titles between 1959 and 1966), while the Lakers built theirs across multiple eras from George Mikan to Shaq to Kobe.

Michael Jordan went a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals, winning with the Chicago Bulls in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998. He won Finals MVP all six times — a record that stands alone. His Bulls never lost a Finals game 7 and never needed more than 6 games to close out any opponent. Jordan's combination of Finals dominance and regular season excellence puts him in the conversation for the greatest team sport dynasty performance in North American sports history.

Michael Jordan leads with 6 Finals MVP awards. Magic Johnson and LeBron James each have 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan each have 2. The award is officially called the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, renamed in honor of Russell in 2009. Russell won 11 championships but never personally won the award — it wasn't created until his final season in 1969, when it was given to Jerry West of the losing team. The 2025 Finals MVP was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who also won the regular season MVP and scoring title that year.

The "Flu Game" refers to Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. Michael Jordan played and scored 38 points despite being visibly ill — suffering from what his trainer Tim Grover later confirmed was severe food poisoning from a pizza delivery to his hotel the night before. The "flu" label was used at the time to protect the narrative. Jordan hit the decisive go-ahead jumper late in the fourth quarter and had to be helped off the court by Scottie Pippen afterward. It remains one of the most iconic individual performances in Finals history.

The Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit, defeating the 73-win Golden State Warriors in 7 games. LeBron James had 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in the deciding Game 7, including what is now simply known as "The Block" — a chase-down rejection of Andre Iguodala's fast break layup with under two minutes remaining in a tie game. Kyrie Irving then hit the go-ahead three-pointer, and the Cavaliers sealed it with free throws. It ended Cleveland's 52-year major professional sports championship drought.

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in 7 games to win the 2025 NBA Championship — the first major professional sports title in Oklahoma history. The Thunder had gone 68-14 in the regular season, setting the NBA record for single-season point differential. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won Finals MVP after averaging 30.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game in the series. He became only the fourth player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP, scoring title, and Finals MVP in the same season. The 2025 Finals was also the 7th consecutive year with a different NBA champion — a new record in league history.

As of early March 2026, the Oklahoma City Thunder lead the Western Conference as defending champions, while the Detroit Pistons lead the Eastern Conference in a surprising turnaround season. The San Antonio Spurs sit second in the West, powered by Victor Wembanyama's emergence as a superstar. The Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Cleveland Cavaliers are among the East's top contenders. The NBA Playoffs are scheduled to begin in late April 2026, with the Finals expected in June 2026.

Some landmark Finals numbers: 11 — Bill Russell's championships, the most of any player in North American professional sports history. 6-0 — Michael Jordan's perfect Finals record. 61 — Elgin Baylor's record for points in a single Finals game (1962), which has never been surpassed. 5-0 — The San Antonio Spurs' perfect Finals record across five different championship runs. 12 — The number of times the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have met in the Finals. 7 — The number of consecutive years with a different NBA champion from 2019 to 2025, the longest such streak in league history.