Zurab Talakvadze

James Harden is still searching for his first ring.

We demand NBA superstars to win rings and sometimes we demand that in a hurry. These players are not just a regular basis superstars – they are titans, born to be as great champions, but… are they?

These 3 crafters had it all, but one small thing is still missing in their career: a title run.

Three point guards, or dare we say, point Gods, who were on a crisp of taking home big jackpot, but they always failed.

1. Russell Westbrook
   Mr Triple-Double before Jokic  took over. Russ is in his own league and still is capable of collecting a triple on any given day. Westbrook is classy, he is the ultimate warrior and sadly, plays in a Sacramento team far removed from the title contention. He is still pulling up for some crazy jumpers, he is still rebounding like demon and he still screams his lungs out. Russell was averaging otherworldly 31 points, 10.7 boards and 10.,4 dimes per season and doing this with an ease. Westbrook continues to shine and will climb in almost every statistical rating. Russ is a machine, that never breaks, but one title will conclude his otherwise magnificent career. His legacy will live on. His name demands respect and it’s a pity, that Russell still is ringless. You can easily put him in conversation of the point guards ever. Russ is just a beast. And he is still ballin.
2. James Harden
   James is still clicking. Compare his best season, as of 2017/2018 to the one Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had in 2024/2025. Harden was averaging 30.4 points, 8.8 assists, 5.4 rebounds and a monster 2.5 steals. Shai was putting down 32.7 points, 6.4 dimes, 5.0boards and 2.7 steals. See the difference? Almost none. And note that, both of them led their teams to NBA’s best record. And none will forget, that Mr Beard was one bad game away, from slaying the best team in the history of NBA, the mighty Golden State with Kevin Durant in a fold.  That Houston deserved more and that Houston was Harden’s bloody project. That team has won 65 games and James was the King. Over 27 000 points speak loud and so does his multiple scoring titles. Enjoy Harden while you can.
3. Chris Paul
   Remember that game winner that Chris scored on one leg, injured, depleted and against probably the best one on one defender, Mr Tim Duncan? He kills the defending champions San Antonio Spurs in that series, as Clippers dethroned the champions in a grueling 7 game series? Well, that was Paul, who quietly passed 20 000 points and 10 000 assists in his career. He is still playing and plans to retire after this season. Paul was changing every franchise he entered. He has played basketball just to win championships, but never did. He did it grace, with intensity and with passion. He just never succeeded. We can trust some old stories, telling us how pain full was for him to lose that single series and how he was replaying almost every turnover he had. The closest he came? Probably, 2018, with Houston, where in game 5 against Golden State Paul’s hamstring just went off. And, so did his title chances.