30 best NBA players to never win a championship

23. Russell Westbrook

The inclusion of Russell Westbrook at this point in his career might be one that rubs some people the wrong way. Not only is he just now entering his prime, but we also don’t know what he’ll become or what the next chapters in his career are going to include. After all, he did just post a season-long triple-double average with the Oklahoma City Thunder in his first season playing without Kevin Durant alongside him. So not only does he have the chance to move up this list, but it’s also hard to think that he won’t be in title contention again at some point in his career.

With that said, Westbrook is simply incredible with what he’s able to do at the point guard position. Yes, it’d be easy to just point to the triple-double average and just leave it at that. However, it’s deeper than that. These weren’t just stat-chasing numbers that he was putting up. In the wake of Durant’s departure, Westbrook was playing with a sub-par supporting cast and having to will his team to victory and put those type of numbers up just to carry his squad to being the No. 6 team in the Western Conference. That’s absurd on a number of levels.

For the past few years, one of the hot-button debates has been about “best point guard” in the league with the likes of Westbrook, Stephen Curry, John Wall and Chris Paul all being in the conversation. No one is denying the greatness of any of these guys. However, if you had to start a franchise with one, my money would be on Westbrook because of how many ways he can affect the game from the position. That speaks a great deal about him as a player and his already-established level of greatness in the league.