Winning the Larry O’Brien trophy is usually the highlight of an NBA player’s career. There are lots of all-time greats who never graced the finals stage while some of them ultimately fell short of their goal of winning a championship.
But not everybody on the roster will get a chance to play during a team’s championship run. Some of them aren’t even worthy of a roster spot but somehow ended up with a ring.
Today, we will take a look at the 12 worst NBA players that somehow won multiple NBA championships.
Mark Madsen – Los Angeles Lakers
Madsen is perhaps the biggest cheerleader on the Lakers’ bench during their title run in 2001 and 2002. Although he was a rotation piece during the regular season, then Lakers coach Phil Jackson almost had no use for his services in the playoffs.
Madsen won a championship in his first two years in the league. Although he was young at the time, Madsen never really carved a name for himself in the league right up to his retirement in 2009.
DJ Mbenga – Los Angeles Lakers
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The second Laker on this list, Mbenga rode LA’s bench en route to securing himself back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. The Congolese-born big man was a physical specimen but lacked the essential skills to become a consistent contributor to the team.
After his second title with the Lakers, he played for one season with New Orleans and then took his act in Asia.
Matt Bonner – San Antonio Spurs
Widely known as the Red Rocket, Bonner won two NBA titles while playing in San Antonio from 2006 to 2016. He was a decent contributor during his first five years in the league but subsequently became an end-of-the-bench guy as he aged.
Standing at 6 ’10”, you’d think Bonner would be a low post kind of guy but the truth is that he’d happily settle for a three-point shot rather than drive to the basket.
Jud Buechler – Chicago Bulls
Buechler managed to carve out a 12-year career in the association despite his shortcomings as a player. He never once averaged more than 6.2 PPG during his entire career.
He was Chicago’s third-string point guard during their second three-peat from 1996 to 1998. It’s safe to say that he barely contributed to the Bulls during their title run.
James Jones – Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers
If a player can shoot the ball, there’s always a roster spot for him in the league. The problem with Jones is that shooting the ball was all he could do. His defense was almost non-existent at the NBA level.
Even with his limited talent, Jones went on to win three titles during his NBA career – two with Miami and one with Cleveland. The common factor for all three? LeBron James.
Kurt Rambis – Los Angeles Lakers
Rambis, despite his severe limitations on the court, rode on the Lakers’ bench during their dynasty in the 80s and won himself four rings along the way. He was not too bad while serving as a backup to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but the Lakers could’ve won anyway with or without him on the roster.
But make no mistake as Rambis will not hesitate to get into an ugly brawl if his teammates are disrespected.
Steve Kerr – Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs
Fans may argue that Steve Kerr was not a bum of a player and they could be either right or wrong. In reality, Kerr’s numbers were somehow inflated with the Bulls due to Michael Jordan’s presence.
After winning three rings in Chicago, Kerr won another two with San Antonio. Again, he had a moment or two with the Spurs but played sparsely most nights.
Luke Walton – Los Angeles Lakers
The third Laker on the list, Walton won two rings throughout his entire NBA career. The son of legendary big man Bill Walton, Luke sadly never inherited his father’s talents on the basketball court.
He was a terrible shooter, defender and rebounder despite standing at 6’8” and weighing 235 lbs during his playing career. One could argue that his presence was merely a forgettable footnote in the league’s history.
Josh Powell – Los Angeles Lakers
The fourth Laker in this list, Powell’s tenure with the franchise was really an afterthought. To come and think of it, with all the subpar players they had on the team during their back-to-back title run in 2009 and 2010, how on earth did Kobe and Pau pull it all off?
Powell was essentially a non-factor in the playoffs for the Lakers. Whenever he relieved Gasol, opposing teams made it a point to directly attack him on defense.
Chris Boucher – Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors
Boucher only played one game as a Warrior but nonetheless won a ring with them in 2018. As luck would have it, he would win another ring the next season – this time with the Toronto Raptors.
Despite playing just 2 games during Toronto’s 2019 title run, Boucher earned another ring himself as a player. He would eventually become a serviceable big man with the Raptors but he is still an end of the bench kind of player in terms of talent.
Patrick McCaw – Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors
McCaw won two rings with the Warriors and one ring with Toronto from 2017 to 2019. He became just the seventh NBA player in history to win a championship during each of his first three years in the league.
What was he like as a player? Let’s just put it this way: McCaw was completely out of an NBA job after the 2020-2021 season, at just 25 years old. He never contributed anything significant to each of his rings. At least he can call himself a champion, I guess?
Slava Medvedenko – Los Angeles Lakers
The fifth Lakers in this list, the Ukrainian big man won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 despite playing mostly as a DNP(Did Not Play) member of the team. It did not really matter whether he was with the team or not because the Lakers had Shaq and Kobe at that time.
Medvedenko’s NBA career was largely forgettable and he was out in the league in 2007.
Adam Morrison – Los Angeles Lakers
We might as well make a separate list for all the talent-deprived Laker players in the past because Morrison is the sixth one on this list. We all know that Morrison was a huge star in college for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
After a slew of injuries in the pro rank, Morrison never regained his old college form during his time in purple and gold. He was often regarded as the worst NBA champion of all time and even Jimmy Kimmel got a kick out of it during a segment on his late-night show.
