The Best NBA Players With No Championship Rings
List of the greatest NBA basketball players of all time who never won a championship ring. Though winning a championship is the ultimate goal of any team in any league, often circumstances conspire to keep even the most elite athletes from actually making it to that pinnacle of achievement. Thus, it has become a known and accepted truth that there must be other ways to measure the greatness of a basketball icon other than counting up their actual championship record. A number of lesser players whose names have been all but forgotten to history have collected more rings than legends like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Reggie Miller.
But what other measurements can be used to evaluate the dominance of a given player, if not by the rings on their fingers? Perhaps participation in NBA All Star competitions? Their central importance to a particular team or city? It'd be hard to argue against the greatness of six-time NBA All Star Shawn Kemp, nor to deny his integral position on the '90s Seattle Sonics. Yet in may ways because of the dominance of Michael Jordan's Bulls dynasty, Kemp was never part of a championship team.Â
Below, vote for your favorite players who never managed to clinch a championship victory. And if you think a key player has been left off the list, add them by making your own re-ranked version. Thanks to your votes, we'll create a list of the best NBA players without a ring.
- Point guard
- Teams: Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons
1 NBA Finals appearance (2001)
Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975), nicknamed "the Answer", is an American former professional basketball player. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the ...more - Power forward
- Teams: Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers
3 NBA Finals appearances (1997, 1998, 2004)
Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Mailman", Malone played the power forward position and spent his first 18 seasons ...more - Point guard
- Teams: Utah Jazz
2 NBA Finals appearances (1997, 1998)
John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) as a point guard for the Utah Jazz, and the team made the ...more - Power forward
- Teams: Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers
1 NBA Finals appearance (1993)
Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on Inside the NBA. Nicknamed Chuck, Sir Charles, Street Beef, and The ...more - Point guard
- Teams: Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers
Stephen John Nash OC OBC (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball ...more - Center
- Teams: New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Seattle Supersonics
2 NBA Finals appearances (1994, 1999)
Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current head coach of the Georgetown University men's basketball team. He played most of ...more