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50 Greatest NBA Players Without A Championship (Updated Through 2015-16)

By Phil Watson

May 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) shoots over Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
May 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) shoots over Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /
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MILWAUKEE, WI - CIRCA 1986: Sidney Moncrief #4 of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots against the Boston Celtics during an NBA basketball game circa 1986 at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Moncrief played for the Bucks from 1979-90. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI – CIRCA 1986: Sidney Moncrief #4 of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots against the Boston Celtics during an NBA basketball game circa 1986 at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Moncrief played for the Bucks from 1979-90. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

11. Sidney Moncrief

Milwaukee Bucks 1979-89, Atlanta Hawks 1990-91

The Milwaukee Bucks took Sidney Moncrief from Arkansas with the fifth overall pick in 1979 and he became a key figure for a team that fell just short a number of times in the Eastern Conference of the early 1980s.

Moncrief was a five-time All-NBA performer, a five-time All-Defensive selection and a five-time All-Star and he was the Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons, 1982-83 and 1983-84.

He was also fourth in the MVP voting in 1982-83, seventh in 1981-82 and 1985-86 and eighth in 1983-84 and 1984-85.

As a rookie, the Bucks won a division title and a first-round bye, but lost a Game 7 on the road to the defending champion Seattle SuperSonics in the second round.

Moved to the Eastern Conference in 1980, the Bucks suffered a similar fate in the 1981 playoffs, dropping Game 7 of the second road on the road to the Philadelphia 76ers. In 1982, again with a first-round bye, the 76ers eliminated Milwaukee in six games in the second round.

In 1983, the Bucks broke through, sweeping the Boston Celtics in the second round after a bye, but running into the eventual champions from Philadelphia in a five-game Eastern Conference Finals.

Milwaukee was back in the conference finals in 1984 after surviving a Game 5 with the Atlanta Hawks in the first round and knocking off the New Jersey Nets in six games in the second round. But the eventual champion Celtics beat the Bucks in five games.

The 76ers again took out the Bucks in 1985, sweeping them in the second round. In 1986, the Bucks swept the Nets and took a Game 7 thriller from the 76ers, but were swept by eventual champion Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The following year, the Bucks beat Philadelphia in Game 5 of the first round, but lost Game 7 of the second round at Boston Garden to the defending champion Celtics.

After a first-round loss in 1988, the Bucks beat the Hawks in Game 5 in the first round before being swept by the—wait for it—eventual champion Detroit Pistons in the second round.

Moncrief, who had battled sore knees for the last several seasons, retired after the 1988-89 season.

But in October 1990, Moncrief mounted a comeback, signing as a free agent with Atlanta.

Playing strictly as a reserve, Moncrief reached the playoffs again, but the Hawks lost to the Pistons in Game 5 in the first round.

Moncrief went back into retirement permanently after the 1990-91 campaign.

In retirement, he coached Arkansas-Little Rock for one season, 1999-2000, and also coached the D-League’s Fort Worth Flyers in 2006-07. In October 2007, he became an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors and returned to Milwaukee as an assistant in 2011.

Since 2013, Moncrief has worked as an analyst on Bucks broadcasts on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

The final tally on Moncrief’s playoff career:

NBA Finals: 0-0
Conference Finals: 0-3
Conference Semifinals: 4-5
First Round: 5-2

Next: 10. Two MVPs But Never A Finals