Can you guess which NBA players have led their teams to the most playoff series wins including Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant?
As NBA fans and analysts, we have the tendency to put an emphasis on how players rank based on their performance in the NBA playoffs over the course of their careers. It is how it should be. Of course, how consistent a player is in the regular season means something too, but the NBA playoffs are when the true greats step up and deliver performances that can lead their teams to one or multiple championship seasons. Those are the players we will be covering today as we dive into the 10 players in NBA history who have secured the most series victories in the NBA playoffs.
Now, while most of these players are stars or superstars who led their teams on these memorable runs, others are glue guys who perfected their roles and contributed in many different ways. You do not end up on a list like this unless you were directly linked to sustained success on the basketball court in the playoffs. These 10 players who have secured the most playoff series wins in NBA history are 10 of the most decorated players ever to step foot on a basketball court.
Now, it is time to see which players claim their spot among the top 10 to win the most playoff series in NBA history.
T10. Tony Parker – 30 Series Won
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Tony Parker ran the San Antonio Spurs offense from the point guard position for 17 seasons from 2002 through 2018. During this time, Parker would make six All-Star appearances and four All-NBA teams. Parker would also make the NBA playoffs every single season that he spent in a Spurs uniform, playing 226 career playoff games and averaging 17.9 points and 5.1 assists per game.
In total, Parker would play 42 playoff series with the Spurs and secure 40 wins, or 71.4% of the series he played. He would help San Antonio capture four NBA championships in five different runs to the NBA Finals. In 2007, Parker would have his greatest run in the NBA playoffs when he led San Antonio to their fourth championship in team history. Parker would help the Spurs sweep the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals and grab Finals MVP honors with 24.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on 56.8% shooting from the field overall and 57.1% shooting from three.
T10. Michael Jordan – 30 Playoff Series Won
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The greatest basketball player in NBA history also needed just 30 playoff series wins to lead the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships in his career. Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls for 13 seasons from 1984-85 through 1997-98 while missing 65 games in 1986 due to a broken foot and most of 1995 while contemplating coming back from retirement.
While Jordan was barely scraping by during the 1980s, the 1990s is where he would show his true dominance as a star for the Bulls. Jordan would lead the Bulls to six NBA championships by way of two three-peats from 1991 through 1993 and 1996 through 1998, the first team to accomplish such a feat since the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics of the 1960s. Jordan holds the NBA record for the highest scoring average with 33.4 points per game and led the playoffs in scoring in 10 of his 13 career appearances.
Michael Jordan would claim all six Finals MVP awards in Chicago’s six Finals wins while winning 30 of 37 playoff series or 81.1% of all series he played in the NBA playoffs in his career. Without Michael Jordan, the Bulls have never appeared in the NBA Finals and have limited playoff success as an organization. With him, they would become one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
T8. Shaquille O’Neal – 32 Playoff Series Won
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During the 1990s and 2000s, Shaquille O’Neal would become one of the greatest and most dominant superstars the NBA has ever seen. In his early days with the Orlando Magic, O’Neal would help the Magic reach the NBA playoffs three times in four seasons which included a trip to the 1995 NBA Finals and the Eastern Conference Finals in 1996.
O’Neal would reach his true peak with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1997 through 2004 where he led the Lakers tonight playoff appearances, four NBA Finals appearances, and three NBA championships from 2000 through 2002. In those three championship runs, O’Neal was the clear-cut most dominant player on the court, winning all three Finals MVP awards and helping the Lakers secure the only three-peat since Michael Jordan and the Bulls from 1996 through 1998.
O’Neal would also add a fourth NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2006. In his NBA playoff career, Shaq averaged 24.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. His teams won 32 out of 45, or 71.1% of all playoff series played in his career. His dominant run made him one of the game’s greatest big men and players overall in NBA history.
T8. Magic Johnson – 32 Playoff Series Won
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Magic Johnson spent his entire 13-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers where he built the greatest resume by any point guard in NBA history. It didn’t take long for Magic to get started on that resume when, as a rookie, he would lead the Lakers to the NBA championship while also claiming Finals MVP honors, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to do so.
In total, Johnson would win five NBA championships with the Lakers from 1980 through 1987 as the leader and conductor of one of the greatest offenses in basketball history, the Showtime Lakers. Johnson would win three Finals MVP awards in 1980, 1982, and 1987. He averaged 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 12.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game in 190 career playoff games as well. The Lakers would win 32 of 40, or 80.0%, of all playoff series in which Johnson was a part of further adding to his resume as the greatest point guard to ever step foot on an NBA basketball court.
T6. Scottie Pippen – 33 Playoff Series Won
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There are plenty of people who attribute all of Michael Jordan’s playoff success to Scottie Pippen during their dynastic days with the Chicago Bulls. As belligerent of a narrative as that is, Pippen is quite possibly the greatest second option in NBA history while also finding moderate playoff success without the assistance of MJ.
During his days with the Bulls, Pippen was a part of all of Jordan’s 30 playoff series wins while also leading the Bulls to one playoff series win without Jordan in 1994. He added two more series wins in 200 when he helped Portland reach the Western Conference Finals as well, although he would never win another NBA championship outside of when he was a member of the Bulls from 1988 through 1998.
For his NBA playoff career, Pippen averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game with the Bulls, Rockets, and Trail Blazers. He won 33 of 43 total playoff series he was a part of for a career-winning percentage of 76.7%.
T6. Kobe Bryant – 33 Playoff Series Won
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Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest competitors that the sport of basketball has ever seen and his legendary playoff resume is evidence of that. Bryant played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1997 through 2016, where he helped them win five NBA championships and make six appearances in the NBA Finals.
Of the 20 seasons he spent in Los Angeles, Bryant helped lead the Lakers to 15 playoff appearances in total. He averaged 25.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per game total in his playoff career. In their three-peat run as NBA champions from 2000 through 2002, Bryant averaged 25.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game in the playoffs. In two more championship wins in 2009 and 2010, he averaged 29.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
In total, Bryant won 33 playoff series out of 43 that he appeared in for a winning percentage of 76.7%. He ended his career with five championship wins and two Finals MVP awards with seven total appearances in the Finals.
5. Tim Duncan – 35 Playoff Series Won
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Tim Duncan is rightly recognized as the greatest power forward and a top-10 player in NBA history. Duncan played 19 seasons in the NBA, all with the San Antonio Spurs from 1998 through 2016. Duncan would help the Spurs make 18 playoff appearances in those 19 seasons while winning two MVP awards, five NBA championships, and three Finals MVP awards.
In his NBA playoff career, Duncan averaged 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game in 251 games played. He would lead the Spurs to an NBA championship in just his second season in 1999 as well as four more titles in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. Duncan and the Spurs would only ever suffer one loss in the NBA Finals in 2013 to the Miami Heat.
Duncan and the Spurs would win 35 of the 49 playoff series that he appeared in for the franchise or a 72.9% winning percentage. Duncan’s impact on the franchise took them from a titless organization to one of the greatest dynasties of the last 40 years in the NBA, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players to ever step foot on the basketball court.
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 37 Playoff Series Won
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar began his NBA career coming off an NCAA career that saw him collect the greatest college resume in basketball history. Kareem would spend the first six seasons of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks where he led them to five playoff appearances in those six seasons. In just his second season in 1971, he would lead them to their first NBA championship while winning Finals MVP honors as well.
After six seasons, Kareem would be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers where he would finish out the rest of his career for 15 seasons. Kareem and the Lakers would make the playoffs 13 out of 15 years in which he was with the team while winning five NBA championships with one Finals MVP performance from Kareem in 1985.
For his playoff career, Kareem averaged 24.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game on 53.3% shooting from the field. In total, Kareem would win 37 out of 49 playoff series that he was a part of or a 75.5% career winning percentage in playoff series. As the consensus third greatest basketball player in history, it is easy to see why many still consider his case as the NBA GOAT alive and well.
3. Robert Horry – 39 Playoff Series Won
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It seems like anywhere that Robert Horry went in his career, he won. Horry played 16 seasons with the Rockets, Suns, Lakers, and Spurs from 1993 through 2008. He was a part of seven championship-winning teams during his career which all started with back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 in Houston.
From Houston, Horry joined the Los Angeles Lakers where the nickname “Big Shot Bob” really took shape as he helped the Lakers during their three-peat as NBA champions from 2000 through 2002. Horry would then add two more championships with the Spurs in 2005 and 2007 before retiring for good after the 2008 season. For most of his career, Horry came off the bench and was only a full-time starter while with the Rockets for his first two NBA titles.
In his playoff career, Horry played 244 games, making a playoff appearance during every season of his career. He averaged 7.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game during his career in the NBA playoffs and won 39 of the 48 playoff series he appeared in, or 81.3%. He was never an All-Star or All-NBA Team selection but seven championship rings is surely a nice enough consolation prize.
2. Derek Fisher – 40 Playoff Series Won
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Derek Fisher is another underrated point guard in NBA history who appears on this list for the time he spent with one organization during some of their most successful days. Fisher played 18 seasons in the NBA from 1997 through 2014 with 13 of those seasons coming with the Los Angeles Lakers while also adding two seasons with the Warriors, three seasons with the Thunder, and one season each with the Jazz and Mavericks.
Fisher made a total of 16 playoff appearances in his career but none were more memorable than his 13 in 13 seasons with the Lakers. With clutch shots and overall performances, Fisher helped the Lakers win five NBA championships in total, averaging 8.3 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in his playoff career.
In total, Fisher appeared in 51 playoff series during his career winning 40 of them for a career percentage of 78.4%. He was a member of both the three-peat Lakers from 2000 through 2002 off the bench and the back-to-back Lakers in 2009 and 2010 as a starter. His numbers do not even come close to telling the full story but the ones who were there remember just how much his leadership meant to overall team success.
1. LeBron James – 41 Playoff Series Won
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By this time, you probably have figured out that LeBron James is the other play sitting atop this list with 41 career playoff series won. Having been at or near the top of the NBA since he came out of high school in 2003-04, This is just another playoff record that James is on the cusp of breaking heading into his 21st season in 2023-24.
In his 21-year career, James has led three different franchises to 16 different playoff appearances, 10 NBA Finals appearances, and four NBA championships while winning all four Finals MVP awards as well. His 10 trips to the Finals include eight straight from 2011 through 2018, another NBA record we are likely to see matched or exceeded ever again.
In his playoff career, James has participated in a total of 55 playoff series, winning 41 of them for a career percentage of 74.5% ending in his favor. He has averaged 28.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game in 282 career playoff games. As one of the greatest playoff performers ever, it is no wonder his name stands alone on this list as it already does on so many other lists in the NBA record books.
