Winning in the NBA is not as easy as many people make it out to be. To be a consistent winner throughout a player’s career is almost impossible. Players are usually drafted to bad teams, which leads to early-career losses as the team gets back on the path to winning. Throughout their career, they may go through stretches where the team just isn’t performing well and losing more than they are winning.
As a result of that, only 3 players in NBA history have managed to win 70% of the games they played throughout their careers. All 3 of those players played on the same team for years, as it had to be the iconic San Antonio Spurs trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.
The Spurs enjoyed one of the greatest sustained periods of success in NBA history with 22 consecutive postseason appearances. In those appearances, the Spurs won multiple championships and always competed atop the west, making Ginobili, Parker, and Duncan, the winningest trio in NBA history. Ginobili has a higher winning percentage than his 2 teammates.
141 NBA Players have played at least 1,000 games.
Only 3 of them have won more than 70% of the time:
Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. pic.twitter.com/SWhw8rYOuu
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) August 11, 2022
While the Spurs trio reign supreme, many players have come close to matching them in terms of their winning percentage. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Scottie Pippen, and Danny Ainge were very close to crossing the 70% mark.
Kareem, Pippen, and Ainge are closely followed by the likes of Michael Jordan, Robert Horry, Shaquille O’Neal, Dennis Johnson, Derek Fisher, and LeBron James. The best winning percentages of non-championship players are Steve Nash, John Stockton, and Karl Malone. Winning in the NBA over a sustained period is incredibly difficult, and these players have done a fantastic job of being winners throughout their careers.
The Spurs dynasty led by Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker will stand out as one of the toughest franchises of all time in terms of how they sustained their success over the time that they did. Hopefully, we see a franchise put together a trio that could live up to those expectations and matches their incredible winning percentage.
