What is the most tragic injury story in NBA history?

[fpliii]

Maurice Stokes, and it's not even really close.

Dude was paralyzed after a fall on his head in a game (I believe the last game of the 58 season.) Became a vegetable and died 12 years later after Jack Twyman became his caretaker.

This x1000, nobody else is in the same ballbark in terms of sheer tragedy IMO.

I was going to type this, in these words.
At least if we're talking about in-game injuries.

Same...

[Clifton]

In his fifth season, Yao averaged a career-high 25 points per game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line

Wow. 88% FTs. If his body could have held together he could have been a factor into his 40s.

He was an underrated passer too. That aspect of his game was never fully brought out.

Best touch from ten feet of any player I can think of.

And a great guy. He was every bit as cool as Shaq was not.

Greg Oden was more tragic then BRoy. Roy atleast got to show the world what he could do. Oden never got a chance to shine. He showed a ton of potential too.

Oden seemed like a good dude (his personality would have been perfect with Roy), with tons of potential, but we don't really know if he would have shined or not. He could have been Lamar Odom. He was prone to depression and was known to be lazy.

Roy on the other hand was basically the basketball version of Batman. He was icy-cool, high-IQ, and a deus-ex-machina in the 4th quarter. The Tim Duncan of SGs. Remember what he did to Dallas on his last legs? Roy is a true fallen hero. He got five minutes of fame to show us what he had in him and then he was just struck down by fate.

Oden could've been just another okay but disappointing big guy for all we know.

[reppy]

Maurice Stokes, and it's not even really close.

Dude was paralyzed after a fall on his head in a game (I believe the last game of the 58 season.) Became a vegetable and died 12 years later after Jack Twyman became his caretaker.

I just looked this up on Wikipedia:

[quote][B]On March 12, 1958, in the last game of the regular 1957

[La Frescobaldi]

I just looked this up on Wikipedia:



The worst part about this is the fact that they were so cavalier about the injury. Could this have been prevented with proper care after the injury?

Closed cranium trauma is often not seen for several hours, days, or even months after the injury. The person can seem pretty normal during that time, but the effects get worse and worse. Doctors, especially before about 1985 or so, really would prescribe for concussion and all they could do was "wait and see."

The person can fall into the worst kinds of state, descending in a dismal spiral, from desperate sadness and despair, to lack of cognition, loss of logical speech patterns, to catatonic schizophrenia and eventually a vegetative state which can't be treated nor cured.

[reppy]

Closed cranium trauma is often not seen for several hours, days, or even months after the injury. The person can seem pretty normal during that time, but the effects get worse and worse. Doctors, especially before about 1985 or so, really would prescribe for concussion and all they could do was "wait and see."

The person can fall into the worst kinds of state, descending in a dismal spiral, from desperate sadness and despair, to lack of cognition, loss of logical speech patterns, to catatonic schizophrenia or even a vegetative state which can't be treated nor cured.

I kind of thought that might be the case. I mean, even today they miss it. But it also makes me wonder if he took any more blows to the head while playing? You know, an elbow here or there. Would that make the injury any worse?

[CavaliersFTW]

Maurice Stokes.

[edrick]

Penny, Hill, Roy, Ming.

[CavaliersFTW]

Penny, Hill, Roy, Ming.

No, Maurice Stokes.

[j3lademaster]

What does Yao do now?

Yao's pretty business savvy and anything he touches turns to gold in the chinese market (which may very well be the biggest market in the world atm), so I wouldn't worry about him.

[j3lademaster]

Maurice Stokes, and it's not even really close.

Dude was paralyzed after a fall on his head in a game (I believe the last game of the 58 season.) Became a vegetable and died 12 years later after Jack Twyman became his caretaker.

Didn't know this, but I googled him after reading your post and until further notice it's got to be him. Imagine becoming a vegetable at age 25. Depressing.

[fpliii]

No, Maurice Stokes.

Pretty much. The only other guy who you can even mention is Reggie Lewis, but I'd still go with Stokes (since Lewis wasn't really an injury, per se).

[CavaliersFTW]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DneEfLfgXGc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA0y6uUIoiY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTKKh7OeF-s

If anyone seriously mentions any name other than Maurice Stokes they are either unaware or cruel. Maurice Stokes suffered from brain damage and paralysis and needed to be cared for for the rest of his life after his injury. All the other 'tragedies' about injuries AREN'T REAL TRAGEDIES, they pale in comparison because those players lives outside of basketball remained completely intact and they had their whole life to live ahead of them. Maurice needed to be fed his own food, and his medical care costs depended on the kindness of others.

[CavaliersFTW]

Pretty much. The only other guy who you can even mention is Reggie Lewis, but I'd still go with Stokes (since Lewis wasn't really an injury, per se).

Damn I forgot about Reggie Lewis, that's another horrible one. These foot and knee injuries and stuff aren't real tragedies by comparison to what happened to Stokes and Lewis, those guys lives were either severely handicapped or ended entirely.

[fpliii]

Damn I forgot about Reggie Lewis, that's another horrible one. These foot and knee injuries and stuff aren't real tragedies by comparison to what happened to Stokes and Lewis, those guys lives were either severely handicapped or ended entirely.

Is there anyone else? I feel like we're missing someone.

[CavaliersFTW]

Is there anyone else? I feel like we're missing someone.

Len Bias maybe? Died of drug overdose which happened off the court not necessarily through injury so I don't know if that counts for what OP was getting at but he died before his pro career even happened and his story is definitely a tragedy.