Every single NBA championship is special in own right. Getting to that mountaintop is an unbelievable accomplishment no matter the circumstances.
That doesn’t mean that some routes to a title weren’t more impressive than others, or that some teams weren’t more talented. How do we rank which champions were the best of the best?
There’s no perfect way to sort through greatness. I tried anyway, looking at regular season and playoff win percentage, roster strength, longevity, strength of opponents, and Basketball-Reference’s Simple Rating System (SRS), which evaluates teams based on point differential and strength of schedule.
NBA PLAYOFFS HQ: Live NBA scores | NBA playoff schedule | NBA playoff bracket
Using that data as a basis, I ranked of all of the title teams from 2020 to 2024 from 1 through 25. Prepare to be upset.
Ranking NBA champions from 2000 to 2024
1. 2017 Warriors
Stats: 67-15 regular season, 16-1 playoffs, SRS: 11.35
Best players: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green
This was the best championship team of the Warriors dynasty and one of the most dominant. They were already elite before replacing a solid role player in Harrison Barnes with an all-time great in Durant. KD helped them cruise to their second title in three years, outscoring their opponents in the playoffs by a record 13.5 points per game.
2. 2015 Warriors
Stats: 67-15 regular season, 16-5 playoffs, SRS: 10.01
Best players: Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala
The Warriors’ first championship team was also one of its best. The team was hungry to prove itself. They caught the rest of the league off guard in Steve Kerr’s first year of instituting their deadly motion-based offense and 3-point barrage. Curry was coming off his first regular season MVP award. He beat a great LeBron-led Cavs team in six games behind Iguodala’s brilliant defense in those Finals.
3. 2001 Lakers
Stats: 56-26 regular season, 16-1 playoffs, SRS: 3.74
Best players: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal
This was the Lakers team right in the middle of their three-peat. They coasted during the regular season to the No. 2 seed in the West, partly due to injuries. Then they flipped a switch and absolutely steamrolled the competition in the playoffs, setting a record with only one postseason loss.
That defeat came in Game 1 of the Finals, when Allen Iverson scored 48 and stepped over Tyronn Lue to create one of the most iconic photos in NBA history. The Sixers success was short-lived — the Lakers won the next four games by a combined 39 points.
This team had great coaching with Phil Jackson and perhaps the best duo of the 21st century in Shaq and Kobe.
4. 2000 Lakers
Stats: 67-15 regular season, 16-8 playoffs, SRS: 8.41
Best players: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant
This was the first championship in the Lakers’ three-peat. Jackson was brought in to manage Kobe and Shaq and got them to the best record in the league in his first year.
Shaq’s 29.7 points and 13.6 rebounds per game led to an almost-unanimous MVP selection for the big man.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing in the playoffs — they needed a collapse by the Blazers in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to make it to a matchup with the Pacers, who they beat in six games.
5. 2003 Spurs
Stats: 60-22 regular season, 16-8 playoffs, SRS: 5.65
Best players: Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili
Duncan won the regular season MVP and he was even better in the playoffs. He had one of the best Finals performances ever in Game 6, coming two blocks away from recording a quadruple-double. The Spurs beat the Nets in six games with their twin tower approach in Robinson’s final year in the league.
6. 2014 Spurs
Stats: 62-20 regular season, 16-8 playoffs, SRS: 8.00
Best players: Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili
The Spurs overcame the agony of losing to the Heat in the Finals the previous year, getting their revenge and dispatching Miami in only five games.
San Antonio was the best offense in the league behind its beautiful game style of passing and cutting. Leonard showed that he could be one of the best players in the world, winning Finals MVP.
7. 2005 Spurs
Stats: 59-23 regular season, 16-7 playoffs, SRS: 7.80
Best players: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili
These Spurs were the best defensive team in the league, going up against another defensive powerhouse in the defending-champion Pistons. They beat the higher-seeded Seven Seconds or Less Suns in five games to make it to the Finals, where they won a grind-it-out Finals that took seven games to close out.
8. 2013 Heat
Stats: 66-16 regular season, 16-7 playoffs, SRS: 7.87
Best players: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen
In Year Three of the Heatles, Miami beat a championship-caliber Spurs team in seven games for their second title.
Who can forget Ray Allen’s game-tying 3-pointer in the closing moments of Game 6, which forced that Game 7? They were loaded with talent but drop down the rankings for getting to the title by the skin of their teeth.
9. 2018 Warriors
Stats: 58-24 regular season, 16-5 playoffs, SRS: 5.79
Best players: Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green
This Warriors team was still stacked, but fatigue was starting to catch up to them. Curry missed 31 games during the regular season. At 34, Iguodala wasn’t quite the same impact player as before. This was no doubt a great team, but they were fighting the grind and the cracks were beginning to show.
10. 2008 Celtics
Stats: 66-16 regular season, 16-10 playoffs, SRS: 9.31
Best players: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo
The Celtics had a dominant defense, led by Kevin Garnett and an unheralded assistant by the name of Tom Thibodeau. Thibs’ defense was ahead of its time, and it helped dispatch a good Lakers team that would go on to win the next two titles.
This was a great team with a solid top four, but they get bumped down a notch because it took them two seven-game series to get the job done.
11. 2012 Heat
Stats: 46–20, 16–7 playoffs, SRS: 5.72
Best players: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh
After losing in the Finals the previous year, the Heatles took down their first championship.
Miami wasn’t a dominant regular season team in this shortened season and they almost lost to the Celtics in the Conference Finals. It took 45 points from LeBron in Game 6 to force and win Game 7.
From there, they had a convincing 4-1 win over a terrific but young Thunder team featuring Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka.
12. 2024 Celtics
Stats: 64–18 regular season, 16–3 playoffs, SRS: 10.75
Best players: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis
The Celtics were a dominant regular season team with a good defense and the best offense in NBA history. They faced very few issues in the playoffs and had great numbers.
Detractors of their run point to the soft competition that they had en-route to their title. They faced numerous opponents that were beset with injuries to their best players, including Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Haliburton, and a banged-up Luka Doncic in the Finals. But you can only play who is in front of you.
13. 2004 Pistons
Stats: 54–28 regular season, 16–7 playoffs, SRS: 5.83
Best players: Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton
This was certainly one of the most fun and memorable teams in NBA history. The Pistons proved that it was possible to win a ring without an MVP-level talent on your roster. They had five very good starters — Tayshaun Prince was the only one to never make an All-Star team. They were an amazing defensive team that only got better by trading mid-season for Rasheed Wallace.
14. 2016 Cavs
Stats: 57-25 regular season, 16-5 playoffs, SRS: 5.45
Best players: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love
LeBron brought a title back to Ohio in one of the most dramatic ways possible. With the odds stacked against them and facing a regular season record-setting 73-9 Warriors team, the Cavs overcame a 3-1 deficit behind several legendary performances James and Irving. Draymond Green’s suspension in Game 5 may have cost the Warriors that ring.
15. 2023 Nuggets
Stats: 53-29 regular season, 16-4 playoffs, SRS: 3.04
Best players: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon
The Nuggets weren’t a dominant regular season team. They were one of the biggest preseason underdogs to ever win a championship. But they had Jokic in his prime, and nobody could come close to touching him in the playoffs. Their offense was remarkable.
The Nuggets drop down because they didn’t face the stiffest competition. That was particularly true in the Finals, where the eighth-seeded Heat couldn’t put up much of a fight in five games.
16. 2010 Lakers
Stats: 57–25, 16–7 playoffs, SRS: 4.78
Best players: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest
The Lakers cruised to the Finals before a hard-fought matchup with the Celtics. Kobe averaged 28.6 points per game in the series, but it was Pau Gasol who carried them in Game 7 with 19 points and 18 rebounds, including nine offensive boards. They were a good team but didn’t have quite the supporting cast of other Lakers champions.
17. 2007 Spurs
Stats: 58–24, 16–4 playoffs, SRS: 8.35
Best players: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili
These Spurs were a good team that faced lackluster competition in the playoffs. They swept a young LeBron-led Cavs team whose second-leading regular season scorer was Larry Hughes. The veteran trio of Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili dispatched them in four games.
18. 2009 Lakers
Stats: 65–17 regular season, 16–7 playoffs, SRS: 7.11
Best players: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol
The Lakers won 65 games and cruised to a 4-1 Finals win over Dwight Howard’s Magic team. They bounced back from their loss to the Celtics the previous year, and Kobe proved that he didn’t need Shaq to win a title. Lamar Odom was a glue guy, doing a little bit of everything for the team.
19. 2019 Raptors
Stats: 58–24, 16–8 playoffs, SRS: 5.79
Best players: Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol
The Raptors were one of the more surprising NBA champions. Trading fan-favorite DeMar DeRozan for a year of Kawhi Leonard turned out to be worth the cost. Leonard hit perhaps the most iconic shot in the franchise’s history, beating the buzzer in Game 7 against the Sixers on a jumper that bounced around the rim before dropping in.
Nick Nurse’s innovative defenses and injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson were enough to end the Warriors dynasty in the Finals, giving Toronto its only title.
20. 2002 Lakers
Stats: 58–24, 15–4 playoffs, SRS: 7.15
Best players: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant
The Lakers’ three-peat culminated in a sweep over the Nets, but this was a worse team than the 2001 champions. They barely got past the Kings in the Western Conference Finals, needing 27 free throws in the fourth quarter to win Game 7. The Nets were a weak Finals opponent too, hurting their ranking.
21. 2021 Bucks
Stats: 46–26 regular season, 16–7 playoffs, SRS: 5.57
Best players: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday
The Bucks narrowly made it to the Finals by beating a depleted Nets team in seven games in the second round. A Kevin Durant toe-on-the-line two led to that unlikely outcome. They faced a weak Conference Finals opponent in the Hawks.
In the Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo miraculously came back from what looked like a scary knee injury to play outstanding basketball, beating a Chris Paul and Devin Booker-led Suns team in six games.
22. 2022 Warriors
Stats: 53–29, 16–6 playoffs, SRS: 5.52
Best players: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green
The Warriors showed that they had one last run in them. They won their fourth title in eight years, beating the Celtics 4-2 in the Finals. Curry earned his first Finals MVP, averaging 31.2 points per game. Andrew Wiggins turned into an All-Star and defensive stopper, Jordan Poole was a scoring sensation, and they got their usual reliable performances from Curry, Thompson, and Green.
23. 2011 Mavericks
Stats: 57-25 regular season, 16-5 playoffs, SRS: 4.41
Best players: Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler
The Mavericks were underdogs against a LeBron-led Heat superteam in its first year together. Nowitzki averaged 26 points in a rematch of the 2006 Finals and led Dallas to a 4-2 series win. Tyson Chandler provided stout defense, and Jason Kidd was a steadying hand at point guard. It was the only title for the franchise and coach Rick Carlisle’s only ring.
24. 2006 Heat
Stats: 52–30, 16–7 playoffs, SRS: 3.59
Best players: Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal
Shaq proved that he could win a ring outside of Los Angeles, teaming up with Wade to take down the Mavs in six games. Pat Riley came down from the front office to take over coaching the team from Stan Van Gundy.
This was a veteran-laden squad with players like Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, and Alonzo Mourning helping to supplement Miami’s stars.
25. 2020 Lakers
Stats: 52–19 regular season, 16–5 playoffs, SRS: 6.28
Best players: LeBron James, Anthony Davis
This was one of the strangest years in the NBA’s history, in the midst of the COVID epidemic. The Lakers won the bubble championship with no fans in the arena. LeBron and AD were dominant though, cruising in the playoffs and dispatching the Jimmy Butler Heat 4-2. Davis was red-hot with his jumper all throughout that run in a performance that he has never been able to replicate. Rajon Rondo provided veteran playmaking, and other role players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso stepped up.
