NBA Finals: how many rings do Steph Curry, LeBron James and Michael Jordan have - who has most Championships?

The Golden State Warriors have been crowned the winners of the NBA Finals 2022, beating out the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the finals.

Their victory marks the Golden State Warriors’ fourth NBA title in eight years, and their first since 2018.

Stephen Curry was named as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for the first time, with the 34 year old player averaging 31.2 points across the six games, scoring 34 points in Thursday’s winning game, with seven assists and seven rebounds.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said: “I’m thrilled for Steph [Curry]. To me, this is his crowning achievement in what’s already been an incredible career.

“I’m obviously thrilled for everyone in that room, and a lot of people had a big hand in this, but the thing with Steph is, without him, none of this happens.”

The win for the Golden State Warriors will mark Curry’s fourth NBA ring, after bagging his previous three with the team in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

What is an NBA ring?

An NBA ring refers to the number of championships a National Basketball Association (NBA) player has under their belt.

The terminology comes from the fact that, usually, players from the team that has won the NBA Finals receive championship rings in honour of their contributions.

However, on a handful of occasions, the winning team has opted for other items instead of rings, like commemorative watches for example.

Who has the most NBA rings?

The player with the most number of championships is that of Bill Russell, an American former professional basketball player who played as the centre for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969.

He was a five time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) recipient, a 12 time NBA All-Star and in 2009 the NBA renamed its NBA Finals’ Most Valuable Player trophy to the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

Russell has 11 championships, all of which he won with the Boston Celtics throughout this 13 year long career - 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962m 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969.

He bagged his first ring with the Boston Celtics in his rookie year, and his last two championships in 1968 and 1969 as player-coach.

How many rings do other players have?

This is how many rings some of the biggest names in basketball have to their names:

Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen

Both Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen both have six rings, for the years 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson has five rings, all of which he obtained whilst playing with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988.

Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman has five rings - three of which he bagged with the Chicago Bulls alongside Jordan and Pippen in 1996, 1997 and 1998, and the other two when he played with the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant also has five rings, which he earned with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010.

Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal has four rings, three of which he won with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and one with Miami Heat in 2006.

LeBron James

LeBron James also has four rings - two with Miami Heat from 2012 and 2013, one with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2016 and one with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2020.