Who is the biggest NBA bust of all time?

[tragicbronson]

i feel that to consider someone a NBA bust he must first play some games and fail that's all

Then Oden's not a bust, i don't consider him to be bust to be clear but he is almost always in that conversation.

[UK2K]

This. I was watching a replay of one of Bron's high school games recently, it was at the height of the 'chosen one' hype with Bill Walton and Dick Vitale commentating and ESPN airing it. They started talking about how it was a foregone conclusion that Bron was going #1 in the draft but one of them brought up how much scouts were loving Darko and how he had an outside chance of going first depending on which team got the first pick. Imagine if CLE took Darko #1.

It's bad enough he went ahead of Melo, Bosh, Wade- all bonafide franchise players. If Detroit had taken any of those 3, they could've had a possible dynasty. Scouts were drooling over him though:

"He's the real deal. He's really one of a kind. He runs the floor, handles the ball, shoots the NBA 3-pointer, plays with his back to the basket, so you can slot him in at the 3, 4 or 5."
- Chad Ford, ESPN.com

But Milicic is more than an athlete; he's an all-around shooter, passer and re-bounder who makes his teammates better. "He has the makings of the most dominant center in Europe since Arvydas Sabonis," [COLOR="Red"]says an NBA scout who isn't sure that James should be picked ahead of Milicic.[/COLOR]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...8152/index.htm

I heard Darko over Bron so many times it got old. I sort of bought into it, but then realized he was European.

[pegasus]

Imagine if the Pistons selected Melo

Billups
RIP
Melo/Prince
Sheed
Wallace
(if Melo doesn't come off the bench)

Melo would have had a much different NBA career, and Lebron would have had no finals appearances or MVP's until he started to ring chase.

[Keno]

Melo would have had a much different NBA career, and Lebron would have had no finals appearances or MVP's until he started to ring chase.

two time mvp in cleveland. 2012 fans exposed.

[Bigsmoke]

Michael Olowokandi

[pegasus]

two time mvp in cleveland. 2012 fans exposed.

Idiot, what I'm saying is that the Pistons with Melo would have owned Lebron longer than they did without Melo, hence no MVP's for Lebron. Detroit would have had the best record in the league and Melo would have been the best player with best stats on that team.

[mr.big35]

Imagine if the Pistons selected Melo

Billups
RIP
Melo/Prince
Sheed
Wallace
(if Melo doesn't come off the bench)

Melo would hardly play if he got selected by the pistons. larry brown likes defensive players.

[Keno]

Idiot, what I'm saying is that the Pistons with Melo would have owned Lebron longer than they did without Melo, hence no MVP's for Lebron. Detroit would have had the best record in the league and Melo would have been the best player with best stats on that team.

melo with pistons would've worked out for 3-4 years max. stop it. melo had a better team with denver, and his stats weren't better than lebrons.

[fandarko]

Scouts were drooling over him though:

"He's the real deal. He's really one of a kind. He runs the floor, handles the ball, shoots the NBA 3-pointer, plays with his back to the basket, so you can slot him in at the 3, 4 or 5."
- Chad Ford, ESPN.com

But Milicic is more than an athlete; he's an all-around shooter, passer and re-bounder who makes his teammates better. "He has the makings of the most dominant center in Europe since Arvydas Sabonis," [COLOR="Red"]says an NBA scout who isn't sure that James should be picked ahead of Milicic.[/COLOR]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...8152/index.htm

That SI article oozes amateurism (journalist). His home town is Novi Sad, but that's not in Montenegro, but in Serbia (another country, big deal, it's like 500 miles away).

He went to play to Vrsac (everything but an industrial town), but it's not like he was sent to the North Pole, as the reporter makes it sound. More or less the same environment.

"The same league that produce Kukoc, Radja or Divac". Yeah, but like 15 years before Milicic, in the former Yugoslavia that had like 3 times the population and was like 10 times stronger.

Darko played his last two seasons in Serbia akin to a young Chris Webber. Inconsistent, but with flashes of brilliance. I believe he should have rightfully been in the lottery (not number 2 though), but was a headcase who ultimately couldn't handle the hype, Larry Brown, the NBA, nothing.

A waste.

[Jasper]

Joe Dumar as a GM ???

[no pun intended]

There was no way of knowing Jordan would be the GOAT at the time. Portland needed a big man anyway and you weren't going to have Jordan and Drexler competing for minutes.

What does this have to do with Bowie being a bust? He ended up being one and is one. Being called a bust necessitates retrospectively looking at how things turned out.

[Mr Exlax]

Not to be funny, but if we're talking about players getting injured and careers cut short then we might as well say Len Bias. Am I wrong?

[Big#50]

Olowokandi. Simple.
Only thing he ever did was punk Shaq every time they played.

[FKAri]

This. I was watching a replay of one of Bron's high school games recently, it was at the height of the 'chosen one' hype with Bill Walton and Dick Vitale commentating and ESPN airing it. They started talking about how it was a foregone conclusion that Bron was going #1 in the draft but one of them brought up how much scouts were loving Darko and how he had an outside chance of going first depending on which team got the first pick. Imagine if CLE took Darko #1.

It's bad enough he went ahead of Melo, Bosh, Wade- all bonafide franchise players. If Detroit had taken any of those 3, they could've had a possible dynasty. Scouts were drooling over him though:

"He's the real deal. He's really one of a kind. He runs the floor, handles the ball, shoots the NBA 3-pointer, plays with his back to the basket, so you can slot him in at the 3, 4 or 5."
- Chad Ford, ESPN.com

But Milicic is more than an athlete; he's an all-around shooter, passer and re-bounder who makes his teammates better. "He has the makings of the most dominant center in Europe since Arvydas Sabonis," [COLOR="Red"]says an NBA scout who isn't sure that James should be picked ahead of Milicic.[/COLOR]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...8152/index.htm

Darko is a great example of someone with incredible talent just not giving a phuk.

Yeah he is serious.

Should we feel sorry for people who over dose on cocaine? The guy was drafted at Nr2 and instead of doing his best to be a great Athlete and train for the upcoming season, he was doing cocaine and drugs.

**** him seriously.

Cocaine as well as drugs? Damn that's some next level shit.

[Mr Exlax]

Exactly, being drafted at number 2 but didn't play any game due to cocaine overdose. Not to disrespect the dead but seriously, at least darko able to contribute at least one game is his career.

Oh hell now I see why nobody has responded to me lol. Yeah Len Bias was my pick for this exact same reason.