Former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan never won an NBA title although his teams had two 1992 Olympic Dream team members John Stockton and Karl Malone the reason why was primarily Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls

Charles Barkley was a member of the 1992 USA Olympic Dream team BUT… he was never a member of an NBA title winning team

Allen Iverson is recognized with changing how the game is played. Despite his amazing talent he was never on an NBA Title winning team

Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics Larry Bird in Game two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden Date 30 May 1985 - Steve Lipofsky www.Basketballphoto.com ALL TIME NBA 1st TEAM - BREAKING IT DOWN MAGIC JOHNSON & PHAL SAMPHORS

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

After an 82 game regular season it takes 16 playoff wins to become and NBA title winning team. Unfortunately many of the greatest players the game has ever seen were never a member of an NBA TITLE WINNING TEAM. With that said we have selected the best players we felt never were the best for our NEVER WON-NA NBA TITLE WINNING TEAM. Review our roster and if you don't agree select your NEVER WON-NA NBA TITLE WINNING TEAM

Monday October 4, 2021

CLOSE BUT... NO CIGAR

When you think about how hard a player works to make it to the NBA and then win an NBA title there is no question that after years and hours of hard work to achieve their dream we have made a special team for them. Their value as being super star players is a non issue. What they experienced was being in the wrong place at the wrong time aka… being on the wrong team. This came to mind after Chris Paul came so close to being only two games away from that achievement.

You can say what you want but these players were great but never seemed to be on the right team at the right time. Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing are the most abused players that were on good teams but there was another team that was better that season.

Barkley came close with the Phoenix Suns but it was the Houston Rockets that busted his socket in the 1994-95 Western Conference semi final playoffs. The Rockets with Hakeem 'The Dream' Olajuwon shut the Suns down with 4-3 series result.

Then little Shaquille O'Neal bit the dust the in the finals when he was a youthful member of the Orlando Magic. The Rockets dispatched the Magic in a four game finals sweep.

Dominate teams of various decades precipitated in thwarting a team's success to grab a title. The Boston Celtics were the kings on the 60's winning all but one the 1966-67 season when the Philadelphia 76ers whipped them out in the Eastern Division finals. The Sixers took the series 4-1. They are considered to have had one of the best teams for ONE SEASON of ALL TIME.

Due to the Celtics dominance no player from the 60's qualified for our Never Won-na title team. The Lakers Elgin Baylor would have qualified but he is a member of our NBA ALL TIME 1st TEAM which eliminates him from the squad.

What the Lakers qualified for during that decade are the coaches that suffered losing to the Celtics in the finals. Of the Lakers five losses to the Celtics in the finals were Fred Sauchs who coached the squad losing to the Celtics in 1962 - 63 & 65. The Lakers other two final losses during the 60's were coached by Bill Van Breda Koff in 1968 & 69.

The 70's decade wasn't dominated by any team. The New York Knicks won two titles during that decade 1969/70 and 1972/73. The Celtics won two titles during the seventies,1973/74 and 1975/76.

When the 80's came about with Magic Johnson's Show Time Lakers that won five titles during the decade while the Celtics won two, that was when many of our never won-na NBA TITLE team came together. As mentioned, Barkely and Ewing started their careers during the 80's and never came close. Their strength was their skill and durability that extended their careers into the Michael Jordan dominated 90's.

Their talents were so strong that there were two starters on the 92 USA Olympic Dream team that are on the first team of our never won an NBA Title team. Prior to that only college and AAU players qualified,

George Gervin, Bob Lanier and Dominique Wilkins played the majority of their careers during the 80's but continued into the mid 90's. They made the team. John Stockton most definitely qualified and he was talented enough to be a Dream Team member. His teammate Karl Malone was also on the Dream Team BUT… he is on our All Time NBA 2nd team.

The dynamic duo suffered almost two decades trying to win a title together but came up short to the Lakers and the Bulls. This is a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time scenario.

Alan Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Arvidys Sabonis and Steve Nash represent the 90's. All extended their careers into the 21st Century aka the beginning of the Sissy Ball era.

For a coach quite frankly a clear choice fails to come to mind. That being the dilemma we chose Jerry Sloan and here's the reason why. With Stockton and Malone the Jazz had seven strong seasons and reached the 1998 finals only to lose to the Bulls with Jordan's classic last minute shot and interception of a pass. It's a classic and can be seen on You Tube title Michael Jordan's Last Three Minutes.

During the 90's Sloan coached the Jazz to 2 Western Conference Semifinal, 3 Conference Final and 1 NBA final appearances. Sloan was the nicest guy one could ever meet. He wore his feelings on his sleeve. It is a shame that he wasn't a coach of an NBA TITLE WINNING TEAM. This was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, with that time being THE MICHAEL JORDAN CHICAGO BULLS ERA.

Below are the selections for our NEVER WON-NA NBA TITLE TEAM. Your challenge is to select your never won-na NBA Title team and coach. Good Luck, TAKE CARE and be COVID aware.

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