Another year, another new NBA champion is set to be crowned.
The New York Knicks punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals by eliminating the defending champion Boston Celtics in six games.
With the Celtics exit, the league continued its streak of parity as it marked the seventh consecutive season in which a reigning title holder failed to defend its title.
The Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant-Klay Thompson era of the Golden State Warriors remain as the last team to go back-to-back, winning it all in 2017 and 2018.
Since then, six different franchises have claimed the crown in as many seasons—a testament to the league’s growing competitive balance.
We now look back on those teams and how their title-retention bid unfolded:
Boston Celtics
- Won title in 2024 (def. Dallas Mavericks, 4-2)
- Eliminated in 2025 East semifinals (lost to New York Knicks, 2-4)
Let’s start with the most recent one, shall we?
After a 16-year wait, the Boston Celtics finally reclaimed the elusive Larry O’Brien Trophy—earning their 18th title overall—by defeating the Dallas Mavericks.
Jaylen Brown was named Finals MVP, while Jayson Tatum could finally call himself a champion after years of playoff shortcomings and disappointments.
Heading into the 2024-25 season, the Celtics looked poised to repeat, finishing with another 60-win campaign and securing the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Boston made quick work of Paolo Banchero and the No. 7 Orlando Magic, dispatching them in five games. But disaster struck in the next round, in the form of the New York Knicks.
The Celtics blew back-to-back 20-point leads at home, falling into an 0–2 hole. Though they managed to steal Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, the tide turned for good in Game 4 when Tatum suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.
[ALSO READ: Knicks oust champion Celtics in Game 6 blowout, make first East Finals trip since 2000]
While injuries are undeniably part of the game, many believe Boston had the firepower to overcome the 3–1 deficit—if Tatum had stayed healthy.
Denver Nuggets
- Won title in 2023 (def. Miami Heat, 4-1)
- Eliminated in 2024 West semifinals (lost to Minnesota Timberwolves, 3-4)
Nikola Jokic cemented himself among the all-time greats, leading the Nuggets to their first franchise title thanks to a five-game series against the Jimmy Butler-led Miami Heat.
With a much healthier squad around him — Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Bruce Brown to name a few — Jokic dominated in the basketball’s biggest stage to cop his maiden Finals MVP award.
The next year, Denver ended up as the West second seed entering the playoffs behind a 56-26 win-loss record.
After eliminating the LA Lakers in the first round, the Nuggets found themselves in a collision course with the trio of Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and the third seed Minnesota Timberwolves .
It was perhaps the best playoff series of that year as both teams engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle until the end.
Both teams split the first six games before the Timberwolves pulled off the largest Game 7 comeback in league history, overcoming a 20-point deficit to dethrone the Nuggets.
It was a disappointing end for Denver as Minnesota would eventually lose to the Dallas Mavericks in the West Finals in five games.
Golden State Warriors
- Won title in 2022 (def. Boston Celtics, 4-2)
- Eliminated in 2023 West semifinals (lost to LA Lakers, 2-4)
Golden State silenced its critics by capturing a fourth championship in eight years, overcoming the league’s most storied franchise—the Boston Celtics— in the 2022 NBA Finals.
Stephen Curry finally secured his elusive first Finals MVP, delivering superb averages of 31.2 points, six rebounds, and five assists across the six-game series.
However, the following season began on a shaky note for the defending champions.
The Warriors dropped three of their first seven games and struggled to find consistency throughout the year. They narrowly avoided the Play-In Tournament, finishing sixth in the Western Conference to set up a first-round clash with the upstart Sacramento Kings.
Pushed to the brink, Golden State needed a historic 50-point performance from Curry in Game 7 to eliminate Sacramento.
In the conference semifinals, the Warriors faced a familiar rival—LeBron James and the Pacific Division foe Los Angeles Lakers. Golden State quickly fell into a 3–1 hole and ultimately bowed out in six games, ending their title defense.
Milwaukee Bucks
- Won title in 2021 (def. Phoenix Suns, 4-2)
- Eliminated in 2022 East semifinals (lost to Boston Celtics, 3-4)
After a 50-year drought, Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered Milwaukee its first NBA championship since 1971 with a legendary 50-point performance in Game 6 of the 2021 Finals against the Phoenix Suns.
That masterpiece made Antetokounmpo just the seventh player in league history to score 50 points in an NBA Finals game. He capped off a dominant series by claiming Finals MVP honors, averaging a staggering 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists over six games.
The following season, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks maintained their elite form, finishing third in the Eastern Conference with a 51–31 regular-season record.
Milwaukee cruised past the Chicago Bulls in the first round, setting up a high-stakes semifinal clash with the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics.
Despite holding a 3–2 series lead, the Bucks collapsed down the stretch and dropped Games 6 and 7 by a combined margin of 41 points to end their title defense.
Los Angeles Lakers
- Won title in 2020 (def. Miami Heat, 4-2)
- Eliminated in 2021 West Round 1 (lost to Phoenix Suns, 2-4)
The Los Angeles Lakers capped off a COVID-19-disrupted 2019–2020 season by claiming their first championship in a decade, overpowering the Miami Heat in six games in the Finals.
Competing in the NBA’s bubble environment due to strict health and safety protocols, LeBron James secured his fourth career title and earned Finals MVP honors in just his second season with the Lakers.
However, the following season brought a dramatic shift. The Lakers struggled with inconsistency and barely made the playoffs after surviving the Play-In Tournament, securing the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
Matched up against Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and the second-seeded Phoenix Suns, the Lakers’ title defense came to an end in six games.
Toronto Raptors
- Won title in 2019 (def. Golden State Warriors, 4-2)
- Eliminated in 2020 East semifinals (lost to Boston Celtics, 3-4)
Toronto’s bold 2018 offseason gamble—trading longtime star DeMar DeRozan for then-Spurs standout Kawhi Leonard—paid off in spectacular fashion.
Leonard etched his name into Raptors history, single-handedly leading the franchise to its first-ever NBA championship by ending the Golden State Warriors’ bid for a three-peat.
Though the Finals were marred by injuries—Kevin Durant suffered a torn Achilles in Game 5 and Klay Thompson tore his ACL in the series-clinching Game 6—Toronto celebrated the greatest moment in franchise history.
However, the following season brought new challenges as Leonard departed for the LA Clippers in free agency, and the COVID-19 pandemic cast uncertainty across the entire sporting world.
Still, the Raptors proved resilient.
They finished the regular season with a 53–19 record, second only to the Milwaukee Bucks, and swept the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Toronto then met the Boston Celtics in a tightly contested semifinal series. The two teams traded wins through the first six games before the Raptors fell just short in Game 7, suffering a narrow 92–87 defeat that ended their title defense.
With the 2024-25 NBA playoffs assuring there would be a new champion, will the next team hailed king managed to keep its crown next year?
