Kristian Ferrell
The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals is the annual championship series for the NBA, held at the end of its postseason. The NBA playoffs consist of a 16-team bracket where teams play consecutive best-of-seven-games series in each round. The winners of the Eastern and Western Conferences go head-to-head for the title. The NBA Finals have been dominated by the Minneapolis Lakers, who won five of the first ten titles. The Philadelphia Warriors also won multiple championships, including the inaugural title in 1947. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball tournament is another annual basketball championship that has been held since 1939, except for 2020 when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has been the most successful college in the NCAA Tournament, winning 11 national titles.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Championship series name | NBA Finals |
| Governing body | National Basketball Association (NBA) |
| Format | Best-of-seven |
| Teams | 16 |
| Conferences | Eastern Conference, Western Conference |
| Trophy | Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy |
| Latest champions | Boston Celtics (2024) |
| Previous names | Basketball Association of America (BAA) |
| Inaugural season | 1946 |
| Inaugural champions | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Most successful college in the NCAA Tournament | UCLA (11 titles) |
| Number of teams in the NCAA Tournament | 68 |
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What You'll Learn
The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals
The NBA Finals has always been played in a best-of-seven format and is contested between the winners of the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. The only exception to this format was in 1950 when the Eastern Division champion faced the winner between the Western and Central Division champions. The inaugural NBA championship in 1950 was won by the Minneapolis Lakers, who became the first team to repeat as champions. The Lakers dominated the beginning era of modern professional basketball, winning five of the first ten titles.
The Philadelphia Warriors also won multiple championships, including the inaugural title in 1947 and another in 1956. The Boston Celtics won 11 of the 12 NBA Finals they reached from 1956-57 to 1968-69, including eight straight NBA championships from 1959 to 1966. The Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals in 1984, 1985, and 1987, with the Celtics winning in 1984 and the Lakers coming out on top in the latter two years.
The NBA Finals have featured some memorable moments, such as the 1987 Finals where Johnson hit a hook shot with two seconds left in Game 4 to give the Lakers a 107-106 win. In 1993, the Bulls faced the Phoenix Suns, led by the league's reigning MVP Charles Barkley. After dropping the first two games, the Bulls won the next four, with Jordan scoring 55 points in Game 4 and John Paxson clinching the series in Game 6 with a three-pointer. The Houston Rockets, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, won back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995, with Olajuwon becoming the only player to win the NBA MVP, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season.
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The Basketball Association of America (BAA)
The inaugural BAA season began in 1947 with the Philadelphia Warriors defeating the Chicago Stags. The Warriors reached the Finals again the following season but fell short to the Baltimore Bullets. The Minneapolis Lakers won the third and final BAA championship in 1949 over the Washington Capitals.
Following its third season in 1948-49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA later adopted the BAA's history and statistics as its own, considering its founding date as that of the BAA's. Six teams from the BAA are still operating in the NBA as of the 2024-25 season, including three founding members: the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia Warriors.
The BAA broke the colour barrier in the 1947-48 season when Japanese-American Wataru Misaka played for the New York Knicks. He was the only non-white player in the league until 1950, when the first African-American, Harold Hunter, signed with the Washington Capitols.
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NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played annually in the United States. The tournament determines the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The tournament is typically played in March and consists of 68 teams, although the number of teams has varied over the years, ranging from 8 to 68. The first tournament was held in 1939, with Oregon emerging as the champions.
The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament has a rich history, with some notable moments throughout the years. For example, in 1950, the City College of New York achieved a remarkable feat by winning both the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the NCAA tournament. This era of the tournament was marked by competition with the NIT, which often received more coverage due to its New York location, the press centre of the United States at the time. Another memorable moment occurred in 1984 when the Celtics and Lakers faced off in the finals, with the Celtics claiming victory. This particular game attracted a massive television audience, second only to the 1979 NCAA Championship game between Johnson and Bird.
The tournament format has evolved since its inception. Initially, from 1939 to 1950, the NCAA tournament included eight teams, each selected from a geographical district. In 1975, a significant change occurred when at-large bids were introduced, expanding the field beyond conference champions. In 1979, the tournament adopted full seeding for the first time. The expansion to 64 teams in 1985 marked a period of stability in the tournament size, until 2011 when it grew to 68 teams. The play-in game, introduced in 2001, added an extra layer of excitement, with the winner earning a spot in the main bracket.
The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament holds a prominent place in American popular culture, with bracket contests adding to the excitement. Millions of people fill out brackets each year, trying to predict the outcomes of the games. The tournament also provides significant funding for college athletics, with revenue distributed to participating teams based on their performance. The tournament has become a highly anticipated annual sporting event in the United States, known for its thrilling upsets and memorable moments.
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National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a non-profit organisation that regulates student athletics in about 1,100 schools in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NCAA was formed following two White House conferences convened by President Theodore Roosevelt in response to injuries and deaths in college football, which had prompted many colleges to discontinue the sport. In December 1905, Chancellor Henry MacCracken of New York University organised a meeting of 13 colleges and universities to initiate changes in football playing rules. This led to the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) in March 1906, which was renamed the NCAA in 1910.
For several years, the NCAA was a discussion group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was held for track and field. In the 1956–57 academic year, the NCAA was split into the University Division and the College Division. In 1973, the association adopted a three-division system of Division I, Division II, and Division III. Division I and Division II schools can offer athletic scholarships to students, while Division III schools cannot. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I, and smaller schools in Divisions II and III.
In the early 1980s, the NCAA was in conflict with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), which governed women's collegiate sports in the United States. Following a one-year overlap in which both organisations staged women's championships, the AIAW ceased operations, and most member schools transitioned to the NCAA. By 1982, all divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's athletics.
The NCAA has faced legal challenges related to antitrust laws and discrimination against female athletes under Title IX. In 1984, the NCAA lost a Supreme Court case, NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, related to television contracts and antitrust violations. In 1999, the NCAA was sued for discriminating against female athletes by systematically granting more waivers to men in graduate school than to women.
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NBA champions and the Larry O'Brien Trophy
The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held annually at the conclusion of its postseason. The NBA playoffs consist of a 16-team bracket wherein teams play consecutive best-of-seven-game series in each round. The winners of the Eastern and Western Conferences compete for the championship.
The NBA champions receive the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, which has been awarded annually since 1977. The trophy was originally known as the Walter A. Brown Trophy until it was renamed in 1984 to honour former NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien, who served from 1975 to 1984. The inaugural winners of the renamed trophy were the Boston Celtics, who defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in the 1984 NBA Finals.
The Larry O'Brien Trophy is designed to resemble a basketball over a hoop and basket and is manufactured by Tiffany & Co. It stands 2 feet (61 cm) tall and weighs 15.5 pounds (7 kg), made from sterling silver and vermeil with a 24-karat gold overlay. The year and winning team are engraved on the trophy, which is often displayed in the winning team's arena.
In recent years, the NBA has actively promoted the O'Brien Trophy to increase its recognition and iconic status. The trophy has been featured on logos and toured various locations, including the state of the winning team, as well as international destinations such as Hong Kong. The trophy has also been showcased during the NBA Legends Tour, providing fans with opportunities for autographs and photos with former players.
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Frequently asked questions
Annual basketball championships are tournaments held every year, usually at the end of a basketball season, to determine the best team.
The NBA Finals, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball tournament, and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) are all examples of annual basketball championships.
The format of annual basketball championships can vary, but they typically involve a single-elimination or best-of-seven-games series. Teams compete in consecutive rounds, and the winners advance while the losers are eliminated.
The 1947 BAA Finals, the 1979 NCAA Championship game, and the 2024 NBA Finals, where the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks, are some notable annual basketball championships.
