Legends to be remembered: Greatest players that never played in the NBA

[72-10]

1. Len Bias (University of Maryland Terrapins)
2. Earl Manigault (Rucker Park)

Who are some others?

Played in the NBA but missed prime

1. Arvydas Sabonis (Portland Trailblazers)
2. Drazen Petrovic (Portland Trailblazers, New Jersey Nets)

[Darius07]

1. Len Bias
2. Earl Manigault

Who are some others?
me

[DuMa]

should also be listed as greatest players to never play in the NBA in their prime.

- Arvydas Sabonis

[TruthKGRay3412]

Ev08

[72-10]

should also be listed as greatest players to never play in the NBA in their prime.

- Arvydas Sabonis

That was the 3rd name I thought of.

[steve]

Roger Brown.

[Jimmy2k8]

Candice Parker.

[Psileas]

Len Bias
Bob Kurland
Hank Gathers
Earl Manigault
Herman Knowings
Marques Haynes
Pee Wee Kirkland
William "Pop" Gates
Maedowlark Lemon

(+probably a few young stars who never got to play in the old NBA because they were black).

And some great internationals who didn't have the chance:

Sergei Belov
Drazen Dalipagic
Krezimir Cosic
Radivoj Korac
Oscar Schmidt
Nikos Galis
Dejan Bodiroga
Manuel Raga

[Psileas]

Played in the NBA but missed prime

Maurice Stokes
Ralph Sampson
Roy Tarpley

[72-10]

I was thinking about Sampson, but idk because he did still play through most of his 20s. Adding Sampson would be a little like adding Walton.:ohwell:

[Lax4422Chik1342]

Len Bias
Bob Kurland
Hank Gathers
Earl Manigault
Herman Knowings
Marques Haynes
Pee Wee Kirkland
William "Pop" Gates
Maedowlark Lemon

(+probably a few young stars who never got to play in the old NBA because they were black).


Once again Psil is swishing his posts, great names. I will be posting some others when my mind clears up, names that only a handful will know, players from the parks of NYC and of the Rutger's Tournament who due to drugs, crimes or other factors never had their chance to shine in the NBA

By the by and by, Meadowlark and Curly will forever be looked at as clowns for their roles in the Harlem Globetrotters but they were fundamentally sound and skilled players, you have to in order to do what they did. Don't forget both Wilt and Hawk were Trotters. Several times in the 40s the Globetrotters played exhibition barnstorming games against the best pro all stars-all white of course and whupped them badly. similar to the "Negro" baseball teams whupping the major leagues all-stars. Satchell Paige struck out Ruth and Gehrig every time he faced them as well as other white stand outs of the era

[Psileas]

I was thinking about Sampson, but idk because he did still play through most of his 20s. Adding Sampson would be a little like adding Walton.

Yeah, I basically added him because of his damaged prime, not because he didn't play at all at this age.

[highwhey]

Candice Parker.
lol

[Hejira]

Connie Hawkins
Marvin Barnes - he wasted his talent away

[The Machine]

Drazen Petrovic is super cool player from Balkans, not Slovenia. He have played at NBA but so sadly he died in car accident from some stupid pig farm american driver!!!! >:-O

Arvydas Sabonis is best player of them ever. He pass like Magic, but have a shot like Reggie Miller, and hook like Kareem in at 7 feet tall 5 inches!!!!

I think Sabonis that is best player ever even best at MJ!!!

[Lax4422Chik1342]

Connie Hawkins
Marvin Barnes - he wasted his talent away

The Almighty Hawk of Brooklyn DID play in the NBA for the Suns and Lakers although he was past his prime, Connie also played for the ABA and the NBL as well as with the Globetrotters, the King OF Ruckers, Connie "Mammoth Hands" Hawkins second after Baylor in above the rim forward flying forces

Sadly, Connie is very ill right now and is possibly near his end :<(

Marvin wasn't called Bad News for nutin'

[Psileas]

Sadly, Connie is very ill right now and is possibly near his end :<(

Not to spread false news, but isn't this info kind of old? I had read somewhere that he was recovering from his illness, although it was not revealed how well he was (nor did they reveal what he suffered from). IIRC, Wikipedia has removed the illness reference.

[72-10]

bumped

[hateraid]

Kidd and Payton claimed that there was this guy from the Bay that was way better than both of them but landed himself in jail. His name was Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell. They did show some footage of him in jail. Short, his teeth all jacked up, but dunking over cars. Kidd even claimed he was a more skilled PG than himself.

[Lax4422Chik1342]

Not to spread false news, but isn't this info kind of old? I had read somewhere that he was recovering from his illness, although it was not revealed how well he was (nor did they reveal what he suffered from). IIRC, Wikipedia has removed the illness reference.

This is great news, I had not heard about his upgrade. I know that Hawk has been living in Pittsburgh so i will check with an acquaintence I have there to see if he has any official updates, thanks for pulling my coat on this subject very important to me, a lifelong fan of the Hawk since 1962

[Lebron23]

http://www.geocities.com/nytweety.geo/aris68.jpg

Nikos Galis - one of the greatest player that ever played in the Euroleague, and if you watched some of his highlights in youtube, you would be amazed that this guy is one of the best scorer in Europe, and a proven winner in the International Competition.

Awards

FIBA Europe European Player of the Year 1987
Eurobasket 1987 MVP
4-time Greek League MVP: (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
5-time Greek League playoff MVP: (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
6-time Greek Cup MVP: (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993)
Greek Basketball Hall of Fame
FIBA Hall of Fame (2007)
50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors 2008



He averaged 33.0 points per game at the Eurobasket 1983, 33.7 points per game at the 1986 FIBA World Championship, 37.0 points per game at the Eurobasket 1987, 35.6 points per game at the Eurobasket 1989, and 32.4 points per game at the Eurobasket 1991. Galis was only a 1.83 m (6'0") tall shooting guard.


Some of his greatest Highlights

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nick+Galis&search_type=&aq=f

[kidachi]

Bobby Parks

[Lebron23]

Bobby Parks

http://www.interbasket.net/players/caidic.jpg

Allan Caidic :D

The Greatest 3 points shooter in Asia Back in the mid 1980's and early 1990's.

Scored 79 points in a Single PBA Game

Scored 22 points to lead the Philippines in beating China 82-72 in the 1985 FIBA Asian Basketball Championship Finals.

:party: :party: :party:

Allan Caidic's PBA Career Statistics:
(Excluding 1985 Amateur Guest Team Statistics)

Career Games: 598 games
Career Minutes: 17,620 minutes
Career 3-Points Attempts: 3,375 triples Career 3-Points Made: 1,242 triples
Career 3-Point Percentage: 36.8 %
Career 2-Points Attempts: 5,784
Career 2-Points Made: 3,079
Career 2-Points Percentage: 53.2 %
Career Free-Throw Attempts: 2,108
Career Free-Throw Conversion Made: 1,835
Career Free-Throw Percentage: 87.0 %
Career Points: 11,719 points
Career Scoring Average: 19.6 ppg
Career Field Goal Percentage: 47.2 %
Career Defensive Rebounds: 1,107 rebounds
Career Offensive Rebounds: 555 rebounds
Career Total Rebounds: 1,662 rebounds
Career Assists: 1,553 assists
Career Steals: 509 steals
Career Blocks: 96 shot blocks
Career All-Star Appearances: 8 All-Star Games (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995)

Awards

PBA Rookie of the Year (1987)
PBA Most Valuable Player (1990)
PBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (1993)
PBA Governor's Cup Best Player of the Conference (1995)
PBA All-Star Mythical First Team (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995)
PBA All-Star Mythical Second Team (1993, 1994)
UAAP Basketball Most Valuable Player (1982, 1984, 1985)
UAAP Basketball All-Star Mythical Five Selection (1982, 1984, 1985, 1986)
Asian Games Basketball All-Star Mythical Five Selection (1994)
PBA 25 Greatest Players of All Time (2000)
PBL 20 Greatest Players of All-Time (2003)

Team achievements

1985 PBA Reinforced Conference Champions
1987 PBA All-Filipino Cup Conference Champions
1990 PBA All-Filipino Cup Conference Champions
1993 PBA Governor's Cup Conference Champions
1994 PBA All-Filipino Cup Conference Champions


International career highlights


1982 ASEAN School Youth Basketball Championship champions
1983 Asian Invitational Basketball Tournament, third place
1983 FIBA Asia Championship, ninth place
1984 William Jones Cup
1984 FIBA Asia Club Championship champions
1985 Pesta Sukan Basketball Championship champions
1985 William Jones Cup champions
1985 FIBA World Club Championships, third place
1985 South East Asian Games champions
1986 FIBA Asia Championship champions
1986 Guam Invitational Basketball Tournament champions
Guam Tournament Most Valuable Player (1986)
1986 Asian Games, third place (bronze medal)
1990 Asian Games, second place (silver medal)
Asian Games All-Star Mythical Five member (1990)
1991 China-PBA All Stars Goodwill Exhibition Series
1994 Asian Games, fourth place
Asian Games Tournament top scorer (1994)
Asian Games All-Star Mythical Five member (1994)
1998 Philippines-PBA All Star Selection Goodwill Series
1998 William Jones Cup champions
1998 Philippine Tour of the United States
1998 Asian Games, third place (bronze medal)

Philippine Basketball Association all-time records

Most points scored in a single game by a Filipino (79) - November 21, 1991
Most points scored in a single half (53) - November 21, 1991
Most points scored in a single quarter (37)
Most points scored in a single finals game by a Filipino (48) - 1987 PBA Open Conference
Most number of three-point field goals made in a single game (17) - November 21, 1991
Most number of three-point field goals attempts in a single game (27) - November 21, 1991
Most consecutive three-point shots made in a single game (8) - October 15, 1991
Most number of three-point field goals made in a single quarter (9) - November 21, 1991
Most number of three-point field goals made in a single All-Star game (9) - June 6, 1993
Most consecutive free-throw shots made (76) - October 22, 1992 May 11, 1993
Most number of three-point shots made in a single season (160) - 1990 PBA Season
Most number of three-point shots made in a career (1,242)
First Player to score 1000 career three-points field goal made in the PBA history - July 12, 1995
Third highest points scored in a single game scored by a Filipino (68) - November 2, 1989
Third highest points scored in a single quarter (27) - November 2, 1989
Second highest points scored in a single All-Star game (40) - June 6, 1993
Second highest number of three-point field goals made in a single game (15) - November 2, 1989
Sixth highest points scored in a single game by a Filipino (59) - 1988
Sixth highest points scored in a single game by a player (both locals/imports) (79) - November 21, 1991

Complete PBA Career Statistics

http://www.geocities.com/maong69/pba.25great.caidic.html

[clayton]

Me!!!!

[usdmef9]

played in the nba but missed there prime? how about Grant Hill, he was supposed to be hugggge and his career was just riddled with injuries however he still showed he was a great player who's body was beat up.

[IversonKings3]

Mark Hughes captain of the Michigan Wolverines Championship team, never played in the NBA but played in Euro!!

[allball]

They guy that played PG for Russia back in the 80's
Pee Wee Kirkland
Manigault
Herman the Helicopter
the cat from Oakland that went to the Pen
Ben Wilson
Joe Hammond
Len Bias
Hank Gathers

Hon mention:

Main Event from AND1 (undersized but this guy was really skilled)

Not in their prime:

Rob Williams (drugs)
David Thompson (play degraded because of drugs and injuries)
Michael Ray (you know the story)
Arvydas (one of the top 10 all time centers if he comes in his prime)
Sarunas Marciulonis (injuries)

thinking of others..

[joshwake]

Oscar Schmidt
he was drafted but wanted to continue to play for the Brazilian National Team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Schmidt

[bdreason]

Helicopter.

[72-10]

bump

[L.Kizzle]

Cleo Hill (Mr. Charlie)
Maurice Stokes (Death)

[Hejira]

how about Ben Wilson, the kid from Chicago who was close friends with Nick Anderson that got shot in the late 80s? He was supposedly very talented.

Ronnie Fields

[plowking]

Len Bias
Bob Kurland
Hank Gathers
Earl Manigault
Herman Knowings
Marques Haynes
Pee Wee Kirkland
William "Pop" Gates
Maedowlark Lemon

(+probably a few young stars who never got to play in the old NBA because they were black).

And some great internationals who didn't have the chance:

Sergei Belov
Drazen Dalipagic
Krezimir Cosic
Radivoj Korac
Oscar Schmidt
Nikos Galis
Dejan Bodiroga
Manuel Raga


Both have some of the most amazing jumpsots I have ever seen. Bodriga never seemed to miss. While with Dalipagic, it was impossible to block him; the guy got near 80cm off the ground when releasing the ball.

[mika]

i'd like to see a younger anthony parker in the league, even though he was drafted originally but left for europe later on.

[1~Gibson~1]

Hotsauce never played in the NBA. Isnt he considered a great in streetball :confusedshrug:

[L.Kizzle]

Hotsauce never played in the NBA. Isnt he considered a great in streetball :confusedshrug:
No, he's considered a player with great handle, that's about it. His dribbles are nice, but has nothin else to say for his game. He's what 6'2 and can dunk (barely) doesn't have a jumper, D is turrible, ect.

He has cool hair though.:bowdown:

[Paladin55]

Mel Daniels' name popped up when I saw Roger Brown, his teammate, mentioned. Daniels was a 6'9" Indiana ABA center. Ended up injured, and only played about 11 games with the then New York Nets when they moved into the NBA and then retired at age 32. 2x MVP and Rookie of the Year in the ABA.

Sampson and Tarpley, by the way, should not even be mentioned on this list. They should be on a Biggest Disappointments list, though.

Sampson had a lot of injuries, but had 3 full years where he had some success. One of the biggest disappointments of all time, though. A 7'4" guy who had great skills, and was one of the first of the big men to play like a SF instead of trying to use his size to its best advantage. Should have been the next Jabbar.

Tarpley was another failure. Drug use doomed him. Could have been one of the best 4s of all time. The draft he was in (86) was an unlucky one for big men . Bias, Chris Washburn, William Bedford, Walter Berry, and Tarpley were some of the hyped big men who never lived up to their potential in that draft.

[FULL CLIP]

Master P.:D

There is a reason he's called "Master", and it's definitely not his lyrical skill.

Another name that comes to my mind is Montel jordan.

[Manute for Ever!]

For my fellow Aussies...

http://users.chariot.net.au/~byoung/gaze/gaze18.jpg

Andrew Gaze was pretty much the Australian Larry Bird, 6'7", couldn't run, couldn't jump, shoot the lights out and brought 100% every night. Had two 10-day contracts with Washington in the early '90's, was a member of the 98'-'99 Spurs at the age of 4000. Earned international respect for his play in five Olympic Games

From Wiki:

Andrew Barry Casson Gaze (born July 24, 1965 in Melbourne, Victoria) is Australia's best known basketball player, and undoubtedly one of its most successful.

Son of Australian basketball stalwart Lindsay Gaze, Andrew began a stellar career in the NBL at age 18, being named Rookie of the year in 1984. His incredible shooting skills saw him the top scorer in the league for a total of 14 seasons. Gaze combined a great three-point shot with an equally good pass. A crowd favourite, one of Gaze's trademark plays was a pass to American import Lanard Copeland for an alley oop. Playing under his father with the Melbourne Tigers, Gaze led the team to two titles and were perpetual finalists.

Gaze also excelled at the international arena, playing in a total of five Olympic Games with the Boomers and led them to their best performance, fourth at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was selected as flagbearer for the Australian team at the opening ceremony at the Sydney 2000 Games. He is the scoring record holder in Olympic competition, and second-highest scorer of all-time in World Championship play.

In 1989 Gaze played a season of U.S. college basketball at Seton Hall, where his team made the 1989 NCAA finals, losing in overtime to Michigan. He tried out with the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, but was not offered a contract and ultimately waived.[2] In 1993-94 he played seven games for the Washington Bullets. He had another short stint in the NBA in lockout-shortened 1998-99 with the San Antonio Spurs, but received very little court time and was injured for the latter part of the season. He received a championship ring after the Spurs won the 1999 NBA title, although he was left off the playoff roster.

Whilst Gaze never had a steady NBA career like Chicago Bulls center Luc Longley, Gaze's superlative domestic record, not to mention an affable personality, fixed him in the public mind as the face of Australian basketball through the 1990s and early 2000s.

After the Sydney Olympics, Gaze retired from international competition, but continued to play in the NBL. On May 12, 2005, he announced his retirement from the game after 612 games in the NBL and 20 years as a professional basketballer.

Soon after, he released his autobiography, A Kid, a Ball, a Dream, co-authored with Grantley Bernard.

He is known for his gentle, unflappable nature, prematurely grey hair, and reticence to slam dunk. Andrew is married to Melinda. They have four children. He also has his own brand of basketball shoes: "Gaze".

Trivia
Record for most Olympic Games for an Australian basketballer (5)
Second highest scorer in World Championship history
Scored 18,908 points in the NBL over 612 games in a 22-season span at an average of 30.9 points per game
Received Most Valuable Player (MVP) award a record 7 times (1991, 1992, 1994-1998)
Australian International Player of the Year (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000)
won the NBL Most Efficient Player award every year from 1990 to 1997. The award was then discontinued, making Gaze the only ever person to win the award

[lacasner]

Dejan Bodiroga he had many chances to play in the nba but was making great money and success in europe.

[plowking]

Dejan Bodiroga he had many chances to play in the nba but was making great money and success in europe.

He is an amazing player. Probably one of the best players I've ever seen create of the dribble for himself.

[DinoRadja40]

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/players/04/04/workout0410/t1_gorilla1.jpg


The dunking Suns gorilla, this guy has been doing it since 1980, and some one should have picked his high flying ass up some time ago.

[D-Fence]

As already said, many black and foreign players.


Bob KurlandKurland has to be one of the greatest players never to play in the NBA. Rather unusual reason compared to more modern players, too: that he just turned it down to play in the AAU, have a steady off-season job for the team owner, and play in the Olympics as an official "amateur". It surely would have been good for the league starting out to have someone to rival George Mikan, as Kurland did in college, especially with his great defense. The early NBA lost a lot of talent because (of a lack of) money, especially when AAU, NBL and such were legitimate competitors (which also explains the early retirements back then). Pop Gates was one of the few black players to play in the NBL, which was probably more competitive at the time than the BAA--soon to be NBA.

Bobby McDermott was one of several NBL players who didn't play in the BAA/NBA, but could have to finish their careers. He's also in the Hall of Fame.

Having read up on the Lakers-vs-Globetrotters exhibition games, I don't doubt that Marques Haynes, or Goose Tatum, Ermer Robinson and Babe Pressley could have played in the BAA/NBA.

[Lax4422Chik1342]

Have Pee Wee, Copter, The Destroyer, The Goat, Tarzan, Holcombe, The Boy Wonder, Pops Gates been mentioned? All playground legends.

[RainierBeachPoet]

Marques Haynes


and following up on the GT theme: goose tatum

[RainierBeachPoet]

Bobby Parks

:oldlol:
parks was a scrub-- he couldnt break into any of the nba camps so he went overseas

he had a decent college career though

[willds09]

Ao, hotsauce, main event, mr 720, professor, and wilds, but he will be there in 09 tho.

[RainierBeachPoet]

how about ah chew goo

form wiki:

Press Maravich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Maravich), father of basketball great Pete Maravich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Maravich) and a future college coach, was stationed in Hawaii during World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II) and saw Goo perform his tricks with a basketball. The elder Maravich told Goo that if he ever had a son he was going to teach him all the tricks he saw Goo perform. His eventual son, "Pistol" Pete Maravich, was renowned for his ball-handling and passing skills and became the highest scoring player in college basketball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_basketball) history. Maravich called Goo "the best ball-handler I've ever seen." [2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ah_Chew_Goo#cite_note-1)

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jul/30/sp12a_b.jpg

[Lax4422Chik1342]

[QUOTE=Paladin55]Mel Daniels' name popped up when I saw Roger Brown, his teammate, mentioned. Daniels was a 6'9" Indiana ABA center. Ended up injured, and only played about 11 games with the then New York Nets when they moved into the NBA and then retired at age 32. 2x MVP and Rookie of the Year in the ABA. QUOTE]

Fantastic blast from the past, I had momentarily forgotten him till you included him, he had all the tools, good lookin' out on this name. Great to recall him.

[jason816]

Ma Jian.

Greatest non-American ever to not play in the NBA imo.

the most athletic Chinese player ever to play the game of basketball.
a combination of height, power, speed, shooting, ball handling....
(he played for University of Utah.)

too bad he got cut by the Clippers in 1995 right before the season began.
(I guess the league was not ready for a Chinese dude... not yet)

Ma Jian was considered a pioneer who cleared the way for other players from China to enter the NBA, such as Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Mengke Bateer and Yi Jianlian.

he returned to China later in the 90s to play in the CBA(Chinese Basketball Association). At the age of 31, he could score at will when playing against his fellow Chinese players(including a 18 years old Yao Ming).

I have a video tape of his game when he was playing for U of Utah... but i dun have a VHS in my home anymore and i have no idea how to transfer it to my PC....
(in one of the clip, Ma Jian was surrounded by 3 black american players, no offense to black people, but Ma over powered all 3 of them, grab the offense rebound and just dunk it with 2 hands...)

[detsportsfan3]

chuck norris

[mrhoopfan]

My grandfather lived in NYC during the 60's and 70s and he told me that Pee Wee Kirkland was ridiculously good, as good if not better than Tiny Archibald.....he also told me that its true that Manigault could touch the top of the backboard at 6'1, 6'2

[jason816]

My grandfather lived in NYC during the 60's and 70s and he told me that Pee Wee Kirkland was ridiculously good, as good if not better than Tiny Archibald.....he also told me that its true that Manigault could touch the top of the backboard at 6'1, 6'2

no offense to your grandfather, but most elderly tend to say stuffs like that...
my grandfather used to told me that a shark tried to attack him when he dropped from his fishing boat, and he out-swam the shark. it's just physically impossible, right?

[Silverbullit]

http://www.geocities.com/nytweety.geo/aris68.jpg

Nikos Galis - one of the greatest player that ever played in the Euroleague, and if you watched some of his highlights in youtube, you would be amazed that this guy is one of the best scorer in Europe, and a proven winner in the International Competition.

Awards

FIBA Europe European Player of the Year 1987
Eurobasket 1987 MVP
4-time Greek League MVP: (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
5-time Greek League playoff MVP: (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
6-time Greek Cup MVP: (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993)
Greek Basketball Hall of Fame
FIBA Hall of Fame (2007)
50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors 2008





Some of his greatest Highlights

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nick+Galis&search_type=&aq=f

Very good choice. :bowdown:

[kidachi]

oprah

[Lebron23]

Allan Caidic and Samboy Lim

http://fil.wikipilipinas.org/images/2/2c/Allan.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osHUP27tbNY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shz8xa9hnAU

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/18452_247292415671_39734820671_3806417_7497620_n.j pg

The 2 best players in Asia in the 1980s' and early 1990's.

[Miserio]

Oh man Dejan Bodiroga was soooo good it's ridiculous he never made it to the nba

[LockoutOver11]

Connie Hawkins sonn

[CavaliersFTW]

Maurice Stokes - NBA top 5 potential all-time forward... career cut short.

http://images.sportscarddatabase.com/0/700000/760000/760000/760514.jpg

He was a bigger and stronger forward than Elgin Baylor - actually he was virtually identical in size and strength to Lebron James. As a forward his massive hands and jacked physique were setting rebounding records hauling in 17+rpg for 3 seasons in the mid-late 1950's... He is still #3 all-time in rebounds per game behind only Russell and Chamberlain. Basketball history would have been very different if he hadn't suffered from this:

Stokes drove to the basket, drew contact and fell to the floor, hit his head, and was knocked unconscious. He was revived with smelling salts and returned to the game. Three days later, after a 12-point, 15-rebound performance in an opening-round playoff game at Detroit against the Pistons, Stokes became ill on the team's flight back to Cincinnati; "I feel like I'm going to die," he told a teammate. Stokes' head injury was greatly aggravated by airplane cabin pressure during the flight back to Cincinnati; he later suffered a seizure, fell into a coma and was left permanently paralyzed. In the end, he was diagnosed with "post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor control center."

History got Wilt vs Russell and Magic vs Bird. But it missed Stokes vs Baylor.







Connie Hawkins - The NBA wouldn't let him play until he was past his prime.

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/156/337/Hawkins_display_image.jpg

The NBA blackballed him because his name was connected to a gambling scandal that he wasn't guilty of. His prime was wasted away in amateur leagues. Julius Erving did not invent some of the style we connect to his name. Connie Hawkins did. Erving borrowed from what he had seen Hawkins do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmO41v27k00&t=6m50s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUThAmz2Yak&t=4m14s

[bwink23]

Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond

[Xiao Yao You]

Eli Herring didn't go to the NFL because they play on Sundays and mormons aren't supposed to work on Sundays.

Jabari Parker I guess is mormon. Another jack mormon like Ainge and Jimmer or the real deal?

[LockoutOver11]

Maurice Stokes - NBA top 5 potential all-time forward... career cut short.

http://images.sportscarddatabase.com/0/700000/760000/760000/760514.jpg

He was a bigger and stronger forward than Elgin Baylor - actually he was virtually identical in size and strength to Lebron James. As a forward his massive hands and jacked physique were setting rebounding records hauling in 17+rpg for 3 seasons in the mid-late 1950's... He is still #3 all-time in rebounds per game behind only Russell and Chamberlain. Basketball history would have been very different if he hadn't suffered from this:

Stokes drove to the basket, drew contact and fell to the floor, hit his head, and was knocked unconscious. He was revived with smelling salts and returned to the game. Three days later, after a 12-point, 15-rebound performance in an opening-round playoff game at Detroit against the Pistons, Stokes became ill on the team's flight back to Cincinnati; "I feel like I'm going to die," he told a teammate. Stokes' head injury was greatly aggravated by airplane cabin pressure during the flight back to Cincinnati; he later suffered a seizure, fell into a coma and was left permanently paralyzed. In the end, he was diagnosed with "post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor control center."

History got Wilt vs Russell and Magic vs Bird. But it missed Stokes vs Baylor.







Connie Hawkins - The NBA wouldn't let him play until he was past his prime.

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/156/337/Hawkins_display_image.jpg

The NBA blackballed him because his name was connected to a gambling scandal that he wasn't guilty of. His prime was wasted away in amateur leagues. Julius Erving did not invent some of the style we connect to his name. Connie Hawkins did. Erving borrowed from what he had seen Hawkins do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmO41v27k00&t=6m50s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUThAmz2Yak&t=4m14s

deep