Rudy Tomjanovich. He had nothing to do with that fight, and he wasn't looking to contribute to it. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rudy T was an All-Star before Kermit. As a player, he was never the same after it. And I saw the HAHAHAHA, but my take on Cheater Malone being unlucky: Karma bites.
Stromile and Gerald Green.. Players with high potentials but unlucky enough to be born with only half a brain.
Career-wise, Penny Hardaway. Had Joe Dumars not kicked him in the back of the knee in the playoffs, Penny would be considered one of the all-time greats. He did manage to get a max-contract though.
I think Sam Bowie should be on the list. He was very highly regarded coming out of college but due to injuries never lived up to potential. Then there is the fact that he to live with the tag of "Player taken ahead of Michael Jordan in the 04 draft".
04 is too recent. I'd say maybe '94. Good point tho. Btw I had a dream last night about the best draft in NBA history and MJ, Hakeem, and Bird was in the same draft.. and I was getting drafted too. It was awesome.. /irrelevant off topic
Yeah but there were several others much more promising than him that also had their careers end or go downward due to injuries.
Other than some already mentioned, i just remembered: Jason Williams (the one from Duke). Don't know if he would have been good or not, but he never got to find out.
I don't understand some of these choices: Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and even Yao Ming. The first two are probably considered the top Pfs of all time, and have made alot of money over the years, being very famous and most successful in NBA after life. Yao Ming might has had run of an injury bug, but he has also been very successful - 7x all star , 3x All NBA team, possibly best center in the league, and is still only 27 years old. He has good 5 or 6 years left to stay healthy and really prove himself as player. Also, he's wildly popular and probably one of the most recognizable athletes in the world....probably more so than anyone else in basketball outside of MJ and Shaq and possibly Kobe/LeBron....anyone else playing right now I would say is nowhere near as well-known as Yao. And he seems to be very rich....and still has opportunities everywhere I would say he is pretty lucky. Real Un-Lucky Players: ----------------------------------- Drazen Petrovic - died car accident before he hit the golden span of his career.... pretty unlucky. Jason Williams - Motorcycle accident Jayson Williams - Probably was a likely murderer, while he probably couldn't pursue his dream job because of injuries and murder case. Scottie Pippen - As far as NBA salary, he made more money than alot of NBA greats and he is broke...that's kind sad. Ralph Sampson - Very short career and great talent. Roy Tarpley - We already know why. J.R. Rider - If he were a little more serious about his game and more humble attiude, he could've been perennial all-star and be the league much longer
It is because people were discounting tragic injuries/deaths and self-inflicted jackassery. There are too many injured/killed players to name, and doing something stupid like shooting a limo driver is not exactly bad luck.
Arydas Sabonis. If the NBA had "gone international" 10 years earlier then he would have arrived in his prime and not at the end when he couldn't jump or run. He would be in the mix of top 50 players all time rther than remembered as a big guy who could pass and shoot from the outside.
