List of NBA Champions by year

World’s most competitive professional basketball league has seen numerous NBA champions by year. The world’s premier basketball league, which was formerly known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA), was founded on June 6, 1946 in New York City. The name of the league was changed to National Basketball Association (NBA) after absorbing its rival National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949. The league’s first recognised official match was played in 1946 between Toronto Huskies and New York Knicker Bockers.

The NBA championship finals is a best-of-seven format series which is contested between the winners of the Eastern and the Western conference (known as divisions prior to the 1970′s). In the BBA format, the playoffs included a three-stage tournament where the two semifinal winners played each other in the finals. The inaugural Walter A. Brown trophy now known as the Larry O’ Brien Championship trophy was won by the Philadelphia Warriors.

Since its inception, the Boston Celtics have won the most number of titles (17), with a record eight consecutive championships between 1959-66. The LA Lakers are just one behind their rivals with 16 trophies to their name.

With Miami Heat as the current holders of the trophy, we take a look at the list of NBA Champions by year.