There are many individual awards in the game of basketball but none of them is admired as NBA players with the most championship rings.

When players’ careers are ranked, the first criteria on which their spot is based on the number of rings they have won.

Players who have won only one ring are considered champions for life, but there are those who have won so many rings that they are considered legends of this game with or without individual awards.

Following is the list of 13 players who have won the most championship rings in NBA history.

1. Bill Russell – 11 rings

A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player and a 12-time All-Star, Bill Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty and number one on our list of NBA players who won the most championship rings. Bill had won eleven NBA championships during his 13-year career. He was the only player who was a part of all eleven championship teams from 1956 to 1969 which makes him the record holder when it comes to the number of rings won.

Russell and Henri Richard of the NHL are tied for the record of the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league.

He was a born leader and winner which he proved both in his college days winning two consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956 with the University of San Francisco, and internationally as he captained the gold-medal-winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Russel never averaged more than 19 points per game but he was dominant on the defensive end averaging more than 20 rebounds per game in four seasons, the most 24.7 in the 1963-64 season.

Russell is second all-time in both total rebounds and rebounds per game. He is one of just two NBA players to have grabbed more than 50 rebounds in a game.

He was the first black player to achieve superstar status in the NBA. He also served a three-season (1966–69) stint as player-coach for the Celtics, becoming the first black coach in North American professional sports and the first to win a championship.

Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was selected into the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971 and the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980 and named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, one of only four players to receive all three honors.

In Russell’s honor, the NBA renamed the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy in 2009: it is now the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award. In 2021, Russell was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame for his coaching career.

2. Sam Jones – 10 rings

Sam Jones was one of only three Boston Celtics players, along with Bill Russell and K. C. Jones, to be part of the Celtics’ eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. He won a total of 10 championships in 12 years with the Celtics.

Jones was called “Mr. Clutch” and was one of the best shooters of his time.

During his career, Jones scored 15,411 points at 17.7 points per game. He was selected to the All-NBA Second Team three times and an All-Star five times.

He was one of the hardest-working players of his era and his coach Red Auerbach was saying that Jones is always in shape and is ready to do whatever he asks him to.

Auerbach surprised everyone by selecting Jones from the North Carolina Central University, an unknown player from an unknown college, as the eighth pick overall at the 1957 NBA draft.

A fun fact is that Jones wanted to become a high school teacher and he decided to join the Celtics only after he failed to get a teaching job.

Jones was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.

3. Tom Heinsohn – 8 rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzd4va3hNno

If someone dedicated his whole life to the Boston Celtics, that certainly is Tom Heinsohn. He spent six decades in Boston as a player, coach, and broadcaster.

Nicknamed “Mr. Celtics”, he is regarded as one of the most iconic Celtics figures in the franchise’s history, known during his lifetime for his charisma and loyalty to the team and its traditions.

Heinsohn was a vital cog in the Boston Celtics dynasty of the 1950s and 1960s. Chosen as NBA Rookie of the Year in 1957, he helped the Celtics win eight NBA titles during his nine-year tenure, was named to the All-NBA Second Team for four years, and was a six-time All-Star.

After retiring from his playing career in 1965, Heinsohn coached the Celtics for nine seasons, leading them to two more championships.

After his coach career, he spent more than 30 years as a commentator for the Celtics.

Heinsohn is the only person to have the distinction of being involved in an official team capacity in each of the Celtics’ 17 championships, as well as each of their 21 NBA Finals appearances.

He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and a coach.

4. K. C. Jones – 8 rings

KC Jones is one of only three players that have gone 8-0 in the finals series.

Jones wasn’t flashy, and his playing days weren’t filled with impressive stat lines as he averaged just 7.4 points in his career. But the 6-foot-1 point guard was the consummate team player whose defense gave fits to opposing stars like Jerry West and Oscar Robertson and whose playmaking made the Celtics’ engine go.

The lone season Jones didn’t win an NBA championship was 1966-67 and he retired soon after.

He became an assistant coach for the Celtics under Bill Fitch in 1977. Fitch left the team four years later, and Jones replaced him, inheriting a group led by Bird and fellow Hall of Famers Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

Together, they reached the NBA Finals four straight seasons (1984-87), winning titles in 1984 and 1986.

Jones left the Celtics’ bench after the 1987 season, moving into the Celtics’ front office before finishing his career with coaching stints in Seattle and Detroit.

His No. 25 is retired by the Celtics, and he was inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989.

5. Tom “Satch” Sanders – 8 rings

If someone sacrificed his offensive skill set to contribute on the defensive end for the Boston Celtics, that was Tom “Satch” Sanders. In that way, he played a major role in eight NBA championships deserving his No. 16 to be retired.

He was Boston’s top pick (the 8th pick overall) in the 1960 NBA Draft, from New York University. He played in 916 career games (6th-most in Celtics history) in his 13 seasons – all with the Celtics.

Night after night Celtics coach Red Auerbach assigned Sanders the unenviable task of stopping the opponent’s top offensive threat. Satch handled the dirty work guarding the likes of Bob Pettit, Dave DeBusschere, and Elgin Baylor.

Sanders also had a stint as Celtics head coach in 1978.

6. John Havlicek – 8 rings

John Havlicek is also one of three NBA players with an unsurpassed 8–0 record in NBA Finals series outcomes. Nicknamed “Hondo”, he is considered the best sixth man in NBA history. Havlicek earns the 6th spot on our list of NBA players with the most championship rings.

He was the first player to compile 16 consecutive 1,000-point seasons (1963–78).

At 6 feet 5 inches, Havlicek played both forward and guard on the Celtics teams that won eight NBA championships.

He was noted for his boundless energy at both ends of the court and for his clutch scoring in crucial games. Havlicek was at the center of one of the most famous plays in NBA history when—in the closing seconds of game seven of the 1965 Eastern Division finals—he deflected a Philadelphia 76ers inbounds pass to seal a one-point Boston victory, a moment that was immortalized by Celtics announcer Johnny Most’s impassioned call of “Havlicek steals it.… Havlicek stole the ball!”

Havlicek was named an All-Star in 13 consecutive seasons (1965–66 to 1977–78) and was a five-time All-Defensive first-team selection. Despite coming off the bench for the majority of his career, he held the NBA record for most games played (1,270) and was third on the league’s all-time points-scored list upon his retirement in 1978. In 1997 he was named one of the top 50 players in NBA history, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.

7. Jim Loscutoff – 7 rings

Jim “Loscy” Loscutoff played on seven Celtics championship teams between 1956 and 1964.

Standing 6 feet 5 inches tall, Loscutoff was selected with the third non-territorial pick of the first round in the 1955 NBA draft. He was originally drafted by coach Red Auerbach to provide some much-needed defensive nerve for the Celtics team.

During his rookie year, Loscutoff set a then-record for the Celtics with 26 rebounds in a game.

 In the 1957 NBA Finals, he sank the final two free throws of a 125–123 double-overtime victory over the St. Louis Hawks in game seven, as the Celtics won their first NBA championship.

Loscutoff missed most of the 1957–58 season due to a knee injury, working closely with Auerbach on his rehabilitation. He successfully returned to the Celtics and was a member of six more championship teams.

Loscutoff’s nicknames included “Jungle Jim” and “Loscy”. The organization wished to honor Loscutoff, but he asked that his jersey number 18 not be retired, so that a future Celtic could wear it.

Instead, the Celtics added a banner with his nickname “Loscy” to the retired number banners hanging from the rafters of their arenas. The number was later retired in honor of another Celtic great, Dave Cowens.

8. Frank Ramsey – 7 rings

Frank Ramsey played his entire nine-year (1954–1964) NBA career with the Boston Celtics and played a major role in the early part of their dynasty, winning seven championships as part of the team.

The Celtics drafted Ramsey out of Kentucky with the fifth overall selection in the 1953 draft. The 6-foot-3 guard-forward put together an impressive career at Kentucky that included the 1951 national championship and several national honors during his three seasons with the Wildcats. Coincidentally, Boston also selected two of Ramsey’s teammates, Cliff Hagan and Lou Tsioropoulos, in that draft as well.

Although Ramsey never accumulated any eye-popping statistics during his nine-year career, he did finish with very solid numbers. He accumulated 8,378 points and 3,410 rebounds en route to career averages of 13.4 PPG and 5.5 RPG.

Ramsey became a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982, 16 years after the Celtics had inducted him into their own prestigious group. Boston raised Ramsey’s No. 23 jersey to the rafters in the fall of 1964, just months after his career came to an end.

9. Robert Horry – 7 rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh0zghXO0X8

Robert Horry played 16 seasons in the NBA winning seven championships, the most of any player not to have played on the 1960s Boston Celtics.

He earned the nickname “Big Shot Rob”, because of his clutch shooting in important games. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest clutch performers and winners in NBA history.

Horry is one of only four players to have won NBA championships with three different teams. He won two with the Houston Rockets being the young gun on a team led by one of the greatest centers of all time Hakeem Olajuwon.

After that, he joined Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant winning another three titles. His game-winning three in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals against the Sacramento Kings in 2002 is one of his career highlights.

The even bigger shot was the game-winner of the 2005 NBA Finals Game 7 against the Detroit Pistons helping the San Antonio Spurs to win the championship. Two years later he won another one with the Spurs beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in LeBron James’ first Finals appearance.

Horry retired with a perfect 7-0 record in the NBA Finals.

10. Bob Cousy – 6 rings

Bob Cousy played point guard with the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals in the 1969–70 season.

Cousy had an exceptionally successful career with the Celtics, leading the league an unprecedented 8 straight years in assists, playing on six NBA championship teams, and being voted into 13 NBA All-Star Games in his 13 full NBA seasons. He was also named to 12 All-NBA First and Second Teams and won the 1957 NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

En route to his assist streak that was unmatched either in a number of crowns or consecutive years, Cousy introduced a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills to the NBA that earned him the nickname “The Houdini of the Hardwood”.

Also known as “Cooz”, he was regularly introduced at Boston Garden as “Mr. Basketball”.

After his playing career, he coached the Royals for several years, capped by a seven-game cameo come back for them at age 41.

Upon his election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 the Celtics retired his No. 14 jersey and hung it in the rafters of the Garden. Cousy was named to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971, the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1981, and the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1997, making him one of only four players that were selected to each of those teams. He was also the first president of the National Basketball Players Association and ranks number 10 on our list of NBA players with the most championship rings.

11. Kareem Abdul–Jabbar – 6 rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=133YwacaFPQ

Born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member.

A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP.

At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA’s all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls (4,657).

He remains the all-time leader in points scored, field goals made, and career wins.

Over his 20-year NBA career, his teams succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10 occasions.

ESPN named him the greatest center of all-time in 2007, the greatest player in college basketball history in 2008, and the second-best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan) in 2016.

He was a basketball phenom from an early age, leading parochial high school Power Memorial, in New York City to 71 consecutive wins. He was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament leading UCLA to three consecutive championships under coach John Wooden.

12. Michael Jordan – 6 rings

By many considered the best basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan literally changed the game and is ranked 12 on our list of NBA players with the most championship rings.

Jordan was integral in helping to popularize the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon in the process.

MJ played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick, and quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring while gaining a reputation as one of the game’s best defensive players.

His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames “Air Jordan” and “His Airness”.

Jordan won his first NBA championship with the Bulls in 1991, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a “three-peat”.

Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball but returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.

He retired for the second time in January 1999 but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.

Jordan’s individual accolades and accomplishments include 6 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Awards, 10 scoring titles (both all-time records), 5 MVP Awards, 10 All-NBA First Team designations, 9 All-Defensive First Team honors, 14 NBA All-Star Game selections, 3 All-Star Game MVP Awards, 3 steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.

He holds the NBA records for career regular-season scoring average (30.1 points per game) and career playoff scoring average (33.5 points per game).

In 1999, he was named the 20th century’s greatest North American athlete by ESPN.

13. Scottie Pippen – 6 rings

Scottie Pippen played 17 seasons in the NBA winning six NBA championships and ranks 13 on our list of NBA players with the most championship rings, with the Chicago Bulls. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls into a championship team and in popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s. He was a member of the Bulls’ teams that won 6 NBA championships during the 1990s.

Considered one of the greatest small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight consecutive times and the All-NBA First Team three times.

He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994.

Pippen was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season and is one of four players to have his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls.

During his 17-year career, he played 12 seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets, and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, making the postseason 16 straight times.

Pippen is the only NBA player to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, having done so in both 1992 and 1996.

NBA players with the most championship rings

Every single player on this list is a Hall of Famer. Basketball experts recognize the importance of Championship rings.

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