The NBA G League Finals is the championship game or series for the NBA G League and the conclusion of the league's postseason. The league was previously known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005 and the National Basketball Association Development League (NBA D-League) from 2005 to 2017.
Since the league's inception in 2001–02, a variety of formats has been used to determine the champion. From the inaugural postseason in 2002 until 2006, the four teams with the best records advanced to the postseason.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] In the first two seasons, both the semifinal round and the Finals were held in a best-of-three format.[1] [2] Then, between 2004 and 2007, the playoffs used a single-elimination tournament among the four teams, with two semifinal games and one winner-take-all championship match.[3] [4] [5]
In 2007, the league expanded to twelve teams and was divided into Eastern and Western Conferences, comprising six teams each. All playoff rounds were one game each, ending with the Eastern Conference's Dakota Wizards winning the championship 129–121 in overtime against the Colorado 14ers. The best-of-three format for the Finals returned in 2008.[6] [7] [8] [9] With the league's continued expansion to fourteen teams in 2008 and sixteen teams in 2009, the two-conference format was replaced with a three-division format consisting of Western, Southwestern and Central Divisions.[7] [8] Both the 2008 and 2009 NBADL championship series were between teams representing the Western and Southwestern Divisions, with no Central teams making it to the finals.[7] [8] The 2009–10 season saw a reformatting to having Eastern and Western Conferences, with the 2012–13 season being the only one with a third conference named as the Central and the 2013–14 season having just Divisions rather than conferences. Due to there being two more teams in the Western Conference (nine) than the Eastern Conference (seven), and because the top eight teams with the best regular season records qualified for the postseason irrespective of conference, the 2010 and 2012 NBADL Finals consisted of two Western Conference teams.[9] Finally, in the 2014–15 season, the playoff structure was changed so the teams were separated by conference in seeding. The 2021 edition of the Finals was a one-game match, which equaled the amount of games played for the other playoff rounds as played by the eight teams that were seeded solely by record. The league returned to the best-of-three format for the Finals in 2022.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers lead the league in championship appearances (seven) and championships (four).
| Bold | Winning team of the Finals | |
| † | Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season | |
| Team (X) | Denotes the number of times the team has won (also includes past names of franchise, if applicable) |
| Teams | Finals appearances | Championships | Runners-up | Years won | Years runners-up | Playoff appearances | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 4 | 3 | 2010, 2013, 2019, 2022 | 2011, 2017, 2023 | 12 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 2004, 2005, 2024 | 2010 | 10 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 2007, 2015 | 2013, 2014 | 13 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 2012, 2018 | 2005, 2008 | 11 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 2023 | 2009, 2021, 2022 | 7 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2006 | 2004 | 11 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2009 | 2007 | 6 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2014 | 2015 | 7 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2017 | 2018 | 5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2002 | — | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2003 | — | 2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2008 | — | 6 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2011 | — | 5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2016 | — | 8 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2021 | — | 7 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | — | 2012, 2016 | 8 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2002 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2003 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2006 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2019 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2024 | 6 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 6 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 8 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |