What Could Have Been....

[Black and White]

This is a thread dedicated to players whos careers were cut short by injuries/other things, list some players that would have had HOF careers or would have gone on to win rings or win more rings etc, also make a prediction of where they could have ranked all time,

I will start:

Penny Hardaway, amazing player, I reckon would have finished as a top 20 all time player

[Smook A.]

Tracy McGrady

[Black and White]

Tracy McGrady

Prediction? Rings?

[r0drig0lac]

len bias

[BigMacAttack]

Tracy McGrady

My dude, was painful being a fan of his at the end of the Rockets years watching him break down.

[Solefade]

Tracy McGrady

never got out of the first round as the man lol but they made it out of the first round when he was injured

[Smook A.]

Prediction? Rings?
If him and Yao stayed healthy then he'd have 1-2 rings with Houston. Also I think TALENT-WISE McGrady could've been a top 10 greatest player ever

[Smook A.]

never got out of the first round as the man lol but they made it out of the first round when he was injured
To be honest his supporting cast sucked. No one in orlando and yao was always injured in Houston. When he was healthy It was only T-Mac and Yao doing the work

[Black and White]

If him and Yao stayed healthy then he'd have 1-2 rings with Houston. Also I think TALENT-WISE McGrady could've a top 10 greatest player ever

Yea Yao should get a mention here, it was sad to see him go like that, T-Mac has one of the most deadly skillsets, insane range and consistency, Peak T-Mac was a beast

[Smook A.]

My dude, was painful being a fan of his at the end of the Rockets years watching him break down.
Tell me about It. Sheesh

[Smook A.]

Yea Yao should get a mention here, it was sad to see him go like that, T-Mac has one of the most deadly skillsets, insane range and consistency, Peak T-Mac was a beast
Kevin Durant right now is what peak TMac was like

[Black and White]

Kevin Durant right now is what peak TMac was like

Yea that is true, fingers crossed that we dont have to talk about Rose in a thread like this in the future :(

[Milbuck]

Oden

[Black and White]

Oden

Bynum?

[Smook A.]

Yea that is true, fingers crossed that we dont have to talk about Rose in a thread like this in the future :(
Hopefully. Im a big fan of Rose's game. He was so fun to watch in 2011. Probably the most athletic point guard ever besides Westbrook

[Black and White]

Hopefully. Im a big fan of Rose's game. He was so fun to watch in 2011. Probably the most athletic point guard ever besides Westbrook

We will just have to wait and see, his game relies on his explosiveness. He will need to work more on his jumper, I saw some improvement when he got back.

[Milbuck]

Bynum?
Possibly. His problems went beyond health. He is so god**** stupid and immature that I don't know if he would've had a HOF career even without injuries. He would've been really, really good though.

[Black and White]

Possibly. His problems went beyond health. He is so god**** stupid and immature that I don't know if he would've had a HOF career even without injuries. He would've been really, really good though.

Mentally he was just an idiot, but on the right team he would have been amazing, maybe the Spurs?

[BigMacAttack]

Bynum?

Bynum never gave a **** even if he stays healthy I doubt he reaches his potential.

[Black and White]

I have another one, what about Gilbert Arenas?

[Smook A.]

Grant Hill
He had the talent and skill to become one of the greats. I think he could've had great playoff success in Orlando with McGrady if he stayed healthy

[Smook A.]

I have another one, what about Gilbert Arenas?
Damn was he good. I remember he averaged 29 ppg and 6 apg, 1 season.

[Black and White]

Grant Hill
He had the talent and skill to become one of the greats. I think he could've had great playoff success in Orlando with McGrady if he stayed healthy

:bowdown: :bowdown: Would have been an amazing player

[Black and White]

Damn was he good. I remember he averaged 29 ppg and 6 apg, 1 season.

He hit so many game winners, that dude was clutch, one of my favourite players

[AlphaWolf24]

To be honest his supporting cast sucked. No one in orlando and yao was always injured in Houston. When he was healthy It was only T-Mac and Yao doing the work



Good Coach...won 50+ games.

The 05' Rockets were pretty solid. Both Ming and McGrady stayed healthy all season.

They had nearly 7 players in Double figures scoring with a decent bench.

The 07' Rockets were probably the best team....TmAc , Yao , Alston and Battier played very well....they just ran into a Hot Jazz team in teh first round.



When TMAC went to the Rockets ( after Tmac had said if he had a legit Big Man he could win titles too) many people expected Championship/deep playoff runs.

even when both were healthy they fizzled out....exept that one time when TMAC was out of the playoff's...the Rockets actually got past the first round:lol

[Mr. Jabbar]

bran - stay in cleveland, win a ring = instant nba legend respect by everyone

[Black and White]

bran - stay in cleveland, win a ring = instant nba legend respect by everyone

He chose the beta route, can't go back anymore

[r0drig0lac]

bran - stay in cleveland, win a ring = instant nba legend respect by everyone
:lol

[Myth]

Brandon Roy
Greg Oden
Bill Walton
Arvydas Sabonis
LaRue Martin
Sam Bowie

:cry:

[aj1987]

Wade. If only his knees weren't made of glass.

[Solefade]

bran - stay in cleveland, win a ring = instant nba legend respect by everyone


be honest, are you just saying that because you KNOW he wouldn't be capable of winning more than 1 ring there so he doesn't threaten kobe on all-time list? cus if lebron only won one ring in cleveland i'm sure all of you kobetards would be saying 5>1 all the time.

[hybridLB]

T-Mac, top 10 players all time, dude can do it all..
Peak T-Mac offensive game >>> Melo; > Durant.

[BigMacAttack]

be honest, are you just saying that because you KNOW he wouldn't be capable of winning more than 1 ring there so he doesn't threaten kobe on all-time list? cus if lebron only won one ring in cleveland i'm sure all of you kobetards would be saying 5>1 all the time.

How the **** could anyone know that?

LBJ would of been so much more respected had he stayed and won in Cleveland, you are absolutely kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

Im not a kobetard either, i was a Tmac guy(lol) I didnt like Lebron after the decision like a lot of people.

[finchyyy]

Lenny Bias. If he doesn't pass away, who knows what ramifications it makes to that GOAT Celtics team. Bird and McHale would play less minutes, so they may not break down like they did since they were playing stupid minutes. Hell, McHale could actually let he's broken foot heal properly instead of coming back earlier and damaging it permanently.

[Black and White]

Brandon Roy
Greg Oden
Bill Walton
Arvydas Sabonis
LaRue Martin
Sam Bowie

:cry:

Damn, some voodoo going on there :(

[Olacinco]

Deron Williams...

Soon to be Brook Lopez...

[Solefade]

How the **** could anyone know that?

LBJ would of been so much more respected had he stayed and won in Cleveland, you are absolutely kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

Im not a kobetard either, i was a Tmac guy(lol) I didnt like Lebron after the decision like a lot of people.

he would have been so much more respected but the chance of him winning a championship there was < 5% when you consider the roster, coaching, FA attractiveness, and just how shitty the organization is in general.

[T_L_P]

Brad Daugherty

[IncarceratedBob]

Lenny Bias would have been the goat if he wasn't poisoned

[Fire Colangelo]

Brandon Roy, one of my all time favorites. Wasn't flashy as Kobe/Wade, but he got the job done and was clutch as fk.

[3243]

Ralph Sampson and Bill Walton.

[TMT]

Lenny Bias would have been the goat if he wasn't poisoned

... poisoned himself you mean?

What a shame, the guy could have been a legend. I wish I could have seen him play in college.

[oarabbus]

Lenny Bias would have been the goat if he wasn't poisoned

Or he could have been like Michael Beasley. Sadly we'll never know.

[TMT]

Or he could have been like Michael Beasley. Sadly we'll never know.

The guy had size, speed and one of the purest jumpshots I've ever seen (from the old video). A Michael Beasley comparison is disrepectful, even to a guy who is six feet under.

[Flash31]

Larry Bird-

if his back didn't go out and him racking up inujuries

The Celtics could have won more and Bird would've had an even longer more amazing career

and instead of it going from Lakers/Celtics to Pistons/Bulls,then Bulls/Rockets

the Celtics could've ran even longer and we could've had an MJ/Bird rivalry,a Bad Boys Pistons/Celtics rivalry


Wilt Chamberlain-as great as he was,possible arguably the GOAT
if his knees didn't go out he would've won at least two more times and would have a longer more dominant career
probably finished with 35,000 pts and 4 rings at least

Alonzo Mourning-one of the goat defensive centers and was a very good post player got his career shut down due to his kidneys,

The Heat probably win in 05,06 and maybe 07
a hampered Alonzo was still a very good player in limited spurts,a healthy Alonzo and Miami beats SA,DALLAS,SA

Wade-if Wade didn't get injured the Heat beat the Pstons in 2005 and go on to face SA with a still good to great Shaq as well

CP3-STILL THE BEST PG in league but injuries slowed him down and made him less explosive,less inclined to score and less aggressive
We saw in the MEM-LAC series and LAL-NOH he when aggressive is unstoppable,
A Healthy CP3 on these LAC would make them championship contenders


B Roy-was one of the top sg in league when healthy and was improving year by year,could've been one of the best sg in league along with Wade,Kobe

Amare-even with bad knees,when healthy with PHO and NY he was putting up big numbers
before Melo showed up Amare was getting MVP Talks put up 10
30,10 games in a row

Deron Williams-instead of BKN being one of the worst teams and a middling team at times,BKN would be a championship contender with a healthy Deron,
it wasn't too long ago that Deron was considered as 2nd best PG,a lot even saying he was better than CP3

[ProfessorMurder]

Larry Johnson.

Averaged about 21/11/4 on 50 fg% and 80 ft% for his first two years. Then hurt his back and was never the same.

[GaryRaymond23]

The rest of Bird's career

Oden

Bias

Penny

Jay Williams

TJ Ford

Mainly the usual ones

[Im Still Ballin]

Chris Webber

If he didn't have a falling out with Don Nelson at GSW causing him to be traded, if he didn't waste some of his best years in Washington, if Sacramento in 02' didn't get screwed out of a certain championship, if he didn't destroy his knee in the 2003 playoffs...

At his top playing days in Sacramento he was in the ranks of the great power forwards of the late 90's early 2000's amongst Duncan, Garnett, Dirk. He had multiple 20/10 seasons, a 27/11/4 season in which he was 4th in the MVP voting and of course led his team to a league high 62 wins in 2002 playing a unique and exciting brand of basketball that he thrived in.

His career averages speak for themselves, 20.7/9.8/4.2 with 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks. I feel that had he not injured his knee he definitely could have remained at that level he was on for another 3 or so years, then entering his twilight years more gracefully than what went down.

He had his flaws as a player like all do, often criticized for shooting too many jumpers and not using his size and athleticism down low, labelled a choker from way back to his Michigan days and the infamous time out, throughout most of career in the NBA. Had he and the Kings won the championship in 2002 and he had not injured his knee later on I think we would talk about Webber in the same group as Dirk/KG/Duncan and he would unanimously be considered a 1st bout Hall of famer. This ain't to say he didn't have a good career, more so that with all his talent and ability, he could have been so much more.

[mistergreens]

This is a thread dedicated to players whos careers were cut short by injuries/other things, list some players that would have had HOF careers or would have gone on to win rings or win more rings etc, also make a prediction of where they could have ranked all time,

I will start:

Penny Hardaway, amazing player, I reckon would have finished as a top 20 all time player

Grant Hill, Oden

[mattvNJ]

Jonathan Bender... Durant sized and mobility, injury plagued throughout his whole career. forced to retire

[Chrono90]

Dajuan.Wagner!!!!!!

He would be up there like a little Iverson.

[Ancient Legend]

Richard Dumas, had a great rookie season and went to the finals against MJ in 1993, he put up very respectable games against the Bulls.

Drugs did him.

[D-FENS]

Kevin Durant right now is what peak TMac was like
F outta here.

Durant is so far beyond McGrady as a shooter and defender. All TMac has on him is ball handling and shooting of the dribble

[ImKobe]

Kobe doesn't tear achilles, Lakers win it all last year.

[ImKobe]

F outta here.

Durant is so far beyond McGrady as a shooter and defender. All TMac has on him is ball handling and shooting of the dribble

T-Mac was a better playmaker and a better athlete.

[houston]

Tracy McGrady


that choke artist got everything he deserve

[Im Still Ballin]

I think it's important to note when comparing KD current season to T-macs in 2002/2003 you have to take into account that T-macs season was pre rule changes that were enacted in the 2004/05 season. Not to discredit Durant's stats or ability, but i wonder how Durant's %s would look in 2003 not to mention the difference of team quality between the two. Vice versa what would Tmacs %s look like in the current league

[HylianNightmare]

jameer if he hadn't gotten injured in 09

[Ballin84]

Lenny Bias. If he doesn't pass away, who knows what ramifications it makes to that GOAT Celtics team. Bird and McHale would play less minutes, so they may not break down like they did since they were playing stupid minutes. Hell, McHale could actually let he's broken foot heal properly instead of coming back earlier and damaging it permanently.

I always wondered what the NBA could have been in the 80s/90s with MJ, Len Bias and Benji Wilson.

[tmacattack33]

Penny or T-mac could have been the best. With Grant Hill right behind. And then Brandon Roy right behind them.

[FKAri]

T-Mac was a better playmaker and a better athlete.

Durant isn't as athletic but at his size and length he is plenty athletic.

[Stringer Bell]

Maurice Stokes
Ralph Sampson
Richard Dumas
Yao Ming
Arvydas Sabonis
Bill Walton
Penny Hardaway
Brandon Roy

[KG215]

Richard Dumas, had a great rookie season and went to the finals against MJ in 1993, he put up very respectable games against the Bulls.

Drugs did him.
Don't know how good he could've/would've been, but I remember being surprisingly impressed a couple of years ago when I re-watched the '93 Finals by Dumas' performance. He's one of those guys when I heard his name again I sort of remembered, but one I had completely forgotten about otherwise.

[KG215]

For me the answer to this type of question, or at least the most intriguing player to speculate about, is Bill Walton.

Out of all the "what could've been" players, he's the only one I think legitimately was on his way to a top 10 all-time career. From what I've read, heard, and the very little I've seen, he was pretty similar to Bill Russell from what I can remember. He wasn't a high volume scoring big (although he averaged around 19 or 20 a game before injuries took over), but he was an excellent defender, high IQ player, and a center you could run your offense through because he was a great passer. He averaged 19-14-4-3 in 1977 on his way to a championship and Finals MVP and he was just 24 years old. Next year I believe the Blazers got off to a 50-10 start before he was really setback with injuries, but he still won MVP and averaged 19-13-5-3. From what I've read, the Blazers were pretty big championship favorites before Walton got hurt, so there's a better than good chance he would've been a 1x MVP, 2x Finals MVP, and 2x champion by the age of 25.

[Demitri98]

I really don't think people realize just how great Grant Hill was. I mean, this guy was the total package, the prototype superstar small forward of the modern era. He was kind of like LeBron lite (not quite as big and strong) but he could do it all and I have no doubt that, had he stayed healthy he would have retired with more than a couple championships/MVPs.

[LoveIsMyMessage]

I really don't think people realize just how great Grant Hill was. I mean, this guy was the total package, the prototype superstar small forward of the modern era. He was kind of like LeBron lite (not quite as big and strong) but he could do it all and I have no doubt that, had he stayed healthy he would have retired with more than a couple championships/MVPs.

I'm with you on this post. I grew up with Grant Hill, Ken Griffey Jr, Tiger Woods, and Jeff Gordon. And all of the mentioned players had tremendous potential and skills. Unfortunately injuries did them all. G.Hill in Detroit was ahead in triple doubles over Kidd at the time; and we all know how great Kidd is at triple doubles. First step, crossover, and versatility were elite. Only wish he was a bit more selfish and would not defer to Stackhouse at the time.

[Stringer Bell]

Micheal Ray Richardson


Don't know how good he could've/would've been, but I remember being surprisingly impressed a couple of years ago when I re-watched the '93 Finals by Dumas' performance. He's one of those guys when I heard his name again I sort of remembered, but one I had completely forgotten about otherwise.

Likewise, I watched those finals recently and was impressed with Dumas.

[ArbitraryWater]

If him and Yao stayed healthy then he'd have 1-2 rings with Houston. Also I think TALENT-WISE McGrady could've been a top 10 greatest player ever

How does his TALENT change? You mean talent wise he IS one of the top 10 greatest? "Could have been" ?

[moe94]

Not sure if mentioned, but Dyess had retarded hops.