50 Fun Facts About NBA Finals

What did Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke hang from the Forum rafters before Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals?

Balloons printed with 'World Champion Lakers' hung overhead, ready to fall at the final buzzer. Boston's players spotted them during warm-ups and won the game by two points.

Which Chicago Bulls star scored 38 points while badly ill in the 1997 NBA Finals 'Flu Game'?

Michael Jordan later blamed food poisoning from a late-night pizza, not flu. He played 44 minutes and collapsed into a teammate's arms once the win was safe.

Which injured center walked out during warm-ups for Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden?

Willis Reed had torn a thigh muscle in Game 5 and sat out Game 6. He scored only the home team's first two baskets, yet the lift carried it to a first championship.

Which rookie started at center in place of an injured star and scored 42 points to clinch the 1980 NBA Finals?

Magic Johnson, a 6-foot-9 point guard, jumped center because the Lakers' usual big man had a badly swollen ankle. He added 15 rebounds and seven assists in Philadelphia.

Which team won its first NBA Finals in 2019, clinching in the farewell game at Oracle Arena?

Toronto Raptors became the first team based outside the United States to win the title, beating Golden State in six games.

Which team erased a 3–1 deficit in the 2016 NBA Finals to end its city's 52-year title drought?

Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team to overcome a 3–1 deficit in the Finals. They beat a Golden State side that had set a record with 73 regular-season wins.

Where was every game of the 2020 NBA Finals played, inside a fan-free quarantine bubble?

Walt Disney World's ESPN sports complex in Florida hosted the whole restart of the season. The bubble recorded no COVID-19 cases among the participating teams.

Which Lakers guard is the only player named NBA Finals MVP while on the losing team, in 1969?

Jerry West had 42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in the Game 7 defeat to Boston, and took home the first Finals MVP award ever presented.

Whose corner three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left forced overtime in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals?

Ray Allen stepped back to the right corner after a teammate grabbed an offensive rebound. Miami won in overtime, then took Game 7 for a second straight title.

The NBA Finals MVP trophy was renamed in 2009 for which 11-time champion Celtics center?

Bill Russell never won the award himself: it was first presented in 1969, his last season as a player, and went to an opponent.

Which Lakers coach owns the trademark on 'three-peat', a word his players used chasing a third straight NBA title?

Pat Riley's Lakers fell short of that third title in 1989, but his company collected royalties when Chicago completed a three-peat of its own in 1993.

Which Lakers forward lost eight NBA Finals, then retired nine games into the 1971–72 championship season?

Elgin Baylor quit because of nagging injuries, and the Lakers' very next game began a record 33-game winning streak on the way to the 1972 title.

Which team lost back-to-back NBA Finals to the Chicago Bulls in 1997 and 1998, both in six games?

Utah Jazz held home-court advantage in 1998 and still lost, as Chicago sealed its third straight title and its sixth in eight seasons.

Who became the first player named NBA Finals MVP with three different franchises, completing the set in 2020?

LeBron James won the award twice with Miami, once with his home-state team and once with the Lakers. Only one player has more than his four.

Which team, nicknamed the Bad Boys, swept the Lakers in the 1989 NBA Finals and repeated in 1990?

Detroit Pistons had waited longer than any other founding franchise: they were the last of the NBA's 'Original Eight' charter teams to win a championship.

Which forward hit the winning basket in Game 4 of the 2011 NBA Finals despite a 101-degree fever?

Dirk Nowitzki's basket tied the series at 2–2, and Dallas won the next two games for its first title. Two Miami stars were caught mocking his illness with fake coughs.

Which team won the 2021 NBA Finals after losing the first two games, ending a 50-year title drought?

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points in the clinching Game 6, matching the record for a title-deciding game.

Which coach won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and five more with the Los Angeles Lakers?

Phil Jackson's 11 championships as a head coach are an NBA record, and no head coach in the NFL, the NHL or Major League Baseball has reached ten.

Which center was named NBA Finals MVP three years running from 2000 to 2002, all with Los Angeles?

Shaquille O'Neal also won the league MVP and the All-Star Game MVP in 2000, a same-year sweep that only two players had managed before him.

Which Golden State guard won his first NBA Finals MVP award in 2022, on his fourth championship team?

Stephen Curry had been passed over in three earlier title runs. Against Boston he made six three-pointers in a single quarter, a Finals record at the time.

Which forward was named NBA Finals MVP with San Antonio in 2014 and with a second franchise in 2019?

Kawhi Leonard had been traded to his second club only the previous summer, after reportedly asking to be sent to the Lakers instead.

Which Lakers guard was named 2010 NBA Finals MVP despite shooting 6-for-24 in the deciding Game 7?

Kobe Bryant scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers edged Boston 83–79 for his fifth ring.

Which San Antonio big man finished two blocks short of a quadruple-double in the 2003 NBA Finals clincher?

Tim Duncan piled up 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and 8 blocks against New Jersey, sending a retiring Hall of Fame teammate out as a champion.

Which forward won NBA Finals MVP in both 2017 and 2018, his first two seasons with Golden State?

Kevin Durant scored 43 points in Game 3 of the 2018 series, sealing it with a long three-pointer almost identical to one he hit a year earlier.

Which team swept the 1995 NBA Finals as a sixth seed to win its second straight title?

Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich took the trophy and told the crowd, 'Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!' No lower seed had won the title before.

Which team beat Indiana in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals for its first title since relocating in 2008?

Oklahoma City Thunder gave the state of Oklahoma its first championship in any major professional sport, in the first Finals Game 7 for nine years.

Which team beat San Antonio in five games in the 2026 NBA Finals for its first title since 1973?

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson scored 45 points in the clincher, equalling the Finals record for a series-ending game on the road.

Which center predicted "Fo', fo', fo'" before the 1983 playoffs, then won NBA Finals MVP in a sweep?

Moses Malone was calling three four-game sweeps for Philadelphia. His team lost just once along the way, so fans rewrote the line as "fo', fi', fo'".

Which Celtics coach lit a victory cigar on the bench and won eight straight NBA titles from 1959 to 1966?

Red Auerbach lit up whenever he judged a game already decided. In the 1960s some Boston restaurants posted signs banning cigars for everyone except him.

Which Celtics forward called his teammates 'sissies' during the 1984 NBA Finals, then was named series MVP?

Larry Bird made the jibe after a 33-point loss in Game 3. He averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds as Boston beat the Lakers in seven games.

Which team won its first NBA title in 1979, avenging a seven-game Finals loss to the same opponent in 1978?

Seattle SuperSonics won the rematch in five games, with guard Gus Williams averaging 28.6 points to lead all scorers in the series.

Which city's team won the 1977 NBA Finals with four straight wins after losing the first two games?

Portland became the first team to overturn an 0–2 Finals deficit with four straight wins, and the craze known as 'Blazermania' gripped the city.

In which city did the Lakers win their first five NBA titles before moving to Los Angeles in 1960?

Minneapolis gave the team its name, borrowed from Minnesota's nickname, the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The five titles came in a span of six seasons.

Under which name did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar win his first NBA Finals MVP award in 1971?

Lew Alcindor announced weeks after that title that he wished to be called by his Muslim name. He was Finals MVP again in 1985, aged 38.

Which guard was named 2006 NBA Finals MVP after leading Miami to the first championship in franchise history?

Dwyane Wade attempted 25 free throws in Game 5 alone, as many as the entire Dallas team, which did not sit well with the losing coach.

Which San Antonio guard became the first European-born NBA Finals MVP, in a 2007 sweep?

Tony Parker, a French international born in Belgium, had lasted until the 28th pick of the 2001 draft.

Who scored 25 points in one quarter on a badly sprained ankle in Game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals?

Isiah Thomas finished with 43 points, but his team lost 103–102 after a disputed foul call in the final seconds and then dropped Game 7 to the Lakers.

Which Lakers center had 24 points and 29 rebounds in the 1972 NBA Finals clincher despite a sprained wrist?

Wilt Chamberlain had been listed as doubtful for the game. He was named Finals MVP as the Lakers claimed their first championship in Los Angeles.

Which forward won seven NBA titles with three franchises, more than anyone outside the early Celtics dynasty?

Robert Horry, nicknamed Big Shot Rob for his clutch shooting, said the ring he was proudest of came with a team seeded only sixth in its conference.

Who sank the shot that clinched the 1997 NBA Finals for Chicago, then coached Golden State to four titles?

Steve Kerr took a pass out of a double team and hit a 17-footer with five seconds left. He won five rings as a player before moving to the bench.

Which team beat Boston in the 1958 NBA Finals, a year after losing Game 7 to the Celtics in double overtime?

St. Louis Hawks star Bob Pettit scored 50 points in the clinching Game 6, a 110–109 win. Boston then won the next eight titles.

Which franchise won the 1951 NBA Finals while based in Rochester, New York, decades before settling in California?

Sacramento Kings history runs through Cincinnati and Kansas City, where the Royals name was dropped in 1972. The 1951 team won Game 7 after letting a 3–0 series lead slip.

The NBA championship trophy is named for which league commissioner, a former U.S. Postmaster General?

Larry O'Brien ran the NBA from 1975 to 1984. As Democratic Party chairman in 1972, he was a target of the wiretaps behind the Watergate break-in.

Which league, a forerunner of the NBA, staged the 1947, 1948 and 1949 title series now counted as NBA Finals?

BAA stood for Basketball Association of America. It became the NBA before the 1949–50 season by merging with the rival National Basketball League.

Which U.S. network showed some NBA Finals games on late-night tape delay until 1981?

CBS held weeknight games back so they aired after the late local news in most cities. Even the deciding game of the 1980 series went out on tape delay.

Which home-and-away pattern did the NBA Finals use from 1985 to 2013 to reduce cross-country travel?

2–3–2 gave the team with the better record the first two and last two games at home. The league restored the older 2–2–1–1–1 pattern in 2014.

Which jeweler manufactures the NBA Finals trophy, made of sterling silver with a 24-karat gold overlay?

Tiffany & Co. makes a new one every year, because each champion keeps its trophy for good. The trophy it replaced in 1977 was passed from winner to winner.

Which Golden State forward, known for underhand free throws, was MVP of the 1975 NBA Finals sweep?

Rick Barry and the underdog Warriors swept a heavily favored opponent, the first Finals sweep by a team without home-court advantage.

Which league MVP led Phoenix to the 1993 NBA Finals, where the Suns lost to Chicago in six games?

Charles Barkley averaged 27.3 points in the series, but a Bulls guard's three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in Game 6 clinched Chicago's third straight title.

Who hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 53 seconds left in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, breaking an 89–89 tie?

Kyrie Irving's shot made it 92–89. Moments earlier, with the score still level, a teammate's chase-down block had saved a fast-break layup.