10 best players ever with no rings. Rockets have 5.

Maybe (maybe not) you're thinking about the other Gus, Gus Williams... but he won with the Sonics championship squad.

 

d'oh!

 

..

 

WCF players Blazers acquired.

Pippen.

 

Well, maybe Top 20, 30 or 40.

I am trying not to be petty as this is purely subjective.

 

Youngins don't know much about the past greats of the game lol

 

my top 5 are bobby brown, sergio llull, vspan, anthony bennett, and sam bowie

 

That's funny, I did actually think of Gus Williams, and was wondering if I got him confused with Gus Johnson. There used to be a lot of players named Gus.

 

Pete Maravich was unique and tremendously talented. My memory is not great on this one, but didn't he have some strange/tragic demise?

 

I forgot about it, and then remembered him bringing the ball up in the finals for the Lakers in garbage time.

 

Yup. Injury plagued career and retired in 1980 with the Celtics the year before they won the championship (against the Rockets). Died of heart problems a few years later.

 

Harden's career becoming eerily similar to Barkley's.

 

My high school basketball team had a tournament in San Antonio in December, 1999 and we were hanging out at the mall by the River Walk when we noticed that a bunch of tall guys in basketball warmups were wandering around. Turned out it was the Washington Wizards players doing their Christmas shopping during a visit to play the Spurs. Of course as 16/17 year olds we were giddy and decided to kind of stalk them for a while.

At one point we saw Mitch Richmond and Richard Hamilton (a rookie, fresh off his National Championship) shopping in Sam Goody. We let them do their thing but caught them on the way out just to say hi and shake their hands. Maybe it was because we were all dressed in our basketball warm ups too, but both guys were happy to stop and talk. Mitch even took it upon himself to go back in and ask the cashier for a roll of receipt paper so he could sign and pass out autographs to all of us. I still have mine in a box somewhere.

 

He died from a heart defect during a pick up basketball game.

 

Kidd was built like a solid mma guy. He beat his wife and proceeded to tear down his entire mansion(s).

 

It could've been chris if he didnt stiff the organization for 40 mill per year

 

I also seem to recall something odious, like a rumored/alleged gambling habit, or other bad habit, that played a role in his demise. But perhaps my memory is faulty; I cannot find anything about that on the 'net.

But for sure, he was a tremendous talent who is all but forgotten now.