Ranking the 10 Best Players to Never Win an NBA Title

Rings or championships are often used as a measuring stick of a player's greatness. They're hounded by the press and the fans until they win one (ask LeBron James). The greatest players in NBA history usually manage to win a title, as it is a star-driven league, however, there have been exceptions. It may be due to the fact that they never played on good teams or that they just ran into a dominant dynasty they had little chance of getting past.

It's a hard task to narrow them down to just 10 and even harder to try to put them in any kind of order. Here, I try to rank them based on their greatness and why they just couldn't get past the final hurdle.

#10 Chris Paul

Career Averages: 18.7 Points, 9.9 Assists 2.3 Steals

Honors: 9x All-Star, 8x All NBA selections, 9x NBA All-Defensive selections

It still seems weird that Chris Paul has never reached a Conference Finals.

The prototypical point guard, he's an excellent passer who can score when the team needs him to. He's also one of the few guards in the NBA today, who are capable defenders. He would have been much higher if it wasn't for his failure to get past the second round of the Playoffs. He has however had the disadvantage of playing in the West. The conference has arguably been at its peak since the mid-2000's.

While injuries have also played a part in his playoff disappointments, the loss against Houston in 2014-15 sticks out. Up 3-1 at one point, the Clippers had an incredible collapse in Game 6 at home, blowing a double-digit lead in the 4th quarter and losing the series in seven games.

Paul still has a chance to get off the list of course, but it's going to be tough. While the Rockets will likely be a top-four seed in the West, it doesn't seem like they'll be able to knock off the Warriors or the Thunder to reach the Finals and eventually win.

#9 George Gervin

Career Averages: 26.2 Points, 4.6 Rebounds, 1.2 Steals

Honors: 9x All-Star, 7x All NBA selections

George Gervin was one of the great scorers of his time. He won 4 scoring titles in a 5-year stretch from 1977-82. An effortless scorer, Gervin is famous for his trademark finger roll layups which he used to great effect over the years. While today we know of the San Antonio Spurs as this perennial contender, they were all about Gervin in the initial years of the franchise in the NBA.

Also read: San Antonio Spurs' all-time starting five

He led the Spurs to the Conference finals thrice, in 1979, 1982 and 1983. They blew a 3-1 lead in 79 to the Bullets, which culminated with them conceding the game-winner with eight seconds left in Game 7. They didn't stand much of a chance the other two times, however. They were up against a Lakers squad which would make four straight finals appearances and the Spurs quite simply lacked the talent to go against a team which had five future Hall of Famers.

#8 Dominique Wilkins

Dominique Wilkins (Image courtesy: grantland.com)

Career Averages: 24.8 points, 6.7 Rebounds, 1.3 Steals

Honors: 9x NBA All-Star, 7x All NBA selections

Dominique Wilkins kicks off the list of greats who were simply unfortunate to play in the 80's and 90's. A great scorer, he was nicknamed the "Human Highlight Reel" for his explosive style of play. Wilkins was an incredible dunker and had a very good mid-range game. He ranks 13th all-time in the scoring.

Wilkins never made it to a Conference Final, but that had much to do with the competition. The Celtics and the Pistons were just too good in the 1980's and the Bulls came after them. His most memorable playoffs moment perhaps came in the 1988 Conference Semi-Finals against the Celtics. With Game 7 in Boston, Wilkins would engage in an incredible duel with Larry Bird. He scored 47 points, but Bird scored 20 in the 4th quarter and they fell just short losing 118-116.

To put some context into the difficulty of winning without a great supporting cast in Wilkins time, every team which won a title from 1987-97 managed to retain the title the following season. The Lakers, Pistons, and Rockets won back to back titles and The Bulls had 2 separate 3 peats. It was just too damn tough to win unless you could match the talent of some of those great teams.

#7 Patrick Ewing

Patrick Ewing (Image courtesy: alchetron.com)

Career Averages: 21 Points, 9.8 Rebounds, 2.4 Blocks

Honors: 11x All-Star, 7x All NBA selections, 3x All-Defensive selections

Patrick Ewing is one of the greatest big men of all time. He often goes underappreciated but he was a double-double machine, who was a terrific post scorer and could knock down mid-range shots. He is also one of the best rim protectors of all time, ranking 7th all-time in blocks.

No one suffered at the hands of the Bulls and Jordan more than Ewing. The Bulls eliminated the Knicks, while led by Ewing, from the playoffs five times. They finally seemed to have got a break in 1993 with Jordan having just retired for the 1st time. Ewing led the Knicks past the Bulls and into the NBA Finals in 1994.

They would face reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the year Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets. Ewing was neutralized as a scoring threat as Olajuwon limited him to 18.9 points per game as Houston won the series in 7 games. The Knicks would again make the FInals in 1999, but Ewing was injured and didn't play as the Knicks lost 4-1 to the Spurs.

#6 Allen Iverson

Career Averages: 26.7 Points, 6.2 Assists, 2.2 Steals

Honors: 1x MVP, 11x All-Star, 7x All NBA selections

Pound for pound Allen Iverson may be the greatest scorer in league history. Standing at 6 feet and 165 lbs, Iverson routinely put his body in harm's way as he crashed into big men trying to score at the rim. He is one of the best isolation scorers the league has ever seen. He was also a capable passer but wasn't a great defender because of his miniature stature.

Iverson had only one NBA finals appearance, which was with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001, the same season he was named league MVP. TheSixers stood no chance however against the dominant Lakers led by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. The 76ers simply didn't have enough offensive talent surrounding Iverson to threaten the Lakers, which was the theme of his career in Philly.

Many point out Iverson would have done much better if he had better teammates. If we look a bit deeper, however, some problems pop up. After he was traded to Denver, he teamed up with Carmelo Anthony, but the Nuggets still failed in the playoffs. Then he was traded to Detroit and the Nuggets shot to the Conference Finals. Coincidentally Detroit who were on a run of six straight Conference Finals slumped to the 8th seed. To put it simply, Iverson's teams seemed to do much better when he was the solo act.

#5 Steve Nash

San Antonio Spurs v Phoenix Suns — Steve Nash

Career Averages: 14.3 Points, 8.5 Assists, 3 Rebounds

Honors: 2x MVP, 8x All-Star, 7x All NBA selections

Steve Nash is one of the greatest playmakers of all time. An excellent passer, he was also an incredibly efficient shooter, making four entries to the illustrious 50-40-90 club. It's shooting 50% from the field, 40% from 3 and 90% from the free throw line. He led the league in assists 5 times and has the highest free throw shooting % in league history. He is one of only three point guards to win multiple MVP's, the other two being Magic Johnson and Stephen Curry.

Also read: 5 greatest players EVER from Canada

The knock on Nash for most of his career has been that he was an average defender at best. Much like Paul, Nash was unlucky to play in the West during the mid-2000's. He led the Suns and the Mavericks to a combined four Conference Finals in 2003, 05, 06, 10 but was unlucky with injuries in three of them. Dirk Nowitzki got injured in 03, Joe Johnson in 05, and Amar'e Stoudemire in 06.

For most of his career, the Spurs have been his nemesis, they knocked him out of the Playoffs 7 times. Nash would get his only series win against the Spurs in 2010, but the Suns lost a closely contested Conference Finals to the Lakers. While his defense has often been criticized, Nash made up for it with his offense. For much of the 2000's, he engineered some of the highest scoring teams the league had seen in years.

#4 John Stockton

John Stockton (Image courtesy: saltcityhoops.com)

Career Averages: 13.1 Points, 10.5 Assists, 2.2 Steals

Honors: 10x All-Star, 11x All NBA selections, 5x NBA All-Defensive selections

John Stockton is one of the greatest point guards of all time. He holds the all-time records for most assists and steals in NBA history (it's not even close). Stockton was the perfect PG, a superb passer and a very good shooter and defender. He led the league in assists a record 9 times and holds the record for assists per game in a season with 14.5 in 1990. Stockton used the heck out of the pick and roll for much of his career with the help of his MVP teammate Karl Malone.

Stockton finally reached the NBA finals with the Jazz in 1997, his 13th season. He had one of the greatest playoff moments in the Conference Finals that year as he scored the final 9 points including a buzzer-beating 3 pointer to lead them to the Finals. But they ran into Michael Jordan and lost in 6 games. He'd reach the Finals again the following season only to lose to Jordan and the Bulls again in 6 games. The lack of a title always tends to hurt Stockton in arguments regarding the best PG of all time, but it's likely that those Jazz teams could have won at least one title if they faced anyone else but the Bulls.

#3 Elgin Baylor

#22 Elgin Baylor (Image courtesy: thesportsfanjournal.com)

Career Averages: 27.4 Points, 13.5 Rebounds, 4.5 Assists

Honors: 11x All-Star, 10x All NBA selections

Elgin Baylor was perhaps the first above the rim player in the NBA. An incredible athlete, he was famous for his trademark hanging jump shots. He was also an excellent rebounder and a good passer.

Baylor is perhaps the best example of an all-time great player running into an unstoppable dynasty. Baylor reached 8 NBA Finals in 12 seasons and lost 7 of them to the Boston Celtics. There were many excruciating losses along the way as four of the Finals' losses were in 7 games.

Also read: Los Angeles Lakers all-time starting five

Baylor is an incredibly unlucky case. Knee problems led him to retire in 1972 and after he retired 9 games into the season, the Lakers went on an NBA record 33-game win streak. They would go on to win the title and while the Lakers gave Baylor a championship ring anyway, it didn't really count.

He is unquestionably the most underrated player of all time, who gets left out of many debates on the all-time greats because he never won a title. He still holds the record for most points scored in an NBA Finals game with 61. A little-known fact is that the Lakers were on the verge of folding in 1958 and if Baylor hadn't shown up they might as well have had.

#2 Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley (Image courtesy: NBA.com)

Career Averages: 22.1 Points 11.7 Rebounds 3.9 Assists

Honors: 1x MVP, 11x All-Star, 11x All NBA selections

Charles Barkley is one of the most dominant Power Forwards of all time. He was an incredibly well rounded (pun intended) player, a terrific scorer, an outstanding rebounder for a man his size and he was also a good playmaker. Barkley is the shortest player to lead the league in Rebounding in NBA history. He wasn't the greatest defender however by any stretch of the imagination.

Barkley would have mixed playoff success in Philly. He reached the Conference Finals in his rookie season, but he'd failed to get back there again. Towards the end of his tenure in Philly Barkley lacked the supporting cast to get deeper into the Playoffs. He was then traded to Phoenix in 1992.

Barkley would win his only MVP in his first season with the Suns and he would lead them to the NBA Finals to face the Bulls. While Barkley played well, the Suns had no answer for Jordan, who averaged an NBA finals record 41.0 points per game.

The lack of a title is what often keeps Barkley out of the discussions when it comes to the greatest of all time. Many wonder how much better he could have been if he took better care of his body.

#1 Karl Malone

Career Averages: 25 Points, 10.1 Rebounds, 3.6 Assists

Honors: 2x MVP, 14x All-Star, 14x All NBA Selections, 4x All NBA Defensive selections

Karl Malone was the epitome of consistency. "The Mailman" ranks second in NBA history in points and seventh in rebounds thanks to his longevity and continued excellence. He formed one of the best duos in league history along with Stockton. A Stockton-Malone pick and roll was a common theme for anyone who saw the Jazz games in the 1990's. He excelled in both post scoring as well as mid-range.

Malone led the Jazz in scoring in both their NBA finals appearances in 1997 and 98. He however famously had the ball stolen from him in Game 6 in 1998 by Jordan. With the Jazz up by one point and with 18 seconds left, he lost the ball and Jordan went on to drill the game winner as Utah lost back to back Finals. They wouldn't have much playoff success after that and Malone would join the Lakers in 2003, hoping to finally win a title but his luck was out. Tensions between Shaq and Kobe were perhaps at their peak at the time and the Lakers were upset in stunning fashion by the Pistons in the 2004 Finals.

While it is arguable on whether Barkley or Malone should go 1st, I give the edge to Malone for his longevity and for being a better defender.