The top ten most successful NBA teams of all time, ranked by historical success and continued relevance.
1) 
Celtics– Founded in 1946. 17 championships and 21 conference titles; 13 winning seasons this century
Last Championship: 2008 (1 this century)
All-Time Winning %: .590 (3rd)
All-Time Wins: 3,307 (1st)
Playoff Appearances: 54 (2nd)
Hall of Famers: 31
Defining Voice: Johnny Most
Defining Coach: Red Auerbach
Legends: Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Paul Pierce
2) 
Lakers– Founded in 1946. Formerly the Detroit Gems and then the Minneapolis Lakers (Hence the name Lakers from the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”) 17 championships and 32 conference titles; 13 winning seasons this century
Last Championship: 2020 (6 this century)
All-Time Winning %: .596 (2nd)
All-Time Wins: 3,274 (2nd)
Playoff Appearances: 60 (1st)
Hall of Famers: 21
Defining Voice: Chick Hearn
Defining Coach: Phil Jackson
Legends: Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor
3) 
Bulls– Founded in 1966. 6 championships and 6 conference titles; 8 winning seasons this century
Last Championship: 1998
All-Time Winning %: .520 (10th)
All-Time Wins: 2,170 (11th)
Playoff Appearances: 35 (tied for 8th)
Hall of Famers: 9
Defining Voice: Johnny Kerr
Defining Coach: Phil Jackson
Legends: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bob Love, Artis Gilmore, Derrick Rose
4) 
Spurs– Founded in 1967 as the Dallas Chaparrals (Chaparral refers to a type of shrub land). Became Texas Chaparrals in 1970 before taking present name in 1973. 5 championships and 6 conference titles; 18 winning seasons this century
Last Championship: 2014 (4 this century)
All-Time Winning %: .603 (1st)
All-Time Wins: 2,473 (9th)
Playoff Appearances: 45 (tied for 5th)
Hall of Famers: 7
Defining Voice: Terry Stembridge
Defining Coach: Gregg Popovich
Legends: Tim Duncan, George Gervin, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Avery Johnson
Warriors– Founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors before moving to San Francisco in 1962. Took their present name in 1971. 6 championships and 10 conference titles; 8 winning seasons this centuryLast Championship: 2018 (3 this century)
All-Time Winning %: .481 (20th)
All-Time Wins: 2,690 (6th)
Playoff Appearances: 33 (tied for 9)
Hall of Famers: 14
Defining Voice: Tim Roye
Defining Coach: Al Attles
Legends: Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Kevin Durant, Chris Mullin, Steph Curry, Nate Thurmond
76ers– Founded in 1939 as the Syracuse Reds before changing their name to the Nationals in 1946. They took their present title in 1963, after the year the Declaration of Independence was signed. 3 championships and 9 conference titles; 7 winning seasons this centuryLast Championship: 1983
All-Time Winning %: .511 (12th)
All-Time Wins: 2,773 (3rd)
Playoff Appearances: 47 (3rd)
Hall of Famers: 14
Defining Voice: Marc Zumoff
Defining Coach: Billy Cunningham
Legends: Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, Hal Greer, Dolph Shayes
Pistons– Founded in 1941 as the Fort Wayne Pistons. 3 NBA championships and 7 conference titles; 8 winning seasons this centuryLast Championship: 2004 (1 this century)
All-Time Winning %: .487 (18th)
All-Time Wins: 2,674 (7th)
Playoff Appearances: 41 (7th)
Hall of Famers: 16
Defining Voice: George Blaha
Defining Coach: Chuck Daly
Legends: Isiah Thomas, Bob Lanier, Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, Dave Bing
Knicks– Founded in 1946. 2 championships and 8 conference titles; 4 winning seasons this century.Last Championship: 1973
All-Time Winning %: .492 (17th)
All-Time Wins: 2,751 (4th)
Playoff Appearances: 42 (6th)
Hall of Famers: 17
Defining Voice: Marv Albert
Defining Coach: Red Holzman
Legends: Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere
Heat- Founded in 1989. 3 Championships and 6 Conference titles; 14 winning seasons this centuryLast Championship: 2013 (3 this century)
All-Time Winning %: .521 (9th)
All -Time Wins: 1,234 (24th)
Playoff Appearances: 19 (23rd)
Hall of Famers: 1
Defining Voice: Tony Fiorentino
Defining Coach: Erik Spoelstra
Legends: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Alonzo Mourning, Glen Rice, Tim Hardaway
10) 
Rockets– Founded in 1967 as the San Diego Rockets before moving to Houston in 1971. 2 championships and 4 conference titles; 15 winning seasons this century
Last Championship: 1995
All-Time Winning %: .522 (8th)
All-Time Wins: 2,135 (13th)
Playoff Appearances: 31 (13th)
Hall of Famers: 10
Defining Voice: Bill Worrell
Defining Coach: Rudy Tomjanovich
Legends: Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone, Clyde Drexler, Calvin Murphy, Elvin Hayes
–The Timberwolves trail all teams with a .395 winning percentage.
–The Clippers are by far the most career games under 500 with an all-time record of 1538-2307.
–The Kings suffer the longest championship drought in the league, having not won a title since the 1950-51 season (as the then Rochester Royals).
–Five teams were established prior to the ’89 expansion and have yet to win a title: the Nuggets, Jazz, Suns, and Clippers.
–Two teams have an all-time winning record and have yet to win a championship: the Suns (.541) and Jazz (.537).
–Four teams remain from the ABA: the Spurs, Pacers, Nuggets, and Nets.
–The Knicks and Celtics are the only two teams present at the NBA’s founding to remain in their original city. Teams that have retained both their original name and city since their founding include the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, and Toronto Raptors.
Wilt Chamberlain started his career with the Philadelphia Warriors, which later became the San Francisco Warriors. But he was never on Golden State. Lakers maybe. But if he’s to be a legend, it should be while he was on the Sixers, since he led them to an NBA title one year. I saw him play the Knicks once at MSQ. He only scored 6 points that night so he must have scored in too many other ways prior to the game. He held many records!!
Yes, Wilt did win a championship with the ‘67-‘68 Sixers, one of the greatest teams in NBA history, but he accomplished truly legendary feats while playing for the Warriors. Most notably he scored 100 points in a single game, averaged 50 points per game for a whole season, and averaged 48.5 minutes per game for a whole season (i.e., more minutes per game than there are during a regulation basketball game. How did he do that? He played all but eight minutes the entire season. However, add in overtime minutes and you get the phenomenal 48.5 minutes per game average over a whole season.).