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Kidd/Dirk/Lebron will get what they deserve next year
Gonna be a very emotional scene when Dirk hoists the
Best Players Without An NBA le
SI.com
LeBron James
(2003-present)
At 25, LeBron, of course, still has plenty of time to escape this list, which is filled with retirees and older active players. But in the wake of Cleveland's second-round loss to the Celtics, the scoreboard reads seven seasons and zero championships for the two-time MVP. Since reaching the Finals in 2007 (when his Cavs were swept by San Antonio), LeBron has failed to get out of the East, with Cleveland having the league's best record in two of those three seasons.
Karl Malone
(1985-2004)
The Mailman, who leads the 2010 Hall of Fame class, lost twice to Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Finals while in his prime with the Jazz. Then, in the final season of a career in which he finished as the No. 2 scorer of all time and won two MVPs, Malone couldn't prevent the Lakers from being outclassed by Detroit in the Finals.
Elgin Baylor
(1958-72)
The spectacular 6-5 forward averaged 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds in 14 seasons with the Lakers, who ran up against Bill Russell's Celtics throughout Baylor's tenure. A knee injury ended Baylor's 1970-71 season after two games -- the same season the Lakers ripped off an NBA-record 33 victories and won the championship.
Charles Barkley
(1984-2000)
Sir Charles played on 50-win teams with three franchises (Philadelphia, Phoenix and Houston). The 1992-93 Suns were the best of those teams, as Barkley led them to an NBA-high 62 victories, won the MVP award and made his first and only Finals, where Phoenix lost to the Bulls in an entertaining six-game series.
John Stockton
(1984-2003)
Like pick-and-roll partner Karl Malone, Stockton piled up individual accolades (all-time leader in assists and steals, 10 All-Star appearances) and spearheaded Utah's sustained run of excellence but couldn't surmount Michael Jordan's Bulls in the Finals.
Steve Nash
(1996-present)
The two-time MVP has led Phoenix on a surprising run to the 2010 Western Conference finals. The Suns will need to get past the defending champion Lakers for the 36-year-old Nash to advance to his first Finals.
Patrick Ewing
(1985-2002)
One of the NBA's great centers (career averages: 21 points, 9.8 rebounds) certainly had his chances with the Knicks, most notably in 1994 when New York lost Games 6 and 7 of the Finals at Houston.
Dirk Nowitzki
(1998-present)
Nowitzki might still be having nightmares about the 2006 Finals. The Mavericks had already won the first two games and led by 13 midway through fourth quarter of Game 3 in Miami before Dwyane Wade rallied the Heat to the first of four consecutive victories. A year later, after Nowitzki's MVP regular season, the 67-win Mavs fell to the Warriors to become the first No. 1 seed to a lose to a No. 8 seed in a seven-game series.
Allen Iverson
(1996-present)
The Answer's only trip out of the second round came in his MVP season, in 2001, when he closed within three wins of a le after guiding the underdog 76ers to a Game 1 victory against the host Lakers in the Finals. The Lakers, however, rebounded to win the next four games. Since then, the four-time scoring champ has jumped from Philadelphia to Denver to Detroit to Memphis and back to Philadelphia again. His NBA career may be over at age 34.
George Gervin
(1972-86)
The Ice Man, a four-time scoring champ with a career NBA average of 26.2 points, was part of a Spurs team that squandered a 3-1 lead to the Washington Bullets in the 1979 Eastern Conference finals.
Dominique Wilkins
(1982-99)
In terms of the playoffs, the Human Highlight Film is remembered best for his scintillating duel with Larry Bird in Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals ... which the Hall of Famer Wilkins' Hawks lost 118-116.
Pete Maravich
(1970-80)
Maravich never played on a serious contender in the prime of a career in which he averaged 24.2 points over 10 seasons. In his final season, he played limited minutes for the Celtics, who went 61-21 before losing to the 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jason Kidd
(1994-present)
The NBA's active leader in games, assists, steals and triple-doubles has made the playoffs 14 times, including back-to-back Finals appearances with the Nets in 2002 and '03.
Alex English
(1976-91)
Nobody scored more points in the `80s than English, who set an NBA record with eight consecutive 2,000-point seasons. But English's offensive-minded Nuggets teams went as far as the conference finals just once, in 1985, when Denver was trounced by the eventual champion Lakers.
Adrian Dantley
(1976-91)
The Lakers (near the start of Dantley's career) and the Pistons (near the end of Dantley's career) won les immediately after trading the prolific scorer. In between, Dantley, a former Rookie of the Year and two-time scoring king, spent his prime years with non- le-contending Utah.
Bernard King
(1977-93)
The former scoring champion and Hall of Fame finalist won one playoff series in his career (during which he lost nearly two full seasons of his prime to a knee injury). King's Knicks memorably lost in seven games to eventual champion Boston in the 1984 Eastern Conference semifinals.
Dave Bing
(1966-78)
The former Pistons guard couldn't deliver a le to Detroit, where he's now the mayor, but he did win Rookie of the Year and All-Star MVP in his Hall of Fame career.
Nate Thurmond
(1963-77)
Thurmond made the Finals twice but had the misfortune of meeting Bill Russell's Celtics and Wilt Chamberlain's 76ers in those series. The Warriors traded the rebounding and defensive ace the year before they won the 1975 le.
Sidney Moncrief
(1979-91)
The two-time Defensive Player of the Year won division les in his first seven years with Milwaukee but that regular-season success never translated into a single Finals berth.
Vince Carter
(1998-present)
The knock on the explosive scorer and perennial All-Star has always been his teams' lack of playoff success. Carter has a chance to redefine his reputation with the Magic, who remain in contention for the 2010 le.
Chris Webber
(1993-2008)
If only Webber's Kings had gotten past the Lakers in the controversial 2002 Western Conference finals -- surely Sacramento could have dominated the Nets in the Finals like L.A. did. In fact, Webber played on four 55-win teams with the Kings without a Finals appearance to show for it. Webber's crunch-time shortcomings have led to much debate surrounding his Hall of Fame candidacy.
Reggie Miller
(1987-2005)
Reggie earned the name "Knick-killer" after a series of clutch performances in the postseason against New York, including a 1995 playoff game when he scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to shock the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Miller played in 144 playoff games over an 18-year career, all with the Pacers. His Indiana teams lost in the Eastern Conference Finals four out of six seasons in the late 1990s before breaking through to the NBA Finals in 1999-2000. But the Lakers' duo of Kobe and Shaq was too much for the Pacers, despite Miller's best efforts, and L.A. took the series in six games.
Kidd/Dirk/Lebron will get what they deserve next year
Gonna be a very emotional scene when Dirk hoists the
a year ago kobe would have been on that list
OT, my vote's Charles Barkley. Dude had all the compe ive edge and spirit, but never climbed all the way to the top. Damn the GOAT and his 6 rings/Finals MVPs.
Dirk... lost his buddy Nash
But persevered and carried an ensamble cast to the Finals... only to get ed by officiating biases
comes back strong and is victimized by B Diddy's bull shots.
that dream... that NBA championship dream seemed to be slipping further and further away...
and then came the King
great ing story
OT, my vote's Charles Barkley. Dude had all the compe ive edge and spirit, but never climbed all the way to the top. Damn the GOAT and his 6 rings/Finals MVPs.
What sucks even worse for Barkley is as soon as he went to the Rockets they started sucking. But the previous two years they were winning.
It was either the curse of trading Robert Horry, or the curse of wearing blue pajamas at their games.
poor malone
Good read. Thanks for posting.
Ummm no. Karl Malone. Dude is a bag.poor malone
Well I'll take part of what I said back. Its not that Houston started sucking its just that Jordan was back. Even if they had found a way to beat Utah they still woulda took it up the ass from the Bulls. Barkley missed his window by a year.
Maravich too. Bird begged him to come back in '81, and Pete refused.
He admitted later that decision drove him to near suicide.
SI
It's really re ed to include Lebron in that list, the guy is only 25
hey...someone has to help you see REALITY....so I will attempt to get you started;Dirk... lost his buddy Nash
But persevered and carried an ensamble cast to the Finals... only to get ed by officiating biases
comes back strong and is victimized by B Diddy's bull shots.
that dream... that NBA championship dream seemed to be slipping further and further away...
and then came the King
great ing story
DIRK will NEVER-EVER-EVER---be a champion---an NBA champion...
take a deep breath and live with it....ok?
Webber never stood a flicker of a chance. The entire team was funk & junk. They never once trusted themselves to put it all out there and take their chances. They always held back, played goofy basketball, begged the officiating from tip to buzzer at Adelman's direction. And they paid the price.
Same with Barkley, he'd never lose himself in the game. He'd always hold something back in case he lost. He let MJ seduce him in the '93 Finals as Russell had done to Wilt so many times. A fool, Barkley pays the price to this day as Smith sits next to him, smug & rung.
On the Rockets vs. Bulls debateWell I'll take part of what I said back. Its not that Houston started sucking its just that Jordan was back. Even if they had found a way to beat Utah they still woulda took it up the ass from the Bulls. Barkley missed his window by a year.
Rudy T - On the Rockets vs. Bulls debate "I finally got a chance to talk to Michael Jordan years [later] over at Barkley's house and he thought that the best matchup they would have had during that era was against us because of the way Max used to play him and how our big guys used to dominate their inside"
http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1549/...ts_on_rockets/
which Rudy T said in an interview on the radio
Who the are you? Nostradamus?
Many would've said the same about D-Rob... until Duncan came along and held his hand.
Well, Lebron's coming along, and he's holding Dirk's hand.
Childish post.
Wow, tough to say. I didnt see baylor so Im actually gonna say a close race between Reggie, Charles and stockton ...and i'll tell you why.
Case for: Barkley one of the best rebounders in NBA history, an MVP led the NBA Dream Team in scoring (pretty sure), led Phoenix to the NBA finals with an MVP season.
Case against: I would go with Charles but I dont think he was a great defender, and i value defense a lot.
Case for: Reggie Miller. Clutch shooter, great FT shooter had some of the greatest playoff performances I had ever seen vs Knicks and Bulls.
Case against: defense suspect, in his lone finals appearance was good not great.
Case for: stockton. Great floor leader, left it all on the floor underrated clutch player and defender.
Case against: Was destroyed by GP consistently
conclusion: Stockton (who i once despised) is probaly the best all around player not to win a les since i started watching all in 1980.
I know some will hate on me and him for this but ...here is my list for truly great players and he qualifies in EVERY Category Except one the other fal at least 2 criteria.
1. Rings (obvious none have one so they all fail)
2. Clutch - raise game in playoffs (all 3 did) AND won a key playoff game with a play (all 3 have)
3. A good to great defender (Stockton passes the other 2 average at best)
4. A great leader (all 3 pass though I think stockton wins here)
5. Make their teammates better (ditto)
Stockton is the best player who was also clutch that has no rings. Malone though more decorated ...shriveled in the clutch and does not make my top 5
A good portion were owned by Jordan
Pow, zing!
BSMan bringin' the heat with a 45-mph fastball!
Dirk... lost his buddy Nash
But persevered and carried an ensamble cast to the Finals... only to get ed by officiating biases
comes back strong and is victimized by B Diddy's bull shots.
that dream... that NBA championship dream seemed to be slipping further and further away...
and then came the King
great ing story
lol he'd be ok if he had no elbows.
His feet weren't so nice either.
...they call it----DENIAL
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