what might have been... name 5 players...

[GH33]

i would love to know your opinion about who are the players that could have been the "IT" had they not face tragedy and injuries...and if you can give a little description it would be better... i'll name mine...

1) Grant Hill - he could have like a Jordan like legacy, he and jason kidd were outstanding players, i remember those 3-doubles, he and kidd were about at the same rate until he gets hurt by his ankle surgeries, good thing is he's still playing this year, and grant also has a good personality.had grant stayed healthy i guess he has at least one title (IMO).

2) Anfernee Hardaway - he is like a magic johnson with leaping ability, too bad his knees breakdown, he could have been in the hall of fame someday.

3) Ralph Sampson - one of the most talented big guys in a 7'4" frame he really have a high basketball IQ. once again knee problems.

4) Dražen Petrović - could have been an elite European player in the NBA, then he died just after his best NBA season.

5) Len Bias - can you remember this guy? drafted 2nd overall in the 1986 draft then died less than 48 hours after being drafted, people say that he could have an MJ like legacy.

among young players today, some were plagued by injuries or accident.
-Jay Williams (chi) - bike accident (still trying to recover)
-Dajuan Wagner - Often compared to Allen Iverson for his scoring ability, (health problems) now in a Polish team
-Darius Miles - hopefully he can still recover (knee problems)
-Shaun Livingston - knee problems, could be the future of the NBA.

special mentions:
-Shawn Kemp - never put a PERIOD. in his career he suddenly disappear after dealing with injuries and drugs.

these are the players i can remember.

_________________

magic33 patching thread <-here

[J@3]

Stop making threads here. If you make another one within the next week you will be punished. It's all well and good to want to contribute but you're just going to piss people off.

[Andrew]

You've already mentioned most of the more obvious "What If" cases but here's a couple of others I'd add to that list.

Derrick Coleman

He played 15 years in the league with career averages of 16.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.4 bpg and made an All-Star appearance in 1994 so on the whole he had a pretty solid career. At the same time, there was talk of him being a special player early on his career as he was quite a talented player being a power forward who could put the ball on the floor and had range out to the three point line as well as having a presence inside, but he just didn't have the right attitude or mentality to put all those tools to good use.

Reggie Lewis

Tragically died of a heart attack during an offseason practice coming off one of the best seasons of his short career, aged 27. Not long before his death he had collapsed during a Playoff game, leading to the discovery of a heart defect that ultimately led to his death. The Celtics' fortunes in the 90s as their Big Three of Bird, McHale and Parish departed one by one might have been quite different if not for his untimely death.