As the Boston Celtics are one win away from another NBA Finals appearance, let's take a look at the most dominant teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLB and see who is the best dynasty of them all.
The Montreal Canadians' Dynasty
Founded in 1909, the Canadians are the oldest pro hockey team and are the only current team to actually predate the National Hockey League. The Canadians are so old they were winning Stanley Cups before there was even a playoff for them. The Habs have 24 championships but only 22 of them coming during the NHL years. Montreal has appeared in 34 Stanley Cup finals, posting a 24-9 winning record (not a typo, in 1919 the Cup Finals were cancelled due to the Spanish Flue with Montreal tied up with Seattle).
The Canadians have appeared in 34% of all Stanley Cup Finals during their tenure and have won 24% of all Stanley Cup Finals during their tenure. The Canadians 24-9 record is a stellar 73% winning percentage in Finals series.
The New York Yankees' Dynasty
Considered the de-facto best dynasty in American professional sports, the New York Yankees have won a continent best 27 championships in 40 appearances. That adds up to 25% of all World Series titles going to the Bronx Bombers. An impressive feat for sure, but is it the best?
Founded in 1901, the Yankees have appeared in 37% of all World Series during their tenure. Their winning percentage of 68% in World Series finals falls a bit short of the Canadians. While the Yankees have the most championships of any North American pro team, it does not make them the best dynasty in pro sports. Having won a quarter of their league's championships pushes them slightly ahead of the Habs but there's one more team to look at.
The Boston Celtics' Dynasty
The Celtics were founded decades after the Yankees and Canadians but quickly played catch up winning 17 championships during their 64 year existence. Since their first year in 1946, the Celtics have appeared in 20 NBA Finals, winning a jaw-dropping 85% of them. By comparison, the next best team in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers, needed 30 appearances to rack up 15 championships.
The Boston Celtics have appeared in 31% of the NBA's championships and won 27% of all NBA Final titles during their tenure. While the NHL and MLB can claim having the teams with the most championships, they also had nearly 4 decades of a head start over the NBA. Judging teams by their championship totals to years in existence percentage, the Boston Celtics come out as the top dynasty in North American pro sports history. Even more impressive, when facing their arch-rivals, the LA Lakers, in the NBA Finals the Celtics are a ridiculous 9-2.
And of course, we all know about the 11 championships in 13 years and 8 championships in a row, the longest championship streak of any professional North American team.
What about the NFL?
Simply put, no NFL team can claim dominance of their league like the Yankees, Canadians, and Celtics. The two most storied franchises in the NFL are the Packers, with 13 championships and the Steelers with 6 Super Bowls. But in terms of championships per years of existence both fall well short of the other three leagues with percentages under 15%. Dominating football is a lot tougher than dominating baseball, basketball or hockey and we shouldn't expect any football team to ever catch up to the other three dynasties in terms of total championships nor in terms of championships per years in existence.
What if all three teams win this year?
A great question as the Celtics and Canadians are both still in contention for championships and of course the Yankees are seemingly always in contention.
Here's a look at the possible stats:
Boston Celtics
18 - 3 = 86%
18 / 65 = 28%
Montreal Canadians
25-9 = 74%
25 / 102 = 25%
New York Yankees
28-13= 68%
28 / 110 = 25%
The Boston Celtics are the Best Dynasty in North American Sports
No matter how you look at it, the Celtics come out on top. Judging teams by their total championships isn't fair or logical, especially when considering the huge head start the MLB and NHL had on the NBA and NFL. We can't judge a MLB/NHL team against a NBA/NFL team, we must judge them by how they performed within their respective leagues. And in those regards the Canadians, Yankees and Celtics absolutely dominate their respective leagues but the Celtics dominate theirs more. Even if the Canadians and Yankees won championships this year and the Celtics lost, the C's would still have won 26% of all NBA Finals titles, a full percentage point higher than the Canadians or Yankees.
Simply put, the Boston Celtics are the greatest dynasty in North American professional sports.
Photo credit: Nate Tharp | SA 2.0
Hate to disagree with you, but the title of best pro franchise needs to go with the Yanks. More competition, better talent, bottom line. Especially with title # 28 on its way come October!
More competition? How so? Over the years the C’s have had to play some great teams to get to and win the NBA Finals. The gap between the Yankees and the next best team is often much larger than the gap between the Celtics and the next best team. The salary cap forces more competition and until baseball gets one really don’t see how you can saw the Yankees face more competition.
As for better talent, that’s really gotta be a wash between the two. Bill Russell , Larry Bird, the big three, and on and on versus Derek Jeter, Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra, Lou Gehrig and on and on. Both teams all-time lineup is filled with Hall of Famers.
The only arbitrary stat to look at is how many of their respective league’s titles has each team won, and in that regard the Celtics eek out the Yankees. 17/18 titles in 64 years is much more impressive than 27/28 titles in 109 years.
So if an expansion team wins a title in its first season, then its 1.000 % of titles makes it the all-time greatest? Very poor logic indeed. The Yankees won 20 out of the first 59 World Series which puts it ahead of the Celtics rate of their having won only 17 of the first 64.Plus, if you only count the years that both the Yankees and Celtics have existed together (1947-2010), the Yankees have won 17/63 (can’t count the strike year of ’94)and the Celtics have won 17/64. Edge Yankees in this spot as well as being the kings of having 27 crowns.