City Population of Every NBA Champion

The NBA has crowned champions from cities of dramatically different sizes throughout its history. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia have all celebrated multiple championships, while smaller communities such as Rochester and Syracuse were home to title-winning franchises during professional basketball's early years.

This table lists every NBA champion and the population of its home city. Population figures are based on historical census counts rather than the metropolitan population, which can be substantially larger. For example, a team playing in a relatively small municipality may draw fans from a region containing millions of residents.

For historical consistency, the population shown generally reflects a census count associated with the championship period. The figures are not annual population estimates, so a city may have the same population listed for several consecutive championship seasons.

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The NBA's championship history demonstrates that success has never been restricted to the league's largest cities. The 1954-55 Syracuse Nationals won the championship representing a city with a listed population of 220,583, while the 1969-70 New York Knicks won from a city with nearly 7.9 million residents.

During the 1950s, Minneapolis, Rochester and Syracuse all celebrated championships. As franchises moved and the league expanded, larger metropolitan markets became more prominent. Nevertheless, teams in San Antonio, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Oklahoma City and other comparatively small municipalities have continued to win championships.

Boston's many titles illustrate another important distinction. The city proper has a much smaller population than the entire Greater Boston metropolitan region, yet the Celtics have been one of the NBA's most successful franchises since the 1950s.

Similarly, the Golden State Warriors won championships while playing in Oakland and later in San Francisco. Although the franchise retained the Golden State name, the population shown in this table reflects its home city during each championship season.

City population is not the same as NBA market size. A city's official population includes only people living within its municipal boundaries. NBA franchises typically draw fans from surrounding suburbs, neighboring cities and a much broader geographic area.

For example, Miami's city population is considerably smaller than the population of the South Florida metropolitan area. The same is true of Boston, San Francisco and several other championship cities.

Toronto also requires special consideration because Canadian population statistics use different census definitions from those in the United States. The Toronto figure listed for 2018-19 represents a broader Toronto population measurement rather than a directly comparable U.S.-style municipal census figure.

For a broader comparison, visit NBA Markets by Population or NBA City Population History.

United States population figures are drawn from historical U.S. Census Bureau counts associated with each championship period. Census counts are taken every ten years, so these figures should not be interpreted as exact population estimates for the date of each championship.

Toronto's population figure uses Canadian population information and is not directly comparable with every U.S. city-proper figure.

Franchise names are presented using the names associated with each championship season. The Golden State Warriors' home cities are identified separately to distinguish their Oakland and San Francisco championship periods.

The table retains the historical census figures used for each season, including changes in census reference years. Population figures should not be interpreted as metropolitan-area or television-market estimates.

If you know of an important population record that would make a good addition to this page, or notice an error in one of the existing entries, please send the information.

When suggesting an addition, please include the championship season, team, city, population figure and a reliable source when available.

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