We don’t know who started this you-ain’t-nothing-without-the-bling thing in pro sports, but it has got to stop as soon as possible, if not earlier. If the number of championship rings really is the measure of greatness, as too many seem to think, then the best NBA player of the expansion era is none other than — drum roll, please — Robert Horry (seven rings as a player)?! Oh, and K.C. Jones (eight rings) is better than John Stockton (zippo), too.
True, some of the best players need only to look in the mirror to understand why there’s no championship bling in their vaults. Yet pro sports can be crueler than post-happy hour. Too many times the inability to win the big one comes down to a bad bounce, a bad call, a bad matchup, bad health or just plain bad luck.
Based on career achievements, statistics and metrics, these are the 25 greatest NBA players without a league championship on their resumes.
5. Allen Iverson, Guard
- Career: 1996-2010 (14 seasons)
- Teams: Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies
- Win shares/48 minutes: .126
- Postseason record: 30-41
- NBA Finals appearances: 1 (2001)
In a memorable NBA Finals debut, the miniature pit bull went off for 48 points on 50 total shots. Then it all went pfft against the Los Angeles Lakers, who won the next four games.
Could be the losers needed more practice. What are we talkin’ about — practice?
Yeah, we’re talkin’ about practice.
4. Jack Twyman, Forward-Guard
- Career: 1955-66 (11 seasons)
- Teams: Rochester/Cincinnati Royals
- Win shares/48 minutes: .138
- Postseason record: 12-22
- NBA Finals appearances: None
If the Boston Celtics’ dynasty hadn’t gotten in the way, the Royals might have achieved championship status. Their best team (55-25) fell in five games to Gang Green in the 1964 Eastern Division semis. Jack Twyman, a six-time All-Star, averaged 20.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in the series.
3. Chris Mullin, Forward-Guard
- Career: 1985-2001 (16 seasons)
- Teams: Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers
- Win shares/48 minutes: .139
- Postseason record: 35-36
- NBA Finals appearances: 1 (2000)
The five-time All-Star spent the prime of his career with mostly ordinary Warriors teams before he finally made an NBA Finals appearance with the Pacers. By then, the 36-year was on the verge of retirement. Chris Mullin played 12 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers in the six-game series.
2. Grant Hill, Forward-Guard
- Career: 1994-2013 (18 seasons)
- Teams: Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers
- Win shares/48 minutes: .138
- Postseason record: 14-25
- NBA Finals appearances: None
The former Dukie didn’t experience the same success in the pros that he had in college, largely because of a chronic foot issue that sabotaged the brunt of his career. His closest call came in 2010 playoffs, which saw the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers beat his Suns in six games in the Western Conference finals.
1. David Thompson, Forward-Guard
- Career: 1976-84 (eight seasons)
- Teams: Denver Nuggets, Seattle SuperSonics
- Win shares/48 minutes: .150
- Postseason record: 10-17
- NBA Finals appearances: None
In the final ABA season, his Nuggets lost to Julius Erving and the New York Nets in six games in the 1976 championship round. After a merger of the two leagues, “Skywalker” would never soar to those heights again.
David Thompson got as far as the 1978 Western Conference finals, where the SuperSonics eliminated the Nuggets in six games.
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