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In the ongoing era of Superteams in the NBA, every contending team has at least three superstars on their roster - four in the case of the Golden State Warriors. There was a time when the teams used to win titles with just one stud (1994-96 Houston Rockets or 1988-90 Detroit Pistons).
However, whether a team has one or two superstars or even three, they always need a lesser known player, a reserve or starter who isn't among their top three players, to step up and deliver for them in crucial times.
Here are a few conditions for players to feature on this list: a) they have to be part of a championship(s) team (b) They can't be among the top 3 players of the team and ideally they shouldn't have an All-Star appearance.
So here are the top 10 role players in NBA history:
#10 Ron Harper - Chicago Bulls
Ron Harper was drafted eighth overall in the 1986 Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. For the first eight years of his career, he was the primary scorer with first the Cavs, and then the LA Clippers, averaging more than 19.35 points on nearly 45% shooting.
However, his most successful and noteworthy years were his final seven in the league - five with the Chicago Bulls and two with the Los Angeles Lakers. In those seven seasons, he won five NBA championships - three with the Bulls (1996, 97, 98) and two with the purple and gold franchise (2000, 01).
For obvious reasons, with both these franchises, Harper's numbers dropped significantly but he did just enough to help them out when they needed him the most. More importantly, his length (6'6") at the point guard spot helped these teams defensively, as all their perimeter players could then switch everything.
#9 Bruce Bowen - San Antonio Spurs
Given the coaching philosophy and style of Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs might have won their three titles in the 2000's (2003, 05, 07) even without Bruce Bowen. But that's easy to say in hindsight and when we look back now, Bowen was invaluable to the franchise even though he could play one side of the ball effectively.
After completing his four years in college, Bowen went undrafted in the 1993 and didn't get a selection in the league until 1997. Then too, he bounced around till 2001 representing three teams in those four years - Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, and the Boston Celtics.
He finally found his home with the Spurs in 2001 and played there for the next eight years. His defensive play did get him the recognition it deserved with eight All-Defensive Team selections, all with the Spurs.
#8 Steve Kerr - Chicago Bulls/San Antonio Spurs
Like many on this list, Steve Kerr was a journeyman in the league before finding his role with the Chicago Bulls from 1993 to 1999. He was drafted 50th overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 1988 Draft but he only played his rookie season with the team. Kerr's spent his next four years playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers (1989-92) and the Orlando Magic (1992-93).
His ability to knock down the 3-pointers efficiently is what kept him in the league, he led the NBA twice in long-range shooting (1989-90, 1994-95). With the Bulls, he had established himself as a regular rotation player in the league, who could be an outside scoring threat.
After the situation disintegrated, Kerr had two stints with the Spurs - one from 1999 to 2001 and the other for a single season of 2002-03. In his three seasons in San Antonio, he might not have played a huge role but he played one great game when the team needed a spark the most - Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
That's great but don't forget this one back in 1997 for the Bulls in the NBA Finals:
#7 Toni Kukoc - Chicago Bulls
Toni Kukoc has quite the decorated resume when it comes to European Basketball but in the NBA he was relevant for only seven of his 15 seasons. The seven years in question is the time he spent with the Chicago Bulls from 1993 to 2000. He was a huge factor in the franchise's second three-peat and was the biggest member off the bench.
In the year that the team broke the single-season wins record by registering 72 wins, he was named the Sixth Man of the Year. His versatility allowed the Bulls to play small with him, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman long before the league's current small ball style.
In his seven years at Chicago, he averaged 14.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists on 45.8% shooting. He is currently a Special advisor to Michael Reinsdorf, President, and COO of the Chicago Bulls.
#6 Lamar Odom - Los Angeles Lakers
Everybody knows Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were the keys to the Los Angeles Lakers winning back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 but while squaring up against other highly talented teams, Lamar Odom was often the difference maker.
Aside from his conventional talents of playing the forward position, Odom could also bring the ball up the floor as a point guard and could shoot the long ball quite efficiently. Over the course of his 14-year career in the league, he played for four teams - LA Clippers, Miami Heat, and the Dallas Mavericks being the other three.
But it's quite easy to conclude that Odom's most successful time was in LA as a member of the Lakers. He was instrumental and pivotal to the team winning their two titles in the latter part of the last decade. The only recognition he was received is a Sixth Man of the Year award in 2011.
#5 Danny Ainge - Boston Celtics
After the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, it's easy to forget the rest of the Celtics that helped the franchise dominate the early part of the 1980's decade. In his eight seasons with the team from 1981-89, he averaged 11.3 points, 4.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds on 48.7% shooting while playing about 28.1 minutes.
Not only was he a huge value for the production he provided for how long he was on the court but he could play on both ends of the court. He was traded from the Celtics in 1989 to the Sacramento Kings. From then till he retired in 1995, Ainge also played for two other teams - the Portland Trailblazers and the Phoenix Suns.
He was a crucial member of the Suns team that went to the NBA Finals in 1993. Alas, they came up short to the Michael Jordan and the Bulls, which kept Ainge's championship tally at two (1984, 86).
#4 Michael Cooper - Los Angeles Lakers
Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott. No doubt these were the biggest stars for the Los Angeles Lakers as the franchise won five titles in the 1980's but way too often is Michael Cooper forgotten.
Cooper was drafted 60th overall in the 1978 Draft and had been a mainstay in the team throughout the 80's decade. His twelve years with the franchise till 1990 were the only basketball years of his life. Cooper did everything all of the big names couldn't or didn't.
So while Magic, Kareem, Worthy and Byron Scott were the pillars of the Lakers' offense, Cooper took care of the defense. In 12 years, he was named to eight All-Defensive Team selections, including a Defensive Player of the Year award in 1987.
#3 Don Nelson - Boston Celtics
Don Nelson is the winningest coach in NBA history and has won the Coach of the Year thrice. Did all of the coaching pedigree come from winning Championships with the Boston Celtics?
Nelson played 11 of his 13 seasons with the Celtics, from 1965 to 1976 prior to which he played for a couple of seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers. In his time with the Boston franchise, Nelson was part of five championships teams - 1966, 68, 69, 74, 76.
On a team that was already quite well equipped, he provided valuable scoring to the Celtics' team, averaging double-digit (11.4 points at 48.4% shooting) scoring in eight of his 11 seasons. He hit some key shots in the 1969 Playoffs, the last of Bill Russell's 11 championships, and also led the league in FG% during his penultimate season.
#2 Derek Fisher - Los Angeles Lakers
Derek Fisher won all of his five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 01, 02, 09, 10) but his exceptional role-playing career even had appreciable stints with the Utah Jazz, the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Fisher has played the most Playoff games in NBA history - 259, a majority obviously with the Lakers. Over the years, he's multiple clutch shots for the Lakers during the long Playoff runs including the 0.4 shot against the Spurs in 2003 and two HUGE three's against the Orlando Magic in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals.
He could have had his jersey retired but the level of talent in the franchise's history is way too rich for the Lakers to even think about raising Fisher's jersey.
#1 Robert Horry - Houston Rockets/ Lakers/ Spurs
Robert Horry is the only player to win multiple championships with three teams - Houston Rockets (1994, 95), Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 01, 02) and the San Antonio Spurs (03,05). He was rightfully named "Big Shot Bob" for his tendencies to knock down huge clutch shots and over the course of his 17-year career, he did almost every year in the postseason.
Horry has played in 244 Playoff games, good for third all-time only behind Tim Duncan and Fisher. Other than his ability to knock down clutch shots, Horry was able to allow teams to play small as he could shoot the long ball and had good lateral quickness for a 6-9 forward.
Every time somebody says Michael Jordan is not the greatest player of all time because Bill Russell has 11 titles, Horry is bound to come into it as a sarcastic comparison because of his seven NBA titles. Although sarcastic, Horry has earned every one of his seven titles, given what he provided to his teams.
