Ranking the 5 Best Players to never play in the NBA Finals
History remembers the greatest players as the ones who have done it all, both statistically as well as in terms of personal achievements. But for a player to go from great to legendary, he needs a ring on his finger. Not just any ring, but the one you get after winning the NBA title.
History though, keeps everyone in mind and thus there is a place for those, the ones who are considered among the greatest players in the history of the NBA but have never reached the NBA Finals, let alone winning the title. So, without further ado, here are the 5 best players who have never played in the NBA Finals.
#5 Grant Hill
Injury is one of the many reasons why a great player does not end up achieving the amount of success he deserves and the story of Grant Hill is along these lines. Hill was drafted #3 by the Detroit Pistons in the 1994 NBA Draft and entered the league with sky-high expectations.
He delivered on his promise, winning the Rookie of the Year jointly with Jason Kidd, averaging just under 20 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5 assists in his rookie season and Hill never looked back. He stepped it up in each season after that and became a household name in the NBA.
He is a 7-time NBA All-Star, a 4-time NBA second team nominee, an NBA first team nominee and was also a Co-Rookie of the Year award winner. Yet, his stellar performances with Pistons in the regular season did not translate to the postseason, where they never made it past the first round.
After an ankle injury in the year 2000, Hill moved to the Orlando Magic and his career was never the same again. He had become very injury prone and nagging injuries had kept him out season after season until he finally left for the Phoenix Suns in 2007.
Here is where Hill rediscovered himself. Alongside stars Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, he led the Phoenix Suns to the Western Conference Finals in 2010, where they lost to eventual champions, the Los Angeles Lakers.
He signed with Los Angeles Clippers in 2012 and ended up retiring on June 1st, 2013. Due to injuries, Hill could never reach the potential that he definitely had. One can always wonder how different his career may have been if Hill never suffered that ankle injury.