Drugs (Coke) and women destroyed his career also bad work ethic and not talking the game seriously hurt his career he had potential to be so much more.
Seattle had issues with it's Power Forwards over the years. Vin Baker's alcohol issues derailed him as well. He was nearly a 20-10 guy for a few years and then poof! Shawn Kemp and waaaaaay back there was Spencer Haywood. Something about Seattle.... they and Portland have the highest "hard drug" use statistics in the country. Too many clouds.
Arvydas Sabonis - could've been one of the greatest bigs of all time in the NBA, but he couldn't get over here. And when he finally did he was in his 30s, and he'd already has an injury (knee?) that was mishandled by the Russkies.
Broken down and old Arvydas was still a handful. He was limited in his minutes. Wish I could've seen him in his prime, because they say he was as great a passer as Bill Walton.
Gotta put you all on blast for missing the biggest one of all. Earvin Magic Johnson Also, his counterpart, Bird lost some years to the bad back. Also, MJ's lost 2 years in his prime.
My list would be Grant Hill- That guy was flat out amazing. Even when he came and played for Phx he still showed how great he could of been. Bynum- Drew's piss poor attitude with piss poor knees hurt him but if he was healthy I think he had the skillset to one of the greatest centers to play the game. Tmac- In his prime I put him and Kobe as the best players in the game. period. I actually argued with myself over which player was better prime Kobe or TMac. Brandon Roy - Could of been special and had the right attitude too. I agree Walton too but I really didn't see Big Red play. As for guy like Oden he never really played at this level for me to say he would be dominant. He had the tools but not ever really playing takes him out for me.
Tarpley was the guy I feared and admired the most. I was all for the Worthy for Aguirre and Tarpley trade in 87 iirc. Roy was a beast.
Here is a good one and a personal favorite of mine because I loved watching him at Duke when I was younger. What a gamer and competitor he was at Duke! Jay Williams I've heard it on a few occasions from Coach K where he said if it weren't for his terrible motocycle accident he would have been one of the best PGs and leaders in the NBA.
He might've turned out great, but he was pretty disappointing his rookie year. He ended up 2nd team all rookie, but he only averaged 9 points and 4 assists per game.
Didn't know who he was until I saw the 30 for 30 film, but Drazen Petrovic. Traded to the Nets then became really good. A very prolific shooter, even having some calling one of the best shooters ever. Killed in a car crash when only 28.
Watched him in the Olympics 1988... Sabonis was dealing with a bad back at the time but I recall plays where he clowned David Robinson.
Drazen was so good man. One of the best shooters I've ever seen, and he had crazy work ethics too. What a tragedy... Sabonis and Hill were both amazing players. I watched Sabonis a lot when he played for the Soviet Union (I still remember their starting 5, and 4 of them were Lithuanians: Chomicius, Marciulionis, Kurtinaitis, Volkov, Sabonis) and he was truly unbelievable. Still, him and Grant Hill had long careers, they were just slowed down by injuries. But that doesn't really count IMO. Bynum had his career cut short, for example.
