OT: Who would have been the best if not injured?

[Eric15]

Man this is a tough one. You could make very good arguments for Rose, Penny, Hill, Yao and T-Mac. Curious what others think.

 

[Trueblue25]

B. Johnny Flynn











Tracy.

 

[OttoMets]

How many Syracuse fans will pick the bottom right? Because obviously Jonny Flynn was just a hip injury away from being a sure-fire All Star and franchise point guard.

Wait, where's that sarcasm font?

Anyway, Penny Hardaway's probably the only correct answer here. And I'm unfamiliar with Gil's injury, what was that? Brain? Defective trigger finger?

 

[OttoMets]

B. Johnny Flynn











Tracy.

Damn, beat me to it

 

[Eric15]

And I'm unfamiliar with Gil's injury, what was that? Brain? Defective trigger finger?

He was a league scoring leader in 2006, but yeah I'm not familiar with his injury situation other than just being a schmuck.

And depending on how far back you go, certainly Bill Walton should be on this list.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Grant Hill was putting up Lebron like numbers his last year in Detroit. It has to be him.

 

[Cusefan0307]

He was a league scoring leader in 2006, but yeah I'm not familiar with his injury situation other than just being a schmuck.

And depending on how far back you go, certainly Bill Walton should be on this list.

I believe he had the dreaded microfracture surgery that is a basketball players death wish. Same with Brandon Roy who was putting up 22/5/5 before he got hurt.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

TMac / Penny, as 'most impactful' — but that's sorta position-dependent.
Still too early to take liberties with the definition of "injury' and suggest Len Bias?

 

[Alsacs]

It’s Grant Hill or Tracy McGrady.

Hill was a Scottie Pippen type player and then his knees just never got healthy.
T-Mac was James Harden who could defend.

 

[OrangeDW]

McGrady is one of the most gifted b-ball players I’ve ever seen. He’s an easy #1 for me. His talent was off the charts. Gets very tough after that.

After I’d go:
Penny
Yao
Hill
Rose
Roy
Oden
Arenas

Penny/Hill is a tough one but I thought Penny was just a little more dynamic. More range. I think slightly higher ceiling. Yao with that size and that touch - unguardable if healthy.

 

[Ozcuse]

Many basketball experts thought Oden could have been one of the greats- he never got the chance to showcase his talents in the NBA

At the draft he looked like he was 19 going on 55. He wouldn’t even need makeup to be an actor in the Uncle Drew movie!

 

[Eric15]

Many basketball experts thought Oden could have been one of the greats- he never got the chance to showcase his talents in the NBA

At the draft he looked like he was 19 going on 55. He wouldn’t even need makeup to be an actor in the Uncle Drew movie!

I remember someone on this board back in the day said that Oden facially looked like Robert Parish on the day he retired. I thought that was funny.

 

[Fat tire 13]

It's actually very tough to compare. Some of these guys had 5+ years to reach potential, and the injury just prevented them from having a full career. I agree Tracy was the best player overall. There is a wild card of Oden. It's a complete guess, but he had the physical tools to be great.

I think another interesting one to add to the list is Jay Williams

 

[Briancuse]

You can really make a case for all of them. I will say penny I was a huge penny fan back in the day.

 

[OrangeDW]

As for Brandon Roy - one of my all time favorite things in sports was his 4th quarter against Dallas in the playoffs. It was like he magically got to be the great player he was pre-injury for one more quarter. I was lucky enough to be watching it live, and not sure I’ve ever rooted harder for a team that I normally had no rooting interest in.

 

[OrangeDW]

Penny had a similar last gasp great moment, though nobody suspected that would be the case at the time(where everyone kinda knew Roy was likely done). 1997 playoffs against the Heat where he pretty much singlehandidly beat them.

 

[rrlbees]

Penny had a similar last gasp great moment, though nobody suspected that would be the case at the time(where everyone kinda knew Roy was likely done). 1997 playoffs against the Heat where he pretty much singlehandidly beat them.

A Danny Schayes sighting!

 

[OrangeDW]

A Danny Schayes sighting!

Yup, and I believe he was getting a lot of minutes because Rony Seikaly got hurt earlier in the series.

 

[OrangeDW]

Many basketball experts thought Oden could have been one of the greats- he never got the chance to showcase his talents in the NBA

At the draft he looked like he was 19 going on 55. He wouldn’t even need makeup to be an actor in the Uncle Drew movie!

Yeah, I had a hard time rating him because I feel like I never really saw him play healthy. I might’ve watched him a couple times in college at the most, and maybe a few times as a pro. And even when playing he was often battling a nagging injury or on a minutes limit.

 

[ORRange]

A Danny Schayes sighting!

I got Schayes autograph. Dolphs that is.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Did Sarbonis have a bad back or just worn out by the time he got to the NBA? I would not be surprised if Pearl was hindered by his tumor. didn,t he have his first surgery not too long after the NBA

 

[upperdeck]

Bill Walton

len bias

 

[alphaorange]

Bernard King and not that close.....

 

[Eric15]

I think another interesting one to add to the list is Jay Williams

100% agree about Jay Williams. I can't imagine how much anguish that guy must still feel over how one stupid decision to be reckless on a motorcycle was the difference between potentially being a multi-year All-Star and having to sit next to Seth Greenberg in a studio every night.

 

[OrangeDW]

Did Sarbonis have a bad back or just worn out by the time he got to the NBA? I would not be surprised if Pearl was hindered by his tumor. didn,t he have his first surgery not too long after the NBA

He’d had numerous injuries before coming over to the NBA, including a torn achilles.