Which players are the biggest "if only" of all time?

[Culburn369]

1. if he didnt get injured
2. if his grandmother didn't coddle him and turn him into a
3. if shaq wasnt a punk ass and left

the only team that ever beat a post 1990 Micheal Jordan equipped bulls team in the playoffs was the magic, yea i know it was the year jordan wore 45 but still.

Well, Jordan got what he deserved. You don't do training camp & the drudgery of the 82 game right of passage you ain't en led to the ring. Favre is the next one to get his payback. The lazy, cheatin', fk.

[Indazone]

If Only Reggie Miller had played on a better team.

[JoeTait75]

It has to be Lenny Bias, right? I mean, Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic, Sugar Ray Richardson, Bill Walton, Reggie Lewis, Grant Hill... at least these guys had a chance to show what they could do in the league. Lenny Bias never played one second of NBA basketball, and the impact of his death was made even bigger by the team that drafted him. That's the what-if of what-ifs right there.

BTW, one name that hasn't come up yet is Clark Kellogg. Special K would have been a great player if not for the injuries. He still might be the best prep player to ever come out of NE Ohio, and that includes LeBron.

[ambchang]

Two older players, Maurice Stokes and Earl Manigault.

[Culburn369]

"the world", eh?

Cool beans.

[Blake]

Reggie was a great player and an even better leader - he was the heart of those fading-dynasty Celtics teams.

Great thread, and I certainly agree with all the names mentioned, although Len Bias and Michael Ray Richardson were just before I started following the NBA. Grant Hill always struck me as a guy who was incredible before his 6-year hiatus. On pure skill potential never realised, how about:

Sheed
Derrick Coleman

and Penny Hardaway certainly had his career crueled by injury.

Derrick Coleman for sure belongs on the list.

That dude was definitely different. He had crazy skills but it was like basketball just didn't "do it" for him.

[Blake]

Some really good stuff in this thread.

I'll add Bernard King to the list. IMO, the best player not yet in HOF. Without the ACL injury in his prime, he would be mentioned along with greatest players of the 80's. His 1984 playoff run was incredible, carrying a mediocre Knick team all the way to Game 7 in the ECSF against the Celtics. Even after missing 2 seasons, he adjusted his game and averaged over 28 ppg at age 34 in his last full season in the NBA.

yeah, King could light it up as well as Ice or Dominique could.

[Blake]

eh, just dawned on me...... a little closer to home would be Johnny Moore.

I remember when he got that disease [desert fever] I had never heard of before. Sad, sad day.

[coyotes_geek]

eh, just dawned on me...... a little closer to home would be Johnny Moore.

I remember when he got that disease [desert fever] I had never heard of before. Sad, sad day.

Ouch. You're right. That name should have come up a lot earlier in this thread.

[Rip-Hamilton32]

no Dice yet? guy was a 20/10 guy before his knees gave up

[Darrin]

If Only Reggie Miller had played on a better team.

He had a ava team in 2005.

[Capt Bringdown]

Not deserving of the "all time" designation, but I do remember Toby Knight out of Notre Dame who played for 4 season as Knick, 77-81
Steady improvement from his rookie season onward, culminating with a 19 pt & 6 rebound average in '80 (shooting 52% FGA!).
Injured in '81, only played 40 games averaging 5pts, after that, out of the league.

He sticks in the memory because I remember seeing him play in one the first Spurs games I ever saw.

Travis Mays out of UT. Had a pretty good rookie season in '91 with the Kings @ 14 ppg. Injuries limited him to just 2 games the following year, 49 the next, and then gone.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Here is a link about the Len Bias do entary made - http://www.len-bias.com/about.html

As an Aussie who got into basketball in the early 90's, i remember a kid named Richard Dumas on the Suns. We only got the occasional NBA game on TV down here but i remember watching him play and he was pretty damn good in his first season with the Suns. But i heard he had drug problems that got the better of him.

[ynh]

If only Detroit passed on Darko.. Bosh, Wade, Melo.. I'd take Kaman.. We have to pick the one turd of the bunch. He wasn't dead like Bias but we still took a stiff with the number 2.

[ynh]

Far as "if only" players in my time.

Rider, Jay Williams, Grant Hill, Coleman

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Here is a link about the Len Bias do entary made - http://www.len-bias.com/about.html

As an Aussie who got into basketball in the early 90's, i remember a kid named Richard Dumas on the Suns. We only got the occasional NBA game on TV down here but i remember watching him play and he was pretty damn good in his first season with the Suns. But i heard he had drug problems that got the better of him.

I remember Dumas - pure scorer and athletic freak. Here's to you, Richard.

http://www.nba.com/suns/gallery/dumas_93.html

[lebomb]

LEN BIAS

never had a chance to show how truly good he could have been.


I would say #2 goes to Bobby Hurley or Jay Williams...........they got injured before they could show what they could do as well. Everyone else, at least had a chance IMHO.