LeBron, MJ, Steph, Shaq, Kobe, Wilt…they’re among the many NBA legends who have graced the hardwood in past decades, and they were also involved in some of the greatest rivalries in sports. These NBA rivalries included some of the greatest and most intense moments basketball fans have ever witnessed. Here, we present 10 of the best team rivalries in NBA history, in which legends battled legends in unforgettable playoff matchups.

Boston Celtics – Los Angeles Lakers (All-Time)

This is unquestionably the greatest rivalry in the NBA — and possibly all of American professional sports. These greatest of franchises each have won 17 NBA titles, dating back to the dawn of professional basketball in 1947. The Lakers, first in Minneapolis and then Los Angeles, have appeared in 32 Finals, and Boston has made it to 22. 

From the 1959 through 1969 Finals, the teams met seven times. But even “The Logo” Jerry West and Elgin Baylor couldn’t overcome Bill Russell, John Havlicek and the Celtics, who won each of those matchups, taking home nine titles in 10 years. 

After a decade break in their Finals rivalry, it resumed with the seemingly divine intervention of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joining the NBA in 1979. They had met in the NCAA championship earlier that year, with Magic’s Michigan State beating Bird’s Indiana State. In the 1980s, the Lakers – with a stellar crew including Magic, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – won two of three Finals matchups against Boston. 

LA and Boston met twice during the Kobe Bryant Era, with Paul Pierce and the C’s winning in 2008 and Bryant and Ron Artest getting revenge in 2010. 

Detroit Pistons – Chicago Bulls (1980s/90s)

As great as Michael Jordan was – still considered the GOAT by many – he could never get past the “Bad Boys” of Detroit in his early years. He and Chicago lost three straight playoff series to teams that included some of the grittiest and toughest players ever assembled on a roster – Isiah Thomas, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer and Joe Dumars, among others. Detroit’s brand was force and not finesse, smash-mouth and not high-flying, and it led two back-to-back titles. 

MJ, Scottie Pippen and the Bulls finally cracked through with a sweep in 1991, starting the Bulls’ amazing run with six NBA Finals wins over the next eight seasons. 

Golden State Warriors – Cleveland Cavaliers (2010s)

Stephen Curry’s Golden State and LeBron James’ Cleveland battled in four straight finals, the only time that has ever happened in the NBA. They weren’t always the most evenly matched series, except for when King James brought his Cavs back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 in 2016 — the only time a NBA team has rallied from 3-1 down in the Finals. And they did that against a Warriors team that had set a record with 73 wins in the regular season. 

In 2015, the Cavs were without injured Kevin Love and suspended Kyrie Irving, and in 2017 and 2018, the Dubs had recently-acquired Kevin Durant, who helped to crush the Cavs 4-1 in 2017 and 4-0 in 2018.

In that sweep year of 2018, Cleveland’s J.R. Smith committed one of the more head-scratching gaffes in NBA Finals history.

In that sweep year of 2018, Cleveland’s J.R. Smith committed one of the more head-scratching gaffes in NBA Finals history. With the teams tied with three seconds remaining in Game 1 of the Finals, he grabbed a teammate’s missed free throw and instead of trying to score, he inexplicably dribbled around the court to run out the clock. He later admitted he thought his team was ahead. 

Indiana Pacers – New York Knicks (1990s)

Courtside celebrities are always must-see TV, but few if any have influenced the outcome of a game as much as star movie producer/director Spike Lee did in 1994. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, with the Knicks leading the best-of-seven series 2-1, Lee unleashed a game-long string of trash talk at Indiana shooting sensation Reggie Miller. The future Hall of Famer responded with 39 points – 25 in the fourth quarter – and capped it off with a “choking” gesture at Lee as the Pacers evened the series. It took the Knicks seven games to win the series.

Miller also scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to beat the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on May 7, 1995. The Pacers took that series in seven games.

The teams met six times in the postseason, each winning three series. 

Boston Celtics – Philadelphia 76ers (1960s/80s)

Bill Russell vs Wilt Chamberlain – it didn’t get any better than that in the early decades of the NBA. The superstar centers battled in four straight playoffs – 1965 through 1968 – with Wilt the Stilt coming out on top only in 1967. That snapped Boston’s streak after winning eight straight NBA titles. In the early ‘80s, Larry Bird and Boston battled Julius “Dr. J” Irving and Philly three times, with the Sixers winning two of those battles before losing to Magic Johnson and the Lakers in the Finals. 

New York Knicks – Miami Heat (1990s)

These Eastern Conference foes met in four straight playoffs – 1997 through 2000. The matchups featured two of the NBA’s best centers battling for paint supremacy — New York’s Patrick Ewing and Miami’s Alonzo Mourning, both out of Georgetown University. Each of those four series went the distance, with Miami winning the first one but Ewing and company taking the next three. It was so heated that there were even fights between Mourning and Larry Johnson, and Charlie Ward and P.J. Brown.

Los Angeles Lakers – Sacramento Kings (2000s)

Prior to last season, when Sacramento won the loaded Pacific Division and made the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, the Kings haven’t been too relevant recently. But in the late 1990s and early 2000s, this rivalry was the hottest in the NBA. The teams met in three straight postseasons – 2000, 2001, 2022 – with Shaq, Kobe and LA getting the W each time. 

The most controversial game was Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals, with the Kings holding a 3-2 series lead and hoping to clinch in LA. But the Lakers won the game, in large part because of their 25-9 edge in free throws in the fourth quarter, a disparity that led to allegations that referee Tim Donaghy had conspired to fix the outcome. 

Chicago Bulls – Utah Jazz (1990s)

This was a short but sweet rivalry in the final throes of the Michael Jordan Era in Chicago and involving some of the greatest players in NBA history – Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, and John Stockton. The Bulls beat the Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 Finals – both 4 games to 2. 

In the previous year’s Finals, Jordan scored 38 points in a Bulls Game 5 victory despite having a case of either stomach flu or food poisoning the night before in what is known as “The Flu Game.” 

In Game 6 of 1998, in Jordan’s final game with the Bulls, he drove past Byron Russell for a layup with 37 seconds to make it a 1-point game, then stole the ball from Malone and brought it down before nailing a pullback jumpshot from the top of the key to win the game with less than 10 seconds left. MJ was awarded his sixth Finals MVP to cap off his sixth NBA title. 

In the previous year’s Finals, Jordan scored 38 points in a Bulls Game 5 victory despite having a case of either stomach flu or food poisoning the night before in what is known as “The Flu Game.”  In the clinching Game 6, MJ scored 39 and delivered the assist to Steve Kerr for the winning three-point shot with five seconds left. 

San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns (2000s)

These warm-weather rivals battled in six playoff series during 11 seasons from 1999-00 to 2009-10, pitting the methodical Spurs and Tim Duncan vs the fast-flying Suns led by Steve Nash. 

San Antonio won the series in 2005, 2007 and 2008, with the ’07 matchup “highlighted” by ejections, fights and injuries. 

In that series, the Western Conference semifinals, Robert Horry hip-checked Nash into the scorers’ table. Nash’s teammates Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw left the bench to get involved, and they were suspended for Game 5. Phoenix eventually lost in six games. 

The Suns did exact some revenge with a sweep in the teams’ 2010 postseason meeting. 

Chicago Bulls vs New York Knicks (1990s)

It’s one of those hard-to-believe stats in sports, but the legendary Knicks have won only two NBA titles – in 1970 and 1973. But who knows how many they would have had it not been for Michael Jordan. 

MJ and the Bulls eliminated New York five times out of six playoff meetings from 1989-1996, although the Pat Riley-led Knicks did push the Bulls to seven games in the 1992 playoffs. It was only one of two times that His Airness and the Bulls went the series limit during Jordan’s six championship seasons.

It’s one of those hard-to-believe stats in sports, but the legendary Knicks have won only two NBA titles – in 1970 and 1973. But who knows how many they would have had it not been for Michael Jordan. 

After Jordan took a retirement hiatus in 1993, the Knicks finally beat the Bulls in the 1994 playoffs. In Game 3, the Bulls’ Jo Jo English fought with the Knicks’ Derek Harper, and after the benches cleared, the scuffle spilled into the stands. 

MJ returned to the NBA the next year and launched Chicago’s second three-peat.