Who has more NBA rings, the Lakers or the Celtics?

With the end of the NBA season creeping closer, the debate comes around as to which team in the sport is the real ‘best ever’ and which sides deserve to be in the conversation.

Normally, the debate between the two best teams in history always comes down to two: the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Both teams have a rich catalogue of success in the NBA and as such, it is inevitably their names who crop up as the question of the G.O.A.T is brought up: but which one is best? Who has had the most success?

Which team has won the most NBA Championships?

The score at the top of the overall leaderboard is a curious one: both the LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics have won a the NBA Championship a record 17 times.

As for the Lakers, they are the only team to have won at least one NBA title in each of the last four decades, with their most recent success coming in the 2019-20 season. They were also the first team in NBA history to complete a three-peat: as the Minneapolis Lakers they achieved the title from 1952 to 1954, before moving to Los Angeles in 1960.

While the Celtics were dominant in the 80s, winning the championship three times, they have not won a trophy since 2007-08.

The Lakers have achieved their trophy cabinet in 32 NBA Finals trips while the Celtics have matched them in just 22.

Which team has won the second highest number of NBA Championships?

The Golden State Warriors won the first NBA (known as BAA – Basketball Association of America) title in 1946-47 as the Philadelphia Warriors, and have since gone on to win 6 more. They sit behind the ‘big two’ in the list with 7, while the Chicago Bulls (6) and the San Antonio Spurs (5) are behind them.

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Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers have each won 4 and the Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks have a hat-trick of championship wins under their belts.

The Celtics now have the chance to become record holders when they take on the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Championship final on 6 June at 8:30pm ET. They beat the Pacers to get to the final while the Mavs overcame the Minnesota Timberwolves.