Among this list are Hall of Famers who share one thing in common. They all haven't won an NBA championship and Michael Jordan was the reason most of them didn't. Let's take a look at these unlucky legends.
8. Dominique Wilkins
All-Star Appearances: 9
All-NBA First Team: 1
NBA MVP Awards: 0
Dominique Wilkins is known for being one of the most acrobatic slam dunkers and most explosive small forward of all-time. The Hall of Famer had a strong 12 seasons with the Atlanta Hawks an also had seasons in LA, Boston, San Antonio and Orlando.
Unfortunately he was never able to lead his teams to a single NBA finals. The furthest Wilkins got in his entire NBA career was the conference semifinals in the 1988 NBA playoffs, Atlanta losing to Boston in seven games.
7. Allen Iverson
All-Star Appearances: 11
All-NBA First Team: 3
NBA MVP Awards: 1
Pound for pound, the 6 foot Allen Iverson is the greatest player in NBA history. In his 14-year NBA career, Iverson played playoff basketball 8 times, six of those with Philadelphia and twice in Denver. He managed to get to the NBA Finals in 2000-01 with the 76ers. Iverson won the NBA MVP award that season and single-handedly won the Eastern Conference before the Sixers fell to the Lakers in five games.
Philadelphia executives did him no favours as they never got the talent around him needed to have a legitimate shot at winning a title. Although Michael Jordan ended up stopping most on this list from winning a championship, Iverson did manage one of the most iconic crossovers on the greatest player of all-time Jordan.
6. Steve Nash
All-Star Appearances: 8
All-NBA First Team: 3
NBA MVP Awards: 2
Steve Nash is one of the best point guards to ever play in the NBA. Despite playing 118 games in the playoffs across his 18-season career, it's a record for any player who has never made it to the NBA Finals. In 2003 he lost to the Spurs in six games in the conference finals while at the Mavericks, and he fell at the same stage again in 2006, this time playing for Phoenix.
Nash's best chance for an NBA championship was alongside Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas but the Mavericks ownership were impatient waiting for the Nowitzki-Nash partnership to pay off. They eventually won a championship in 2011 with Nash still playing for the Suns. It also didn't help Nash that both the Mavericks and Suns were up against both the dynasties of the Lakers and Spurs.
5. Reggie Miller
All-Star Appearances: 5
All-NBA First Team: 0
NBA MVP Awards: 0
Miller played his entire NBA career at the Indiana Pacers and is considered one of their greatest players of all-time. The sharpshooter held the record for most 3-point field goals when he retired and was one of the most clutch shooters we've ever seen. Miller narrowly missed out on making the 1998 NBA Finals, losing to Michael Jordan and the Bulls in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pacers would make the 2000 NBA Finals, their first appearance in history, but would fall short to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers in six games. His best opportunity was in 2003-04, where a strong Pacers team lost in the Eastern Conference finals to eventual champions Detroit. In his final season, the "Malice at the Palace" derailed his last attempt before retirement as the Pacers would fizzle out in the conference semifinals to Detroit.
...alright tribe, I'll be back tomorrow with the final part of the best players who never won an NBA championship.
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Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.