Best Athlete to Never Win a Title

[huskerhooligansdotcom]

enough of the Jordan vs. Lebron debate... who is the best athlete (any sport) to never win a title?

I am going to restrict my list to 1980s and forward (sorry Ted Williams and Carl Yastremsky)


NBA:
Karl Malone
Charles Barkley (my personal favorite player of all time)
Allen Iverson
John Stockton
Patrick Ewing
Gary Payton
Shawn Kemp
Reggie Miller
Chris Paul
Steve Nash
Russell Westbrook
Vince Carter
Dikembe Motumbo

NFL:
Barry Sanders
Randy Moss
Dan Marino
Jim Kelly/Thurmon Thomas/Bruce Smith
Warren Moon
Ladanian Tomlinson/Antonio Gates/Phillip Rivers
Tony Gonzales

MLB:
Ichiro
Ken Griffey Jr.
Barry Bonds
Tony Gwynn
Mike Piazza
Trevor Hoffman
Bagwell/Biggio

 

[scarletred]

Pistol Pete Maravich !!!

 

[HuskerO]

Turner Gill

 

[kaz36]

Bartolo Colon
/thread

 

[Charlie Marlow]

Buddy Biancalana

 

[9and4]

Colin Montgomerie

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

 

[huskerhooligansdotcom]

Turner Gill

Fryar/Rozier, Trev Alberts, Eric Crouch

 

[huskerhooligansdotcom]

Great picture.. and hate to break it to you... but that man has a super bowl ring!!!

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Great picture.. and hate to break it to you... but that man has a super bowl ring!!!

You know what, I swear to gawd I had no freaking idea!!!!! With who????? Yikes. I'll be over here looking stoopid if anyone needs me.

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

My vote would probably go to Barry Sanders, but a few I would add:

NBA
Dominique Wilkins

NFL
Terrell Owens

MLB
Don Mattingly
Jim Rice (rookie in '74 but played until '89)
Robin Yount (rookie in '74 but played until '93)

 

[bigboxes]

My vote would probably go to Barry Sanders, but a few I would add:

NBA
Jason Kidd
Dominique Wilkins

NFL
Terrell Owens
Bruce Smith

MLB
Don Mattingly
Jim Rice (rookie in '74 but played until '89)
Robin Yount (rookie in '74 but played until '93)

Jason Kidd won in
2011 with Dallas

 

[spartanhusker]

ernie banks

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

Great picture.. and hate to break it to you... but that man has a super bowl ring!!!

Had to look it up, but he was Eli's backup when they beat the Patriots in '08.

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

Jason Kidd won in
2011 with Dallas

Yeah, I knew that. Just testing you guys.

 

[Hedley Lemar]

No contest - Barry Sanders and Dan Marino.
Fat #22 is a close third though.

 

[huskerhooligansdotcom]

My vote would probably go to Barry Sanders, but a few I would add:

NBA
Dominique Wilkins

NFL
Terrell Owens

MLB
Don Mattingly
Jim Rice (rookie in '74 but played until '89)
Robin Yount (rookie in '74 but played until '93)

Good additions. Wilkins was a bit before my time... but seemed like early in his career he had to deal with Larry Bird and later in his career he had to deal with MJ.

 

[phoenix4nu]

No contest - Barry Sanders and Dan Marino.
Fat #22 is a close third though.

What about Ted Williams?

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

What about Ted Williams?

It's supposed to be guys that played in the '80s forward. Otherwise, the Splendid Splinter would be a no-brainer.

 

[huskerhooligansdotcom]

It's supposed to be guys that played in the '80s forward. Otherwise, the Splendid Splinter would be a no-brainer.

Yes, hence why I said "Sorry Ted Williams" in the original post. Ty Cobb also comes up a lot as another guy who never won a championship

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

Good additions. Wilkins was a bit before my time... but seemed like early in his career he had to deal with Larry Bird and later in his career he had to deal with MJ.

You pretty much nailed it, but the Bad Boy Pistons also stood in his way between the Celtics' and Bulls' dynasties. Still, the Hawks never even made it past the Conference Semifinals. Their best chance came in 1987-88 when they won Game 5 in the Boston Garden and had a chance to knock out the Celtics at home. They lost a nail biter in Game 6, it went back to the Garden and Bird predicted a C's victory before Game 7.

That's when this crazy 4th quarter duel happened:

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

A few more Bird-Wilkins anecdotes. When the Atlanta Hawks unveiled a statue of Wilkins, Dr. J and others made speeches and there was a video message from Bird that played at the event. Bird said of the statue: "I'm pretty sure it's not made in a defensive stance."

Here's another video telling a funny story about Bird talking trash to 'Nique when he was a rookie in their first matchup.

 

[Huskerfan2112]

Who is that large number 22?

And the best to never win?

Danica Patrick NASCAR

 

[SkerInCo]

enough of the Jordan vs. Lebron debate... who is the best athlete (any sport) to never win a title?

I am going to restrict my list to 1980s and forward (sorry Ted Williams and Carl Yastremsky)


NBA:
Karl Malone
Charles Barkley (my personal favorite player of all time)
Allen Iverson
John Stockton
Patrick Ewing
Gary Payton
Shawn Kemp
Reggie Miller
Chris Paul
Steve Nash
Russell Westbrook
Vince Carter
Dikembe Motumbo

NFL:
Barry Sanders
Randy Moss
Dan Marino
Jim Kelly/Thurmon Thomas/Bruce Smith
Warren Moon
Ladanian Tomlinson/Antonio Gates/Phillip Rivers
Tony Gonzales

MLB:
Ichiro
Ken Griffey Jr.
Barry Bonds
Tony Gwynn
Mike Piazza
Trevor Hoffman
Bagwell/Biggio

I would have loved to see Barry Sanders win a title.

 

[SilentCommit]

enough of the Jordan vs. Lebron debate... who is the best athlete (any sport) to never win a title?

I am going to restrict my list to 1980s and forward (sorry Ted Williams and Carl Yastremsky)



NBA:
Karl Malone
Charles Barkley (my personal favorite player of all time)
Allen Iverson
John Stockton
Patrick Ewing
Gary Payton
Shawn Kemp
Reggie Miller
Chris Paul
Steve Nash
Russell Westbrook
Vince Carter
Dikembe Motumbo

NFL:
Barry Sanders
Randy Moss
Dan Marino
Jim Kelly/Thurmon Thomas/Bruce Smith
Warren Moon
Ladanian Tomlinson/Antonio Gates/Phillip Rivers
Tony Gonzales

MLB:
Ichiro
Ken Griffey Jr.
Barry Bonds
Tony Gwynn
Mike Piazza
Trevor Hoffman
Bagwell/Biggio

My heart says Ewing and Barkley. My head knows that its Barry Sanders.

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

Who is that large number 22?

And the best to never win?

Danica Patrick NASCAR

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, I believe it had to have been theoretically possible for said "athlete" to win a title. Therefore, Danica is eliminated from consideration.

 

[cubsker]

Barry Bonds, probably the greatest hitter ever.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

 

[GretnaShawn]

Who is that large number 22?

And the best to never win?

Danica Patrick NASCAR

The Pillsbury Throwboy himself, Jared Lorenzen

 

[WC_'sker]

Buddy Biancalana

Wasn't he on the '85 Royals team?

 

[8675309husker]

DAN MARINO

 

[Charlie Marlow]

Wasn't he on the '85 Royals team?

He also may not have been the best athlete ever haha

 

[Baxter48]

Good additions. Wilkins was a bit before my time... but seemed like early in his career he had to deal with Larry Bird and later in his career he had to deal with MJ.

Marcus Johnson played for the bucks in the late 70's early 80's

 

[Baxter48]

Wasn't he on the '85 Royals team?

Yes