14. Chris Webber
Back in 1993, if you told anyone that Chris Webber would play sixteen seasons in the NBA but never win an NBA title, they would have called you a “hater.” Yet, the guy who was supposed to be the new prototype power forward in the NBA never really fully lived up to those expectations.
The closest he came was with the Sacramento Kings in 2002, when the Kings were up 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals, only to lose Game 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that will forever go down in infamy due to the very questionable officiating.
13. Pete Maravich
Let’s put it this way: “Pistol” Pete Maravich was to the 1970’s what Stephen Curry has been to the 2010’s — a one-man offensive wrecking ball who forced opponents to check him as far as 25 feet away from the basket. During the peak of his career, Maravich essentially averaged 28 points per game, and that was before the implementation of the three-point line; it’s completely fair to say that he could have averaged upwards of 33 points per game if they counted three-pointers.
However, unlike Curry, Maravich never made it out of the conference finals; his closest shot at even making an NBA Finals came in 1980, as a member of the Boston Celtics, during his last season in the NBA.
12. Reggie Miller
Here’s the thing about Reggie Miller: we’ll always remember him for being one of the best three-point marksmen in NBA history, and we’ll never forget his feuds with the New York Knicks (and their fans — like Spike Lee), but there’s a chance we might be overrating him as one of the true “superstars” in NBA history.
We’re talking about a guy who made it to the playoffs 16 times during his 19 seasons with the Indiana Pacers, but was bounced out of the playoffs in the first round nine times. In 16 attempts, he made it to one NBA Finals — in 2000, when they lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers.
11. Tracy McGrady
If we’re being honest, Tracy McGrady was one of the most physically gifted players in decades. At 6’8, McGrady had the wingspan of a condor, and could legitimately play four positions on the basketball court. But McGrady suffered from what some would describe as “good stats on bad teams” syndrome.
For his all of his abilities and scoring prowess, he was never considered a “winner.” Who knows how history would have looked back on him if Grant Hill didn’t suffer his career-derailing injuries when he and McGrady signed with the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2000.
10. Alex English
Most NBA fans remember the 80s as the decade of Bird’s Celtics vs Magic’s Lakers. That rivalry was filled with an endless list of all-time greats; Bird, Magic, McHale, Abdul-Jabbar and Worthy, just to name a few. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that even the most diehard NBA fans aren’t aware that Nuggets forward Alex English who finished as the leading scorer in the 80s.
He earned eight straight All-Star selections from 1982 to 1989, and despite never playing in the NBA Finals, English was extremely productive in the playoffs. In 68 career playoff games, English was incredibly efficient, scoring 24.4 ppg on 50% from the field and 86% from the free-throw line. English was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1997.
9. Dominique Wilkins
We’ll always remember Michael Jordan for his iconic “Air Jordan” dunk from the 1988 Slam Dunk Competition, but the truth is that the most entertaining dunker of that generation Dominique Wilkins, “the Human Highlight Reel” himself.
But that’s the thing with Wilkins; despite making the All-Star team nine times, and leading the Hawks to three straight seasons with 50 wins, Wilkins was always something of a “me-first” player who was a bit more consumed with stat-stuffing and style points than he was at leading his team to playoff wins. Wilkins’ hawks never made it out of the second round of the playoffs while he was there.
8. George Gervin
First off, if we were handing out championship rings for “best nicknames” of a given era, George “Iceman” Gervin would certainly deserve at least one during his career between the mid-1970’s through the early 1980’s. Alas, such titles don’t exist. Gervin was one of the most gifted scorers of that generation, making it look almost effortless to score at least 27 points in a game.
But Gervin also gets the rep for being one of those guys who came up big in the regular season, but never in the postseason. Gervin only made it as far as the Conference Finals (three times) during his career, but never farther than that.
7. Allen Iverson
Maybe the pound-for-pound toughest and most fearless player in NBA history, Allen Iverson was a relentless and virtually unstoppable scorer for much of his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. But Iverson’s brash personality and “ball-hogging” ways weren’t always conducive to leading a team to the NBA Finals.
After famously reconciling with cantankerous head coach Larry Brown during the 2000-2001 season, Iverson took the 76ers to the NBA Finals and even won Game 1 against the heavily-favored Los Angeles Lakers, but LA ended up taking the next four straight. Iverson never made it out of the first round of the playoffs after that.
6. Steve Nash
One of the pioneers of today’s “pace-and-space” style of basketball, Steve Nash’s combination of pinpoint passing and multifaceted scoring was the engine for the “seven seconds or less” Phoenix Suns between 2004 and 2008.
But despite three trips to the Western Conference Finals (2005, 2006, and 2010), Nash found himself bounced out by Tim Duncan and the Spurs, former teammate Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks, and Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
5. John Stockton
As part of a historic 1-2 punch alongside forward Karl Malone, Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton made the phrase “Stockton to Malone” the most ubiquitous phrase in Utah basketball. What the undersized guard lacked in stature (he was only 6’1 and 175lbs), he made up in guile, savvy, and smarts.
At the end of his 20-year NBA career, all with the Utah Jazz, Stockton retired as the NBA’s all time leader in assists and steals. But as was the case with Malone, Stockton saw his two chances for an NBA championship “stolen” away by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
4. Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. was such a coveted prospect coming out of Georgetown University in 1985 that many NBA conspiracy theorists believe former NBA commissioner David Stern rigged the NBA Draft lottery to allow the New York Knicks to take Ewing.
While Ewing did help the Knicks make it to the NBA playoffs in 14 of his first 16 seasons in the NBA, the closest he got to an NBA title was in 1994, when the Knicks lost to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.
3. Charles Barkley
Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good; just ask Charles Barkley. When the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Barkley in 1984, they were adding him to a team that featured NBA greats like Julius Erving and Moses Malone (not to mention two-time All-Star Andrew Toney). But after making it to the Eastern Conference Finals in his rookie season, Barkley saw his 76ers teammates start to decline thanks to age and injury.
He wouldn’t get a chance to really compete for an NBA championship again until 1992, after Philadelphia traded him to the Phoenix Suns. Barkley won the MVP award during his first season in Phoenix, leading a historically underrated Suns team to the NBA Finals in 1993; of course, that guy named Michael Jordan thwarted Barkley’s last and best chance to win a ring.
2. Karl Malone
There wasn’t much left to accomplish on the professional basketball resume of Karl Malone, except to win an NBA title. Malone finished his career as the second-leading scorer in history, only behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He was named the Most Valuable Player of the league twice (1997 and 1999), selected to the All-Star team 14 times, and made the All-NBA first team 11 times; only Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have ever accomplished that latter accolade. But in Malone’s three trips to the NBA Finals — with the Jazz in 1997 and 1998, and then with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004 — all came up short.
1. Elgin Baylor
Despite playing in eight NBA Finals — Lakers forward Elgin Baylor never won a championship — thanks to the Celtics Dynasty, led by big man Bill Russell. While he failed to win a title, Baylor is still recognized as one of the best players in NBA history. The Lakers selected him with the #1 pick in the 1958 NBA Draft, and Baylor was dominant from day one in the league, posting monster stats (24.9 ppg & 15 rpg) on his way to winning ROY in a landslide.
During his 14 seasons in the NBA, Baylor made 11 All-Star appearances, and posted career averages of 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, chronic knee problems forced Baylor to retire at the beginning of the 1971-1972 season, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. The very next game after Baylor retired, the Lakers went on a record setting 33-game win streak, and finished the season with a victory in the finals against the New York Knicks.