Few of us would care to argue against the idea that winning an NBA title is the goal of any individual who plays professional basketball. Sure, some of them have to be realistic about their chances of doing so and accept that they are somewhere between slim and none. But, there cannot be a single one of them who hasn’t daydreamed about it and wondered just how it might feel.
It’s also fairly safe to say that it is the dream of every dedicated fan to see their beloved side go all the way to the NBA Finals and bring home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
It stands to reason that they should feel this way, of course. The zenith of what one can achieve in the sport of basketball. It is extraordinarily difficult to achieve and to do it multiple times is nothing short of a sensation.
Here at The Jump Hub, we might argue that we find equal excitement and pleasure from watching the pure, unadulterated joy of the underdogs after a huge upset during NCAA March Madness. But that’s different. There’s nothing quite like the NBA and you’d better believe that those youngsters are also thinking about that once the dust settles.
IN THE ENTIRETY OF NBA HISTORY, ONLY 13 PLAYERS HAVE EVER LIFTED THE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY 6 TIMES OR MORE.
Think about how many players have been in the league over the years.
What – you think we don’t have that actual number for you? How dare you?
There have been 4,374 players in the NBA during its rich and fascinating history.
And only 13 of them have 6 Championship rings or more…
We’ll do the math for you – that’s 0.3% of them. Less than a third of a 1% chance that any player can achieve that milestone.
Makes it seem all the more impressive right?
HERE IS THE OFFICIAL BREAKDOWN OF THOSE 13 GUYS.
SCOTTIE PIPPEN
Championship Finals:
6 from 6 NBA Finals
100% success rate
35 games
19.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 5.9 APG
Career:
1,178 games
16.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 5.2 APG
Scottie Pippen was the incredible playmaker and defensive specialist for the Chicago Bulls franchise that swept the boards clean in the 1990s. He remained the number one pick, thanks to his superb skills and reliability on the court. To this day, he had one of the most robust, versatile defensive skillsets that the game has ever seen.
His consistency as an irreplaceable playmaker is reflected by those career averages. His number of assists were almost identical to those of his entire career. In the cauldron of the NBA Finals when many players up their games and show huge improvements. Scottie just carried on doing what he did best and the Chicago Bulls carried on winning.
MICHAEL JORDAN
Championships:
6 from 6 NBA Finals
100% success rate
35 games
33.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 6.0 APG
Career:
1,072 games
30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG
Considered by many to be the greatest player to ever grace a basketball court, Michael Jordan matched Pippen’s record of 6 for 6 with the dominant Chicago Bulls. Of the many achievements in such a glorious career, this still remains one of the most special. He utterly dominates the highest points per game stats in this list, being a clear 12 points ahead of his nearest challenger (K.A. Jabbar)
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are arguably the greatest duo in the entire history of basketball and it seems churlish to separate them here. They won 6 NBA titles together with the Chicago Bulls. They did so in just 8 years and none of those games even got as far as game 7!
That total would probably have been increased by 2 had Jordan not, in one of the sports’ more bizarre turns, taken 2 years off to play baseball.
Clearly, Michael Jordan was a freak of nature. A once-in-a-lifetime kind of athlete that many of us may never see the likes of again. But Jordan has often said himself that he could not have done half of it without the ever-dependable Scottie Pippen. They were an almost unstoppable force at both ends of the court and will live long in the memory and within our collective NBA hearts.
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
Championships:
6 from 10 NBA Finals
60% success rate
56 Finals games
23.5 PPG, 9.1 RPG, and 3.2 APG
Career:
1,560 games
24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.6 APG
Kareem Abdul Jabbar had a rather sensational college career, possibly the of any NBA superstar. His incredible durability and stamina saw him perform in 20 NBA seasons, only retiring at the age of 42. That is quite the achievement for a modern professional sportsman in any discipline.
Jabbar was 6-times named MVP and is certainly a contender for the title of most talented center in the history of the NBA. He capped all this excellence by taking the sports’ most acclaimed trophy 6 times in 10 attempts.
The Milwaukee Bucks in the early 70s and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 80s were the teams lucky enough to see him play for them in NBA Finals and emerge victoriously.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar retired with the most points of all time.
Not impressive enough for you?
Well, he also had the most block shots, MVPs and All-Star selections.
BOB COUSY
Championships:
6 from 7 NBA Finals
85.7% success rate
Games
17.0 PPG, 9.5 APG
Career:
924 games
18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5 APG
Bob Cousy was a genuine superstar in his day. He made 13 All-Star Teams during his career and became known as ‘Houdini of the Hardwood’. Cousy won 6 NBA Championships in 7 Finals appearances with the Boston Celtics and was an early proponent of a flashy, showboat style that the fans adored.
In fact, it is not overly hyperbolic to state that Cousy completely revolutionized the game of basketball and changed it forever with his silky ball-handling and passing. The Boston Celtics’ dynasty in the 1950s and 60s was down in no small part to the inclusion of Bob Cousy in the team.
Boston Celtics owner Walter Brown told the newspapers of the time
“THE CELTICS WOULDN’T BE HERE WITHOUT HIM.
IF HE HAD PLAYED INNEW YORK, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN AS BIG AS BABE RUTH. I THINK HE IS ANYWAY.”
ROBERT HORRY
Championships:
7 from 7 NBA Finals
100% success rate
37 games
9.7 PPG
Career:
1,107 games
7.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.1 APG
With a nickname like ‘Big Shot Bob’, it’s not hard to guess what attribute made Robert Horry most famous. He was a master at making clutch shots over his multiple Championships’ Finals appearances with the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs.
He was on the winning team every time…
Not the most sizzling points-per-game numbers you’ll ever see but that goes to show how unreliable stats can be at giving the bigger picture sometimes. Horry’s presence as a deadly game-winning shot maker and cool, calm, performer gives him legendary status among fans.
And a well-deserved place on this list.
Always in the right place at the right time, Robert Horry took advantage of Jordan’s 2-year hiatus from the NBA and bagged himself 2 Championship rings during that time. He then found himself playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant for the Lakers. They took 3 titles back-to-back.
Horry won 2 more rings with San Antonio Spurs for a total of seven Championships won, Robert Horry was a true Playoff performer.
FRANK RAMSEY
Championships:
7 from 8 NBA Finals
87.5% success rate
47 games
13.5 PPG and 4.8 RPG
Career:
623 games
13.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.8 APG
Thriving on those big Playoff moments that can define games, careers, and eras in the NBA – Frank Ramsey was your man under pressure.
A short 9-year career played exclusively with the Boston Celtics saw Ramsey nab 7 NBA titles from 8 attempts.
Read those numbers again.
9 years playing – 8 NBA Finals – 7 winner’s rings
BEAT THAT!
Sure, those were the days when Boston swept all-comers aside and wrote the record books on a weekly basis, but so what? Does that mean it was easy to do? That the names of these guys shouldn’t be on the list? Get a grip.
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JIM LOSCUTOFF
Championships:
7 from 8 NBA Finals
87.5% success rate
25 games
6.2 PPG and 5.4 RPG
Career:
511 games
6.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 0.7 APG
Jim Loscutoff spent his whole 9-year career with the Boston Celtics and captured 7 NBA titles in 8 Finals appearances. Having been the top pick in the 1955 NBA Draft, Loscutoff turned out to be a solid scorer. Where he shone brightest was in his rebounds. In his standout season in the NBA, he averaged 10.6 points and 10 rebounds per game!
JOHN HAVLICEK
Championships:
8 from 8 NBA Finals
100% success rate
47 games
21.7 PPG and 7.4 RPG
Career:
1,270
20.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.8 APG
John Havlicek was an incredibly versatile player for the Boston Celtics during the 1970s and remains one of their top scorers to this day. He emerged as an exceptional leader and one of the most dominant players on the NBA court. This helped him take an astonishing 8 NBA Championships from 8 Finals played. Despite all this – John Havlicek is perhaps most famous for his steal that clinched the series against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. It is considered to be one of the greatest moments in NBA history and remains one of the most replayed.
TOM SANDERS
Championships:
8 from 8 NBA Finals
100% success rate
43 games
10.5 PPG and 6.4 RPG
Career:
916 games
9.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.1 APG
Tom ‘Satch’ Sanders spent his entire 13-year career with the Boston Celtics after being drafted in 1960. He won eight Championships with them and was very impactful defensively, even making an All-Defensive Team in 1969. His rebounding was exceptional, and this is acknowledged by fans to this day.
K.C. JONES
Championships:
8 from 8 NBA Finals
100% success rate
44 games
6.5 PPG and 2.5 RPG
Career:
676 games
7.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.3 APG
Legend has it that the ‘C’ in K.C. Jones stands for ‘Championship’ and who are we to argue. Hall of Famer, K.C. Jones was organised and aggressive offensively and a nightmare for the opposition in defense. Often takes with marking the biggest stars on the opposing sides, he was never cowed and always a nuisance.
Jones was one of those players who bring the team together and drive them forwards as a unit.
In only 676 games of regular-season NBA and 44 Finals games in the 1960s, Jones won 8 Championship rings in his first eight years with the Boston Celtics. Unbelievable.
TOM HEINSOHN
Championships:
8 from 9 NBA Finals
88.9% success rate
52 games
19.9 PPG and 9.1 RPG
Career:
654 games
18.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.0 APG
1950s and ’60s superstar Tom Heinsohn is another on this list who played his entire career with the Boston Celtics. He was a high scoring forward who made double figures for all of his 9 years in the league when the Celtics won just about everything.
As this list is focused purely on playing achievements, we will not linger too much on Tom Heinsohn’s post-playing activities. Suffice it to say that the word ‘legend’ is all-too-easily thrown around these days. In the case of Tom Heinsohn, it is totally deserved.
SAM JONES
Championships:
10 from 11 NBA Finals
90.9% success rate
64 games
17.9 PPG and 6.4 RPG
Career:
872 games
17.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.5 APG
Hall-of-Fame legend, the late Sam Jones is another player who spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics in that incredible, unstoppable side of the 1960s.
10 NBA championships in 11 Finals appearances across 12 years. That’s worth reading again.
As the closer for the team, Sam Jones is often described as a cool, calm performer who dominated clutch moments. He was even described by Wilt Chamberlain as the Boston Celtics best player at one point. We’re not here to debate that, but we will say that you’d have to look long and hard at any sporting career to find one more impressive.
Who has the most NBA rings?
BILL RUSSELL
Championships:
11 from 12 NBA Finals
91.7% success rate
70 games
16.4 PPG, 24.5 RPG
Career:
963 games
15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG, 4.3 APG
Hall of Fame Bill Russell is the greatest winner in NBA history. He was famed for his leadership and his defensive impact was crucial to those 11 wins from 12 attempts.
Bill Russell was a rock-solid shot-blocker extraordinaire and took a huge number of rebounds per game. He was not flashy. He didn’t need to be. His strength lay in his rugged determination and reliability. Decisive stuff that drove the momentum of the Boston Celtics to Championship titles again and again. Debates will always rage as to who is the greatest ever.
One thing is certain, the name Bill Russell will always be included in any such conversation.
In a 13-year career, Bill Russell accumulated 11 NBA rings. That included 8 of them won back-to-back. It’s almost incomprehensible to most modern fans that this could ever have happened. It’s certainly very unlikely to ever happen again.
Bill Russell – we salute you, sir. NBA history is built on the backs of characters like this.
WHO HAS WON THE MOST NBA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE CURRENT CROP OF NBA PLAYERS?
Having played an impressive 18 seasons in the league, NBA superstar Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers has the most rings of any current player with four. Two of those are from his time with Miami Heat, one with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s a very solid record, however, it pays to remember that Lebron has actually participated in 11 NBA finals.
Of these 11 NBA finals, Lebron has only four championships under his belt, so his haul of rings could have been a lot higher had things gone his way.
WHICH FRANCHISE HAS THE MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE NBA?
The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are two of the most famous, prestigious teams in the NBA and are tied for the most championships, both having won 17.
The two franchises both won their first NBA titles over 50 years ago. The Boston Celtics’ dynasty years were early on in the NBA when they won 16 titles in less than 30 years. They were unstoppable in the 1960s.
Whereas, the Los Angeles Lakers’ dynasty really came to the fore in the 1980s, and then again in the early 2000s.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As avid NBA fans, we have certainly been spoiled over the years. Playing careers come and go. Championship teams rise and fall. You think you’ve seen one of the greatest players ever in NBA history. And then another comes along. Irrespective of the era in the sport, there always seem to have been incredible, charismatic athletes that pushed the sport we love to new levels and kept us hooked.
In a team sport that relies so heavily on teamwork and cooperation, it’s hard to gauge levels of individual success. However you look at it though, all the guys on this list have it.
And then some…
