5 best Boston Celtics to never win a ring

2. Reggie Lewis

A first-round pick (No. 22 overall) out of Northeastern, Lewis was easy to see as the guy to lead the next winning era for the Celtics as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and the like neared the end of their careers.

Starting with his second season, and with a significant uptick in his role after he averaged just 8.3 minutes per game as a rookie, Lewis averaged at least 17 points per game in five straight seasons. In the last two of those campaigns (1991-92, 1992-93), he topped 20 points per game and was a top-20 scorer in the league. But on April, 29, 1993, things took a dark turn.

Lewis collapsed on the floor during a playoff game against the Charlotte Hornets. He briefly returned to the game but was pulled as he experienced dizziness and shortness of breath. Then, during an offseason workout in July, Lewis died after a cardiac incident on the basketball court. He was just 27 years old.

A big part of Lewis’ legacy as a Celtic is rooted in his tragic and untimely death, and ample unfulfilled promise (not unlike Len Bias years before him). But one of the top young scorers of his era never won a ring, despite overlapping with the end of the Bird Era.