Debate about Ring Culture and how it affects NBA fandom aside, there’s no question that winning a championship can elevate a player’s resume quite a bit – especially if said player is the top option on a championship-winning team.
Today, we are going to take a look at the NBA All-Stars with the best championship win rates in league history. Obviously, those golden era Celtics players from the ’50s and ’60s fared extremely well in this exercise. But how about Michael Jordan? Kobe Bryant? Keep in mind that players who played for a very long time got hurt by their longevity in this case.
See the results below.
1. Tommy Heinsohn
Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports
NBA titles: 8
NBA seasons: 9
Championship percentage: 88.89 percent
You probably expected the next player on this list to finish first, but it’s actually Tommy Heinsohn who has the best championship win rate in league history. Of course, the NBA never had more than nine teams during Heinsohn’s time in the league, so players back then didn’t have to win more than two playoff series to win a championship.
Even so, to finish with eight titles in nine seasons is unheard of and will never happen again, so the six-time All-Star Heinsohn most certainly earned his way to the top of this ranking.
2. Bill Russell
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
NBA titles: 11
NBA seasons: 13
Championship percentage: 84.62 percent
The player with the most championships won ever, Bill Russell took home an absurd 11 title in 13 seasons for a win rate north of 84 percent. The same we said about Heinsohn applies to Russell, however, in that not only was the league less talented back then, it was also much, much smaller, so winning a championship wasn’t quite the same grind it is today.
To his credit, the NBA did expand to 12 and then 14 teams late in Russell’s career.
Regardless, Russell is one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen and deserves credit for all the winning he did in his career.
3. Sam Jones
Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images
NBA titles: 10
NBA seasons: 12
Championship percentage: 83.33 percent
Celtics legend and NBA Hall of Famer Sam Jones played alongside Russell and Heinsohn his entire career, winning 10 titles in 12 seasons. Jones was a fantastic 2-guard, an underrated one historically if anything, who averaged over 25 points per game in 1964-65.
4. John Havlicek
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
NBA titles: 8
NBA seasons: 16
Championship percentage: 50.0 percent
For the first four seasons of John Havlicek’s career, all of which ended with Boston winning a championship, the NBA had nine teams. By the time Havlicek’s career was wrapping up, the NBA had expanded to 22 franchises. Two of Havlicek’s championships came when the league had 17 teams, so for him to rank this high up on this list is quite impressive, as he didn’t have the luxury of cleaning up on championships when the league was a small enterprise.
5. Bob Cousy
Telegram Gazette-USA TODAY NETWORK
NBA titles: 6
NBA seasons: 14
Championship percentage: 42.86 percent
Bob Cousy, on the other hand, played most of his career in an NBA with eight to nine teams. Still, Cousy was one of the league’s first electric guards, with excellent ball-handling skills (for the era) and great passing ability. He was also a lethal midrange shooter. For what it’s worth, Cousy didn’t win his first NBA championship until Russell joined the team in 1956-57.
6. Michael Jordan
JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images
NBA titles: 6
NBA seasons: 15
Championship percentage: 40.0 percent
The first non-Celtic on this list, Michael Jordan won six rings in his career, earning Finals MVP honors all six times. Still, if we mentioned the ’50s and ’60s Celtics playing in an NBA with fewer teams, it should be noted that Jordan played in an NBA with 27 teams during his first three-peat. Then again, during the Chicago Bulls’ second three-peat, the NBA had already expanded to 29 teams, so the difference as far as the size of the league by then was negligible compared to today.
7. Magic Johnson
MPS-USA TODAY Sports
NBA titles: 5
NBA seasons: 13
Championship percentage: 38.46 percent
Arguably the best point guard in league history, Laker legend Magic Johnson won five rings in his 13 NBA seasons and never missed the playoffs. In fact, the Lakers only failed to reach the NBA Finals four times during Johnson’s 13 seasons there. Johnson only lost in the first round of the playoffs twice in his entire career.
Johnson boasted a 5-4 record in Finals appearances, and what’s crazy to note about that is that with even one more Finals win, he’d rank far higher on this list. That’s because in 1983-84, Johnson and the Lakers fell in seven games to their hated rival, the Celtics, in the Finals. Had the Lakers won that game, Johnson’s championship win rate would be 46.2 percent, which would have put Johnson ahead of Cousy on this list, a ridiculous accomplishment considering Johnson played in a much tougher era than the golden era Celtics.
8. Bill Sharman
NBA Photos/NBAE via Getty Images
NBA titles: 4
NBA seasons: 11
Championship percentage: 36.36 percent
Like the other Celtics on this list, Hall of Famer Bill Sharman mostly played in an NBA with single-digit franchises. Regardless, Sharman, a four-time 1st Team All-NBAer, was an elite player in his era thanks to his midrange shooting ability off the dribble. Sharman and the Celtics lost in the Finals once during his time there, so he was close to ranking higher in this exercise.
9. Dennis Rodman
BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images
NBA titles: 5
NBA seasons: 14
Championship percentage: 35.71 percent
Despite his off-court (and sometimes on-court) shenanigans, Dennis Rodman was a winner in the NBA, making the playoffs every year but one until his brief Lakers and Mavericks stint late in his career. Rodman won five championships with two different teams, in Detroit with the Bad Boys Pistons and in Chicago for the team’s second ’90s threepeat.
Rodman came within one game of having a 42.9 percent championship rate, which would have catapulted him above Jordan in this exercise, but the Pistons lost Game 7 against the Lakers in the ’88 Finals 88-85. We were that close to Rodman being tied with Cousy for the fifth-best championship rate in NBA history.
10. Scottie Pippen
Anne Ryan-USA TODAY
NBA titles: 6
NBA seasons: 17
Championship percentage: 35.29 percent
Making the playoffs 16 times out of his 17 seasons in the NBA, elite two-way swingman Scottie Pippen ended over one-third of his NBA campaigns by winning a championship. Pippen, one of the best second options the league has ever seen, was a vital part of the Bulls’ two three-peats in the ’90s.
11. Klay Thompson
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
NBA titles: 4
NBA seasons: 12
Championship percentage: 33.33 percent
Another elite No. 2 historically, Klay Thompson has won four championships thus far in 12 of his NBA seasons. The fact that Thompson missed two full years due to injury actually helps his ranking in this exercise. Thompson ranks ahead of his former Warriors teammates for that.
Thompson and the Warriors did lose in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, so he and his two former teammates could rank higher on this list. Had Golden State won that 2016 championship, Thompson would have a 41.67 championship percentage, which would have put him ahead of Jordan on this list.
11. Jamaal Wilkes
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
NBA titles: 4
NBA seasons: 12
Championship percentage: 33.33 percent
Hall of Famer Jamal Wilkes made the playoffs in 10 out of his 12 seasons in the NBA, and four of those postseasons ended with him winning a championship. Wilkes won titles with the Warriors and Lakers, although one of those rings, he was injured and didn’t make a single playoff appearance. Regardless, the championship counts towards his record anyway, hence, his place on this list.
13. Draymond Green
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
NBA titles: 4
NBA seasons: 13
Championship percentage: 30.76 percent
Green could very well have five championships if the Warriors didn’t blow a 3-1 series lead in the 2016 Finals. If Golden State had just finished the job that season, Green would be tied with Magic Johnson for the seventh-best championship percentage in league history.
14. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Mike Powell /Al
NBA titles: 6
NBA seasons: 20
Championship percentage: 30.0 percent
An underrated GOAT candidate, that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks on this list at all despite playing 20 NBA seasons is nuts, as longevity hurts most players in this exercise. Even so, that’s just how great Abdul-Jabbar was that despite playing 20 seasons, he still won a championship in 30 percent of them.
Abdul-Jabbar could rank even higher, too, if the Lakers had just won Game 7 against the Celtics in the ’84 Finals. A decade prior to that, Abdul-Jabbar’s first team, the Milwaukee Bucks, lost Game 7 of the 1974 NBA Finals, too, also against Boston. Had Abdul-Jabbar’s teams won both of those games, he would have a championship rate of 40 percent, a ridiculous feat for a player who played in the NBA for two decades. 40 percent would have tied Abdul-Jabbar with Jordan for seventh in this exercise, despite Abdul-Jabbar playing five more seasons.
Absurd.
14. Willie Naulls
Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images
NBA titles: 3
NBA seasons: 10
Championship percentage: 30.0 percent
Four-time All-Star Willie Naulls spent most of his 10-year career, and all of his prime, with the New York Knicks. He then joined the golden era Celtics for the final three seasons of his career from 1963-64 until 1965-66, and that’s how he made his way onto this list, as Naulls, fully a role player by then, was part of a Boston threepeat to close out his time in the NBA.
Not a bad way to go out, in all honesty.
16. BJ Armstrong
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
NBA titles: 3
NBA seasons: 11
Championship percentage: 27.27 percent
A member of the Bulls’ first championship three-peat of the ’90s, BJ Armstrong was a steady point guard with good quickness, playmaking ability and off-the-dribble shooting touch. Armstrong was even named an All-Star in ’94, a campaign in which he averaged nearly 15 points and four assists per game. Armstrong made the playoffs eight times in 11 seasons.
17. Tim Duncan
JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images
NBA titles: 5
NBA seasons: 19
Championship percentage: 26.32 percent
Another player who fought off longevity enough to still find a place on this list, arguably the best power forward of all time, Tim Duncan, won five titles in 19 years. He made the playoffs 18 times in his impressive career, and he made it past the first round 15 times.
Even despite playing in an absurdly loaded Western Conference for his whole career, Duncan not only made it past the first round of the playoffs 15 times, he also reached the Finals six times and boasts a 5-1 record in Finals appearances.
And had the Spurs just been able to close out a 3-2 series lead in the 2013 Finals, Duncan would have a Jordan-esque 6-0 Finals record, albeit with likely half as many Finals MVPs. What’s more, had the Spurs not lost Game 7 of the 2013 Finals, Duncan would have a 31.58 championship win rate, which would have put him 12th on this list, no small feat considering he played almost 20 seasons.
18. Stephen Curry
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
NBA titles: 4
NBA seasons: 16
Championship percentage: 25.0 percent
Drafted two years before Thompson and three years before Green, two-time league MVP Stephen Curry has a lower championship win rate than both his former backcourt mate and his current teammate. Even so, playing for 16 seasons and still ranking at all on this list is impressive in its own right.
And just like was the case with Thompson and Green, Curry could rank higher on this list if it weren’t for Golden State losing in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals. Had the Warriors won that game, Curry would have a 33.33 percent championship percentage, good for 11th in this ranking.
18. Manu Ginobili
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
NBA titles: 4
NBA seasons: 16
Championship percentage: 25.0 percent
Getting to the NBA as a 25-year-old rookie, Argentine legend and Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili made the playoffs 15 times in 16 years, and won championships in a quarter of his career campaigns in the Association. Ginobili was a big-time playoff performer, too, averaging 18.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists from 2004-05 to 2010-11 in postseason appearances.
18. Kobe Bryant
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
NBA titles: 5
NBA seasons: 20
Championship percentage: 25.0 percent
Laker legend Kobe Bryant made the playoffs 15 times in his 20 seasons, and won championships in five of them, two of which he took home Finals MVP honors. Bryant made the Finals seven times but never came that close to winning a sixth ring, as his Lakers fell in five games to Detroit in the ’04 Finals, and then in six games to the Celtics in the ’08 Finals.
Still, Bryant did a lot for his legacy by securing back-to-back titles in 2008-09 and 2009-10, as he was able to prove he could win without Shaquille O’Neal, and as a team’s best player. Without those two rings, Bryant’s legacy on the hardwood might look a bit different. He also wouldn’t be on this list with a 3-for-20 championship win rate.
18. James Worthy
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
NBA titles: 3
NBA seasons: 12
Championship percentage: 25.0 percent
A champion in three of his 12 NBA seasons, James Worthy even won Finals MVP honors in 1988 for his efforts in a series that saw him average 22.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists in a well-fought seven-game victory over the Pistons. Worthy made the Finals six times in his 12 NBA seasons, a stat that’s almost hard to believe and that does not get talked about enough today.
Worthy came close to boasting a 33.33 championship percentage, too. He’d have that mark had the Lakers just won Game 7 of the 1984 Finals against Boston, which would have given Worthy four championships in 12 years.
18. Andrew Bynum
Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
NBA titles: 2
NBA seasons: 8
Championship percentage: 25.0 percent
It’s unfortunate that injuries ended one-time All-Star Andrew Bynum’s career early, as the big man had excellent size and strength, as well as fantastic finishing ability around the basket. Bynum was an important part of the Lakers’ repeat in ’09 and ’10, as his rim-protection and rebounding helped Los Angeles form a tough frontcourt duo with him and Pau Gasol.
Due to injuries, Bynum only played in 418 regular-season games. In comparison, he made 74 playoff appearances in his career. We think that if we ever did research on the players with the highest ratio of career NBA playoff appearances vs. regular-season appearances, Bynum would actually fare pretty well in that one, too.
In addition, Bynum could have more Finals and playoff appearances, and maybe even another ring, had he not hurt his knee during the 2007-08 regular season, which forced him to miss the second half of the campaign and the entire playoffs. That year, the Lakers got to the Finals but lost to Boston in six games, in part due to their lack of size down low.
Bynum was having a good season when he got hurt, so the 7-footer could have helped change the Lakers’ fortunes in the ’08 Finals. That would have given Bynum a 37.5 percent championship win rate, which would have put him Top 8 in the list, and given Bryant six rings, the same number as Jordan.
