The 2021-2022 NBA Season is over, the Golden State Warriors won against the weak Boston Celtics for their fourth rings in what was a relative round for them and Steve Kerr not only won another ring but little by little he is approaching Phil Jackson’s record.
Within the Golden State Warriors roster multiple players played a small role during the 2022 NBA Finals and for most of the regular season. During the series against the Boston Celtics only three players scored less than 10 points but they also got a championship ring.
When a player with little experience is part of a team that can win a championship that’s perfect for learning new things but at the same time the player loses playing minutes while the starters play most of the games.
Who is player who came close to win four NBA Championships between 2015 and 2022?
Only one player came close to winning three rings without being a starter with three different teams, his name is Alfonzo McKinnie. His personal story is quite peculiar, but it all started in 2015 after he was undrafted in the draft that same year.
McKinnie played during a time in Luxembourg with the East Side Pirates in 2015 and it wasn’t until the 2017-2018 season that McKinnie finally ‘played’ in the NBA but he actually spent most of his rookie year with the Raptors 905 (NBA G League).
His time with the Raptors ended in 2018 and right after he left the Raptors won the 2018-2019 NBA Finals. That was the first time that he was relatively close to an NBA Championship ring but his poor performance took him away from that path.
But during his second chance in the NBA he was going to be even closer to winning a ring, this time with the Golden State Warriors. They signed him for the 2018-2019 season, McKinnie earned a spot on the roster and had a good game against the Bulls with a Double-Double. The Warriors played the 2019 NBA Finals against the Raptors (mentioned above) and the Warriors lost 2-4, they waived McKinnie that year.
The Cleveland Cavaliers decided to give McKinnie a chance for the 2019-2020 season, after two 10-day contracts he was finally signed for a multi-year contract and although McKinnie set a personal record of 14.8 minutes played per game he barely played 40 games and started one. The Cavs traded him for JaVale McGee to the Lakers.
Unfortunately McKinnie was going to be traded a few months late to the Los Angeles Lakers, they had already won the controversial 2020 NBA Bubble Championship. After his short stay in Los Angeles he had to play for a while in the NBA G League again, and in the 2021-2022 season McKinnie returned to the NBA to play for the Bulls but he was waived on February 19, 2022.