Is Elgin Baylor the Best NBA Player to Never Win a Championship?
Elgin Baylor played 14 seasons in the NBA with the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers. He was Rookie of the Year in 1959 and was an 11-time NBA All-Star.
Baylor put up some serious numbers in his Hall of Fame career. At 6-foot-5, he averaged 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds. His teams were good, but they just happened to face a Boston Celtics franchise that won eight straight championships. He was 0-for-8 in the NBA Finals, losing to Boston seven times and the New York Knicks once. Is Baylor the best player to never win a championship?
Elgin Baylor never won a title but got a championship ring
Elgin Baylor simply played at the wrong time. He came into the NBA in 1958 when the Minneapolis Lakers made him the first pick in the draft. The Lakers were fresh off a 19-win season and were a struggling franchise. Baylor made an immediate impact.
In his first season, Baylor averaged 24.9 points and 15.0 rebounds, earning Rookie of the Year honors. He led the Lakers to the NBA Finals, but they were swept by the Bill Russell-led Celtics, who won the first of their eight straight titles that season.
Baylor certainly did his part for the Lakers for the next several seasons. He made seven straight All-Star appearances and 11 total. He led the Lakers to six NBA Finals appearances in the 1960s but lost to the Celtics each time. In 1970, the Lakers fell to the Knicks in seven games.
An Achilles injury in the 1970-71 season limited Baylor to two games. The following year, he retired after nine games as injuries took their toll.
The Lakers finally earned their first championship since 1954 when they defeated the Knicks in the 1972 NBA Finals. Although technically it doesn’t go down as Baylor winning a championship, the Lakers presented him with a championship ring that year.
Is Baylor the best player never to win an NBA championship?
Baylor was named All-NBA 10 times and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977. He’s a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Does he go down as the best player never to win a championship?
Two players who immediately come to mind are former Utah Jazz teammates John Stockton and Karl Malone. They reached the championship round in 1997 and 1998 but came up short to the Chicago Bulls, losing in six games each time.
Stockton is the NBA’s all-time assist leader. Malone is third on the all-time scoring list.
A pair of Philadelphia 76ers legends, Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson, also have to be near the top of the list. New York Knicks Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing played 17 seasons without winning a championship.
Others in the running are George Gervin, Reggie Miller, Pete Maravich, Alex English, and Dominique Wilkins, but Baylor’s numbers are too strong for him not to be the best player without an NBA championship.
Have thoughts on this topic? Keep the conversation rolling in our comments section below.
