Best Potential that never reached it

[Sedale Threatt]

Derrick Coleman.

Chris Webber-level should have been his floor.

Coleman's career, summed up in three paragraphs:

Derrick Coleman finally showed up for a shootaround, which is all yesterday's 107-90 victory by the Knicks over the Nets really was.

For those who don't speak NBA, shootaround is what game-day practice is known as in the National Basketball Association. Teams gather for an hour in the morning to jog through the plays, theirs and their opponent's, and toss a few uncontested shots at the rim.

It's no secret that Coleman's attendance record for these strenuous workouts is, at best, somewhere between his field-goal percentage (41) and his free-throw percentage (75). The last one that we know he blew off was last week in Detroit, his hometown, when he claimed his car wouldn't start. Noting that Coleman had already used this excuse, General Manager Willis Reed, who incredibly hasn't yet suspended one of his renegades for a single minute, said he would investigate. Perhaps he should sign Mr. Goodwrench to a 10-day contact and dispatch him to Coleman's garage.

[I beg to differ]

Derrick Coleman (already said and a good one)

Eddy Curry

Raymond Felton
Michael Sweetney
Glen Davis
Robert Traylor
Sean May
Oliver Miller
Khalid El Amin
Bryant Reeves
1999 Shawn Kemp
Inside the NBA on TNT

[pootbrah]

Perry Jones III

Oden and Wagner mentions make me sad :'(

Sean Mays a good mention. He looked like he was gonna become a beast early on

[Sedale Threatt]

A much lesser-known candidate: Marvin Barnes. Widely regarded as one of the most talented players in ABA history, averaged 24 / 13 in two seasons before he flamed out due to drug abuse. There's definitely a Paul Bunyan vibe to some of the stories, but virtually everything I've ever read indicate this guy could have been a mortal lock for the Hall of Fame had he been able to stay clean and bear down. Bob Costas, who was the play-by-play guy: “Squandered talent. Extraordinary talent. Hall of Fame talent. Maybe — maybe — all-time great talent. I saw him go for 35 and 25 in games against Dr. J and be the best player on the floor.”

[Capn'O]

A much lesser-known candidate: Marvin Barnes. Widely regarded as one of the most talented players in ABA history, averaged 24 / 13 in two seasons before he flamed out due to drug abuse. There's definitely a Paul Bunyan vibe to some of the stories, but virtually everything I've ever read indicate this guy could have been a mortal lock for the Hall of Fame had he been able to stay clean and bear down. Bob Costas, who was the play-by-play guy: “Squandered talent. Extraordinary talent. Hall of Fame talent. Maybe — maybe — all-time great talent. I saw him go for 35 and 25 in games against Dr. J and be the best player on the floor.”

I had never heard of him. His stats were bananas.... rookie year anyway.

[Sedale Threatt]

A much lesser-known candidate: Marvin Barnes. Widely regarded as one of the most talented players in ABA history, averaged 24 / 13 in two seasons before he flamed out due to drug abuse. There's definitely a Paul Bunyan vibe to some of the stories, but virtually everything I've ever read indicate this guy could have been a mortal lock for the Hall of Fame had he been able to stay clean and bear down. Bob Costas, who was the play-by-play guy: “Squandered talent. Extraordinary talent. Hall of Fame talent. Maybe — maybe — all-time great talent. I saw him go for 35 and 25 in games against Dr. J and be the best player on the floor.”

I had never heard of him. His stats were bananas.... rookie year anyway.

There's a great history of the ABA, called Loose Balls (a must-read for all basketball fans), that devoted an entire chapter to his team, the Spirits of St. Louis. You always have to take those stories with a grain of salt, but every single person they interviewed said he was unreal. One of his NBA teammates, I think it was Bob Cowens, said it used to piss him off so much because he had to bust his ass every single night to be good, but Barnes could not practice for a few weeks and still score 30. And that was after he'd started to get super deep into drugs. Who knows if he could have kept it up even straight and working hard, but he's one of the all-time cautionary tales.

[BigRedDog]

I think if Kobe hadn't had the "mentality" he had he could have become a really great player. It seems like a lot of times that was the biggest thing holding him back from becoming an elite player.

[jehosafats]

I'd say Kevin Martin, only because he was so under the radar his whole career.

[Dominator83]

Really surprised there hasn't been a Tyrus Thomas mention yet

[pickIBL]

It's got to be Shaq. Nobody had his physical talent as a big man but he never had the desire to be the
best player he could have been but I suppose 80% is still better than all but Kareem or perhaps Hakeem.

History lesson... shaq was a poor mans wilt.

Shaq and barry bonds both had a mysterious case of the growing domes too.

[pickIBL]

Derrick Coleman (already said and a good one)

Eddy Curry

Raymond Felton
Michael Sweetney
Glen Davis
Robert Traylor
Sean May
Oliver Miller
Khalid El Amin
Bryant Reeves
1999 Shawn Kemp
Inside the NBA on TNT

What did krispy kreme ever do to you?

[cavs4life03]

Dajuan Wagner

Read my mind. That kid was something he scored 100 points in one game if I recall correctly.

Sent from my LM-V350 using RealGM mobile app

[boren]

Players with the best potential that never even reached the league: Nikos Gallis and Oscar Schmidt.

[random_hero891]

Brandon Roy and Greg Oden, Portland had terrible luck.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Of the people who actually showed their value on the court, I would say Derrick Coleman.
He was as talented as anybody.

Sent from my Nokia 3210 using RealGM mobile app

[Diamantidis]

Spanoulis

If anything, Spanoulis was an overachiever.

[Sgt Major]

Darko

OnePlus 6/Tapatalk

[Nutty Nats Fan]

Derrick Coleman.

Chris Webber-level should have been his floor.

Coleman's career, summed up in three paragraphs:

Derrick Coleman finally showed up for a shootaround, which is all yesterday's 107-90 victory by the Knicks over the Nets really was.

For those who don't speak NBA, shootaround is what game-day practice is known as in the National Basketball Association. Teams gather for an hour in the morning to jog through the plays, theirs and their opponent's, and toss a few uncontested shots at the rim.

It's no secret that Coleman's attendance record for these strenuous workouts is, at best, somewhere between his field-goal percentage (41) and his free-throw percentage (75). The last one that we know he blew off was last week in Detroit, his hometown, when he claimed his car wouldn't start. Noting that Coleman had already used this excuse, General Manager Willis Reed, who incredibly hasn't yet suspended one of his renegades for a single minute, said he would investigate. Perhaps he should sign Mr. Goodwrench to a 10-day contact and dispatch him to Coleman's garage.

In Coleman's defense, he also had a heart condition.

Detroiter Derrick Coleman was selected first overall in the 1990 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets, but not many know he played for 10 years with congestive heart failure. “I was diagnosed in 1995 while I was still playing,” said Coleman, now retired.

https://hoopshype.com/rumor/1200420/

[saritasbora]

Derrick Rose

[ellobo]

Derrick Coleman (already said and a good one)

Eddy Curry

Raymond Felton
Michael Sweetney
Glen Davis
Robert Traylor
Sean May
Oliver Miller
Khalid El Amin
Bryant Reeves
1999 Shawn Kemp
Inside the NBA on TNT

Stanley Roberts belongs on this list.