Basketball fans, the wait is officially over. The NBA Finals are here, and while we wait to see who will claim the Larry O’Brien trophy, let’s take a look back at some of the most memorable players and matchups in NBA Finals history.
The First NBA Finals Champion
The NBA Finals have been played since 1947. The first team to win the championship was the Philadelphia Warriors. They claimed the title in five games against the Chicago Stags.
The Philadelphia Warriors would make it back to the Finals the next year, but would lose the series to the Baltimore Bullets.
Early Dynasties of the NBA Finals
The Minneapolis Lakers, now the Los Angeles Lakers, were the first dynasty in the NBA Finals era. From 1949-54, the Lakers won five championships. The season they didn’t capture it all was in 1951.
The Lakers’ dynasty in the early nineteen-fifties was surpassed by their soon-to-be rival Boston Celtics. From 1957-69, the Boston Celtics won eleven championships. Five of the Celtics’ championships came over the Lakers. During this dominant stretch, the Celtics won 8 straight championships.
The Lakers and Celtics matchups featured many NBA Hall of Famers. Bill Russell won 11 championships with the Celtics. The Lakers featured players such as Jerry West, the NBA Logo, and Wilt Chamberlain.
Magic Vs Bird
The Lakers and Celtics are the two most storied franchises in the league. They have matched up against each other many times in the NBA Finals. The Celtics seemed to always have the upper hand in the ’60s. The rivalry truly started to take over in the 1980s when the Lakers acquired Magic Johnson and the Celtics acquired Larry Bird.
The two of them had a rivalry coming into the NBA after Michigan State, led by Johnson, defeated Indiana State, led by Bird. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson would meet three times in the NBA Finals, the first in 1984, when the Celtics won, and the next time in 1985, when the Lakers won, and the third and final matchup came in 1987, when the Lakers won the championship.
All three of these matchups went a minimum of six games, and the Celtics won the only series that went seven games. This rivalry created tremendous buzz around the NBA and gets tremendous credit for the popularity of the sport today.
The Jordan Era
Perhaps the most dominant player the sport has ever seen, Michael Jordan dominated the NBA during the 1990s. He made six trips to the finals and won every single time.
Jordan was remarkable, averaging 33 points in NBA Finals games. Jordan completed two separate three-peats in the 90s. The first from 1991-93, he then retired from basketball to play professional baseball, only to return during the 1995 NBA season. After he returned, his Chicago Bulls would win three more finals from 1996-1998.
Jordan won Finals MVP for all six of his championships. Many of his iconic moments happened in the NBA finals, “The Last Shot” against Denver in 1998, and the Flu game in 1997. Jordan and the Chicago Bulls never had to play a full seven-game series. His first title came over Magic Johnson and the Lakers. He ridiculously averaged 41 points a game during the 1993 NBA Finals.
The 2000s
The 2000s era of basketball brought us many incredible finals matchups and championships. The early 2000s were dominated by the Lakers and their two stars, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Coached by the former coach of the Jordan Bulls, Phil Jackson, Shaq and Kobe were a dominant pair, winning 3 straight NBA Finals from 2000-02. The Lakers would win 2 more championships in 2009 and 2010.
In 1999, the San Antonio Spurs won their first championship with Tim Duncan and coach Greg Popovich. They would then win 3 more championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007.
The Celtics would win a championship over the Lakers in 2008 over their rival Lakers. The Miami Heat with Dwayne Wade and Shaq in 2004.
The 2010s
The 2010s started with a bang as Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers would clash with franchise rival the Boston Celtics. Bryant would avenge the Lakers’ loss to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals.
A name synonymous with the NBA Finals during the 2010s was LeBron James. Still playing even today, LeBron went to 8 straight NBA Finals, from 2011-2018, four with the Miami Heat and four with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Including his appearance in the 2007 finals, LeBron would end the 2010s with an NBA Finals record of 3-6. The teams to beat him were the Mavericks in 2011, the Spurs in 2007, 2014, and the Warriors in 2015, 2017, and 2018.
LeBron won Finals MVP in all three of his championship wins. His 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers team is the only team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. LeBron is undefeated in game sevens in the NBA finals, beating the two teams that have given him the most trouble, the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.
The best dynasty of the 2010s was the Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. The Warriors have been a dominant factor in the recent history of basketball. The Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers to win 3 of their championships. They made five straight NBA Finals, losing to the Toronto Raptors in 2019, and they are the only team in finals history to lose a series up 3-1, as they would lose 3 straight games to the LeBron James-led Cavaliers.
2020-Now
It has been an interesting journey for the NBA in the 2020s. The decade started in a global pandemic, where many didn’t believe an NBA Finals would be played. Luckily, there was a championship played as the NBA would hold the playoffs in the “Bubble” down in Orlando, Florida. The Los Angeles Lakers would win the championship in 2020, led by Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
In 2021, the Milwaukee Bucks won the championship over the Phoenix Suns. The Bucks won the series in 6 games, and Giannis Antetokounmpo was the finals MVP.
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors won the championship in 2022. They took down the Boston Celtics in 6 games. Curry won the finals MVP.
The Denver Nuggets won the championship in 2023. Led by Finals MVP Nikola Jokić, the Nuggets took down the Miami Heat in 5 games.
Last year’s champion was the Boston Celtics, who took down the Dallas Mavericks in 5 games. Jaylen Brown won the Finals MVP for his performance during the series.
The 2025 NBA Finals will add more historic moments and players to the Finals era. What remains to ask is who will win it all?
