There is always talk about who are the greatest sports teams of all time. All-time great teams win more than one championship; all-time great teams are dynasties. Here is my definition of a dynasty.
To be a dynasty, a team must win three championships within a certain period of time, with some of the main players and/or coaches remaining on the team. So, Babe Ruth’s Yankees and Derek Jeter's Yankees are not one combined dynasty, but two separate dynasties.
For this list, only teams from the big four of American sports will be considered, including the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. The names of the teams on the list will be named by a main player or coach, the time frame of their success (first to last championship appearance/win) or team nickname.
Here are the top 10 sports dynasties of all time counting down to number one.
10. Quarterback Joe Montana’s San Francisco 49ers (1981-1989)
Led by Montana, the 49ers won four Super Bowls in the 1980s. Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Bill Walsh led the 49ers to three of those victories, with the indisputable greatest wide receiver of all time, Jerry Rice, coming aboard for the championships in 1988 and 1989.
9. Coach Al Albour’s New York Islanders (1980-1984)
The New York Islanders of the early 1980s achieved something no other NHL team has since done: win more than two consecutive Stanley Cups. With Hockey Hall of Famers like Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Bryan Trottier and Clark Giles, the Islanders went 60-13 in the playoffs during their championship span before losing in the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals to a future dynasty in the Edmonton Oilers.
8. The Edmonton Oilers (1984-1990)
Having the greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, on your team certainly helps when you're trying to win Stanley Cups. The Oilers won five Stanley Cups in seven years, four of which were led by Gretzky. This dynasty included two back-to-back titles. Only two repeats have occurred in NHL history since.
7. The Showtime Lakers (1980-1991)
With two of the greatest players in NBA history, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Los Angeles Lakers used fast-paced and entertaining basketball strategies to win five NBA titles in nine appearances. Head coach Pat Riley led the Lakers to four of those title victories, while the Lakers appeared in nine of 12 finals during the 1980-1991 seasons.
6. Manager Casey Stengel’s New York Yankees (1949-1960)
One of the reasons why the Yankees have so many World Series trophies sitting in their stadium is Stengel’s dominant teams. With some of the all-time best players like Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio, Stengel won seven championships in 10 appearances.
5. The Brady/Belichick New England Patriots (2001-2019)
Perhaps the greatest coach-quarterback combination ever is Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, respectively, with the duo having won six championships in nine appearances over nearly 20 years. One could argue that this dynasty can be split into two dynasties—a 2000s and a 2010s dynasty; however, because Brady and Belichick were both there in all nine trips to the Super Bowl, I’ll count it as one.
4. Head Coach Vince Lombardi’s Packers (1960-1967)
When you win the first two Super Bowls, you get the trophy named after you, hence the Vince Lombardi trophy. Lombardi’s Packers won five NFL championships in seven appearances, with the last two titles—1966 and 1967—being in the official Super Bowl. Lombardi’s Packers went 9-1 in the postseason, with their only loss being in the 1960 NFL championship game.
3. The 1990s Chicago Bulls (1991-1998)
Led by what many consider to be the greatest basketball player of all time in Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s had two three-peats totaling six championships in eight years. The Bulls had a Hall of Famer, Phil Jackson, as their coach, while also having one of the best small forwards of all time, Scottie Pippen. If Jordan hadn’t quit playing basketball for a year, would this dynasty have seven or eight championships? We’ll never know.
2. The Montreal Canadiens (1951-1960)
If your team had someone on it who has a trophy for leading goal scorer in the league named after them, your dynasty was probably pretty good. Right winger Maurice “Rocket” Richard led the Canadiens to 10 straight Stanley Cup finals from 1951-1960. They won six of those 10 games, including five straight wins from 1956-1960.
1. Center Bill Russell's Celtics (1957-1969)
This team was so dominant that the best player on the team, Bill Russell, doesn’t have enough fingers to fit all his championship rings. Over a period of 13 seasons, Russell and the Celtics won 11 NBA titles in 12 appearances. One of the best coaches to ever do it, Red Auerbach, led the Celtics to nine of those championships.
It takes great coaches, players and a bit of luck to become a dynasty. These teams will live on in immortality as some of the best sports teams ever assembled.