Top Six Current Players to Never Win an NBA Title

Down below is the list of the six best players (career wise), playing in the NBA today that have never won an NBA title.

Is it just a coincidence that all of the players below are considered overrated by some people, or is it directly related to their inability to win? 

That’s for you to decide.

The only rule: You had to have played at least seven seasons in the NBA to be on this list.

1. Allen Iverson:

He has only been past the second round of the playoffs once, the year he single-handedly took the 76ers to the 2001 NBA finals.

Although he lost the finals in five games (in Game One of the 2001 NBA Finals), Iverson scored a playoff high of 48 points and gave the Lakers their only loss of the entire post season.

Some people would argue that on both his previous teams he never had the talent to win an NBA championship. However, this year, the Pistons have the talent, but so far Iverson has failed to mesh with the team.

With Iverson getting older, it's more and more likely he’ll never win an NBA championship.

Reasons some people consider him overrated

He's only made it past the second round of the playoffs once and failed to make the Nuggets any better with him as they lost consecutive years in the first round of the playoffs. 

So far, he hasn’t made the Pistons any better as they are currently 7-9 with Iverson. Other reasons he is considered overrated is because of his poor individual defense and his knack for forcing shots while shooting a low percentage.

He has career averages of 22.4 attempts per game with a .425 FGP, and has an even worse career playoff FGP of .401.

2. Steve Nash:

In his two MVP seasons from '04-'06, he led the suns to two consecutive conference finals appearances, but never reached the NBA Finals. 

Although some people argue that the Suns underachieved in its past four years with Nash, I would argue that reaching the NBA Finals was always going to be difficult for the Suns using their fast-break offense. 

The Suns right now don’t seem like a legitimate contender, and with Steve Nash getting older, it doesn’t look as though he is going to win an NBA title in his career.

Reason some people consider him overrated

In his first seven seasons, before coming to Phoenix, he wasn’t considered anything more than a borderline All Star. 

Once he came to the Suns, he suddenly became a MVP candidate. In reality, he has only been a dominant player for four years of his career, from '04-'08. 

He’s never been a good defender, and this year while playing in the Sun's slow pace offense, his offensive numbers are down and he is proving once again that he can only be a MVP type player in a fast break offense.

3. Jason Kidd:

He reached the NBA Finals twice from '02-'04, which is more than anyone on this list. After winning a very weak Eastern Conference and arriving to his first NBA finals, Kidd and the Nets got swept by the Lakers 4-0.

The following year, after winning another weak Eastern Conference, he got closer but lost to the heavily favored Spurs in six games. Kidd is considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, and some would argue that none of the teams he has played with have been good enough to win a title.

Right now, he seems to have lost a step and the Mavericks are not even close to being a contender right now: It looks like he’ll never get that championship ring after all.

Reasons some people consider him overrated

One thing that is often not mentioned enough has been his dreadful 0.402 FGP.  Even though he is a great passer and a team leader, his shooting has been poor his whole career. 

Just like Nash, he also, is only a MVP type player in a fast-break offense. However, just like Nash should already know, a fast break offense isn’t going to win you a title.

4. Dirk Nowitzki:

This former MVP has come closer than anyone to winning a championship on this list. Up by 15 in the third game of the 2005 NBA finals leading 2-0 in the series with 6:34 left in the game, a championship seemed within grasp. 

A team with a 3-0 lead had never lost before. However, led by Dwayne Wade, the Heat would go on a 22–7 run and win the game and ultimately the next three games and the series. 

Since then, the Maverick seemed to have faded away and it doesn’t look like Nowitzki is ever going to get a ring playing with the Mavericks.

Reasons some people consider him overrated

Some would argue that Nowitzki never asserted himself as the Mavericks Leader in his lone NBA finals appearance and failed to take over games. The following year as the first seed, he seemed to fail to assert himself once again, and lost in the first round to the eighth seeded Warriors, in what was his only MVP season.

5. Tracy McGrady:

Although he has always been a top playoff performer with averages of 28.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 6.2 APG in the playoffs, he has never won a playoff series.

In his first playoff series with the Magic, up 3-1 over the Pistons, McGrady was quoted as saying how great it was to "finally be in the second round.” This would come back to haunt him as the Pistons came back and won the series.

Some would argue that in his prime, he never played for a team good enough to compete with the west contenders.

This year for the first time he has the talent to win his first playoff series after acquiring Ron Artest, and so far despite Yao Ming, Ron Artest, and McGrady being been banged up this season, the team is currently 14-8.

Reasons some people consider him overrated

One reason he is considered overrated is that he is very injury prone and fragile. How can he be considered a superstar if his team can’t rely on him to stay healthy?

The main reason he is considered overrated though, is that he has never won a playoff series. Despite his numbers, critics argue that he has failed to take over games when his teams have needed him to.

6. Vince Carter:

He has only won one playoff series in his career when his Raptors beat the Knicks in the 2001 first round. Following his only series victory, he faced Iverson and the 76ers in the second round, the eventual Eastern Conference Champions.

He took the series to a decisive seventh game, where the Raptors would lose 87-88, after Carter missed the game winning shot.  Vince Carter no longer has the glamour he once had, and it doesn’t look like he is going to win a championship with the Nets in his career.

Reasons some people consider him overrated

Although he may have never played with a great team, he has underachieved in the playoffs as his career playoff FGP is .418; which is much lower than his career regular season FGP of .448.

He may be a great scorer and he could be the best dunker ever, but his flash and excitement caused him to be overrated early in his career.

Although Vince carter isn’t overrated anymore, one reason he may have never lived up to his hype is that he isn’t nearly as quick or fast as superstars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant. Thus, he never achieved that true superstar status.