Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley, and Reggie Miller are some of the players who played the most minutes in the NBA without winning a title. Although they were all enshrined to the Hall of Fame and won gold medals while representing the U.S. in the Olympics, a championship ring eluded them throughout their professional careers.
Such is not the case for some names who are considered fortunate to be with their teams during their championship seasons. These are the ones who ended up being fixtures on the bench while the team worked its way to winning a title. There are even some who played less than 100 minutes the whole year.
The most recent one to do this was Sasha Kaun of the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. In their 2015-2016 campaign, the 31-year-old played his lone season in NBA with a total of 95 minutes of playing time, but it ended with him having a championship ring on his finger. He retired just this summer capping off a very forgettable career.
Others who have done this in the past were Wayne Kreklow of the 1981 Boston Celtics, who only played 100 minutes that year. Rick Weitzman, also from the Celtics but from their 1968 squad, played 75 minutes and Sun Yue of the 2009 Los Angeles Lakers had 28 minutes of total court time.
But the two players who played the least minutes and still have championship rings are Matt Steigenga from the 1992 Chicago Bulls, who appeared in only three games, totaling 12 minutes and scoring only three career points in the NBA.
The other one who can perhaps be called the luckiest of them all is Ron Watts of the 1966 championship winning Celtics team who only played three minutes all season long but won the NBA title with his team. His only video that can be easily found is a hilarious commercial he appeared in with the great Bill Russell.
It will be difficult not to feel bad, to some extent, for NBA Legends like Malone, Stockton, Barkley, and Miller. They all gave their effort and hard work to the game and had stellar careers in the NBA, but with no ring to show.
Meanwhile, the players who played sparingly also did their fair share of work to be included in an NBA roster. But more importantly, they were in the right place, at the right time.
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