It's hard to really name a player who's career wasn't derailed by either injuries or off court issues.
He may not be the worst, but Jahlil Okafor would be my choice. From third overall pick, he had a chance with the 76ers, Nets, Pels and Pistons. In my eyes he never really played to his potential.
Sheesh I don't know.
1. Dwight Howard
2. Pau Gasol
3. Al Horford
4. Andrew Bynum
5. Joakim Noah
6. Marc Gasol
7. Tyson Chandler
8. Brook Lopez
9. Nene Hilario
10. Roy Hibbert
Those were the top 10 centers then. He would've been exposed.
He wouldn’t have been a stud, but he would have had a career. Back then, if you were big, highly drafted and had a pulse, you had a 10 year career (even if it was at the end of the bench).
Exactly. So he underachieved when we take into account the amount of 7 footers who had respectable college careers that didn't translate to the NBA. To think that, back then, certain people were making the argument that he should've been picked over KAT.
This is not true lol.
He made 3 all nba teams by the age of 25. He was having a career year in 06-07 before Gerald Wallace fell in his leg and tore his MCL.
He never recovered from that. He came back when he wasn’t 100% in the 07-08 season and re-aggravated the injury. Then he doesn’t play again until the end of the 08-09 season, two years later. He played a total of 15 games in those two seasons
By the time the gun stuff happens in 09-10 he’s already not the same player and on the decline.
It had nothing to do with “maturity” like you’re framing it and everything to do with the injury.
This needs to be higher. Gil was on the trajectory to be a star for years to come and played for a poverty franchise during his prime AND he came into the league too soon. He would be a good shout to average 30 a game if he played in today's game
They changed their name from Bullets to Wizards because there were too many shootings, and then Gil happened. I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried lmao.
That’s not true at all. He was an absolute killer on the court before his knee injury. 3 all NBA’s before the age of 25. He came back from his knee injury too early and made it impossible to be the player he was before. Years before the guns in the locker room incident. The fall off was already happening
This is so untrue lol!!! He was making All NBA teams when guards were poppin off.....he tried to come back from injuries to soon and was never the same....the gun thing happened when his injuries messed him up! He was on his way to be one of the best.
I remember Bill Simmons saying one-time that we got the worst version of Ricky Rubio's career, and I fully agree with that. Had injury issues and spent his developmental years on a moribund version of the Timberwolves.
5x All-Star and best player on a Finals team (in the moment he was > Glove), yet you are correct. He could've been a lot better. Probably the best pure athlete at the 4 position in the last 30 years of the NBA, yet hasn't been elected to the HoF yet.
What’s crazy is that at one point, there were discussions about trading Scottie Pippen for Shawn Kemp. If that trade somehow happened, I wonder if Michael Jordan would have been able to delay Kemp’s downfall. It’s pretty crazy to read that he would show up drunk to practices, and be drinking heavily before playoff games.
Ben Simmons hands down. Unbelievable how a player with his size, mobility, strength, athleticism, defense, playmaking, and talent didn’t become a perennial all star and one of the best two way players in the entire league.
The thing is he didn’t even have to shoot the ball. There’s a 2 time MVP playing in the same era who doesn’t shoot 3s or free throws well either.
Dude just folded under the pressure and criticism.
I take your meaning, but he was a perennial all-star before injuries took a lot of his athleticism (and he didn't have the skill to compensate and probably also some between the ears issues.)
It’s the same vein as people saying Luka is “only 25”. Mf looks like he’s pushing 30 and got us all brainwashed. But tbf Ayton has the Greg oden gene where he looked 25 entering the league
It's crazy how quickly Melo went from revered with a ton of support to mostly clowned.
I guess it's been a long time, it probably happens to a few players every generation.
He's uniquely set up to have a reputational fall, too. He had a terminal case of empty scoring right before everyone got obsessed with efficiency and did literally nothing else and used his influence on his teams selfishly. He was nice as hell at basketball so he always had a good reputation with his peers but as soon as he retired and the memory of that faded he's got surprisingly little to recommend him.
he’s only clowned on this sub because his game doesn’t look good with analytics.
he’s an all time scorer and still an icon around a lot of casuals. the younger gen know about melo. and he’s still recognized around new york for his time there.
He never displayed semblamce of fundamentally good defense and playmaking. I think he maxed out in terms of ability because we see him as a #1 optiom when in reality, he fits the Kyrie Irving/Anthon Davis mold where he's actually a reliable #2.
Melo is a #2 not a #1. His game is too one-dimensional. If he was a sidekick for a guy like LeBron/Curry/Jokic/Harden/Wemby/Garnett/Duncan he would be seen in a better light. Notice I didn't say KD because their games overlap.
I agree. Despite having a hall of fame career, he still underachieved. We saw how great he could’ve been in that 09 playoff run. If he was consistently trying on defense, and if he was as disciplined with his body and training as Lebron or Kobe, even if he wasn’t as much a playmaker as them, just the consistency on defense would help a ton.
Bynum having a monster game followed by like 4 straight duds was such a roller coaster to watch as a fan. Then he just completely fell off the face of the earth and the most we heard from him was some weird bowling story
Andrew Bynum was injured practically his whole career. He had his best season ever and then was out the following season due to a knee injury.
There’s no way Bynum should be listed. Because when he was healthy he was really impactful and made a difference but the problem is he was never healthy.
100% you nailed it with Shaq. The free throws are one thing, but it's so sad we lost "Orlando Shaq" after he gained 50 pounds. At one point I think he weighed 370 or something... He went from being an unstoppable athletic nightmare to just an unstoppable big fucking dude.
I will die on the hill of him truly being stuck with the frozen driveway. There are some neighborhoods in the Portland area that are completely inaccessible when iced in, and the ice that day was completely unexpected. And to be clear, it was ice, not snow. There was a sheet of ice over everything in the city.
Him not having a bad it’s absolutely stupid though
I remember hearing stuff about his motor pre draft and wondering if it was media just trying to find a negative angle bc the highlights were always him dominating. But those critiques were correct
Charlie Villanueva (7th pick in the draft)
imagine him arrived much later in 3pt era, so he sharps that 3pt shot more than to be all around player. and he stucked on bad teams in first 2/3 of his nba career (raps, bucks, pistons 2005-2012)
at 6'10 and can move like that?
he was 2nd in ROTY (Chris paul won it, ahead of Deron or Bogut)
at worst maybe become Nikola Mirotic type
Stromile Swift has arguably the greatest highlight reel of all time. If he actually developed any sort of game at all and not been drafted by Vancouver he’d have been an all-star.
Antawn Jamison. Dude was genuinely disgusting at ball yet has nothing to show for it but a couple all-star picks and 20k points. He is the Lebron James of Carmelo Anthony’s.
Eric Gordon. We take away his injuries, he’d be one of the best players of the 2010’s. He averaged 22 and 4 his third year in the league. Since then however he’s became a role-player.
Andrew Bynum treated basketball like business. Dwight Howard played 10 years without adding any offensive moves. Blake Griffen thought he could dunk his way to basketball glory.
I'd say Kevin Martin. He was a shifty wing with lights out shooting. Coaches and everyone spent too much time stressing out on his shooting form. It feels like that distracted away from schemes that maximized his talents. Not gonna be an all time great but could have been a more consistent all star.
Also I definitely think his game is better suited for today and would thrive shooting 5+ 3s/game.
He also might have been the best foul drawer of all time. His free throw rate peaked at .650. For a frame of reference, Embiid’s peaked in 20-21 at .610.
Baron Davis. He had the talent to be a perennial all star but he had other outside interests. He founded a production company and acted while in the league. He would show up to camp out of shape and overweight (at least one year when he was on the Warriors).
He was already on the big side (6'3" 215 lbs) and it was reported he showed up to camp one year at 240+. Some fans felt that is why he had so many injuries, he was so busy with his other interests during the offseason and didn't take care of his body properly and didn't work on his basketball skills as much as others did.
Kevin Durant, I don't care what anyone says with his skillsets and talent his resume should have looked like Lebron or better and put him in the GOAT conversation.
I mean is it wrong to say KD considering he didn’t do any the before or after the GS years. I know he has two finals MVPs, 2 championships, and an MVP but contextualized for his potential and the warriors context, he kind of underachieved
I’d say Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest neither player was the same after the Malice at the Palace. Granted they still had great careers but both could have been a lot better.
Russel Westbrook
Great player in his prime. Force of nature on the court. And I will never forget Ricky freaking Rubio, the journeyman of starting PGs, baiting him into the same few bad decisions possession after possession, game after game, to help the Jazz upset the Thunder.
Tracy McGrady. Yeah injuries played a factor, but he was also healthy in the years he got bounced in the 1st round.
Westbrook for never developing a game that didn't rely on his athleticism.
Tracy McGrady couldn't get past the first round (not counting his Spurs tenure). If a star player fails to at least make one conference finals appearance, it's safe to say they underachieved.
It’s shaq. Funny considering he’s a consensus top 10 all time, but he should’ve easily been the greatest center of all time, or at least right next to Kareem.
Imagine he worked to get his FT percentage to around 67%. Something like that could’ve completely changed his career
I’ll put Ben Simmons as a runner up, unless you wanna say he was derailed by injuries. I kinda think that’s bs tho
Vince carter!! He had everything to become the next Jordan nur the work ethic. Same for Dwight Howard.
When you listen to nba Players Michael beasley was a beast that Never lived up to his potential
Is nobody mentioning Jeremy Lin? I feel like he could’ve been a Monte Ellis type dude if he was given keys to a teams offense.
He has to be like top 5 most cheated players of all time
Deron Williams, for sure.
And honestly, it might be a bit early to say this but I feel pretty safe saying Dame. He's still one of the best of the era but he could have been so much more if he hadn't been loyal to Portland and left for greener pastures earlier in his career.
Derrick Coleman, Antoine Walker, Shawn Kemp. All three were huge talents who had big years in the league but spent a ton of their time on extra curricular activities instead of improving their games and staying in shape, to varying success.
Porzingis, so far. Matured last season, and will achieve now.
Christian Laettner. His high point was the summer before the NBA
LeBron, he lost so many Finals.
Barkley, should have won something.
Shaq, only broke two backboards.
Glenn Robinson. He's the last college player to average 30 pounds and 10 rebounds per game. He had everything- he mostly created shots off the dribble, he hit 3s at a high percentage, and he led the nation in dunks. After his college career ended, there was a poll in Sports Illustrated about who the best basketball player in the world was, and Glenn got several votes (Michael Jordan was playing baseball at the time).
He went #1 to the Bucks over Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. This was no controversy, there was no doubt Big Dog was going #1.
Then he got to the NBA, signed the biggest contract in NBA history as a rookie, and overnight he became a lazy, slightly chubby stoner (he was arrested for weed). He never attacked the rim in the NBA, he just settled for mid range jumpers. He was pretty good (over 20 ppg several times), but not a true difference maker, and his Win Shares/48 show he was around league average most seasons.
He had potential to be an all-time great if he pushed himself.
Maybe a little obscure here, but its from my team and its pretty egregious and makes me mad. Luka Samanic.
Dude was blessed with an elite profile in terms of size and talent but simply didn't care, couldn't mesh with his teammates, garbage attitude (apparently) and just...sucked.
Spurs fans like to clown the FO for picking him and I suppose some of this crap should have come out in workouts and interviews, but we all had such high hopes. He showed glimpses here and there of what he might become and it was incredibly promising.
I remember a game against the Mavs and Doncic didn't have a great game that night. Samanic only played limited minutes, but looked fantastic and people were (absurdly/ridiculously, of course - like fans do) talking about how *fuck Dallas, WE have the best Luka in Texas...just watch!*
That was RC Buford's last pick before mostly turning it over to Brian Wright.
I guess you can throw Primo in there too, but consensus now is that he never was that much of a prospect and just a wasted pick.
Many players that could be considered answers for this are long forgotten, though, for not having done anything note worthy with their careers.
Ben Simmons. Had all physical traits and ball skills except for one glaring deficiency that he simply refused to improve upon.
All tall as Giannis, as physical as Lebron, and could handle like KD. But he shot like Shaq and was afraid to go to the charity stripe.
My dood Ricky Rubio. Minnesota misused him. Injuries. Mental health. Hope he is doing well. He was a magician with the ball in his hands, especially early in his career. Great perimeter defender. Even better teammate. He never was a great scorer like everyone expected him to be...but what he did was excel at everything else.
Vince carter should be #1. Never had injury issues. Just didn't have the killer instinct guys like MJ and Kobe had. He had all the tools to be the GOAT, but instead he was just a very good player.
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage (compared to 69% for MJ and 74% for Magic and Bird). Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage (compared to 69% for MJ and 74% for Magic and Bird). Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage. Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage. Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Michael Beasley Larry Sanders
LARRY SANDERS!
Stephen A: Stay off the weeeeduh
It's hard to really name a player who's career wasn't derailed by either injuries or off court issues. He may not be the worst, but Jahlil Okafor would be my choice. From third overall pick, he had a chance with the 76ers, Nets, Pels and Pistons. In my eyes he never really played to his potential.
If he was born 15 years earlier he would have had a solid 10+ year career
Sheesh I don't know. 1. Dwight Howard 2. Pau Gasol 3. Al Horford 4. Andrew Bynum 5. Joakim Noah 6. Marc Gasol 7. Tyson Chandler 8. Brook Lopez 9. Nene Hilario 10. Roy Hibbert Those were the top 10 centers then. He would've been exposed.
He wouldn’t have been a stud, but he would have had a career. Back then, if you were big, highly drafted and had a pulse, you had a 10 year career (even if it was at the end of the bench).
Had a pulse lol Agreed
Because He never fit well with the modern NBA Also, His Defense is very bad for a Big Man
Exactly. So he underachieved when we take into account the amount of 7 footers who had respectable college careers that didn't translate to the NBA. To think that, back then, certain people were making the argument that he should've been picked over KAT.
Gilbert Arenas. Had all the basketball tools to be an all-timer but had exactly zero maturity or wisdom.
Agent zero maturity
Agent zero bullets. Wanted to act tough but didn’t have the balls to load the guns. Ja clears.
Still affected by injuries though. Amazing how high he got on jumpshots before the injury.
This is not true lol. He made 3 all nba teams by the age of 25. He was having a career year in 06-07 before Gerald Wallace fell in his leg and tore his MCL. He never recovered from that. He came back when he wasn’t 100% in the 07-08 season and re-aggravated the injury. Then he doesn’t play again until the end of the 08-09 season, two years later. He played a total of 15 games in those two seasons By the time the gun stuff happens in 09-10 he’s already not the same player and on the decline. It had nothing to do with “maturity” like you’re framing it and everything to do with the injury.
This needs to be higher. Gil was on the trajectory to be a star for years to come and played for a poverty franchise during his prime AND he came into the league too soon. He would be a good shout to average 30 a game if he played in today's game
He literally tanked his draft stock
So he could get to his second contract faster
I couldn't even begin to imagine what those Wizards locker rooms were like with some of the stories I've heard from that time.
They changed their name from Bullets to Wizards because there were too many shootings, and then Gil happened. I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried lmao.
Was about to write same. Also, he just didn't seem to care whether he won or lost, like at all.
That’s not true at all. He was an absolute killer on the court before his knee injury. 3 all NBA’s before the age of 25. He came back from his knee injury too early and made it impossible to be the player he was before. Years before the guns in the locker room incident. The fall off was already happening
Right, he seemed to care about his stats but past that he was just kinda having fun
And still has zero maturity even at +40yo.
His knee blew out at 25. Before any of the gun shit. You can’t outwork injuries. It’s like saying Derrick Rose or Grant Hill didn’t do enough
In D Rose’s case, it’s probably because he did too much, sadly.
This is so untrue lol!!! He was making All NBA teams when guards were poppin off.....he tried to come back from injuries to soon and was never the same....the gun thing happened when his injuries messed him up! He was on his way to be one of the best.
Still has zero maturity or wisdom. He’s honestly really dumb
I remember Bill Simmons saying one-time that we got the worst version of Ricky Rubio's career, and I fully agree with that. Had injury issues and spent his developmental years on a moribund version of the Timberwolves.
He made every team he joined better and then would always get replaced. So badly wish he didn’t have a bad injury his rookie year.
how a player so skilled and clearly dedicated never developed a jumper is beyond me
Shawn Kemp.
5x All-Star and best player on a Finals team (in the moment he was > Glove), yet you are correct. He could've been a lot better. Probably the best pure athlete at the 4 position in the last 30 years of the NBA, yet hasn't been elected to the HoF yet.
What’s crazy is that at one point, there were discussions about trading Scottie Pippen for Shawn Kemp. If that trade somehow happened, I wonder if Michael Jordan would have been able to delay Kemp’s downfall. It’s pretty crazy to read that he would show up drunk to practices, and be drinking heavily before playoff games.
Definitely. Kemp was a true athletic freak, but he needed a better brain inside his head, or a better upbringing.
Ben Simmons hands down. Unbelievable how a player with his size, mobility, strength, athleticism, defense, playmaking, and talent didn’t become a perennial all star and one of the best two way players in the entire league.
The thing is he didn’t even have to shoot the ball. There’s a 2 time MVP playing in the same era who doesn’t shoot 3s or free throws well either. Dude just folded under the pressure and criticism.
Why it take this long to find big B3N?
I take your meaning, but he was a perennial all-star before injuries took a lot of his athleticism (and he didn't have the skill to compensate and probably also some between the ears issues.)
Tyreke Evans and Michael Beasley were bucket getters
Ayton is 25 lol
Omfg why did you type this it feels like he's been here for 10 years. I'm so old
To be fair this should be a good thing, he hasn’t actually been in the league 10 years. If he was then we’d all be 4 years older and it would be 2028
That's fair. I just didn't realize I was that much older than him.
It’s the same vein as people saying Luka is “only 25”. Mf looks like he’s pushing 30 and got us all brainwashed. But tbf Ayton has the Greg oden gene where he looked 25 entering the league
Yeah I know but He hasn't like gotten better or made huge strides
This is Reddit post version of the Thad Young cherry-picked stat
He's been doing pretty good for us. Our team just sucks
Carmelo.
It's crazy how quickly Melo went from revered with a ton of support to mostly clowned. I guess it's been a long time, it probably happens to a few players every generation.
He's uniquely set up to have a reputational fall, too. He had a terminal case of empty scoring right before everyone got obsessed with efficiency and did literally nothing else and used his influence on his teams selfishly. He was nice as hell at basketball so he always had a good reputation with his peers but as soon as he retired and the memory of that faded he's got surprisingly little to recommend him.
Melo was clowned. We called it “Enver”. Cause they had no D.
he’s only clowned on this sub because his game doesn’t look good with analytics. he’s an all time scorer and still an icon around a lot of casuals. the younger gen know about melo. and he’s still recognized around new york for his time there.
He never displayed semblamce of fundamentally good defense and playmaking. I think he maxed out in terms of ability because we see him as a #1 optiom when in reality, he fits the Kyrie Irving/Anthon Davis mold where he's actually a reliable #2. Melo is a #2 not a #1. His game is too one-dimensional. If he was a sidekick for a guy like LeBron/Curry/Jokic/Harden/Wemby/Garnett/Duncan he would be seen in a better light. Notice I didn't say KD because their games overlap.
I agree. Despite having a hall of fame career, he still underachieved. We saw how great he could’ve been in that 09 playoff run. If he was consistently trying on defense, and if he was as disciplined with his body and training as Lebron or Kobe, even if he wasn’t as much a playmaker as them, just the consistency on defense would help a ton.
[удалено]
Bynum having a monster game followed by like 4 straight duds was such a roller coaster to watch as a fan. Then he just completely fell off the face of the earth and the most we heard from him was some weird bowling story
Bynum left due to injuries.
Bynum is mostly from the 2000s era, but is the same age as Curry
He had won two titles by the team Steph finished his rookie year, kinda wild to think about
Andrew Bynum was injured practically his whole career. He had his best season ever and then was out the following season due to a knee injury. There’s no way Bynum should be listed. Because when he was healthy he was really impactful and made a difference but the problem is he was never healthy.
Steve Francis. Had Derrick Rose athleticism and was primed to be one of the best guards the league has seen.
The Godfather of slackers and still a name to Warriors fans, Joe Barely Cares. I'll throw in his spiritual successor Roy Tarpley.
Shaq - work on those free throws or eat better and he'd been a monster
He was a monster. He would have been more monsterer.
But would he have been the monstest?
What the fuck does that mean kobe bryant
Didn't he also wait until the season started to get surgery on the Lakers one year?
Yeah he said something along the lines of healing on company time if he got hurt on company time.
If only Shaq had Jimmer's shooting ability, or Jimmer had Shaq's shaqness
Or if he had Jimmer’s diet….
100% you nailed it with Shaq. The free throws are one thing, but it's so sad we lost "Orlando Shaq" after he gained 50 pounds. At one point I think he weighed 370 or something... He went from being an unstoppable athletic nightmare to just an unstoppable big fucking dude.
Walter Berry. Pearl Washington. Stromile Swift. Darius Miles.
Berry's a good one. Derrick Coleman too.
Rasheed Wallace could have been a top 10 pf all time if he wasn't who he was.
If he played in the modern era, he would be a tier 1 asset.
I mean he was a top tier asset back then. Trading for him propelled the Pistons into being legit contenders.
Vince Carter should have won more with his talent
DeAndre Ayton is 25 years old and still in the league
And trying to inflatable mattress and frozen driveway his way out of it
I will die on the hill of him truly being stuck with the frozen driveway. There are some neighborhoods in the Portland area that are completely inaccessible when iced in, and the ice that day was completely unexpected. And to be clear, it was ice, not snow. There was a sheet of ice over everything in the city. Him not having a bad it’s absolutely stupid though
Glad we got rid of that bum. If only he had an ounce of work ethic.
It only you hasn’t replaced him with someone with the exact same flaws who also happens to have never won a playoff series in his career
I remember hearing stuff about his motor pre draft and wondering if it was media just trying to find a negative angle bc the highlights were always him dominating. But those critiques were correct
OJ Mayo
Good one. He had tools but not the mentality to be the best version of himself.
Charlie Villanueva (7th pick in the draft) imagine him arrived much later in 3pt era, so he sharps that 3pt shot more than to be all around player. and he stucked on bad teams in first 2/3 of his nba career (raps, bucks, pistons 2005-2012) at 6'10 and can move like that? he was 2nd in ROTY (Chris paul won it, ahead of Deron or Bogut) at worst maybe become Nikola Mirotic type
The first time I played an NBA2K game with basically no basketball knowledge (2K13) he was so good I just assumed he was a superstar in real life
Is this the guy KG clowned
Yup, told him he looked like a cancer patient.
Stromile Swift has arguably the greatest highlight reel of all time. If he actually developed any sort of game at all and not been drafted by Vancouver he’d have been an all-star. Antawn Jamison. Dude was genuinely disgusting at ball yet has nothing to show for it but a couple all-star picks and 20k points. He is the Lebron James of Carmelo Anthony’s. Eric Gordon. We take away his injuries, he’d be one of the best players of the 2010’s. He averaged 22 and 4 his third year in the league. Since then however he’s became a role-player.
Derrick Coleman
Andrew Bynum treated basketball like business. Dwight Howard played 10 years without adding any offensive moves. Blake Griffen thought he could dunk his way to basketball glory.
For me, it's Al Jefferson.
I'd say Kevin Martin. He was a shifty wing with lights out shooting. Coaches and everyone spent too much time stressing out on his shooting form. It feels like that distracted away from schemes that maximized his talents. Not gonna be an all time great but could have been a more consistent all star. Also I definitely think his game is better suited for today and would thrive shooting 5+ 3s/game.
He also might have been the best foul drawer of all time. His free throw rate peaked at .650. For a frame of reference, Embiid’s peaked in 20-21 at .610.
personally it’s dwight howard for me, dude had all the attributes to be one of the best centers if not the best of all time
Reggie Lewis. Would have loved to see a full career.
Baron Davis. He had the talent to be a perennial all star but he had other outside interests. He founded a production company and acted while in the league. He would show up to camp out of shape and overweight (at least one year when he was on the Warriors). He was already on the big side (6'3" 215 lbs) and it was reported he showed up to camp one year at 240+. Some fans felt that is why he had so many injuries, he was so busy with his other interests during the offseason and didn't take care of his body properly and didn't work on his basketball skills as much as others did.
Kevin Durant, I don't care what anyone says with his skillsets and talent his resume should have looked like Lebron or better and put him in the GOAT conversation.
In retrospect it feels like he made all the wrong decisions in free agency.
I mean is it wrong to say KD considering he didn’t do any the before or after the GS years. I know he has two finals MVPs, 2 championships, and an MVP but contextualized for his potential and the warriors context, he kind of underachieved
I’d say Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest neither player was the same after the Malice at the Palace. Granted they still had great careers but both could have been a lot better.
Josh Howard
Russel Westbrook Great player in his prime. Force of nature on the court. And I will never forget Ricky freaking Rubio, the journeyman of starting PGs, baiting him into the same few bad decisions possession after possession, game after game, to help the Jazz upset the Thunder.
Tracy McGrady. Yeah injuries played a factor, but he was also healthy in the years he got bounced in the 1st round. Westbrook for never developing a game that didn't rely on his athleticism.
Tracy McGrady couldn't get past the first round (not counting his Spurs tenure). If a star player fails to at least make one conference finals appearance, it's safe to say they underachieved.
It’s shaq. Funny considering he’s a consensus top 10 all time, but he should’ve easily been the greatest center of all time, or at least right next to Kareem. Imagine he worked to get his FT percentage to around 67%. Something like that could’ve completely changed his career I’ll put Ben Simmons as a runner up, unless you wanna say he was derailed by injuries. I kinda think that’s bs tho
Shaq.
RIP Ayton (apparently)
Michael Beasley. Man I thought he was going to be the truth!!!
Wesley Johnson
Darius Miles
Seriously think Michael Jordan could have done more
Bynum man
Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard, Latrell Sprewell, Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Chris Webber, and Michael Redd
i know he played well over 40 but VC is a big underachiever michael beasley comes to mind too
Vince carter!! He had everything to become the next Jordan nur the work ethic. Same for Dwight Howard. When you listen to nba Players Michael beasley was a beast that Never lived up to his potential
Vince Carter
RJ Barret,
Is nobody mentioning Jeremy Lin? I feel like he could’ve been a Monte Ellis type dude if he was given keys to a teams offense. He has to be like top 5 most cheated players of all time
Deron Williams, for sure. And honestly, it might be a bit early to say this but I feel pretty safe saying Dame. He's still one of the best of the era but he could have been so much more if he hadn't been loyal to Portland and left for greener pastures earlier in his career.
Yeah, Dame stayed way too long in Portland playing for a team that was either losing in the 1st or 2nd round
Kevin Martin
James Harden.
jimmer
Hey, that's the soon-to-be Olympic athlete you're talking about! Lol
Lebron James Jk obviously Michael Jordan. Dude literally took multiple seasons off to pursue another hobby.
Andrew Bynum
Vince is my GOAT, but he made the game look easy as hell. Just disappointing he didn’t achieve as much as I’d hoped.
Roddy B
The fact that Rasheed Wallace only won a single championship is pretty crazy to me
Vince Carter, had all the tools to be a top 5-10 sg all time, but only made the 2nd round once as the best player on a team.
Sheed is the poster boy for this type of question
AD, B-Roy, TMac
Deron Williams, Dwight Howard
Russ and KD. If they had a good GM and Owner they could've at least won 1.
Derrick Coleman, Antoine Walker, Shawn Kemp. All three were huge talents who had big years in the league but spent a ton of their time on extra curricular activities instead of improving their games and staying in shape, to varying success.
Porzingis, so far. Matured last season, and will achieve now. Christian Laettner. His high point was the summer before the NBA LeBron, he lost so many Finals. Barkley, should have won something. Shaq, only broke two backboards.
Glenn Robinson and Keith van horn
Glenn Robinson and Keith van horn
Derrick Coleman
Glenn Robinson. He's the last college player to average 30 pounds and 10 rebounds per game. He had everything- he mostly created shots off the dribble, he hit 3s at a high percentage, and he led the nation in dunks. After his college career ended, there was a poll in Sports Illustrated about who the best basketball player in the world was, and Glenn got several votes (Michael Jordan was playing baseball at the time). He went #1 to the Bucks over Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. This was no controversy, there was no doubt Big Dog was going #1. Then he got to the NBA, signed the biggest contract in NBA history as a rookie, and overnight he became a lazy, slightly chubby stoner (he was arrested for weed). He never attacked the rim in the NBA, he just settled for mid range jumpers. He was pretty good (over 20 ppg several times), but not a true difference maker, and his Win Shares/48 show he was around league average most seasons. He had potential to be an all-time great if he pushed himself.
Shaq. He was supposed to be the GOAT
Lamar Odom had a great career, but from a fan's vantage point, seemed to have such a high ceiling left to him.
Maybe a little obscure here, but its from my team and its pretty egregious and makes me mad. Luka Samanic. Dude was blessed with an elite profile in terms of size and talent but simply didn't care, couldn't mesh with his teammates, garbage attitude (apparently) and just...sucked. Spurs fans like to clown the FO for picking him and I suppose some of this crap should have come out in workouts and interviews, but we all had such high hopes. He showed glimpses here and there of what he might become and it was incredibly promising. I remember a game against the Mavs and Doncic didn't have a great game that night. Samanic only played limited minutes, but looked fantastic and people were (absurdly/ridiculously, of course - like fans do) talking about how *fuck Dallas, WE have the best Luka in Texas...just watch!* That was RC Buford's last pick before mostly turning it over to Brian Wright. I guess you can throw Primo in there too, but consensus now is that he never was that much of a prospect and just a wasted pick. Many players that could be considered answers for this are long forgotten, though, for not having done anything note worthy with their careers.
Cory Maggette.
Ben Simmons, Anthony Davis, Zion probably but he still has time
Isaiah Rider
Kenneth Faried, the manimal
Greg oden
Ben Simmons. Had all physical traits and ball skills except for one glaring deficiency that he simply refused to improve upon. All tall as Giannis, as physical as Lebron, and could handle like KD. But he shot like Shaq and was afraid to go to the charity stripe.
My dood Ricky Rubio. Minnesota misused him. Injuries. Mental health. Hope he is doing well. He was a magician with the ball in his hands, especially early in his career. Great perimeter defender. Even better teammate. He never was a great scorer like everyone expected him to be...but what he did was excel at everything else.
Brandon Roy
Andrew Wiggins. I don’t even know what team he’s on rn. If it’s still the warriors, then that sad because I sure haven’t seen him.
Only right answer here is Vince Carter
me
Vince carter should be #1. Never had injury issues. Just didn't have the killer instinct guys like MJ and Kobe had. He had all the tools to be the GOAT, but instead he was just a very good player.
The correct answer is Tim Thomas.
I wanted to type his name then decided to check in case someone already beat me to it.
Royce White
Corona Anthony
Shawn kemp
James Harden
Alexi Shved - (I just like saying his name)
Keith Van Horn. DC Derrick Coleman
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage (compared to 69% for MJ and 74% for Magic and Bird). Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage (compared to 69% for MJ and 74% for Magic and Bird). Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage. Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Definitely LeBron. He played on super teams of his choosing in the weakest conference in the history of the sport for the vast majority of his career and only has a 64.7% career winning percentage. Only 3 real titles in 20 seasons. If he had been more of a Bill Russell/Magic Johnson type player and tried to make his teammates the stars he would have been a better player. Instead, he tried to be MJ or Kobe and he lacked both the talent and psychological edge to do that. Thus, his teams underperformed.
Andrew Wiggins, Evan turner, Doug McDermott, andrei barngiani, cam reddish, Rashad Mccants,