SUMMARY
- Jerry West has the most NBA Championship losses in league history with 8.
- LeBron James is also surprisingly on the list along with Elgin Baylor and various other legends.
The NBA has witnessed many intense battles in the playoffs that have left fans with unforgettable memories to cherish for years to come. There have been multiple rivalries, upsets, and victories over the year. While the regular season tends to get exciting for various reasons, the post-season is a whole other experience.
The 2023-24 NBA season has brought us fans some fond memories as well. We’ve witnessed players like Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving create history. Jayson Tatum has emerged as one of the best scorers the playoffs have ever seen. But the post-season also brought us some major upsets such as the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers making first-round exits. So to take a trip down memory lane, here is a list of players who lost the most NBA Finals.
Jerry West
Jerry West is the man who inspired the NBA logo. For several years, he dominated the floor with his offense stride averaging 27 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game. West made nine NBA Finals appearances but only managed to win one, making him the player with the most championship losses.
LA Times ranks the 75 greatest Lakers. Top 5:
1) Magic
2) Kobe
3) Kareem
4) Jerry West
5) Elgin Baylor pic.twitter.com/76qv84JCt9— Kobe Bryant Stories & Motivation (@kobehighlight) November 15, 2022
West won his first and only championship during the 1971-92 season. This was the Los Angeles Lakers’ sixth title win and they eventually went on to win several more over the years.
Elgin Baylor
The Lakers were one of the best teams in the league while Elgin Baylor played between 1958 and 1971. He was part of the Lakers when they shifted bases from Minneapolis to LA. Baylor made seven NBA Finals appearances but unfortunately failed to win a title before retiring.
Elgin Baylor shooing over John Havlicek in the 1966 NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/gC3Zu4eySd
— Paul Knepper (@paulieknep) May 6, 2024
Baylor goes down in history as one of the greatest players to never win a title. He was an 11x All-Star, the 1959 All-Star Game MVP, and Rookie of the Year with ten All-NBA First Team selections. He averaged a career of 27.4 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game.
LeBron James
There isn’t much to explain about LeBron James and what he means to the league. Despite starting his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers and eventually moving to the Miami Heat, James is currently finding his spot on the Lakers’ all-time greats list. During the 2010s, James made eight straight finals appearances with the Heat and Cavaliers.
During that stretch, he won three titles while losing to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, and three of his four battles against the Golden State Warriors between 2015 and 2018. The first time he made the NBA Finals was in 2007 when the Spurs dominated the Cavaliers. That brings him to a total of six NBA Finals losses.
Larry Foust
Larry Foust isn’t a name that many of us have probably heard of, but he was an NBA player who dominated the league for 12 years. Foust played for the Lakers, Pistons, and Hawks between 1950 and 1962. He led the league in rebounds during the 1951-52 season while making eight All-Star appearances.
Jerry West vs. Larry Foust
(Feb 15, 1962) pic.twitter.com/pEkXwKrTkQ
— WiltStats (@WiltStats) September 14, 2022
The NBA legend made five NBA Finals appearances but won none of those series. Three of those final appearances were against Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics. Russell holds the record for most NBA Finals appearances and championships. Foust is the only NBA player with eight All-Star selections not to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Honorable Mentions
There are a number of players tied for four NBA Finals losses and they include, Keith Erickson, Rudy LaRusso, Steve Mix, Max Zaslofsky, Danny Ainge, Wilt Chamberlain, Mel Counts, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Kareem and Magic, give and go highlight play pic.twitter.com/36Dik38fgj
— The Sporting Page (@sportingpage) February 11, 2024
Since the 2020s, only Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo have the most NBA Finals losses with two. They lost to LeBron and the Lakers in 2020, and recently against 3x MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in 2023.