Monday, February 28th, 2011 at 3:36 pm  |  57 responses

Gallery: What If…

…these 10 players weren’t stopped by injury, illness, scandal or worse?

The only players eligible for our historic Top 500 issue (on sale now!) were guys who played at least five years in the NBA. But think of all the great players who weren’t even in the discussion. This is one of the four other lists included in the issue, filled with ballers who warrant our respect forever, regardless of their NBA careers (or lack thereof). Here we count down 10 guys who could’ve amounted to so much more, had it not been for a variety of tragic, unfortunate and unlucky events.

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  • http://bashmo_4@hotmail.com bashmo

    damnnnn…a life time banishment from the big league must be suicide worthy at one point if you were that nice of a player in the case Sherman.

  • http://ballislife.com Stephon

    Much respect to everybody that didn’t make it to do better things in the NBA. Especially Len Bias who woulda been MJ’s only competiion in the L.

  • flipnoyce

    It’s been rumored in Beantown that if Len didn’t passed we would of never had that long drought of championships after Larry Legend retired. Some even argue that Bias could of made MJ a run for his money!!!

  • http://www.SoleCollector.com NDP

    Sad to see #2. I really wonder what could have been and he might’ve been his era’s signature forward. It’s been said the night that took his life was his first experience and an isolated incident. If there is a positive to be taken from the situation, I know many people, including myself, have stayed away from drugs specifically because of Bias.

  • Max

    Drazen

  • http://nba.com EJ

    Couldn’t you put Earl Manigault and Demetrius Mitchell in the same group?

  • BP

    It would be interesting to speculate on some other guys who suffered less tragic injuries but were never physically able to be at their best. I’d start with…

    Larry Johnson
    Bill Walton
    Steve Smith
    Chris Webber

  • http://Nba.com GP23

    Earl ‘the goat’ Manigault ???

  • MikeC.

    ^I’d take C-Webb off that list. He did reach his full potential in the NBA. He was at the apex of his prime when he tore up his knee. The others never got the chance to taste their primes before the injuries took them down a few notches. LJ is the one that makes me shed a tear. That man was a beast in college. To think that he hurt his back playing in a charity game and was never the same irks me.

  • http://forevercherishedproductions.com aaron

    Grant Hill?

  • robb

    What about Grant Hill?

  • http://www.michaelcho.com M Cho

    If we’re talking about Grant Hill or Bill Walton then we gotta talk about Penny Hardaway. Penny was incredible during his first few seasons before the injuries.

  • http://www.solecollector.com NDP

    I’m a HUGE CWebb fan, but I’d have to agree that he can be taken off any kind of injury ‘What If’ list. He had ten seasons at full strength.

  • add

    much love to all these guys especially hank

  • JTaylor21

    Len Bias would have been at best been a 18/7 guy, doesn’t sound like MJ’s supposed rival to me.

  • fruizm

    dajuan wagner….just kidding.

  • http://forevercherishedproductions.com aaron

    “robb Posted: Feb.28 at 5:13 pm
    What about Grant Hill?”

    The topic was on the careers that could of been if not for tragedy. Hill was amazing until his injury in 2000-2001.

    “Hill’s 1999–2000 season showed that he could be one of NBA’s truly dominant scorers. He averaged 25.8 points while shooting 49% from the field, the season’s third highest scoring average, behind MVP Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson. He maintained solid overall numbers, averaging 6.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.” – Wikipedia

    The next season he played 4 games and hadn’t played a full season until 2008. He just scored 30+ points the other night at the age of 38.

    What if…

    Disclaimer: I’m from Michigan

  • http://slamonline.com Ugh

    @JTaylor21 – Your statement doesn’t sound like a balanced assessment to me.

  • TheMac

    Len Bias would of been in MJ face all the time, dude was a beast.
    NBA What ifs… Could be another one.

  • cheema

    Hello? wat about T-Mac?

  • http://www.basketballtheremix.com M. Tee Armstrong

    Eric “Hank” Gathers was a teammate at Loyola Marymount University. I always thought Hank would develop into a All-Star in a similar manner that Reggie Miller did (who I played against in Jr. High, High School and College). Meaning, he would not have a rookie of the year impact out of college but because of his physical attributes, mental toughness and tremendous focus and discipline, Hank Gathers would of retired as an all-star of the caliber of Adrian Dantley and Charles Barkley. Hank was a better commentator in college than Chuck is now.

    @bballremix

  • asad

    what about reggie lewis!!

  • AlbZ

    Shaun Livingston could’ve been brilliant too.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Bryant Big Country Reeves… If his health was equivilant to his fuglyness he would have been one of the 4 best Cs of the past 15 yrs.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    But for real….. two words: Bobby. Hurley. This was going to be the guy I tailored my game after (one horrific car crash later though…) but alas timing and unforeseen circumstance are a cold heartless woman….what may have been one of the most awarded careers for a PG ended before it began. He was THAT GUY before Steve Nash dropped the soccer ball for the hardwood.

  • http://nba.com EJ

    JTaylor………………………. seriously???

  • Yann Blavec

    Sam Bowie

  • Bballrehab

    What about Sabonis? Think about an healthy Sabonis in that Portland team from the late 80′s, early 90′s! Most talented center ever playing with Dex, Porter,…could have meant Championship(s).

  • Kas

    JR Rider

  • Dean27

    Penny Hardaway, Bobby Hurley, and let us not forget Jay Williams

  • Chris_Griff_3

    Reggie Lewis should be on this list.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Bias’ cousin trains his kids at a gym i got to in scottsdale. Those kids are gonna be straight up ballers, well they already are and they’re like 12 and 7.

  • http://bulls.com airs

    @Dean27 jay williams wasn’t doin nothin special. for real. would’ve been kirk hinrich status at best.

  • frm

    oh….and darius miles!

  • http://www.SoleCollector.com NDP

    Darius Miles and Shaun Livingston didn’t have the work ethic to reach elite status.

  • Michael

    Penny, TMAC.

  • r. hamilton

    People that didn’t get to see len bias play have no idea of what the celtics lost.He was
    Dominique with defense and a 20ft and in jump shot.Crack is wack,kids!

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    How could you say that about Livingston? I never heard that and clearly he had to work ridiculously hard to come back from that horrible knee injury.

  • http://nobulljive.com/ Enigmatic

    @airs – you don’t know that. Jay Williams could’ve been a beast.
    His 9.5 ppg, 4.7 apg and 2.6 rpg in about 26 minutes a game weren’t all that.
    But you know, Gary Payton averaged 7.2, 6.4 and 3 in 27 minutes a game.
    In no way am I saying Williams was gonna be as good as Payton.
    I’m just saying, you can’t say dude wasn’t gonna be a beast just cause he had a weak rookie year.

  • dimo

    you also have to include J R Smith and Shaun Livingston in this list. J R Smith, because he is too dumb to use his full potential and livingston because he was great.

  • blake saiontz

    1. What about jay williams. Im 10 and my dads favorite players were jay williams and bobby hurley. Danny ferry was talking about them to me and my dad. Jay williams should be like 10. 2. bobby hurley cant be on the list same with grant hill cuz they both played 5 years

  • qwerty

    …these 10 players weren’t stopped by injury, illness, scandal or worse?

    you couldnt put penny, ghill, cwebb, etc in this gallery coz they are in the top 500 of slam and played more than 5 seasons! yes they were unlucky and would have done a lot more, but this is the list of who didnt make it to top 500 and played less than 5 nba years!!!

  • HAMMER

    @bballrehab. Sabas was a beast in Lithuania. He did reach his potential. Age and injuries caught up 2 him. P-town got the older version, past his prime Sabas. In the words of the great Bill Schonley, “He’s not my vidas, he’s not your vidas, he’s Our-vidas”.

  • chase

    Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady are missing.

  • Max

    Bias would have been the equivilant of Roy Tarpley.
    Loadded with talent, but the drugs would have always got the better of him.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    The first time Bias did cocaine was on draft night 1988 – the night he died. do a history lesson before you make up some ridiculous claim

  • http://bulls.com airs

    mad late, but i guess youre right Enig. i just never saw anything during his rookie year that made me think “this guy is our future”, so thats all im basing it on. i also dont think he’d be on the same level as petrovic or bias

  • http://www.iowsports.com/ Blue

    Co-sign Max… Can’t forget about Richard Dumas, either.

  • knicksvet82

    Reggie Lewis and Len Bias would’ve been pretty cool to see.

  • Bob

    If Gilbert Arenas wasn’t injured or had the gun scandal I bet he will probably be one of the better players of this era.

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