Celtics or Lakers: Who Tops B/R's All-Time NBA Franchise Rankings? | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Top 20 Players by Win Shares: Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, George Mikan, Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O'Neal, Vern Mikkelsen, James Worthy, Byron Scott, A.C. Green, Wilt Chamberlain, Pau Gasol, Gail Goodrich, Lamar Odom, Michael Cooper, Jamaal Wilkes, Rudy LaRusso, Derek Fisher and Happy Hairston

Peak Season: 1999-00 (67 wins, won the Finals)

NBA Championships: 17

With apologies to Lakers fans, when it's this close, total championships is a worthy tiebreaker. And in 2024, Boston took the lead with its 18th banner. But we'll talk more about the Celtics on their slide.

L.A. won five of the six NBA titles from 1949 through 1954. There weren't many teams in the BAA and NBA in those days, but titles are titles. And there's something cool about being an integral part of the league's formative years.

Of course, that isn't the end of the story.

Jerry West is among the greatest individual players of all time, and after repeatedly falling short against the Boston Celtics, he won a title in 1972.

In the 1980s, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar helped the Lakers win five championships and more than earned the Showtime brand.

A couple decades later, Kobe and Shaq paired up to create perhaps the best duo in league history and won three straight titles together. Then, in 2009 and 2010, Kobe secured another repeat with Pau Gasol.

And finally, just four years ago, LeBron and Anthony Davis won the 2020 championship in the bubble.

Through it all, L.A. is first in this exercise in playoff wins, first in playoff winning percentage, second in titles, third in regular-season winning percentage and third in SRS.