Players Ranked by Number of Rings (Championships) Won Since 1980

Last year I discovered that nobody cares about how many rings pro basketball players have. Well, not exactly, but I discovered that no one cares enough to keep track and post the numbers on the Internet. I guess people don’t really respect NBA Champions the way they think they do. Even on monster statistical sites there is no page to go to listing NBA player champions year by year, or the number of rings won by player. Sure, you find short and usually incomplete lists of players who have won three or more rings drifting around, but forget about a complete list unless you get it here.

Quest for the Ring (QFTR) has provided the basketball world with the missing information and then some. Here for the second year we have the complete and correct listings for winners of the QFTR in multiple formats. Each year, scheduled for August, the following Reports are in this historical series:

1. Players and Teams Who Won the Quest for the Ring 1980-1994
2. Players and Teams Who Won the Quest for the Ring 1995-2010
3. Alphabetic Logs of all Players Who Have Won the Quest for the Ring 1980-2010
4. Players Ranked by Number of Championships and Rings Won Since 1980
5. Players Ranked by Minutes Played in Championship Years Since 1980
6. Most Recognized High Impact Players 1980-2010
7. Cities and Franchises That Won the Quest for the Ring 1950-2010

In 2010 these will be posted one each day beginning with #1 on August 21 and finishing with #7 on August 27.

After these look for the new and improved Real Coach Ratings and the second annual Report on player salaries, team payrolls, and team cap space.

Championships are by themselves crucial history, but they are also very important for the present, because players who have already won rings are, all other things equal, more valuable than players who have never won a ring. You might as well add about .050 to each such player's Real Player Rating. So a .700 becomes a.750, an .870 becomes a .920, and so forth.

PLAYERS RANKED BY NUMBER OF RINGS (CHAMPIONSHIPS) WON SINCE 1980
There are two versions. The first listing is called the inclusive version. In this one all players who won who played 300 minutes or more during the season are included. Players who played fewer than 300 minutes are not listed in either version.

The second listing is called the strict version. In this one all players who won who played 1,200 minutes or more during the season are included. The first listing includes all players except ones who played very, very little. The second listing includes only players who were starters or heavy minutes non-starters for much of the season.

Even our listings are technically incomplete, because they cover only the modern era, the years from 1979-80 to the present. We simply have very little interest in years prior to 1980. For one thing, there was no 3-point shot prior to 1980, which to QFTR is an indispensible part of basketball. In fact, if the 3-point shot was removed from the game, we would chances are shut down this Site.

Each entry consists of (1) The rank (2) The player (3) The number of rings and (4) The total minutes the player was on the court during all seasons when he and his team won the Championship. In this report the ranking is by number of rings.

QFTR's basketball history project, which has now grown to seven Reports scheduled for August each year, was originally motivated by the realization that no one anywhere has in one spot a complete listing of all players who have won rings and how many they won.

This particular Report, the straight up ranking of players by number of rings won, was the one that originally motivated QFTR's history of basketball project. In a separate Report (posted tomorrow) this information is shown with number of minutes for the ranking. Minutes played are a pretty good approximation of how good the player was. So therefore when you rank by number of minutes, you are getting a relatively rough but halfway decent ranking according to how good the players were while they were winning their Championships. Many will agree that the listing by minutes rather than the straight up number of rings is the better "ultimate ranking" of pro basketball Champions.

Real Player Ratings produced by QFTR in very recent years are obviously better than number of minutes. In an ideal world, we would be able to calculate Real Player Ratings for all the Championship teams and rank by them rather than by minutes. In the real world, we don't right now have the resources to do this, mainly because the data needed to calculate hidden defending is not available for years prior to 2005-06.

Incidentally, we will in the not too distant future report out the Ratings for the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Championship teams. The Ratings for the 2008 Celtics were reported but in the relatively crude version with no hidden defending adjustments, so they need to be redone.

Getting back to the task at hand, we have to use minutes in these historical Reports. Always remember that, as the User Guide to the Real Player Rating system explains, when you compare two players, the player with more minutes is not necessarily the better player. But that is often true. The bigger the gap in minutes, the more likely it is that the player with more minutes was the better player.

The format in the first version just below is rank/player/number of rings/total minutes played during those Championship seasons. The sorting order is number of rings. But among players with the same number of rings, they are ranked according to number of minutes.

========== PLAYERS RANKED BY NUMBER OF RINGS (CHAMPIONSHIPS) WON SINCE 1980 ==========
-Inclusive version: Includes all players in all Championship seasons who played 300 minutes or more
-Includes years 1980-2010

Rank / Player / Rings / Minutes
1 Robert Horry 7 12,376
2 Michael Jordan 6 18,580
3 Scottie Pippen 6 16,873
4 Kobe Bryant 5 14,165
5 Magic Johnson 5 14,108
6 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5 13,199
7 Dennis Rodman 5 11,476
8 Michael Cooper 5 10,405
9 Derek Fisher 5 9,154
10 Ron Harper 5 9,091
11 Steve Kerr 5 6,585
12 Horace Grant 4 10,635
13 Shaquille O'Neal 4 10,315
14 Tim Duncan 4 10,072
15 Robert Parish 4 8,138
16 Kurt Rambis 4 5,107
17 Will Perdue 4 3,422
18 Larry Bird 3 9,380
19 James Worthy 3 8,170
20 Byron Scott 3 8,082
21 Tony Parker 3 8,008
22 Bruce Bowen 3 7,657
23 A.C. Green 3 6,805
24 Jamaal Wilkes 3 6,778
25 Kevin McHale 3 6,619
26 B.J. Armstrong 3 6,098
27 Rick Fox 3 6,053
28 Toni Kukoc 3 5,948
29 Manu Ginobili 3 5,684
30 Bill Cartwright 3 4,997
31 John Paxson 3 4,947
32 Luc Longley 3 4,816
33 Mario Elie 3 4,793
34 Gerald Henderson 3 4,031
35 Brian Shaw 3 3,713
36 John Salley 3 3,675
37 Stacey King 3 3,525
38 Malik Rose 3 3,403
39 Randy Brown 3 2,875
40 Devean George 3 2,697
41 Jason Caffey 3 2,660
42 Scott Williams 3 2,396
43 Bill Wennington 3 2,315
44 Jud Buechler 3 2,051
45 Norm Nixon 2 6,250
46 Hakeem Olajuwon 2 6,130
47 Isiah Thomas 2 5,917
48 Pau Gasol 2 5,402
49 Dennis Johnson 2 5,397
50 Bill Laimbeer 2 5,315
51 Cedric Maxwell 2 5,232
52 Joe Dumars 2 4,986
53 Lamar Odom 2 4,901
54 Vernon Maxwell 2 4,609
55 Kenny Smith 2 4,239
56 Otis Thorpe 2 4,097
57 Vinnie Johnson 2 4,045
58 James Posey 2 3,735
59 Danny Ainge 2 3,561
60 James Edwards 2 3,537
61 Andrew Bynum 2 3,423
62 Brent Barry 2 3,373
63 David Robinson 2 3,230
64 Mark Aguirre 2 3,073
65 Sam Cassell 2 3,004
66 Mychal Thompson 2 2,687
67 Jordan Farmar 2 2,666
68 Carl Herrera 2 2,623
69 Scott Wedman 2 2,318
70 Lindsey Hunter 2 2,277
71 Beno Udrih 2 2,097
72 Cliff Levingston 2 2,033
73 Bob McAdoo 2 2,000
74 Sasha Vujacic 2 1,868
75 Mitch Kupchak 2 1,537
76 Mike McGee 2 1,522
77 Mark Landsberger 2 1,508
78 Craig Hodges 2 1,398
79 Mark Madsen 2 1,291
80 Josh Powell 2 1,284
81 M.L. Carr 2 1,240
82 Wes Matthews 2 1,238
83 Dickey Simpkins 2 1,080
84 Ben Wallace 1 3,050
85 Moses Malone 1 2,922
86 Dwyane Wade 1 2,892
87 Paul Pierce 1 2,874
88 Tiny Archibald 1 2,820
89 Richard Hamilton 1 2,772
90 Chauncey Billups 1 2,758
91 Chris Ford 1 2,723
92 Tayshaun Prince 1 2,701
93 Ray Allen 1 2,624
94 Ron Artest 1 2,605
95 Glen Rice 1 2,530
96 Udonis Haslem 1 2,491
97 Andrew Toney 1 2,474
98 Maurice Cheeks 1 2,465
99 Julius Erving 1 2,421
100 Jim Chones 1 2,394
101 Kevin Garnett 1 2,328
102 Rajon Rondo 1 2,306
103 Gary Payton 1 2,305
104 Stephen Jackson 1 2,254
105 Antoine Walker 1 2,199
106 Trevor Ariza 1 1,998
107 Kendrick Perkins 1 1,912
108 Jason Williams 1 1,874
109 Michael Finley 1 1,823
110 Rick Mahorn 1 1,795
111 Rasho Nesterovic 1 1,785
112 Clint Richardson 1 1,755
113 Bobby Jones 1 1,749
114 Shannon Brown 1 1,700
115 Avery Johnson 1 1,672
116 Samaki Walker 1 1,655
117 Marc Iavaroni 1 1,612
118 Jerry Sichting 1 1,596
119 Mehmet Okur 1 1,580
120 Corliss Williamson 1 1,574
121 Rick Robey 1 1,569
122 Bill Walton 1 1,546
123 Spencer Haywood 1 1,544
124 Sean Elliott 1 1,509
125 Eddie House 1 1,480
126 Tony Allen 1 1,373
127 Fabricio Oberto 1 1,365
128 Pete Chilcutt 1 1,347
129 Adrian Dantley 1 1,341
130 Francisco Elson 1 1,332
131 Alonzo Mourning 1 1,302
132 Clyde Drexler 1 1,300
133 Larry Spriggs 1 1,292
134 Franklin Edwards 1 1,266
135 Quinn Buckner 1 1,249
136 Devin Brown 1 1,238
137 Scott Brooks 1 1,225
138 Isaiah Rider 1 1,206
139 Luke Walton 1 1,166
140 Scott Burrell 1 1,096
141 Steve Smith 1 1,032
142 Rodney McCray 1 1,019
143 Earl Cureton 1 987
144 Jim Brewer 1 966
145 Glen Davis 1 940
146 Trent Tucker 1 909
147 Elden Campbell 1 892
148 Jaren Jackson 1 861
149 Mike Penberthy 1 851
150 Kevin Willis 1 840
151 Chucky Brown 1 814
152 Leon Powe 1 809
153 Vladimir Radmanovic 1 771
154 Bob Hansen 1 769
155 Billy Thompson 1 762
156 Jacque Vaughn 1 760
157 Rick Carlisle 1 760
158 Chucky Atkins 1 751
159 Stanislav Medvedenko 1 729
160 Dennis Hopson 1 728
161 Matt Bullard 1 725
162 Mitch Richmond 1 709
163 Bob Sura 1 707
164 Russ Schoene 1 702
165 Jerome Kersey 1 699
166 Tony Massenburg 1 699
167 Clemon Johnson 1 698
168 Rasheed Wallace 1 673
169 Jason Kapono 1 665
170 Matt Bonner 1 654
171 Shandon Anderson 1 638
172 Antonio Daniels 1 614
173 Eddie Jordan 1 608
174 Danny Ferry 1 601
175 Don Ford 1 580
176 Reggie Johnson 1 549
177 Brian Scalabrine 1 512
178 Mike James 1 512
179 Darvin Ham 1 484
180 Speedy Claxton 1 471
181 Tyronn Lue 1 468
182 Derek Anderson 1 465
183 Greg Kite 1 464
184 Greg Foster 1 451
185 Sam Vincent 1 432
186 Mike Smrek 1 421
187 Nazr Mohammed 1 414
188 Wayne Simien 1 414
189 Travis Knight 1 410
190 Frank Brickowski 1 404
191 Joe Kleine 1 397
192 David Thirdkill 1 385
193 Milt Wagner 1 380
194 Michael Doleac 1 371
195 Darrell Walker 1 367
196 Micheal Williams 1 358
197 D.J. Mbenga 1 355
198 Tim Breaux 1 340

The format in the second version just below is the same: rank/player/total minutes played during those Championship seasons/number of rings. The sorting order remains number of rings. But among players with the same number of rings, they are ranked according to number of minutes. What is different in the second version is that only players and seasons where the player played more than 1,200 minutes are counted.

========== PLAYERS RANKED BY NUMBER OF RINGS (CHAMPIONSHIPS) WON SINCE 1980 ==========
-Strict version: Includes all players in all Championship seasons who played 1,200 minutes or more
-Includes years 1980-2010

Rank / Player / Rings / Minutes
1 Michael Jordan 6 18,580
2 Scottie Pippen 6 16,873
3 Robert Horry 6 11,252
4 Kobe Bryant 5 14,165
5 Magic Johnson 5 14,108
6 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5 13,199
7 Dennis Rodman 5 11,476
8 Michael Cooper 5 10,405
9 Horace Grant 4 10,635
10 Shaquille O'Neal 4 10,315
11 Tim Duncan 4 10,072
12 Derek Fisher 4 8,445
13 Ron Harper 4 7,952
14 Larry Bird 3 9,380
15 James Worthy 3 8,170
16 Byron Scott 3 8,082
17 Tony Parker 3 8,008
18 Robert Parish 3 7,732
19 Bruce Bowen 3 7,657
20 A.C. Green 3 6,805
21 Kevin McHale 3 6,619
22 B.J. Armstrong 3 6,098
23 Rick Fox 3 6,053
24 Toni Kukoc 3 5,948
25 Manu Ginobili 3 5,684
26 Bill Cartwright 3 4,997
27 Luc Longley 3 4,816
28 Mario Elie 3 4,793
29 Norm Nixon 2 6,250
30 Hakeem Olajuwon 2 6,130
31 Jamaal Wilkes 2 6,017
32 Isiah Thomas 2 5,917
33 Pau Gasol 2 5,402
34 Dennis Johnson 2 5,397
35 Bill Laimbeer 2 5,315
36 Cedric Maxwell 2 5,232
37 Joe Dumars 2 4,986
38 Lamar Odom 2 4,901
39 Vernon Maxwell 2 4,609
40 Kenny Smith 2 4,239
41 Vinnie Johnson 2 4,045
42 John Paxson 2 3,917
43 Steve Kerr 2 3,780
44 James Posey 2 3,735
45 Gerald Henderson 2 3,696
46 James Edwards 2 3,537
47 Andrew Bynum 2 3,423
48 Brent Barry 2 3,373
49 John Salley 2 3,372
50 David Robinson 2 3,230
51 Kurt Rambis 2 3,131
52 Brian Shaw 2 3,082
53 Carl Herrera 2 2,623
54 Ben Wallace 1 3,050
55 Moses Malone 1 2,922
56 Otis Thorpe 1 2,909
57 Dwyane Wade 1 2,892
58 Paul Pierce 1 2,874
59 Tiny Archibald 1 2,820
60 Richard Hamilton 1 2,772
61 Chauncey Billups 1 2,758
62 Chris Ford 1 2,723
63 Tayshaun Prince 1 2,701
64 Ray Allen 1 2,624
65 Ron Artest 1 2,605
66 Glen Rice 1 2,530
67 Udonis Haslem 1 2,491
68 Andrew Toney 1 2,474
69 Maurice Cheeks 1 2,465
70 Julius Erving 1 2,421
71 Danny Ainge 1 2,407
72 Jim Chones 1 2,394
73 Kevin Garnett 1 2,328
74 Rajon Rondo 1 2,306
75 Gary Payton 1 2,305
76 Stephen Jackson 1 2,254
77 Antoine Walker 1 2,199
78 Mychal Thompson 1 2,007
79 Mark Aguirre 1 2,005
80 Trevor Ariza 1 1,998
81 Malik Rose 1 1,933
82 Kendrick Perkins 1 1,912
83 Sam Cassell 1 1,882
84 Jason Williams 1 1,874
85 Michael Finley 1 1,823
86 Rick Mahorn 1 1,795
87 Rasho Nesterovic 1 1,785
88 Devean George 1 1,759
89 Clint Richardson 1 1,755
90 Bobby Jones 1 1,749
91 Shannon Brown 1 1,700
92 Avery Johnson 1 1,672
93 Samaki Walker 1 1,655
94 Lindsey Hunter 1 1,616
95 Marc Iavaroni 1 1,612
96 Jerry Sichting 1 1,596
97 Mehmet Okur 1 1,580
98 Corliss Williamson 1 1,574
99 Rick Robey 1 1,569
100 Bill Walton 1 1,546
101 Spencer Haywood 1 1,544
102 Sean Elliott 1 1,509
103 Eddie House 1 1,480
104 Jordan Farmar 1 1,474
105 Jason Caffey 1 1,405
106 Scott Wedman 1 1,402
107 Tony Allen 1 1,373
108 Scott Williams 1 1,369
109 Fabricio Oberto 1 1,365
110 Pete Chilcutt 1 1,347
111 Adrian Dantley 1 1,341
112 Francisco Elson 1 1,332
113 Alonzo Mourning 1 1,302
114 Clyde Drexler 1 1,300
115 Sasha Vujacic 1 1,293
116 Larry Spriggs 1 1,292
117 Stacey King 1 1,268
118 Franklin Edwards 1 1,266
119 Bob McAdoo 1 1,254
120 Quinn Buckner 1 1,249
121 Devin Brown 1 1,238
122 Scott Brooks 1 1,225
123 Isaiah Rider 1 1,206