Most fans don't realize how much career value ______ lost due to injury.

Franco · Post #61 » by **Franco** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:33 am

Not exactly an "under the radar" player, but I think people don't talk much about how Wade's prime is incredibly short and riddled with injuries. He missed basically a whole season's worth of games between 2007-2012, and after getting injured in 2013 he was never the same.

Phish Tank · Post #62 » by **Phish Tank** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:38 am

oh we're talking lowkey guys, hmm.....

Boobie Gibson (injuries killed his career at 27, not pursuing a rap career)
Dajuan Wagner
Chris Bosh (probably more obvious, but yea)
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Marcus Camby

jehosafats · Post #63 » by **jehosafats** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:41 am

Jahil Okafor?

jehosafats · Post #64 » by **jehosafats** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:44 am

Franco wrote:Not exactly an "under the radar" player, but I think people don't talk much about how Wade's prime is incredibly short and riddled with injuries. He missed basically a whole season's worth of games between 2007-2012, and after getting injured in 2013 he was never the same.

I was ready to mention him, but he won 3 titles. Still, I agree. All that getting up off the floor early in his career took its toll.

Monky15 · Post #65 » by **Monky15** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 4:54 am

Tim Hardaway

maverick_41 · Post #66 » by **maverick_41** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:19 am

miamiheat319 wrote:
maverick_41 wrote:DJ Augustin.

Charlotte shocked everyone when they picked him instead of Brook Lopez while already having Kemba and no decent bigs.

DJ had a very fruitful rookie campaign showing nice chemistry with Waller before the leg injury shortened his season. After it he became a pedestrian career backup PG.

Augustin was drafted 3 years before Kemba

What a dark era it must have been.
I confused him with Felton.

DoItALL9 · Post #67 » by **DoItALL9** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:25 am

Bob Rule

Sent from my LM-G710 using RealGM mobile app

Lalouie · Post #68 » by **Lalouie** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:27 am

gale sayers

WillyJakkz · Post #69 » by **WillyJakkz** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:49 am

dlts20 wrote:
WillyJakkz wrote:

Paul George should be the first and only answer.

Pacers George literally gave LeBron AND Wade fits then he changed his # to 13 and tried to show James Harden who went to HOU and was becoming the new man in the NBA he was a superior SG in the Olympic scrimmage and he became... human so to say.

Yeah there's others but Paul George is it. And I loved me some Penny who is my other choice.

Still fantastic but not super exceptional like the trajectory he once had.

Nah. Just because you have a good series doesn't put you on their level. I never felt like that or that his team's ever had a chance of beating them. He was always clearly a grade or two below and was never fully consistent

You must not have realized he was compared to TMac heading into the League as well as once he got in the League and he was on his way then he broke his leg.

He is not as athletic as he once was prior to that freak injury.

Dude was unreal on both sides of the ball. And again that Pacers team gave the Heatles everything and more before MIA went on to win those chips.

"One good series" lol

CobraCommander · Post #70 » by **CobraCommander** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:34 am

dockingsched wrote:Kawhi. I think he would’ve been a top 10 player ever if he stayed healthy.

100%

While people were amazed with LUKAs
playoff runs, Kawhi beat him twice. Also won one in Toronto. Would be a mvp favorite every year if he could play 82 ever - Kawhi is a quarter time player perennially on a minutes restriction. Even when he healthy he run like he is laboring… but still balls out

nsloan23 · Post #71 » by **nsloan23** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:25 am

WillyJakkz wrote:

Paul George should be the first and only answer.

Pacers George literally gave LeBron AND Wade fits then he changed his # to 13 and tried to show James Harden who went to HOU and was becoming the new man in the NBA he was a superior SG in the Olympic scrimmage and he became... human so to say.

Yeah there's others but Paul George is it. And I loved me some Penny who is my other choice.

Still fantastic but not super exceptional like the trajectory he once had.

Paul George is difficult because he is still a much better player than he was pre-injury and has signed at least 2 max contacts. It is interesting to think about what kind of leap he might of taken had be not been injured that year though.

Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk

panos291 · Post #72 » by **panos291** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:31 pm

Arvydas Sabonis.

Sane · Post #73 » by **Sane** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:02 pm

Luis Scola is a good story. Came over late (I believe he was 28), was already NBA-ready on offense and seemed to score with ease and develop new skills late in his career. Seemed to have that gene. I wonder if they had worked on his defense/physique from his rookie days, would he have been a really good 25ppg scorer in his prime (which was a lot at that time) and a decent defender?

Arvydas Sabonis is probably the biggest one (good call @panos291). This dude should have been in the NBA aged 17. Just with better training and his game tailored to the NBA rather than to Europe, I'm 100% certain he would have been an all time great big man.

KyRo23 · Post #74 » by **KyRo23** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:07 pm

A lot of people missing the point of this thread and listing people like Penny and Roy.

Enjoyed reading the ones that you just totally forgot or didn't realize they fizzled out from injuries.

MaxZaslofskyJr · Post #75 » by **MaxZaslofskyJr** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:12 pm

Maurice Stokes. Ralph Sampson.

jokeboy86 · Post #76 » by **jokeboy86** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:12 pm

Most fans don't know s*** about basketball.

hauntedcomputer · Post #77 » by **hauntedcomputer** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:12 pm

DoItALL9 wrote:Bob Rule

Sent from my LM-G710 using RealGM mobile app

Basketball didn't exist before Jordan, everyone knows this.
So this guy didn't not average 24/10 for three seasons on the Sonics before injures while going against Wilt, Russell, Reed, Bellamy, Lucas.
Very definition of OP because nobody even knows him, much less realize how much career value was lost.

Marcus_Shart · Post #78 » by **Marcus_Shart** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:21 pm

Bernard King. He tore his ACL when he was 28 back when that was basically a death sentence for NBA players. Missed 2.5 seasons and came back and averaged like 28 when he was 34 then got injured again and was pretty much done.

shrink · Post #79 » by **shrink** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:43 pm

The question made me think of players that had showed early season success against their peers, which led me to remember Wally Szczerbiak. Wally was an All Star in his third season — a dead eye shooter (50/40/85) immediately and was learning to use his size against NBA competition until plantar fasciitis left him a shell of the player he was. Wally’s ability to shoot let him hang around the NBA for several more years, but his foot problems meant he couldn’t explode and struggled defending anyone.

jeeph · Post #80 » by **jeeph** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:50 pm

Brad Daugherty only played 8 seasons due to a back injury. 5 time all-star at the time in an era of great centers. Would be thought of higher if he had the longevity to add to the lifetime achievement totals I believe.