20 NBA Sidekicks that Won a Ring They Didn’t Deserve

None of these benchwarmers did much to earn a championship ring… but they all got one anyway!

Charles Barkley. Steve Nash. Patrick Ewing. Reggie. Iverson. Stockton and Malone. What do all these players have in common?

Empty ring fingers.

It’s a RINGZ culture in 2019, and it’s all about whether or not guys have won an NBA championship. Jordan has 6. Kobe has 5. Russell had 11. But all those guys? They never got one. And many will forever hold it against them, and they’re getting ready to add Chris Paul and James Harden to the list too, if they’re never able to break through.

But rings don’t tell the whole story, and if you need a little reminder of just how ridiculous a championship ring can be, maybe a stroll down memory lane will help you remember. Here are 20 NBA sidekicks this century who didn’t deserve a championship but got one anyway…

Nick Young — 2018 Golden State Warriors

Wait who? Ohh, Swaggy P! Nick Young is the king of NBA nicknames. He’s practically more well known as Swaggy than as his real given name, and he also goes by “Bean Burrito,” “The City,” and a litany of other nicknames. One thing Swaggy isn’t known for? Smart, winning, team basketball, the kind the Warriors play.

But Golden State used most of their little offseason cap flexibility in the summer of 2017 on Nick Young anyway, and he rewarded them with his signature flair, streaky shooting, and occasional goofiness. But he played only 10 minutes a game in the playoffs with a -8 on/off and a horrible off-def rating differential of 96–111. Good thing the Warriors were so stacked it didn’t even matter.

Iman Shumpert — 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers

The pride of Oak Park, Illinois, can’t find an NBA home these days. Iman Shumpert was traded two years in a row on nearly the exact day, just before the trade deadline. First it was to the Sacramento Kings, and then they unloaded his hefty contract on the Houston Rockets.

It’s hard to believe that only a few years ago, Shumpert was a prized young 3-and-D wing player for the Knicks. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for two Knicks shooting guards, and at the time, Shumpert was supposed to be the prize in the deal. Instead, he never seemed healthy enough and J.R. Smith turned out to be the prize (?) in the deal. He played bench minutes for the Cavs championship team with an ugly -9 on/off in the playoffs.

Anderson Varejao — 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers

It’s true that Anderson Varejao was probably more responsible for the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers winning the title than Iman Shumpert was. Unfortunately, it’s also true that Varejao was playing for the other team in the Finals. Cleveland traded the lifelong Cav midseason in a move to clear needed cap space, and Varejao was waived by his new team and signed by the Golden State Warriors amidst the greatest regular season in NBA history at 73–9.

Steve Kerr went to Varejao too often against his old team in the Finals, and Varejao’s poor defense across 23 minutes over the final three games cost his team greatly and helped the Cavs win the title — and Varejao a ring, as a member of the team earlier that season. Varejao played 14 games with the Warriors the following season and got a championship share that season too.

Juwan Howard — 2012 Miami Heat

Juwan Howard first burst onto the basketball scene as a member of Michigan’s famous Fab Five back in the early 90s. He began his NBA career successfully enough with Washington, averaging 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists a game over six and a half season with the franchise, even earning an All-Star berth before being traded. Howard had another few solid seasons in him — one for Dallas, one for Denver, one in Orlando — before devolving into the veteran big man bench leader that swung from team to team each season.

His last stop just happened to be in Miami, one of the cheap veteran signings Pat Riley brought in around the Heat’s big three. Howard contributed almost nothing on the court, playing 833 minutes combined across three season. Hopefully his veteran leadership was worth the rings the team gave him.

Eddy Curry — 2012 Miami Heat

Juwan Howard wasn’t the only big man to get a cheapo championship ring with LeBron’s Heatles. Eddy Curry got one too, even though he played only 14 regular season games with Miami. None of those games were in the playoffs. In fact, Eddy Curry never actually played in a playoff game.

That’s not exactly what was expected from Baby Shaq when he was drafted to be part of a twin towers with Tyson Chandler in Chicago. But Eddy Curry never lived up to billing for the Bulls, and he ate his way into and out of a fat — and I do mean fat — contract with the New York Knicks. Eddy Curry sported a 75 offensive rating over his final four seasons in the NBA. He was not exactly a precursor to the Curry that was to come.

James Jones — 2012 & 2013 Miami Heat, 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers

Sometimes it’s just good to be LeBron’s friend. James Jones was a sharpshooter, hitting over 40% of his threes in a long NBA career. He didn’t do much else and rarely saw much playing time, never scoring double digits for an entire season and starting only 93 games in 14 seasons. But he’s a three time champion because LeBron James liked having James Jones’s veteran leadership on his team.

Jones was already on the Miami Heat roster when LeBron and Chris Bosh joined Jones and Dwyane Wade in what was not exactly a fearsome foursome. He won two rings, then followed LeBron to Cleveland in 2014 and won another ring two summers later. James Jones played in seven straight NBA Finals somehow, thanks to LeBron James. So. That is a thing that definitely happened.

Ian Mahinmi — 2011 Dallas Mavericks

If you know Ian Mahinmi at all, you’re probably either a Pacers fans or a salary cap enthusiast. Mahinmi’s greatest impact on the NBA has been signing a fat extension in the fateful summer of 2016 spending spree, netting a massive four year $64 million deal with the Washington Wizards to effectively come off the bench behind Marcin Gortat and then Dwight Howard.

Before the Pacers and Wizards years, Mahinmi spent one year in Dallas, playing 488 minutes in the regular season and just 33 in the playoffs. He was the third center on the Mavericks roster, an afterthought buried behind Tyson Chandler as TC carried Dallas’s defense en route to the franchise’s only championship.

Corey Brewer — 2011 Dallas Mavericks

Corey Brewer was a two time national champion with the Florida Gators, but he’s never really found a proper NBA home. Brewer has played for eight different NBA teams, none for more than three years in a row. He is known for his high energy impact and speed down the court in transition, but quickness and energy can only get you so far.

Brewer is nicknamed “The Drunken Dribbler,” if you’re wondering how his handle is, and he’s made 28% of his threes. And, oh yes, Corey Brewer is still in the NBA. He’s played for the Lakers, Thunder, 76ers, and Kings in the last two seasons alone. He also got a cup of coffee in Dallas in 2011, playing 13 regular season games for the Mavs after being a throw-in on the Melo trade, then waived by the Knicks and signed by Dallas. Brewer played 23 minutes in the playoffs, and the Mavericks went on to shock the Miami Heat and win it all.

Brian Cardinal — 2011 Dallas Mavericks

Corey Brewer wasn’t the only Dallas player to get a 2011 championship ring in a Maverick way. He was joined at the end of the bench by esteemed 12th man, Brian Cardinal. Cardinal was a human victory cigar, the guy at the very end of the bench that went into the game only when it was completely out of hand. He was literally nicknamed “The Custodian” because he really only ever came in for mop up duty.

Cardinal got to play 37 minutes of mop up time in nine playoff games for Dallas in 2011, the longest playoff run of his career. He had almost as many fouls as points. But man, could Brian Cardinal wave a mean towel and root on his teammates, and he got a championship ring for his 12th man efforts.

Adam Morrison — 2009 & 2010 Los Angeles Lakers

Some of us are still waiting for Adam Morrison to be an NBA star. It’s easy to look back and just figure Morrison was a complete bust, and considering he was the number three pick and he started just 28 games in his career, it’s hard to come to any other real conclusion. But Morrison was actually decent enough as a rookie out of Gonzaga, scoring 12 points a game on admittedly terrible shooting numbers before a knee injury cost Morrison his entire sophomore season.

Morrison didn’t make it through the next season in a Bobcats uniform and got sent to the Lakers with Shannon Brown in a 2009 trade deadline move, and it turned out to be quite a stroke of luck for Morrison. He scored only 84 points in two seasons as a Laker, but he just happened to be teammates with Kobe and Pau and that made Adam Morrison a back to back NBA champion.

Luke Walton — 2009 & 2010 Los Angeles Lakers

Unlike Adam Morrison, Luke Walton actually had a real role to play for the NBA champion Lakers. Walton was ninth on the Lakers in minutes in 2009 and started over half the games he played in as the token “smart guy that passes the ball and defends well and doesn’t make mistakes” next to Kobe.

Walton was never much of a shooter or scorer, or anything really outside of being known for a high basketball IQ. But the Lakers played well with him on the court just not making mistakes, and that helped Walton earn two championship rings with L.A. before returning almost a decade later for a fateful stint as a coach. Turns out he got along better with Kobe than LeBron.

D.J. Mbenga — 2009 & 2010 Los Angeles Lakers

A third Laker makes the list — Kobe, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum didn’t need much help — and this one’s a big man. Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, or D.J. for short, was the backup backup center. He is definitely the most famous Belgian-Congolese basketball player you might have heard of.

Only ten years ago, most NBA teams still put two giants in the post and let them bang bodies all game long, and Mbenga was good at throwing his weight into guys, rebounding the ball, and playing a little defense. He was also really good at saying the word “Taco,” as it turns out.

Glen Davis — 2008 Boston Celtics

Who? Glen Davis is another name you might not recognize, but you might recognize him by his much more common moniker: Big Baby. Glen Davis was like what Zion Williamson would be like if he were actually human. The Large Infant was an absolute tank, and by the looks of it, he had more than a little baby fat still around.

That’s what made it all the more fun that he had such quick and nimble feet and could get motoring like a plump Mighty Mouse at times. Davis was actually pretty good off the bench for the 2008 Celtics, and he made a real impact in the NBA Finals… even if his most memorable moment was drooling on live television after a huge bucket. He was Big Baby, after all.

Brian Scalabrine — 2008 Boston Celtics

Brian Scalabrine was one of the NBA’s most recognizable and beloved 12th men. He lived so long at the end of the bench he could have set up shop and built a home for himself there. The Ginger Ninja was an early watered down version of a stretch big, with a soft touch on a decent jumper.

Scalabrine only played for three teams in his career and actually played real minutes for two of them. He averaged just over 10 minutes a game off the bench for the 2008 Celtics, a valuable end of the bench big man for a roster that came together in a hurry after adding Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Matt Bonner — 2007 & 2014 San Antonio Spurs

Matt Bonner is not the only player on this list to grab two cheap championship rings, but he’s the only one to do it twice seven years apart! Bonner may never have played a huge role for Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, but he was on the team for a decade straight, a valuable stretch big man with a career 41% three pointer that Pop loved to bring off the bench.

Red Rocket, or Red Mamba depending on who you ask, was known for two things — his ginger red hair and his soft outside jump shot. Bonner is apparently also known as the “Sandwich Hunter.” He actually gave himself that nickname, with his own blog in search of the “Hoagie Grail.” Welp.

Nazr Mohammed — 2005 San Antonio Spurs

Nazr Mohammed’s Basketball Reference page is so long you have to scroll just to see all the seasons. Mohammed played for eight teams over almost two decades, never going one year and out at any stop until his final season. Mohammed actually started 354 games in his career, but he never averaged double digit points or rebounds for a season.

Mohammed didn’t start much for the 2005 Spurs considering a guy named Tim Duncan blocked his path to playing time, but Nazr didn’t mind. He was a champion at Kentucky, and he became an NBA champion for the Spurs too.

Darko Milicic — 2004 Detroit Pistons

It wasn’t going to be fair. The 2003 Detroit Pistons made the Eastern Conference Finals. The night before the ECF started, they also had a near perfect draft lottery, landing the number two pick in a loaded draft as the payout for a trade they’d made six years later, giving the Grizzlies Otis Thorpe. The Pistons returned a loaded lineup and, though they missed out on LeBron James at the top of the draft, had their pick of Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

Instead, they chose Serbian big man Darko Milicic. Oops. Darko played under five minutes a game as a rookie, along with 14 playoff minutes spread out across eight games. He scored one single solitary playoff point — and he got just as many NBA championship rings to go with it.

Mengke Bateer — 2003 San Antonio Spurs

Mengke Bateer might be the least recognizable name on the entire list. Gregg Popovich always loves himself a quality international prospect, and Bateer fit the mold. Standing 6'11" out of China, Bateer never really found his way in the NBA. He scored nine points total in 12 games for the Spurs his sophomore season and never actually made it into a playoff game, but those 2003 Spurs went on to win the title.

Bateer left the NBA a year later and returned to China where he found more success, winning the Chinese league MVP four times and winning another championship ring over a decade later.

Mark Madsen — 2001 & 2002 Los Angeles Lakers

The Mad Dog was a lot of fun as an energy big man at Stanford, but his game never translated to the NBA. Mark Madsen had a career high of 3.6 points per game, and that was only after he left the Lakers for sunnier pastures. Madsen was the second to last pick in the first round of the 2000 draft, and one year Madsen was a champion. He became a two time champion the following summer as the Shaq and Kobe Lakers completed their threepeat.

It was no thanks to Madsen, who was something of a farcical comedy off the bench. In 2002, Madsen literally had a 0 offensive rating in 10 minutes played. I didn’t even know that was possible.

Isaiah Rider — 2001 Los Angeles Lakers

J.R. Rider came to the Lakers as a star. He had scored more than 18 points a game in seven seasons in the NBA with the Timberwolves, Blazers, and Hawks, though he knew he would be taking on a smaller role with the defending champion Lakers. Rider scored just as frequently per minute but only got to play 18 minutes off the bench since, you know, a guy named Kobe Bryant kind of needed a lot of playing time.

Rider played even less in the playoffs — as in, not at all. The Lakers decided Rider had given them enough in the regular season and went on to win their second straight title without him. But he’ll always have that Eastbay Funk Dunk, the winner in the 1994 Slam Dunk contest.

Originally published as a freelance opportunity for thesportsdrop.com. Follow Brandon at @wheatonbrando for sports, television, and culture. Visit Brandon’s writing archives here.