Which Western Conference franchise has the most NBA Championships?

The Los Angeles Lakers are the most successful team in the Western Conference. The Lakers have 17 NBA Championships, which ties them with the Boston Celtics, who are in the Eastern Conference, for the most in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers, the most historic and successful organization in NBA history, have been the contemporary basketball world’s mainstays.

Aside from having some of the best athletes on their roster over the years, the Los Angeles Lakers were also fortunate to work with some of the top coaches in the game. Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, two of the best basketball minds of all time, have had a significant impact on the Lakers’ success.

But it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for the Los Angeles Lakers, who have won a slew of titles, the bulk of them in consecutive years, but have also endured extended stretches without any concrete success.

The Lakers have won 17 NBA championships, including titles in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, and 2020.

George Malkin’s domination propelled the Lakers to five consecutive titles in the 1950s. During that time, George Malkin topped the league in both points and rebounds on many occasions. The Lakers were called as that the Minneapolis Lakers while they played in Minneapolis.

Wilt Chamberlain’s years were filled with personal records and jaw-dropping figures from Wilt and Jerry West, the pair had a powerful presence in the league and were able to clinch the very first championship for the Lakers in Los Angeles in 1972.

The Lakers had selected Magic Johnson in 1979 but already had Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the team when the showtime Lakers arrived. The Lakers won one of their 5 championships during Magic’s debut season that year. The Celtics-Lakers feud ruled the NBA in the 1980s, with the Lakers winning five rings in total.

In 1996, the Lakers recruited Shaquille O’Neal and obtained Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets. The rest is history, as the probably most dominating tandem of all time three-peated around the turn of 2000, but personal differences caused the combination to break up in 2004.

Kobe’s final championship run alongside Pau Gasol as his jogging buddy. The duet was extremely successful, appearing in three consecutive finals and winning two of them.

In the middle of a pandemic, the Lakers signed Anthony Davis out from New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 and won the 2020 NBA championships under the guidance of LeBron James and interim head coach Frank Vogel.