Ball Don’t Five: Top 5 Great Teams That Never Won a Title (Ball Don’t Lie)

As we continue to work our way through the endless summer between the Finals and Opening Night, we'll pause each Friday to briefly consider and count down some NBA-related topic of note. We like starting lineups and round numbers, so we'll run through a handful of items each week. With a nod to our friends at Dr. Saturday , welcome to Ball Don't Five . This week's installment: The Top Five Great Teams That Never Won a Title [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball] 5. Jerry West's Los Angeles Lakers This is a cop-out, and not an entirely accurate description to boot. Jerry West's Los Angeles Lakers won it all in 1972 after steamrolling the league in a regular season that saw the squad win a then-NBA record 69 games, which was nice. For 11 years prior, however, West's Laker clubs routinely bowed out in the playoffs to either superior St. Louis, San Francisco or Milwaukee clubs, or in the Finals at the feet of the Boston Celtics. That's 11-straight runs featuring West and Elgin Baylor and eventually Wilt Chamberlain at their peaks, with no ring to show for it until Bill Sharman put the team over the top in 1972.