Los Angeles Lakers: 5 best players to never win a ring with the team

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
1 of 6
Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

With the NBA regular season currently suspended for a minimum of 30 days, it’s quite possible that we could see a scenario where the league doesn’t crown a 2020 NBA champion. Could our Los Angeles Lakers end up ringless?

As LeBron James nears his late 30s and Anthony Davis plans to test free agency this summer, there’s a scenario—albeit a rare one—where these two phenomenal Los Angeles Lakers players could receive the dubious honor of playing for the purple and gold without delivering a championship to Tinseltown.

With 16 championships over the course of their storied history, the Laker name has been synonymous with winning for quite some time. Whether it’s Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, the stars have almost always managed to shine on the brightest of stages.

However, there are obviously quite a few years where the Lakers had nice pieces but weren’t able to put it all together.

Unfortunately for those stars who have failed, the Laker faithful hold their team and the players who have worn the purple and gold to the highest of standards. Many players who have come up short have failed to see their jerseys raised up to the rafters at Staples Center. To the casual fan, they will slowly fade from Laker lore.

Although it is still a rare possibility that James and Davis find themselves in this undesirable place, the idea led me down a dark path to seek out some of the best Laker players to never win the big one.

I present to you the top five Lakers to never win a championship.