In the NBA, winning is everything. It’s the metric of success, the ultimate achievement, and many up-and-coming superstars aren’t taken seriously until they raise that illustrious Larry O’Brien trophy.
When it comes to looking at a certain player’s career or comparing one player over another, Championships are always among the first achievements mentioned.
But do we put too much stock in winning? According to DeMar DeRozan, the answer is yes. In a chat with Taylor Rooks on Wednesday, the Bulls star made the vase for why fans, analysts, and even some players put far too much weight on rings.
“There are so many great players that don’t have rings and if you bring up that player versus another player that does have a ring, you will discredit that great player by saying ‘he don’t have a ring.’ But you can’t take away all the accomplishments he had in his career because some people don’t even get half of what some of these great players have. Just because they don’t have a ring, you wanna say he not like this player. At times, I do feel like it’s a lot thrown on it because all these competitors wished they had a ring. That’s the ultimate thing for us to have but everybody can’t have a ring but that don’t mean you can’t work your butt off and be the best teammate, best player, you could be throughout your whole career.”
Like other talented players, DeRozan lacks the hardware that factors in so much to greatness. Without a Championship, DeRozan is overlooked and discredited by many.
But winning a title is not easy, nor does it rely on the greatness of one particular player. A team has to have the right players at the right time playing the right way under exactly the right conditions to beat their foes and become the one team out of dozens to hoist a banner at the end of the season.
Legends like Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Karl Malone are just a few players who have never had that experience.
Joining those names would be an honor for DeRozan. Fortunately, he still has plenty of time to add that illustrious Championship to his resume.
