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https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/of19h5/75_nba_finals_fun_facts/The Lakers and Celtics have combined to win 34 of the 74 NBA finals, or 43% of all championships in NBA history.
The Lakers and Celtics winning 43% of all championships in the highest percentage of championships won by two teams in the North American major sports (Yankees-Cardinals is next at 33%).
Despite having the same number of championships, the Lakers have the most Larry O’Brian Trophies. The trophy debuted in 1977. The Lakers have 11, the Bulls have 6, the Spurs have 5, and the Celtics have 4.
The original Baltimore Bullets, who won in 1948, are the only defunct NBA champion.
The 1970s was the decade with the most unique champions. 8 different teams won a title. It is the only decade (other than the 1940s) where no team won at least 3 titles.
The 70s was also the decade with the most first-time champions, with the Knicks, Bucks, Trail Blazers, Bullets (now Wizards), and Sonics (now Thunder) all winning their first title.
The 1960s was the decade with the least number of unique NBA champions. 2 different teams won a title. The Celtics won 9, the 76ers won 1.
The 1980s and 2000s are the decades with the least number of first-time champions, each with 1 (Pistons in 1989 and Heat in 2006).
The Lakers are the only teams to appear in a Finals in every decade.
The most common NBA Finals matchup is obviously Lakers- Celtics. These teams have met 12 different times.
The most common NBA finals matchup that does not include either the Lakers or Celtics is Warriors-Cavaliers. These teams have met 4 different times.
Warriors-Cavaliers met a record 4 times in a row from 2015-2018. The Warriors won 3 and the Cavaliers won 1. No other teams have met more than twice in a row.
3 unique franchises have won 3 titles in a row. The Lakers and Bulls have both won 3 titles in a row twice, and the Celtics won a record 8 titles in a row.
There have 13 instances where a team has won at least back-to-back titles. The most recent team to do so was the Warriors from 2017-2018.
Five cities that have won a title no longer host an NBA team. Baltimore in 1948, Rochester in 1951, Syracuse in 1955, St. Louis in 1958, and Seattle in 1979.
The Chicago Bulls have the most finals appearances without a loss, with 6. Every other team with more than one appearance has lost at least one.
The best record in induvial Finals games is the Bulls, who have gone 24-11 for a .683 winning percentage. The worst record is the Magic, who have gone 1-8 for a .111 winning percentage.
The current division with the most championships is the Pacific, with 24. The current division with the least is the northwest, with just 2.
The Lakers hold the record for most NBA finals appearances, with 32.
The Suns, Jazz, Nets, and Magic are all tied for the most appearances without a win, with 2 each. If the Suns lose in 2021, they will hold this record outright.
The Jazz have the best all time regular season record without a championship. Their 2,160- 1,726 (.544 winning percentage) record is good for 4th all time.
The Washington Wizards have the worst all time regular season record with a championship. Their 2,187-2,654 (.452 winning percentage) is 25th all time.
The 1972-73 Celtics hold the record for best record to not make the finals. At 68-14, they lost in the Eastern Conference finals to the Knicks.
The 1998-99 Knicks are the only 8 seed to ever make the finals.
The 1994-95 Rockets are the lowest seeded team to win the championship, winning it as a 5 seed. EDIT: 6 seed. Thanks to /u/JTenjouNi.
The Cavaliers hold the record with most appearances with just 1 win, with 5.
6 current franchises do not have a finals appearance, the Hornets, Clippers, Nuggets, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, and Pelicans. The Hornets and Pelicans have never made the conference finals.
The longest active title drought (also longest drought ever) is the Sacramento Kings at 71 years, having last won in 1951.
The longest drought between championships belongs to the Warriors, who waited 40 years between their 1975 and 2015 titles. However, if the Bucks win in 2021, they will break this record (50 years).
The longest wait for a team’s first title was the Cavaliers, who waited 46 years to win their first in 2016. However, if the Suns win in 201, they will break this record (53 years).
The most recent team to make with first finals appearance is the Raptors in 2019.
The most recent finals in which neither team had won a championship was 2006, when the Heat defeated the Mavericks.
The most recent NBA champion who did not win their division was the Mavericks in 2011.
All time, the East leads the West 39-34.
Since 1971 (the conference era), there have only been 10 finals that neither team was the 1 seed. 2021 became the 10th. The most recent before 2021 was 2018.
Since 1971, there has been only 1 NBA finals were neither team was either a 1 or 2 seed, the 1978 Finals when the Bullets defeated the Supersonics.
Since 1971, 38 of the 49 finals have featured a team from California or Texas. 2021 is the first finals since 2012 not to feature a team from either state.
There have been 19 Game 7s in Final’s history. The home team is 15-4. The most recent game 7 is 2016.
The 1951 knicks are the only team to force a game 7 after being down 3-0. No team has ever won a Finals after being down 3-0.
The Warriors are the only team to blow a 3-1 series lead, having done so in 2016. Lol.
Bill Russell has won the most championships, with 11.
Robert Horry holds the record for most championships without having played for the Celtics, having won 7 with the Rockets, Lakers, and Spurs.
Robert Horry and Jim Loscutoff both hold the record with most championships by non-hall-of-famers with 7 each.
Robert Horry, Danny Green, John Salley, and Lebron James are the only people to have won a title with 3 different teams.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen have won the most titles without losing one, each with 6 for the Chicago Bulls. EDIT: This is wrong. As said by /u/carjubee “John Havilcek, K.C. Jones, and Tom Sanders have all went 8-0 in the finals.”
Gene Guarilia is the only NBA player to win the championship in 100% of the season he played (minimum 3 seasons). He played in 4 seasons for the Celtics and won the title in all four seasons.
Lebron James has the record for active players with 4 championships and 10 appearances.
Michael Jordan has the most NBA Finals MVP awards, with 6.
Only once has the NBA Finals MVP award been awarded to a member of the losing team. It was won by Jerry West in 1969. This was also the first Finals MVP awarded.
Jordan is the only player to win the NBA Finals MVP in every Finals he appeared in, winning the MVP in all 6 of his final’s appearances.
Lebron James is the only player to win an MVP award with 3 different teams.
Lebron, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Kawhi Lenord are the only players to win the finals MVP with multiple teams.
Robert Parish is the oldest player to ever win a championship. At 43, he won with the 1997 Bulls.
Darko Milicic is the youngest player to ever appear in and win a championship. At 18, we won with the 2004 Pistons.
Phil Jackson has won the most titles as a coach, with 11.
14 people have won a title as both a player and a coach, the most recent to join this club is Tyronn Lue.
3 Coaches, Phil Jackson, Pat Reilly, and Alex Hannum have won a title with multiple teams.
Tom Heinsohn holds the record for most titles in any capacity, having been a part of all 17 Boston Celtics championships. 8 as a player, 2 as a coach, and 7 as a broadcaster. His 17 titles are also the most by any non-owner in North American major sports.
Jerry Buss, Owner of the lakers from 1979-2013, won a record 10 championships as an owner.
Jeanie Buss became the first female owner to win the NBA championship, having won in 2020 with the Lakers.
Lebron James has the highest game score recorded in NBA Finals history, with a score of 42.15 in game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
Rick Berry has the highest PPG in Finals history, averaging 36.3 PPG in his 16 finals games.
Bill Russell holds the career record for most fouls committed with 225.
Chris Paul has the highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of any player to never win a championship. Should he win in 2021, that distinction will pass to James Harden.
Karl Malone has the highest win shares of any player to never win a championship.
Karl Malone, Steve Nash, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are tied for the record the record for most MVPs won by a player to never win a championship, each with 2.
9 MVPs have never won a title. Of those, 4 are retired (Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, Karl Malone, Steve Nash) and 5 are active (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic).
Karl Malone also holds the record for most All-Star Game appearances without winning a title.
Carmelo Anthony holds the record for most All-Star Game appearances without appearing in a Finals. Chris Paul previously held this record until 2021.
Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals is the most watched Final’s game, with 35.89 million people tuning in to watch Jordan winning his last title.
The least watched Final’s game in game 3 of the 2020 NBA finals, with just 5.94 million viewers.
Only 4 times since 1990 has a city played host to both the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup Finals. Chicago in 1992, New York in 1994, New Jersey in 2003, and the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016. In 1992, the NBA team won, in 1994 and 2003 the NHL team won, and in 2016, neither team won.
Only three times has a city won and NBA title and a World Series title in the same calendar year. All three were done by Los Angeles in 1988, 2002 and 2020.
No city has ever won the super bowl and NBA finals in the same calendar year. The closest was 2008, were the Celtics won the title, but the undefeated Patriots had already lost in the Super Bowl in February.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NBA Finals were delayed until October. The Lakers and Dodgers each won a title within 30 days of each other. This is the shortest time between major championships for a city ever.