As we continue to work our way through the endless summer between the Finals and Opening Night, we'll pause each Friday to briefly consider and count down some NBA-related topic of note. We like starting lineups and round numbers, so we'll run through a handful of items each week. With a nod to our friends at Dr. Saturday, welcome to Ball Don't Five.

This week's installment: The Top Five Great Teams That Never Won a Title

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5. Jerry West’s Los Angeles Lakers

This is a cop-out, and not an entirely accurate description to boot. Jerry West’s Los Angeles Lakers won it all in 1972 after steamrolling the league in a regular season that saw the squad win a then-NBA record 69 games, which was nice. For 11 years prior, however, West’s Laker clubs routinely bowed out in the playoffs to either superior St. Louis, San Francisco or Milwaukee clubs, or in the Finals at the feet of the Boston Celtics. That’s 11-straight runs featuring West and Elgin Baylor and eventually Wilt Chamberlain at their peaks, with no ring to show for it until Bill Sharman put the team over the top in 1972.

View photos Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp discuss options. (Getty Images) More

4. 1996 Seattle SuperSonics

We had to limit our list to include just one team that fell at the hands of Michael Jordan’s Bulls, otherwise this list might be made up entirely of those that were denied a championship mostly because of No. 23. We selected the 64-win SuperSonics as the best of the bunch, though arguments can be made for the 64-win 1997 Utah Jazz, the 62-win 1992-93 Phoenix Suns, or the 60-win New York Knicks team from the same season.

All three have their merits, but this SuperSonics outfit was probably the best of the bunch. The team basically played the Bulls to a standstill following Game 3 of the Finals once coach George Karl decided to finally sic guard Gary Payton on Michael Jordan. Shawn Kemp and Payton were in their primes, while Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins and Sam Perkins were major contributors. Seattle also had to go through the defending champion Houston Rockets and a killer Utah Jazz club just to get to the Finals that season.

View photos Dr. J. and Capt. Roger Murdoch square off. (Getty Images) More

3. 1982 Philadelpha Sixers

The previous year’s model may have won more games (62 to 58), but these Sixers came so, so close to finally bringing Philly a title – only to fall once again to the hated Los Angeles Lakers. The Julius Erving-led squad swooshed past the same Boston Celtics team that knocked them out of the 1981 playoffs while downing a tough Milwaukee Bucks outfit along the way only to see their run stop short in the face of the same Laker team that topped them in the 1980 Finals. Erving led Philadelphia in scoring with over 24 a game, but five other Sixers (Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Lionel Hollins, Darryl Dawkins, Andrew Toney) also averaged double-figure points.

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