No one mentioned Arvydas Sabonis. He could have become one of the greatest centers ever if he could play in the NBA in his prime and remain healthy.
I just find it interesting/ironic they were traded for each other and both declinded at the speed of light at almost the same time.
Definitely. Even with all his troubles and fall from grace, he still had a solid NBA career. Though, I believe like many he could been among the greatest ever. He was like the hybrid for the modern guard who could do everything. Uncanny athleticism, great court vision, extraordinary hops, good shooter, good defense, and could play point guard as well as he could shooting guard. http://nba.biz/knicks/history/knicksprofiles_michealrayrichardson.html 1) Bill Walton: Obviously injuries. 2) Derrick Coleman: He really did have all the tools to be one of the greatest power forwards ever. The agility was there, so was the post game and upper body strength. Laziness and bad attitude probably killed his chances for having a really exceptional career. 3) Roy Tarpley: Drugs 4) Stephon Marbury, Isiah Rider, and Darius Miles: Knuckleheads and first two especially were notorious ballhogs, and it severely killed their careers. The 70s to today is littered who are one-dimensional scorers who seem to have a certain ego about themselves being superstars, when they really aren't. 5) Aryvdas Sabonis: In reality, if he played in the NBA much earlier in his career. He could arguably be among the greatest centers ever in the game. No weaknesses in his game. I've watched both the Goodwill and Olympic games where he played David Robinson. Look at what the broken down version in Portland did, just imagine him being 10-12 years younger, while having more athleticism, better leaping ability, and etc. He still had his good shooting range, exceptional passing ability, very physically strong player, and still good defensive player. 5A) 1999-2000 Trailblazers: With right coach and those talents maybe coming together a year or so earlier, I think that would've been one of the greatest squads ever, especially in modern NBA history. Aryvdas Sabonis Rasheed Wallace Scottie Pippen Steve Smith Damon Stoudemire Bonzi Wells Greg Anthony Detlef Schrempf Brian Grant If the Blazers had that team in 1999, they would've beaten San Antonio. Rasheed Wallace actually got the best of Duncan in that series. Few things killed that teams. 1) Egos, Egos, Egos and More Egos. Many critics already said that the Blazers may have been setting themselves up for failure by having so many former (and future) all-stars. Personally, it was not a big deal, there have been so many great squads that have succeeded with having multiple all-star players, especially LA and Boston (I guess they are allowed to stock pile all-stars). Back to the main point, the egos did do Portland in . 2) Stoudemire being the facilitator, not Pippen. The reason Portland did experience was not more successful, sooner. Stoudemire was a good player, but he was not suited for a starting point guard position on championship contender team (being more of a spark off the bench) or being in a system where he was not handling the ball. I'm not saying he was a bad or even a mediocre ball handler, but he was not a great playmaker in the sense that Pippen was at the time. Especially, when the result is making Pippen more of a spot up wing player than a facilitator. Most of all, in regards to defense, that might have made Stoudemire more expendable. Eventually, it did happen when Maurice Cheeks benched Stoudemire and went with Pippen and Bonzi as the starting guards. 3) Coaching, if that team had a coach who was better at Xs and Os and could control the egos a little bit better. They would've won a title at some point. Dunleavy was not the right coach for that team, they needed someone who was either more like Phil Jackson or more in the sense of someone like Doc Rivers. 4) The Jailblazers. That's all I'm going to say about this topic. http://www.cbssports.com/u/ce/multi/0,1329,3887330_54,00.html http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol2no04pippen.html OT: I didn't not know that Barkley and Drexler were not fond of each other.
They need to show Michael Ray's documentary to every new rookie.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to_Micheal_Ray? In his rookie year, Richardson performed better off the court than on, but in his second year, blossomed into an All-Star, leading the NBA in both assists and steals and bearing a strong resemblance not only to Clyde, but to Earvin "Magic" Johnson, another tall and versatile point guard. Johnson tells us clearly how difficult it was to play against Richardson. Isiah Thomas, another contemporary superstar point guard, in the same vein says simply, "He was Sugar Ray, man. He was sweet."
Connie Hawkins has to be there. Kept out of the NBA until he was 27 and he blows out a knee before he gets to the big time. Still had a way above average NBA career and was a legend. Also, Roy Tarpley was a beast for Dallas for a season or two before drugs got the better of him.
Vince Carter had one of the greatest clutch stats ever in Nets uniform. He was shooting like 50% from the floor and smt around 50% from three in clutch situations. I don't exactly remember the numbers but I can find them in the Internet and he was just a 70% of the Vinsanity in the Nets uniform He was great in clutch. But this shot broke him down
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Roy Tarpley? The guy that was a Hakeem's victim when he dropped almost 40 points per series on his head? No way he can't be mentioned alongside Grant Hill
I don't see how Sabonis' physical breakdown would have been arrested had he come to the NBA earlier, it may have even been hastened....see, e.g. guy whose name rhymes with Pau.
Had a friend who knew Scottie Brooks real well when he played for us here. Brooks used to say that if Vernon Maxwell could get just 6 hours of sleep a night, he'd be among the top 5 players in the game.
I'm surprised it took so long to mention him. Both he and Mobley had incredible skills and potential when they first came into the league and both of them could've been greater, especially Francis.
Maybe its just because I follow the Rockets more than any other team but it really seems like a lot of the could've been were Rockets. Ralph Sampson - Attitude and injuries. John Lucas - Drugs Mitchell Wiggins - Drugs Vernon Maxwell - Mental condition Steve Francis - Attitude and injuries Tracy McGrady - Attitude and injuries Yao Ming - Injuries
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Larry Johnson: Back problems = injuries category. Jamal Mashburn: Injuries and the feud with the other Js.
I don't know why you choose to respond to the Michael Ray with a VC video, But Michael Ray was mentioned with Magic Johnson and led the league in assists and steals in his 2nd year. He went head to head with early Jordan too. Also Michael Ray is an important part of NBA history with his being banned from the NBA for drug use. he turned his life around when he went to europe and played hoops there. Vince Carter wasn't a fall from grace story, it was a guy who has tons of talent, but who's REAL GAME, not highlight videos, turned soft in the long run. MJ's game changed when he got older, relying on strength, post ups, and mid range. Vince Carter just jacks up shots now.
