Who had the most tragic NBA career?

[nba_55]

Yao Ming? One of the most poplular players ever, he had so many people rooting for, then his career ended because of injuries.

Jay Williams? 2nd overall pick whose career ended way too soon due to a motorcycle accident.

or Someone else?

[RightToCensor]

Len Bias

[Fowl]

Len Bias
Came here to say this.

[Done_And_Done]

NM - Oden & Roy...

[Lakers Fan]

Jayson Williams and Michael Ray Richardson come to mind.

[nba_55]

Len Bias

First time hearing of this guy, I'm going to read his story.

[BigNBAfan]

First time hearing of this guy, I'm going to read his story.
:facepalm

[Braincells]

Rodney Rogers... hearing about his situation makes me grateful that I can walk. I wish him nothing but the best.

[SsKSpurs21]

First time hearing of this guy, I'm going to read his story.

watch ESPN 30 for 30: Without Bias.

its really good.

[nba_55]

watch ESPN 30 for 30: Without Bias.

its really good.

Watching it tonight after work.

[vtec_pwr]

NM - Oden & Roy...

agreed, blazers would have a couple of rings right now if they had stayed healthy.

[SsKSpurs21]

Watching it tonight after work.

a couple of other tragic basketball ESPN Films which are really really good:

Unguarded - Chris Harren story about abusing drugs

Benji - Ben Wilson regarded as one of the greatest high school players ever

Once Brothers - About the relationship between drazen petrovic and Vlade
Divac

Going Big - the Sam Bowie Story

[FKAri]

Len Bias

He didn't really have an NBA career tho

I'd think of more like players along the lines of
Drazen Petrovic
Michael Ray Richardson
Keon Clark

But thinking about it, are their careers tragic or their lives? Tragic career is probably guys like

Darko
Yao (still had a pretty good career so I'd probably leave him out)
Bynum
Brandon Roy

guys who had talent that slowly declined in the NBA due to lack of caring or insidious injuries (not neccesarily busts like Kwame or Olowokandi)


a couple of other tragic basketball ESPN Films which are really really good:

Unguarded - Chris Harren story about abusing drugs

Benji - Ben Wilson regarded as one of the greatest high school players ever

Once Brothers - About the relationship between drazen petrovic and Vlade
Divac

Going Big - the Sam Bowie Story

Theres a doc on Benji? Oh man I can't believe I didn't know this. I gotta check that out asap

[Braincells]

Forgot to mention Javaris Crittenton. Talented as hell, but joined a gang after being drafted to LA. Career went downhill from there.

[RightToCensor]

Guys that are multimillionaires and are walking on two feet (Bynum, Oden, and Roy) really didn't have tragic NBA careers.

[ArbitraryWater]

Guys that are multimillionaires and are walking on two feet (Bynum, Oden, and Roy) really didn't have tragic NBA careers.

How does the first two relate to... "NBA career" ?

[TemporaMutantur]

:facepalm


Don't be a dick man. The guy died less than 2 days after being drafted into the NBA and this was 29 years ago.

[RightToCensor]

How does the first two relate to... "NBA career" ?
A NBA career is like any other career. If you make money then you're successful.

No matter how many gold stars you get on your resume, if you're banking serious cash then you have nothing to be ashamed of.

Me personally, I really can't have sympathy for any of the three guys a mentioned compared to truly tragic NBA careers that ended in death.

[WorldWarriors]

Reggie Lewis

[DOUBLE DRIBBLE]

Richard Dumas

[ImKobe]

Lebron if you think about it

he was supposed to be THE CHOSEN ONE and was getting comparisons to MJ and GOAT discussions back in 2012-13....now look at him. 4 Finals losses.

[WillC]

The man in my avatar, Maurice Stokes.

[KNOW1EDGE]

Brandon Roy
Greg Oden
Sean Livingston
Penny Hardaway

[branslowski]

Lebron if you think about it

he was supposed to be THE CHOSEN ONE and was getting comparisons to MJ and GOAT discussions back in 2012-13....now look at him. 4 Finals losses.

Also 35 shots per game to only avg 36ppg vs single coverage?

:kobe: :durantunimpressed:

[HylianNightmare]

Far from the most tragic but lenny cooke

[Joey3000]

Also 35 shots per game to only avg 36ppg vs single coverage?

:kobe: :durantunimpressed:

Yeah not to mention this clown is in the finals every single year. smh

[KendrickPerkins]

Kobe Bryant

Bear with me here... but yes it's Kobe.

He centered his entire life around trying to be the best basketball player of all time. Every waking moment spent trying to get better. So he could eventually pass MJ.

He's lived like a robot. Eat, sleep, become the best, sleep.

But sadly for him he came up well short. well short. in almost every single statistical category he failed. Personal accolades, rings, stats. He came up short in everything. Everything.

And will die a failure because of the massive expectations he set for himself.

I will always remember Kobe as the guy who gave his life to be the best but came up way way short.

Tragic.

[outbreak]

Len Bias
came here to say this.

The definition of "tragic" is:

causing or characterized by extreme distress or sorrow.

The word get's over used imo

[JimmyMcAdocious]

How can you have an NBA career when you never played a game, or in some of the cases, were never on a roster/received a paycheck? Maybe I can understand the former, assuming you're officially on a roster. Definitely not these guys who died before getting drafted, and probably even LB's situation.

Am I an astronaut if I grew up with aspirations of being one, and now live outside NASA's headquarters, exploring the barren, vast, depths of uncharted dumpsters and ride around on my grocery cart which I welded into a shape of a rocket?

[outbreak]

How can you have an NBA career when you never played a game, or in some of the cases, were never on a roster/received a paycheck? Maybe I can understand the former, assuming you're officially on a roster. Definitely not these guys who died before getting drafted, and probably even LB's situation.

Am I an astronaut if I grew up with aspirations of being one, and now live outside NASA's headquarters, exploring the barren, vast, depths of uncharted dumpsters and riding my grocery cart which I welded into a shape of a rocket?
No but if you were studied and were employed as an astronaut but then died before your first flight then yes you were an astronaut.

[CavaliersFTW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHT0jk0C-N4

[embersyc]

Bison Dele

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_Dele

Strangely retired at age 30, then got murdered by his own brother.

[MEB2kDeez]

Maurice Stokes

[Hey Yo]

The only top 15 superstar called "Tragic"

[G0ATbe]

LeBald. 10 years ago he was "the next Jordan". Fast forward to now he's mr 1.5*/6

[CavaliersFTW]

LeBald. 10 years ago he was "the next Jordan". Fast forward to now he's mr 1.5*/6
Not gonna lie, this shit cracks me up :lol

[theballerFKA Ace]

Kobe Bryant

Bear with me here... but yes it's Kobe.

He centered his entire life around trying to be the best basketball player of all time. Every waking moment spent trying to get better. So he could eventually pass MJ.

He's lived like a robot. Eat, sleep, become the best, sleep.

But sadly for him he came up well short. well short. in almost every single statistical category he failed. Personal accolades, rings, stats. He came up short in everything. Everything.

And will die a failure because of the massive expectations he set for himself.

I will always remember Kobe as the guy who gave his life to be the best but came up way way short.

Tragic.


Yeah only if he locked himself in his mom's basement in front of a computer with his only ambition in life was lifting a few bucks from mommy's purse so he can run down to the local liquor store, pickup a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and a two liter Pepsi, come back home and look forward to a night of trolling on the internet.

Set the bar looooowwww. Key to your happiness right bro?

[KendrickPerkins]

Yeah only if he locked himself in his mom's basement in front of a computer with his only ambition in life was lifting a few bucks from mommy's purse so he can run down to the local liquor store, pickup a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and a two liter Pepsi, come back home and look forward to a night of trolling on the internet.

Set the bar looooowwww. Key to your happiness right bro?
:dancin

You're living the life mang.

Sucks actually working for a living. I wish I could go back to my moms again it was sooo easy. :mad:

[33teeth]

Bobby Hurley probably belongs somewhere on this list.

[superteamtheory]

Yao Ming was a multi allstar who took the 2009 champs to game 7 in the real Finals that year... coulda been worse Yao Ming should be in the HOF ... but yeah he's not a bad pick.

I'd say Reggie Lewis ... because he died ...

LeBron's career is beginning to verge on tagedy ..

[superteamtheory]

T-Mac too ... between never getting out of first round and he only got 9 healthy years and if he's healthy for 2009 season, with Artest added, do Mac-Yao-Metta Rockets win it all? is he the piece that gets Rockets past Lakers? Kobe listed T-Mac as his toughest talent to deal with..

[LAZERUSS]

The only top 15 superstar called "Tragic"

The same "Tragic" who led his Lakers in rebounding in that series, averaged 18 ppg, 14 apg, 2 spg, and shot .560 from the field (Bird shot .484 and Kareem .481 BTW).

BTW, "Top-15?" You should have narrowed that down to "Top-5."

[nzahir]

Stop saying top 10 players of all time had tragic careers.
Maurice stokes, len bias come to mind quickly

[Marchesk]

In b4 Jordan.

[MEB2kDeez]

Oh yeah, Reggie Lewis

[TheBigVeto]

Definitely Yao Ming.
He was a great player and great ambassador of the sport.
Then Kobe purposely injured him and sent him to early retirement.
Then you still have Asians rooting for Kobe, adding insult to injury. If you are Asian, you're supposed to root for Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin, not Kobe. Where is your pride?

[Fire Colangelo]

Definitely Yao Ming.
He was a great player and great ambassador of the sport.
Then Kobe purposely injured him and sent him to early retirement.
Then you still have Asians rooting for Kobe, adding insult to injury. If you are Asian, you're supposed to root for Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin, not Kobe. Where is your pride?

Wtf? So if you're white you can only root for Dirk? Only black people can root for Kobe/LeBron?

Asian people loved Yao because he was good, hell everyone liked Yao. Being Asian just put icing on the top for Yao. I know a lot of asians that don't like Jeremy Lin simply because he's frustrating to watch and isn't that great at the sport of basketball. Sure they still root for him and hope him to succeed, but that doesn't mean they can't root for other players like Kobe and LeBron.

[f0und]

hank gathers but he died before he could make it to the nba

[Funktion]

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/steve-francis-main.jpg

[Springsteen]

Lens Bias could've been up there with Jordan from everything I've watched about him.

[Kobe_6/8]

LeBron. So much untapped potential.

[Choke94]

Allen Iverson

[Jailblazers7]

Oh yeah, Reggie Lewis

Yeah, I think it's gotta be Reggie Lewis. Dude collapsed on the court during a playoff game and died on the court at a practice. Doesn't get more tragic than that.

[sundizz]

Grant Hill.

Went from being a top 20 ever in the discussion guy to just a footnote.

[SsKSpurs21]

Forgot to mention Sam Bowie.

watch the ESPN film "Going Big". you can see why the blazers drafted him. he had alot of potential.

come to think of it, Greg Oden is a modern day Sam Bowie.

[sd3035]

Lebald

The NBA rigged the league for him and he is still only 2/6

[Bosnian Sajo]

Forgot to mention Javaris Crittenton. Talented as hell, but joined a gang after being drafted to LA. Career went downhill from there.

Dude's serving 23 years as we speak. Where is the logic in joining a gang after already being drafted by an NBA team? I mean ok, we know people join gangs because they are in a bad situation and want to make money...but dude just got drafted in the first round. He had guaranteed millions right off the bat, wtf kind of dumbass do you need to be to join a gang AFTER the fact?? Whole point of that shitty hustlin life is to make money, right?

[MEB2kDeez]

Yeah, I think it's gotta be Reggie Lewis. Dude collapsed on the court during a playoff game and died on the court at a practice. Doesn't get more tragic than that.
Definitely

[ralph_i_el]

Dude's serving 23 years as we speak. Where is the logic in joining a gang after already being drafted by an NBA team? I mean ok, we know people join gangs because they are in a bad situation and want to make money...but dude just got drafted in the first round. He had guaranteed millions right off the bat, wtf kind of dumbass do you need to be to join a gang AFTER the fact?? Whole point of that shitty hustlin life is to make money, right?

He was involved in some big shit though. Some people naturally are defiant and get pleasure from subverting laws and norms.

[WorldWarriors]

Yeah, I think it's gotta be Reggie Lewis. Dude collapsed on the court during a playoff game and died on the court at a practice. Doesn't get more tragic than that.

That was really sad.

[nathanjizzle]

D Rose and its not even close. he will never have his speed and quickness back. His kind of speed and quickness will be an urban legend that basketball enthusiasts talk about and people wont believe untill they look it up on youtube.

[DCL]

jay williams

he threw it all away. no second chances.