His college accolades are impressive but his stats in the NBA are not that impressive at all. I get that injuries did him in. Was it that he was dominating while he played healthy? Yao has better career stats in pretty much every category but I would not describe him as a hall of fame player.
He did lead his team to the finals over then champions LA Lakers. It was nobody like him ever, still to this point but his college career. College Player of the year 3 times.
There are people in the Hall of Fame whose name you've never even heard uttered before. Sampson was unreal good in college hoops. He was a complete freak coming out of college.
Ralph Sampson laughs at your comparison. Adam Morrison was a real good college hoops player. Sampson was dominant over the course of his college career. He also had impact in the NBA far beyond what Morrison has had.
3 time college player of the year, nba rookie of the year, all star mvp all before he was 25. You should also remember he was getting college player of the year, and ACC player of the year while in the same conference as Michael Jordan. Ralph was that good.
He would have been a top 10 big man ever if (1) he was willing to play like a big man and not want to be a 3 and (2) hadn't gotten injured in my opinion. The man was talented, intelligent. Ahead of his time and on the wrong team. Had he declared early, and he could have, he would have been a Laker. With Earvin Johnson. Magic and Ralph would have been magic; Sampson would have been a king!
