Chiefs look to join Lakers, Yankees in prestigious three-peat club
The Kansas City Chiefs are in rare air after clinching their berth in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday.
They are looking to become the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowls. Kansas City has already made history with the first half of its quest — it is the first team to make it to a Super Bowl after winning back-to-back Super Bowls.
Across the NBA/MLB/NHL/WNBA, there have been 14 instances when a team has won three straight titles. Since 1970, that number is limited to just eight.
Here’s a look back at each team across the NBA/MLB/NHL/WNBA/MLS to win three straight championships since 1970.
Led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers strung together three straight NBA titles to kick off the new millennium.
Los Angeles won no more than 56 games in each regular season, including 67 in 1999-00 — the second-most in franchise history. The Lakers found similar success in the postseason. They went a combined 45-13 spearheaded by a dominant 15-1 record in the 2001 playoffs.
That didn’t carry over in the 2002-03 season when Los Angeles went 50-32 and then lost in the Western Conference semifinals to eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.
The Yankees started the 21st century just as they ended the previous one — as World Series champions.
New York started its three-peat with a franchise-record 114 regular season wins, then went 11-2 in the post season to win a title. Similar success followed in 1999 — a 98-64 regular season record and 11-1 run in the playoffs — but the Yankees clawed to win their third straight.
They finished with an 87-74 record then went five and six games, respectively, in the ALDS and ALCS. However, New York dispatched the New York Mets in five games of the Subway Series.
The Yankees were just one inning away from winning a fourth straight. Mariano Rivera allowed two runs in the ninth inning of Game 7, blowing a save that led to the Arizona Diamondbacks clinching the World Series.
Houston Comets, 1997-2000
Houston marked the WNBA’s first dynasty, winning the league’s first four championships.
The Comets were led by a legendary big-three of Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson. They all averaged double-digit points per game during Houston’s final three titles. Cooper won the WNBA MVP award in 1997 and 1998, while Cooper won in 2000.
Houston’s run came to an end in 2001 after posting a 19-13 record and losing to the Los Angeles Sparks — who won the championship that season — in the Western Conference Semifinals.
No team arguably dominated a decade in the NBA like the Bulls in the 1990s. Led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Chicago recorded two separate three-peats, the last of which came in memorable fashion against the Utah Jazz.
The Bulls won less than 60 games just once in their championship-winning regular seasons. In 1995-96, they set an NBA-record with 72 wins in the regular season. Remarkably, Chicago only appeared in a Game 7 once across both its three-peat runs. The tide turned in 1999, however, as the Bulls underwent a major overhaul. Jordan retired, while other key members of the franchise moved on, including former head coach Phil Jackson. As a result, Chicago went 13-37 in the lockout-shortened season.
If a three-peat solidifies a dynasty, then the Islanders’ four-peat left no room for interpretation as to who ran the league in the early ’80s.
Those teams — which touted the likes of Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy, Bob Nystrom, Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies and Billy Smith — led the Islanders to the franchise’s first Cup win in 1980. Then, they proceeded to follow up with three more wins. They are not only the last team to three-peat in the NHL, but also they are one of just three four-peats that have happened in the league’s history.
New York completed its three-peat in dominant fashion, with a four-game sweep of the Vancouver Canucks.
A dynasty within a decade of your previous dynasty? Sure, why not. No other NHL squad dominated both the regular season and playoffs like these Montreal teams.
With legendary Scotty Bowman behind the bench and Guy Lafleur scoring 50+ goals in each of the four seasons, the Canadiens couldn’t be stopped.
The Canadiens hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup four years in a row, nearly replicating the feat of the first Montreal dynasty — except for the rise of another team’s dynasty and the retirement of key contributors.
Ten players from this dynasty went on to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Swingin’ A’s absolutely dominated the American League in the early ’70s, winning five consecutive American League West Division titles and three American League pennants en route to their three World Series titles.
The A’s made history with their three consecutive championships, becoming the first team to three-peat in two decades and the only MLB team other than the Yankees to do so. Oakland’s reign included beating the Cincinnati Reds in seven games in 1972, the New York Mets in seven games in 1973 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in 1974.
Four members from the dynasty went on to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Catfish Hunter (1987), Rollie Fingers (1992), Reggie Jackson (1993), and manager Dick Williams (2008). Out of the four Hall of Famers, only Fingers and Williams were inducted with the A’s logo on their plaque.
ESPN Research contributed to this story.