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

[Inspektor1312]

Adam Morrison. Guy probably wouldn't have been an all star, but he would have been a solid role player. Instead, he was the butt of the joke from those Kobe/Gasoline Laker teams.

Obscure, but Elliot Williams had freak athleticism.

Less obscure, but peak Darius Miles was a human highlight reel.

Oden, Sabonis, Walton, Rose, Roy, Penny, Hill, Arenas, etc. aren't really that obscure but otherwise fit the criteria.

Oh man, you just brought out a ton of memories to me. Adam played for my team in Europe for a couple of months in 2011 and we loved him, quite a character and a great talent.

[cornchip]

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.

Daugherty is a damn good call.

He was never in the Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson tier primarily because he was not a particularly great defender but he was a really skilled center for that time with excellent touch.

Unfortunately his back gave out right in the middle of his prime. Still had a good career and players from his era rave about him.

[NeoDragonKnight]

Terrell Brandon is another. I liked watching him play when I was a kid. That guy could have been something if not for the injuries.

Second this, I think Garnet really lost a really great potential long term running mate on the wolves when he went down.

[karmew32]

Chris Webber. That 2003 playoff injury cost him a, and possibly multiple, championships.

[chilluminati]

The combo of Tmac and Yao Ming would have been nutty if they could've had more time on the floor as a team. iirc, they had a few huge winning streaks during their tenure.

[Liam_Gallagher]

TMac.

[dhsilv2]

Who's a player that lost a lot of career value due to injury but most fans don't realize how much?

Chris Paul!

[JasonStern]

I'll also throw out Rudy Fernandez. Guy was looking like a solid role player before a hard foul from Ariza. Dude never recovered and was out of the league shortly after.

Watch on YouTube

[Scalabrine]

DeMarcus Cousins

Cousins was in line to get a 5 year $180 million dollar extension. Then he tore his achilles and he went on to earn minimum contracts the rest of the way.

[PistolPeteJR]

Grant Hill

The correct answer.

[indiegrind]

Just naming players in the league now:

Derrick Rose
Kawhi Leonard
Paul George
Victor Oladipo
Anthony Davis (league MVP caliber talent with chronic injuries)

[Johnny Bball]

Does Len Bias count?

[shi-woo]

This is easily Kyrie Irving, and most fans wouldn't even realize it.

Getting hurt in 2015 when the Warriors were their most green and vulnerable. The Cavs easily could have won that year with the defense they played on Curry, and the mismatch LeBron had.

Then you have his injury in 2017, and doesn't play as the Celtics go 7 in the ECF. That would have been huge, and I do think the Celtic's were the best team in the East that year even without Hayward.

Then obviously he leaves for BRK, and essentially causes the biggest what if? of the last decade.

Kyrie has 1 ring, and 3 finals appearances. He had so many years to prove himself in the playoffs, but he has not been able to do it, and has paid the price with fan backlash and drama

[slick_watts]

andre roberson might have won dpoy in 2017-18, instead his career was over.

[Seattlesun]

Kevin Johnson.

[DimesandKnicks]

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

He had one of the most gruesome injuries at 23. Lord knows who he could have become with a year of improving his game instead of rehabbing and dealing with whatever after effects of breaking his leg

[pilkoids]

Danny Granger, Brandon Roy

Sent from my SM-G991W using RealGM Forums mobile app

[2LeTTeRS]

I really liked Andrew Bynum (although to be fair he was also an idiot in addition to his injury troubles).

[wojoaderge]

James Silas
Clark Kellogg

[VancouverRaps]

Dejuan Blair

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/11/how-can-dejuan-blair-play-without-an-anterior-cruciate-ligament-in-either-knee.html

Rookie forward DeJuan Blair began his professional basketball career with the San Antonio Spurs last week and has so far averaged a very respectable 8.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. The former University of Pittsburgh star was initially projected as a high pick in the 2009 NBA draft, but he slid to the second round after a physical revealed something unsettling: The player has no anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in either knee—the result of two high school surgeries. How can Blair play at a professional level without an ACL to call his own?

With his fingers crossed. When an athlete (or anyone, for that matter) lands after a jump, the force of that impact moves up the leg to the knee. This force is dissipated or opposed by muscles, tendons, cartilage, and ligaments like the ACL, which connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone) and helps keep the knee stable by limiting twisting motions. Since Blair lacks ACLs, his quadriceps and hamstring muscles, and the remaining soft tissues in his knee, will need to pick up the slack, as it were, straining harder to stabilize and absorb shocks. So long as his quads and hams remain strong, it’s possible for Blair to play.

During his high-school surgeries, Blair’s doctors did not purposefully remove his ACLs—the going theory is that they tried to repair some partial damage to the ligaments and failed. Then, over time, Blair’s ACLs deteriorated to the point of disappearance. Since this was a gradual change, his muscles and other ligaments could have adapted slowly to the added strain. Without such an adjustment period—if his doctors had simply cut out the ligaments, for example—it’s likely he would have injured himself on the court quite rapidly. Blair is now thought to face a higher risk of damaging his knees (especially his meniscus) than athletes with repaired ACLs—and he may end up with osteoarthritis.

He still went on to carve out an nba career as a depth player.