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The Most Valuable Player is the most prestigious individual achievement award and is a validation to whatever a player has achieved throughout the season. Stephen Curry is the only MVP in the history of the game to have it won unanimously.
When Russell Westbrook won the award in 2016-17, he became the first player to win the award on a team that has failed to win at least 50 regular-season games since 1982-83.
Albeit there are a lot of MVPs who led their teams to championships, there are few legendary players who have been very unfortunate to miss out on a ring. Let us look at 5 MVPs who never won an NBA title.
#5 Charles Barkley
Career Stats: 22.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game
Charles Barkley is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest Power Forwards of all-time. One of the most dominant players at his position, he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1984 NBA draft as the fifth overall pick and played for them for eight years. He led the team to post-season six times but never reached the finals.
He continued to enjoy the same success at the personal level after being traded to the Phoenix Suns. In the 1992-93 season, Barkley exploded in the regular season and averaged 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds per game and successfully led the team to playoffs. It was only his first season with the Suns and was received huge praise for carrying the team on his back.
In the finals, he lost to the Michael Jordan's Bulls and that was the closest Chuck ever came to winning an NBA title. However, irrespective of the fact that he never won a ring, he will always be remembered as a hall-of-famer who gave his all for the game of basketball.
#4 Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose is one of the most electrifying players of all-time and it is not even up for debate. A career plagued by injuries, Rose still continues to play with his fighting spirit and is currently with the Minnesota Timberwolves. During his early years, he was known for his slashing, driving and had a great strength.
He was selected by the Chicago Bulls in 2008 with the first overall pick and he did not disappoint as he averaged 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists in his rookie season. He won the Rookie of the Year award that year, to no one's surprise.
During the 2010-11 season, Rose came up big for the Bulls every single night and dragged them to the playoffs. He averaged 25 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists, won the Most Valuable Player award. At 22 years and 5 months old, he became the youngest to ever win the MVP. The Bulls lost to the Miami Heat in the Conference Finals.
Today, Rose may not be at the level that he once was but to the fans, he will always be the kid from Chicago who played every single night like it was his last and brought laurels to the city although he never won a Championship.
#3 Steve Nash
Career Stats: 14.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game
Steve Nash is one of the greatest Point Guards of all-time and was known for his ability to pass the ball with spectacular efficiency. The 8-time All-Star is widely remembered for his days with the Phoenix Suns where he enjoyed the most success.
Nash led the league in assists in five seasons during his career. He is also one of the very few players who made it to the 50-40-90 club. While it is an achievement to get there once, Nash made it four times to this list.
He led the Suns to the West Finals in 2005 and collected his first MVP trophy. His second MVP award came the following year when the Suns lost once again in the West Finals. He came runner-up in 2007 and missed out on his third consecutive MVP award.
Nash was known for his all-round abilities and did everything the team asked him to. He is one of the greatest shooters in the history of NBA. Unfortunately, Nash never played in an NBA Finals series.
#2 Karl Malone
Career Stats: 25.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game
Karl Malone played in the NBA for 19 years and spent 18 of those with the Utah Jazz. He was drafted by the Jazz as the 13th overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft. Together with John Stockton, they dismantled the oppositions and enjoyed great success.
Malone was a 14-time All-Star and was also awarded the All-Star MVP twice (1989,1993). He was very consistent and made it to the All-NBA first team, eleven consecutive times. He is second on the list of all-time points scored with 36928 career points.
He made it to the post-season in all the 19 seasons that he was part of and lost in the Finals twice (1997,1998). On both these occasions, the Jazz's finals opponent was the Michael Jordan's Bulls and Jordan ensured that Malone doesn't get a ring and defeated the Jazz both the times in six games.
#1 Allen Iverson
Career Stats: 26.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game
Allen Iverson is arguably one of the greatest Point Guards to ever play the game of basketball. He played in the NBA for 14 seasons and received innumerable awards but was not fortunate enough to get his hands on the most coveted Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Iverson was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996 NBA draft as the first overall pick and spent a large part of his playing career with the 76ers. He was an 11-time All-Star and won the All-Star MVP trophy on multiple occasions (2001, 2005).
He was one of the most prolific scorers of his era and was a four-time scoring champion. In the 2000-01 regular season, Iverson averaged 31.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game and led the Sixers to the NBA Finals. He was subsequently awarded the Most Valuable Player award.
Iverson carried the team on his back to the finals but in the finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, he could only take the team home in Game 1 and the Sixers' season came to an end in five games. He achieved everything in his career but it is sad how a legendary player like Iverson was unfortunate to not taste success in the Finals.
