30 best NBA players to never win a championship

25. Dwight Howard

Though he’s still in the league, it’s hard to not look at Dwight Howard and wonder what might’ve been had he simply been wired differently. We’ve already talked about players like Carmelo Anthony and Bernard King and how winning titles never seemed to be of the utmost importance to them. Howard likely falls into that category as well, but he’s also infinitely more frustrating because of it. Part of that is due simply to his physical gifts and how dominant he could’ve possibly been, but the other factor is that he also sniffed that type of greatness early in his career.

Howard’s career, coming to the NBA out of high school, began with eight seasons with the Orlando Magic and he was a force immediately whose prowess only grew from there. Playing under Stan Van Gundy, he was the centerpiece in the inside-out attack that ultimately led them to the 2009 NBA Finals, though they obviously fell short.

At his most dominant in his final five seasons with the Magic, Howard’s numbers were quite astounding. The big man put up 20.6 points and 13.9 rebounds per game while also notching 1.1 steals and 2.5 blocks per contest. He was an athletic freak that was impossible to contain on pick-and-rolls, but also one of the best defenders in the league.

After the 2011-12 season, though, came the ugly trade to the Los Angeles Lakers where he clashed with Kobe Bryant for a season and things haven’t been the same since. Howard has been more concerned with trying to be a back-to-the-basket player rather than going to his bread and butter in the pick-and-roll, and his stubbornness (along with injuries) has ultimately cost him. Now with his hometown Atlanta Hawks, it’s hard to see him ever being the player he was before again, or to see him ever holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy.