Top 10 NBA teams with the most championships

#8 Miami Heat

Championships: 3 - NBA Finals appearances: 6

2013 NBA champions.

The Miami Heat have not missed the NBA Playoffs four years in a row since they entered the league in 1988. Last season, Miami appeared in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in franchise history and the fifth in the last 10 seasons.

The franchise won their first NBA championship back in 2006, with Dwyane Wade leading them in the NBA Finals and Shaquille O'Neal as the big superstar. Pat Riley was the coach in 2006.

Moreover, after LeBron James' decision in 2010 to create a Big Three in Miami (with Chris Bosh joining him and Wade), the franchise made the NBA Finals again.

James delivered two championships to the Heat and four NBA Finals appearances. Eric Spoelstra was the coach during that era.

Last season, with Spoelstra still at the helm, a young team in Miami made the NBA Finals again. However, LeBron James was on the other side, and they fell to the LA Lakers in six games.

---

#7 Detroit Pistons

Championships: 3 - NBA Finals appearances: 7

Detroit Pistons.

The Detroit Pistons entered the NBA back in 1948 as the Fort Wayne Pistons.

In their early years, they made two straight NBA Finals in 1955 and 1956. They lost twice. Two years later, the Pistons were already in Detroit.

With Isiah Thomas and a nice crew of players, they started to make some noise in the mid-1980s. Then, after a heartbreaking loss to the Boston Celtics in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, they found their glory.

Detroit made the 1988 NBA Finals but lost to the Showtime LA Lakers. In the following year, the Bad Boy Pistons swept LA with Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, and others in the team. Chuck Daly was the coach who brought the Pistons their first title and the following season, they beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals to repeat. Joe Dumars was the NBA Finals MVP in 1989, and Thomas won the award in 1990.

Detroit's third NBA championship came in 2004. With Larry Brown coaching, they had a great group of players. Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, and Richard Hamilton were the core of the team. They beat the LA Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals.

That same team lost the 2005 NBA Finals to Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs.

---

#6 Philadelphia 76ers

Championships: 3 - NBA Finals appearances: 9

1983 NBA champions.

The Philadelphia 76ers have played the fourth-most NBA Finals in league history. However, they have won three of those.

The franchise's first NBA championship came in 1955 when the team was known as the Syracuse Nationals. They became the Philadelphia 76ers in 1963 and won the title in 1967 with Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham, and Hal Greer on the squad.

With Julius Erving's arrival in 1976, the 76ers made the NBA Finals again, though Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers dominated them. The team made the NBA Finals in 1980 and 1982, but the LA Lakers defeated them both times.

Before the 1982-83 NBA season, reigning MVP Moses Malone joined the 76ers, and they eventually swept the LA Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals. That time, former player Billy Cunningham was the coach.

The Sixers returned to the NBA Finals in 2001, with Allen Iverson leading the show. They met with their old rivals, the Lakers, and fell in five games.

---

#5 San Antonio Spurs

Championships: 5 - NBA Finals appearances: 6

2014 NBA champions.

The San Antonio Spurs entered the NBA after the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. In their first few years, the franchise was highly competitive, led by George Gervin's scoring.

The NBA Finals evaded them until Tim Duncan got drafted by San Antonio in the 1997 NBA Draft. Still, the Spurs were in the NBA Playoffs in 17 of their previous 21 NBA seasons.

With Duncan, the Spurs appeared in six NBA Finals and won five championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014). The team made the NBA Playoffs in each of Duncan's 19 seasons.

They lost the 2013 NBA Finals to the Miami Heat in dramatic fashion.