paragraph_text: The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, Kobe Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He declared for the NBA draft upon graduation and was selected in the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who traded him to the Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high - flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and he was named an All - Star by his second season. Despite a feud between them, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.

paragraph_text: The Bulls saw their greatest success during the 1990s when they were responsible for popularizing the NBA worldwide. They are known for having one of the NBA's greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three - peats. All six championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson. The Bulls are the only NBA franchise to win multiple championships and never lose an NBA Finals series in their history.

paragraph_text: The Bulls saw their greatest success during the 1990s, when they were responsible for popularizing the NBA worldwide. They are known for having one of the NBA's greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three - peats. All six championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson. The Bulls are the only NBA franchise to win multiple championships and never lose an NBA Finals series in their history.

paragraph_text: The Knicks were successful during their early years and were constant playoff contenders under the franchise's first head coach Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts. Lapchick resigned in 1956 and the team subsequently began to falter. It was not until the late 1960s when Red Holzman became head coach that the Knicks began to regain their former dominance. Holzman successfully guided the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success that included six playoff appearances; however, they failed to participate in the NBA Finals.

paragraph_text: Since its inception, the award has been given to 31 different players. Michael Jordan is a record six - time award winner. Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and LeBron James won the award three times in their careers. Jordan and O'Neal are the only players to win the award in three consecutive seasons (Jordan accomplished the feat on two separate occasions). Johnson is the only rookie ever to win the award, as well as the youngest at 20 years old. Andre Iguodala is the only winner to have not started every game in the series. Jerry West, the first ever awardee, is the only person to win the award while being on the losing team in the NBA Finals. Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul - Jabbar, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant won the award twice. Olajuwon, Durant, Bryant, and James have won the award in two consecutive seasons. Abdul - Jabbar and James are the only players to win the award for two different teams. Olajuwon of Nigeria, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993, Tony Parker of France, and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany are the only international players to win the award. Duncan is an American citizen, but is considered an ``international ''player by the NBA because he was not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C. Parker and Nowitzki are the only winners to have been trained totally outside the U.S.; Olajuwon played college basketball at Houston and Duncan at Wake Forest. Cedric Maxwell is the only Finals MVP winner eligible for the Hall of Fame who has not been voted in.

paragraph_text: In 2014, James returned to the Cavaliers after four seasons in Miami. While the Heat had a 224 -- 88 record during James' four - year tenure and won NBA titles in 2012 and 2013, the Cavaliers went 97 -- 215 and missed the playoffs each season. The Cavaliers made several moves to build a championship - contender around James, most notably acquiring power forward Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves, which created what many fans and media referred to a ``Big Three ''with James, Love, and Irving. The Lebron - led Cavaliers made four consecutive finals appearances in from 2015 to 2018, all against the Golden State Warriors, winning in 2016. The 2016 NBA Championship marked the Cavaliers' first title in franchise history, as they became the first team to come back from a 3 -- 1 deficit to win the Finals. It was also Cleveland's first championship in major professional sports since the 1964 Browns, signaling the end of the so - called Cleveland sports curse.

paragraph_text: Larry Bird, the inaugural winner of this contest, and Craig Hodges have each won three consecutive times, while Mark Price, Jeff Hornacek, Peja Stojaković and Jason Kapono have each won two consecutive times. Craig Hodges holds the record for most shots made in one round (21 / 25), as well as most consecutive shots made (19). Devin Booker (final round, 2018) holds the record with 28 points, albeit in the newer 34 - point format. Detlef Schrempf and Michael Jordan share the record for the fewest points scored in any round with five in 1988 and 1990 respectively. Kyrie Irving is the youngest player to win the contest at the age of 20. Rimas Kurtinaitis is the only non-NBA player to participate in the contest. Dirk Nowitzki is the only 7 - foot player to win the contest.

paragraph_text: Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (/ dweɪn / dwain; born January 17, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful college career at Marquette, Wade was drafted fifth overall in the 2003 NBA draft by the Miami Heat. He was named to the All - Rookie team and the All - Star team the following twelve seasons. In his third season, Wade led the Heat to their first NBA championship in franchise history and was named the 2006 NBA Finals MVP. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wade led the United States men's basketball team, commonly known as the ``Redeem Team '', in scoring, and helped them capture gold medal honors in Beijing, China. In the 2008 -- 09 season, Wade led the league in scoring and earned his first NBA scoring title. With LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Wade helped guide Miami to four consecutive NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014, winning back - to - back championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2016, Wade departed the Heat in free agency to play for his hometown Chicago Bulls, then leaving them after one season to join the Cavaliers.

paragraph_text: Boston Celtics center Bill Russell holds the record for the most NBA championships won with 11 titles during his 13 - year playing career. He won his first championship with the Boston Celtics in his rookie year. Afterwards, he went on to win ten championships in the next 12 years, including eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. He won the last two championships in 1968 and 1969 as player - coach. Russell's teammate, Sam Jones, won ten championships from 1959 to 1969, the second most in NBA history. Four Celtics players, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders and John Havlicek, won eight championships each. Two other Celtics, Jim Loscutoff and Frank Ramsey, won seven championships each. Four players, Bob Cousy, Kareem Abdul - Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, won six championships each. Jordan and Pippen are members of the Chicago Bulls team who won three consecutive championships twice in the 1990s. George Mikan won two championships in the NBL before it merged with the BAA to form the NBA, and won five championships in the NBA.

paragraph_text: The final playoff round, a best - of - seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals, and is held annually in June. The victor in the NBA Finals wins the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Each player and major contributor -- including coaches and the general manager -- on the winning team receive a championship ring. In addition, the league awards the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award to the best performing player of the series.

paragraph_text: Since its inception, the award has been given to 30 different players. Michael Jordan is a record six - time award winner. Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and LeBron James won the award three times in their careers. Jordan and O'Neal are the only players to win the award in three consecutive seasons (Jordan accomplished the feat on two separate occasions). Johnson is the only rookie ever to win the award, as well as the youngest at 20 years old. Andre Iguodala is the only winner to have not started every game in the series. Jerry West, the first ever awardee, is the only person to win the award while being on the losing team in the NBA Finals. Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul - Jabbar, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon and Kobe Bryant won the award twice. Olajuwon, Bryant, and James have won the award in two consecutive seasons. Abdul - Jabbar and James are the only players to win the award for two different teams. Olajuwon of Nigeria, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993, Tony Parker of France, and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany are the only international players to win the award. Duncan is an American citizen, but is considered an ``international ''player by the NBA because he was not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C. Parker and Nowitzki are the only winners to have been trained totally outside the U.S.; Olajuwon played college basketball at Houston and Duncan at Wake Forest. Cedric Maxwell is the only Finals MVP winner eligible for the Hall of Fame who has not been voted in.

paragraph_text: The San Antonio Spurs hold the longest active consecutive playoff appearances with 21 appearances, starting in the 1998 NBA Playoffs (also the longest active playoff streak in any major North American sports league as of 2017). The Spurs have won five NBA championships during the streak. The Philadelphia 76ers (formerly known as Syracuse Nationals) hold the all - time record for consecutive playoff appearances with 22 straight appearances between 1950 and 1971. The 76ers won two NBA championships during their streak. The Boston Celtics hold the longest consecutive NBA Finals appearance streak with ten appearances between 1957 and 1966. During the streak, the Celtics won eight consecutive NBA championships -- also an NBA record.

paragraph_text: In their 40 NBA seasons since 1976 -- 77, the Spurs have won 22 division titles. They have made the playoffs in 27 of the last 28 seasons (since 1989 -- 90) and have only missed the playoffs four times since entering the NBA; they have not missed the playoffs in the 20 seasons since Tim Duncan was drafted by the Spurs in 1997. With their 50th win in the 2016 -- 17 season, the Spurs extended their record for most consecutive 50 - win seasons to 18 (the Spurs did not win 50 games in the strike - shortened 1998 -- 99 season, which lasted only 50 games). Since the 1997 -- 98 season, the Spurs have had 20 consecutive seasons with a winning percentage of. 610 or greater during the regular season, which is also an NBA record. The team's success during this period coincides with the tenure of current head coach Gregg Popovich, who had been the team's general manager before replacing Bob Hill as coach in 1996.

paragraph_text: James played high school basketball at St. Vincent -- St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, where he was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar. After graduating, he was selected by his home team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft. James led Cleveland to the franchise's first Finals appearance in 2007, ultimately losing to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2010, he left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in a highly publicized ESPN special titled The Decision. James spent four seasons with the Heat, reaching the Finals all four years and winning back - to - back championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he led Miami on a 27 - game winning streak, the third longest in league history. Following his final season with the Heat in 2014, James opted out of his contract and returned to the Cavaliers. From 2015 to 2017, he led the Cavaliers to three consecutive Finals, winning his third championship in 2016 to end Cleveland's 52 - year professional sports title drought.

paragraph_text: The Cavaliers -- Warriors rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. While the two teams have played each other since the Cavaliers joined the league in 1970, their rivalry began to develop in the 2014 -- 15 season, when they met in the first of four consecutive NBA Finals series. Prior to the streak beginning, no pair of teams had faced each other in more than two consecutive Finals. Of these four series, the Warriors have won three championships (2015, 2017, and 2018), and the Cavaliers won in 2016.

paragraph_text: The NBA Championship ring is an annual award given by the National Basketball Association to the team that wins the NBA Finals. Rings are presented to the team's players, coaches, and members of the executive front office. Red Auerbach has the most rings overall with 16. Phil Jackson has the most as coach and Bill Russell has the most as a player (11 each)

paragraph_text: Steffi Graf successfully defended her title, defeating Jana Novotná in the final, 7–6, 1–6, 6–4 to win the Ladies' Singles tennis title at the 1993 Wimbledon Championships. It was Graf's third consecutive appearance in the women's final, and her fifth Wimbledon championship victory. Novotná would appear in two more ladies' finals, eventually winning the title in 1998.

paragraph_text: A total of 19 franchises have won the NBA Finals, with the Golden State Warriors the current champion. The Boston Celtics hold the record for the most victories, having won the competition 17 times, as well as winning the competition the most times in a row, winning it eight times from 1959 to 1966. The Los Angeles Lakers have contested the NBA Finals the most times, with 31 appearances. The Eastern Conference has provided the most champions, with 38 wins from ten franchises; the Western Conference has 32, from nine franchises.

paragraph_text: In 2008, ESPN ranked Kansas second on a list of the most prestigious programs of the modern college basketball era. Kansas currently has the longest streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances of all - time (29), the longest current streak of consecutive NCAA winning seasons (35), the most winning seasons in Division I history (97), the most non-losing seasons (. 500 or better) in NCAA history (100), the most conference championships in Division I history (61), the most consecutive regular season conference titles in Division I (14), the most First Team All Americans in Division I history (22), and the most First Team All American Selections in Division I history (29). As of the last complete season, the program ranks third in Division I all - time winning percentage (. 725) and second in Division I all - time wins (2,217).

paragraph_text: Bryant is the son of former NBA player Joe Bryant. He enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. Upon graduation, he declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick; the Hornets then traded him to the Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and he was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud between the two players, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.

Question: Who has the most consecutive appearances in the tournament where you win a ring in the NBA?
Answer: The Boston Celtics