Who Are the Best NBA Players to Never Win a Title?

The NBA is full of dynasties. And it means there are a lot of talented players without rings. So here are the best NBA players to never win a title.

Parameters: no active players (sorry, Vince Carter) and no one who entered the league before the 1970-71 season (apologies Walt Bellamy, Nate Thurmond and others).

20. Pete Maravich

One of the sport’s most prolific chuckers, Pistol Pete set the NBA record for points in a game by a guard by dropping 68 on the Knicks in a 124-107 win on February 25, 1977.

The mark’s since been cracked by David Thompson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Devin Booker. He led the league in scoring that season at 31.1 points per game, but never made it past the second round of the playoffs.

19. Chris Mullin

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A member of Run TMC — the high-scoring, fast-paced early-’90s Warriors trio that included Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond — Mullin wouldn’t make it past the second round of the playoffs until he was 34 and starting for the 1997-98 Pacers.

They fell to the Bulls, the eventual champions, in the conference finals.

18. Grant Hill

The Duke alum was electric through his first six seasons in the league, averaging 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game for the Pistons.

But even after a series of injuries sapped him of his athleticism, Hill managed to remain a valuable starter into his late 30s.

He didn’t make it out of the first round of the playoffs until age 37, when the “Seven Seconds or “Less” Suns fell to the Lakers in the 2010 conference finals.

17. Adrian Dantley

The two-time scoring champ and six-time All-Star played for a championship-winning team, but got traded away from it in the middle of the season. The 1988-89 Pistons sent the forward and a first-round pick to the Mavericks for Mark Aguirre.

Four months, Detroit swept the Lakers in the NBA Finals.