Steve Nash and the 10 Greatest Active Players Without a Ring

There have been a number of great players to come through the NBA without winning a championship:  Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton; the list goes on and on.

And yes, today, there are still a host of guys that have managed to play a number of seasons without securing a coveted ring. We're going to take a brief look at the 10 best players whose championship aspirations have continually been quashed.

10. Deron Williams

Deron Williams is arguably the second-best point guard in the NBA behind Chris Paul. Now, Williams has made the wise decision to remain in Brooklyn with what has become a stacked Nets roster.  

He may or may not have anticipated the acquisition of three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard, but he was rewarded either way, as the Nets went out and obtained Joe Johnson, who is still among the best shooting guards in the league. Re-signing Gerald Wallace was equally huge for the Nets.

Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov went out and spent the money to build a contending team, and Williams was a part of that plan despite Mark Cuban's attempts to lure Williams to Dallas. I think Williams made the right decision, and if he is smart enough to continue to play for the Nets, he may win that elusive ring.  

The Nets have one of the best starting fives in the league. After building some depth, they should have enough firepower to hang with the Miamis and Chicagos of the Eastern Conference.  

9. Carmelo Anthony

The jokes are already beginning to circulate on NBA memes about 'Melo being the "New LeBron." It took LeBron nine seasons to win a ring, and Carmelo Anthony came into the NBA as another member of the vaunted 2003 draft Class. He is the only one of the top five selected in that draft not to win a championship (if you count Darko Milicic's collection of one while riding the pine), and he may not win one any time soon.  

The Knicks just made an inexcusable error by not re-signing the emergent Jeremy Lin, which means that Anthony will only continue to dominate the ball and launch horrible shots. Sadly, I don't think 'Melo will ever exit this list, and when someone makes a similar list many years from now, it will likely still include a guy that just doesn't seem to get the team concept of basketball. He's a great scorer, but little else.  

There's been a host of great scorers to never win rings because it takes more than a dominant offensive game to ensure the success of a team.

8. Chris Paul

"CP3" is arguably the best point guard in the game right now. He's deft with the ball and can get through any defense, and he's leading a talented cast headed by highlight machine Blake Griffin. The Clippers haven't been exciting or relevant in a long time, and now a host of bandwagoners come out to watch Paul every night, as the Staples fans fill the stands on the nights that Kobe Bryant and the Lakers aren't playing for the first time in….well, ever.

Will Paul be able to lead the Clippers to a ring?  

The Clips made huge strides this year, but the in-season injury to combo guard Chauncey Billups hurt more than most realized it would. Nick Young, as I predicted for Yahoo! Sports, was never quite able to fill the shoes of Billups, and the lack of veteran leadership that remained following Billups' injury hurt the Clips. 

Paul can provide that leadership, and he has, but the Clips need their roster to remain healthy, just as all teams do. He's going to guide one of the deepest and most talented rosters deep into the playoffs—or at least out of the first round. It's how he will handle the elite Western Conference team that will decide whether Paul can exit this list.

7. Dwight Howard

"D12" made his Finals appearance in 2009, but he was almost swept, as his Magic managed only one win in the Finals. It was a small victory for Magic fans since they were completely swept in their first Finals appearance by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets in the 1995 Finals.

Howard kept the Magic relevant, aided by a host of hot shooters that he could kick the ball out to when the inevitable double teams came. But that seemed to be the problem for Howard: those double teams came far too often and with far too much success (for the defense). He has averaged over three turnovers per game the last six seasons. (Well, last year was 2.9, but let's round up to be negative.)

Howard became frustrated with being so close yet never quite close enough. The Magic got worse after getting to the Finals in '09, instead of better, and Howard grew frustrated. He wanted Stan Van Gundy fired, and he was. The Magic also fired GM Otis Smith. And the reality is that it doesn't matter anymore, because Howard is on his way out anyway, and after this hilariously awful "Indecision," most of the league is now rooting against him to get his first ring.

6. Derrick Rose

This may be the saddest slide of this slideshow. Derrick Rose secured an MVP trophy in 2010-11 while leading the Bulls to the best record in the league, and things looked promising.

He couldn't manage to overcome the Miami Heat, though, and at times, it did indeed look as though he was playing the Heat one-on-three. Without the supporting cast, Rose will never win one…

But that isn't the sad part, of course. The truly depressing reality of Rose's situation has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with a damaged knee. After tearing the major ligaments in his knee to shreds in the 2012 playoffs, his entire career is in jeopardy.  

He's more focused on getting back on the court at this point than securing any hardware.

5. Kevin Durant

Durant just got close, very close, but was thwarted by possibly the best player in the game in LeBron James. Durant has both time and the supporting cast to make the confetti fall in Chesapeake Energy Arena, but it's not all on him; not at this point.

Teammate Russell Westbrook is the other key to the engine that is the Thunder, and quite simply, he has yet to figure that out. Yes, the Thunder are a "1A, 1B" type team, but Westbrook is that "B," and for Durant to thrive to the best of his abilities, Westbrook must defer to him in crunch time.  

Durant has done all that has been asked of him and is already a three-time scoring champ at the ripe age of only 23. The best is yet to come for Durant, and he will likely win rings…he just hasn't.

4. Vince Carter

"Vinsanity" is no longer the player he once was, and it's not really due to injury anymore; he's healthy, just aged and deteriorated.  

We all realize how close Carter was when he teamed up with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson on the Nets teams that reached the Finals twice at a time the East was very poor.  

He still has some value as a bench player, but he won't win a ring without the guys around him doing most of the work. He's now inefficient and a horrible defender (not that he was ever a great defender anyway) and is best suited to short stretches in which he launches way too many threes, only further reminding us he is not the same player that jumped over a seven-footer in the Olympics.  

While Carter is one of the all-time great dunkers and has secured Slam Dunk Championships, he has yet to secure the one championship that actually matters: a Larry O'Brien trophy.

#3 Tracy McGrady

T-Mac was undoubtedly the greatest scorer in the history of the Orlando Magic franchise.  After spending three seasons in Toronto, he seemed to be poised for a breakout season when he signed with the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2000.  Breakout he did. 

Tracy McGrady averaged 26.8 points per game in his first season with the Magic, and went on a couple season later to lead the league in scoring in back-to-back seasons, putting up 32.1 points per game in 02-03, and 28.0 points per game in 03-04.  

What McGrady failed to do, however, is make the Magic a winning team.  Saddled with a poor supporting cast, McGrady had only the diminutive Darrell Armstrong to pass the ball to, and had to carry a huge load.  He got frustrated after a 21 win season that led to the Magic getting the #1 pick (which turned into Dwight Howard).  

McGrady headed to Houston to join the now retired Yao Ming, but never was able to get it together, because either he or Yao were perpetually injured.  One of the greatest duos in NBA history just never came together to form much, and I'm sure T-Mac spends many restless nights wondering why he bailed on a team that had just drafted a young talent like Howard.  

At this point, McGrady is nothing more than a journeyman.  He averaged but 16.1 minutes per game last year with the Hawks, putting up only 5.3 points per game.  He might not have much left in the tank, but he also doesn't have a ring.

2. Grant Hill

Grant Hill was at one time on his way to being among the best players of all-time. He defined what coaches look for in a point forward, and his distribution skills enabled him to lead a rather poor Pistons team to relevancy. It came at a time when Pistons fans were desperate to taste more success after the disintegration of the "Bad Boys" teams of the late 80s and early 90s.

In '99-00, Hill put up 25.8 points per game, 5.2 assists per game and 6.6 rebounds per game.  He was on his way to being a Hall of Famer. Then, he suffered a horrible ankle injury which put his career in jeopardy. About to enter free agency, all kinds of warning flags were signaled.

One team didn't care, and they paid the price: the Orlando Magic. The Magic brought aboard Hill and the aforementioned T-Mac and formed a great duo. Unfortunately, only half that duo actually spent much time on the court. Hill underwent numerous surgeries and never was quite the same player. From 2000 through 2003, Hill played only 47 games over three seasons, and it became clear he would never be the "Grant Hill of old."  

Yet with mostly metal in his ankles, he may win a championship, notwithstanding the fact he'll never be able to pass through airport security. Perhaps with the Clippers this year hey may get another piece of metal...to wear around his finger.

1. Steve Nash

Has there been a better point guard to never win a championship?

Maybe. I guess it really all comes down to whether you consider Nash to be better than former Jazz legend John Stockton. But that is another debate for another day.

Nash is a two-time MVP winner and has consistently kept the Suns relevant. He should receive a stipend from Amar'e Stoudemire for enabling STAT to land himself a max contract despite his injuries and waning athleticism.

And that is what Nash does: Make others better. Like all great point guards, Nash is able to facilitate others using his great court vision, and he can penetrate defenses with his superior handles. He's led the league in assists five times now and has been over 10 assists per game in seven of the last eight seasons (the year he missed, 2008-09, he was at 9.7).  

Yet somehow, Nash has failed to secure a ring.  

That may change this year, and there's a lot of reasons to believe it will. He's joining a shooting guard who has already won five rings and is in the discussion for "greatest ever."  He's also joined by a couple of big men in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to throw lobs to, drop it off to, run pick and rolls with and just make them better players. It's what Nash does; he just hasn't had the greatest supporting cast.

That will change in L.A., and Nash may finally remove himself from this ignominious list of great players.