Normally, most NBA fanatics frown upon ring chasing. There’s something magical when a widely known NBA player grinds it out and does everything he can to steer his team to a championship.
There are many veteran players who decided to join a contender in their twilight careers to give themselves a shot at winning a title. It’s never too late, right? Who are we to deny them the lure to add a ring to their resume?
However, not all ring chasers were successful in their quest to win one before riding into the sunset. Here are 10 NBA players who desperately went to championship contenders and still failed to win a ring.
Which players went ring-chasing but still failed to win an NBA championship?
Chris Paul (Golden State Warriors)
The 2023-2024 season was a strange one for CP3. While still serviceable at the age of 37, we all knew that he needed to latch on to a contender for a chance to win his first NBA championship. When the Warriors traded for Paul in exchange for Jordan Poole, the talks for another title run were reinvigorated.
However, CP3 never really jived with the Dubs. Due to the regression of his play, Coach Kerr decided to relegate Paul to a bench role. Despite finishing the season with a 46-36 record, Golden State only qualified as the 10th seed in the West and was bounced out by the Kings on the first day of the play-in tournament.
Blake Griffin (Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics)
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Before injuries hampered his career, there was a time when Blake Griffin was considered one of the best power forwards in the game. Remember ‘Lob City?’ He was the star of that show.
When Griffin was no longer performing at the high level he was accustomed to, he decided to chase rings instead.
His first stop in ring-chasing was with the Nets in 2021. This Nets team was loaded with talent, mind you. The team had Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Griffin played sparingly, and unsurprisingly, Brooklyn faltered in the playoffs.
As a free agent in 2022, Griffin decided to take another shot at a title by signing with the Celtics. He again played limited minutes and only appeared in one playoff game for the Cs. After Boston was upset by Miami, Griffin decided to retire after the 2023 playoffs concluded.
Had he stayed one more year with the Celtics, he could’ve retired with a ring.
Karl Malone (Los Angeles Lakers)
At the very end of his career, Karl Malone shocked everybody when he decided to suit up for the Lakers in the 2003-2004 season. Nobody was mad at him for this decision, though, as Malone had all the right to go ring chasing at 40.
The Lakers, coming off a disappointing exit in the 2003 playoffs, entered the following season as the favorites to win it all. Even though Malone missed 39 games, the Lakers still managed to go 56-26 behind Shaq and Kobe’s brilliance.
Malone, despite struggling with injuries, played in all of the Lakers’ playoff games. He knew that this was his last chance to win an NBA championship.
Sadly, the mighty Lakers were humbled by a surprising Detroit Pistons team in the Finals. After speculations of trying to chase another ring by joining Tim Duncan and the Spurs, Malone took a lot of time off before deciding to call it a career in 2005.
Tracy McGrady (San Antonio Spurs)
McGrady would have ended his career as a top-20 player if it wasn’t for injuries. He could score from anywhere on the court. Even the late Kobe Bryant praised T-Mac’s game by saying that he was the hardest person to guard in the NBA at that time.
As fate would have it, injuries cut McGrady’s prime years short. He bounced around the league before playing 29 games in China’s CBA from 2012 to 2013.
The Spurs, needing some bench depth, decided to sign T-Mac to a roster spot for their 2013 playoff run. San Antonio went to the NBA Finals and was just a single possession away from winning another title. Miami’s Ray Allen forced overtime in game six, and the rest is history.
McGrady barely played in the playoffs and only appeared in six games. With his final shot at an NBA championship spoiled by LeBron James and the rest of Miami, T-Mac retired in the summer of 2013 at just 33.
Vince Carter (Dallas Mavericks)
Vinsanity is one of the most beloved figures in the NBA. His impact on the Canadian basketball scene in the early 2000s is immeasurable. Many kids idolized him during his heyday.
However, despite a lengthy and productive career, Carter lacked something big on his resume—an NBA championship.
He thought he’d get his chance when he signed with the Mavs in 2011. It was a logical move for VC then, as the Mavs were coming off a title win. They wanted to win back-to-back.
Dallas never replicated its success in the following season and was bounced out of the playoffs in the first round. After his stint with the Mavs ended in 2014, Carter played for a few more teams around the league, completely avoiding any ring chasing in the process, before retiring in 2020.
Charles Barkley (Houston Rockets)
If you think about a team that has Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley, there’s no way that they failed to win an NBA championship, right?
Well…this is what happened to the 1996-1997 Houston Rockets. While Olajuwon and Drexler had already won together, Barkley was still on his quest to win one during this time. At the twilight of his career but still productive, Sir Charles did not want to go out ringless.
As expected, Houston had a good year in 1997. They made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, with Utah as their final obstacle to the NBA’s grandest stage.
After the series was tied at two games apiece, the Jazz went on to win the next couple of games and eliminated Houston from the playoffs. That was Barkley’s last chance for a title, as he never got close to reaching the conference finals again before retiring in 1999.
Chris Webber (Detroit Pistons)
With his game declining and seriously considering retirement as a viable option, Webber surprised everybody with his decision to sign with the Pistons in 2007.
Oddly enough, despite his limitations, Webber played well for the Pistons, even starting 42 out of 43 games in the regular season. With the Pistons ’04 championship core mostly intact, it looked like another NBA Finals run was in the books.
Well…until they ran into a LeBron James-led Cavaliers team in the Eastern Conference Finals. Even though Detroit was a huge favorite in the series against the unproven Cavaliers, they were eliminated 4-2- thanks in large part to LeBron James, who absolutely decimated the Pistons for the entire series.
Webber would play for the Warriors the following season before abruptly retiring in 2009 due to lingering knee issues.
Gary Payton (Los Angeles Lakers)
If you followed Payton’s career, you wouldn’t blame him a bit for ring chasing in his mid to late 30s.
As an unrestricted free agent in 2003, Payton decided to sign with the Lakers, hoping that this decision would lead him to his first NBA championship.
Despite playing in all 82 games for LA, Payton struggled to run coach Phil Jackson’s famed Triangle Offense. Even with Payton struggling, the Lakers went all the way to the 2004 NBA Finals, with Kobe and Shaq leading the way.
As we all know, LA was thoroughly outclassed by the Pistons in the entire series. Don’t feel too bad for Payton, though. His ring-chasing business eventually paid off in 2006 as a member of the Miami Heat.
Carmelo Anthony (Los Angeles Lakers)
An aging Carmelo thought that joining Anthony Davis and LeBron James in the summer of 2021 would help the Lakers reach the Finals again.
Despite a declining game, many thought that the former scoring champion would be the answer to LA’s woeful bench production and could provide the scoring needed to boost the team’s chances for a deep playoff run.
And then…injuries happened. Not to Melo, though, but to LeBron and AD. The Lakers finished with a disappointing 33-49 record and missed the playoffs entirely. Anthony retired after the season concluded without ever winning an NBA championship.
LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs and Brooklyn Nets)
After multiple playoff failures during his time with Portland, Aldridge signed with the aging but still contender Spurs in 2015. He was viewed as Tim Duncan’s heir apparent, and many pundits immediately predicted that the Spurs had what it took to win a title within the next couple of years.
While Aldridge balled out with San Antonio, the team failed to make it out in the West, thanks in large part to the emergence of Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
At the age of 35, Aldridge left the Spurs in 2020 to join the newly formed Brooklyn Nets superteam, spearheaded by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. That move never resulted in an NBA championship for Aldridge, and he retired in 2022 with no ring on his finger.
