Ring Holders Club | NBA Fan Game: Draft a Playoff Run or Daily Puzzle<br>Ring Holders Club<br>Every NBA champion since 1947 has a page here: the Finals result, the roster, and the story of that season. Browse by year, franchise, or decade in the NBA champions section below.<br>Play the game<br>Two ways to play: draft a playoff run or solve today's tactics puzzle.<br>Legends playoff run<br>Draft legends. Survive four series. Skill and luck both matter.<br>Play playoffBlind mode (hide ratings until series ends)<br>Daily tactic puzzle<br>One historic matchup per day. No ratings, no luck. Adjust tactics each game.<br>Today's matchup<br>Loading…

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How it worksLegends playoff run<br>Draft a seven-man roster from random NBA champion squads, then try to win four playoff series in a row.<br>·Seven spins. Each reveals one title-winning squad: five starters, a sixth man, and the head coach.<br>·Pick one person per spin. Fill PG, SG, SF, PF, C, coach, and sixth man. Ratings reflect that championship year.<br>·Play four best-of-seven series in a 16-team bracket. You have home court every round.<br>·Set usage and defensive focus before each series. Matchups, tactics, and a small luck factor decide each game.<br>·One series loss ends the run. Optional blind mode hides ratings until a series finishes.

Daily tactic puzzle<br>Everyone gets the same historic matchup each UTC day. Find the winning plan in a single best-of-seven series.<br>·Two fixed champion squads. You always control the home team in a 2-2-1-1-1 schedule.<br>·No ratings, probabilities, or luck. Player names and title years are visible. NBA knowledge is part of the puzzle.<br>·Adjust usage and defensive focus before every game. The computer picks its own plan and does not react to yours.<br>·After each game, a matchup summary shows where you won, lost, or broke even. No numbers.<br>·One attempt per day. Difficulty is shown before you start. Solve it to land on the daily leaderboard.

NBA champions, year by year<br>Every NBA champion since the league's first title in 1947, listed by season. Each team has its own page with the regular-season record, the Finals result, the full roster, and the story of how they won it, from George Mikan's Lakers to the latest banner.<br>View all championsBy franchiseBy decadeGuides<br>1940s<br>1947 Philadelphia Warriors<br>The Philadelphia Warriors won the first championship in pro basketball's modern line, taking the 1947 BAA Finals from the Chicago Stags four games to one. Joe Fulks carried them, scoring 23.2 points a game to lead the new league by a wide margin in a season when most teams struggled to reach 70 as a unit. Eddie Gottlieb both ran the franchise and coached it from the bench.

1948 Baltimore Bullets<br>The Baltimore Bullets joined the BAA for the 1947-48 season and won the championship in their first year in the league, beating the Philadelphia Warriors four games to two. Buddy Jeannette ran the team as player-coach, led it in assists, and shot the best field-goal percentage in the league. Kleggie Hermsen, a 6-9 center, was the leading scorer.

1949 Minneapolis Lakers<br>Minneapolis won the 1949 BAA title in its first season in the league, with George Mikan leading the way at 28.3 points a game. The Lakers beat Red Auerbach's Washington Capitols four games to two in the Finals. They had already won the rival NBL championship the year before, so this was a title in a second league in as many seasons.

1950s<br>1950 Minneapolis Lakers<br>The 1950 Minneapolis Lakers were the first NBA champions, winning the title in the season the BAA and NBL merged into one league. George Mikan led the NBA in scoring at 27.4 a game, and Minneapolis beat the Syracuse Nationals four games to two in the Finals. A reserve forward on that team, Bud Grant, later coached the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls.

1951 Rochester Royals<br>The Rochester Royals won the 1951 NBA Finals over the New York Knicks in seven games, the only championship in a franchise that has run from Rochester to Sacramento. Arnie Risen and Bob Davies led a balanced team with no real weak spot. Rochester won the first three games, then held on after the Knicks pushed it to a deciding seventh.

1952 Minneapolis Lakers<br>Minneapolis beat the New York Knicks in seven games to win the 1952 NBA title, the first championship after the league doubled the width of the foul lane to slow George Mikan down. Mikan still led the team at 23.8 a game. Vern Mikkelsen and Jim Pollard gave the Lakers two more frontcourt scorers in the 15-point range.

1953 Minneapolis Lakers<br>Minneapolis won the 1953 NBA title by beating the New York Knicks four games to one, the second of three straight championships. George Mikan led the team at 20.6 points and pulled down more than 14 rebounds a game. The Knicks reached the Finals three years running in this stretch and lost every time, the last two to the Lakers.

1954 Minneapolis Lakers<br>The 1954 Minneapolis Lakers beat the Syracuse Nationals in a seven-game Finals to complete the first three-peat in NBA history....