I believe people are not even reading the full article and just commenting on the Yao and Tmac portion. Being on this list would make the blind fans not happy at all. Then you get the factor that people think that being higher on the list means you were suppose to be better.
the title of the article is the top 10 most SIGNIFICANT injuries, which I interpret to be injuries that derail a superstar career. tmac and yao have been BETTER players than arenas in the past decade, and their injuries have had bigger impact on their team's progress than arena's injury to his career and team. and i would have put penny at #2 (since kelly did consider the 96 injury). he got it right at the #1 spot w/ grant (grant was a sure-fire HOF and could have ended up as a top 3 SF of all time the way his career was going). i think arenas being #2 is the only major problem on the list, considering his career and future.
and FYI, kelly is a GREAT writer on this board and in his articles. however, you don't necessarily have to agree with everything he says. the majority of his lists are reasonable enough, unlike other lists out there that people put out. hopefully he can put out top 10 greatest offensive players and 10 greatest players overall of the past decade for his future columns.
His argument is that Gilbert is in his prime of his career and he's injured. Tmac already past his prime and Yao could move up in the rankings depending on what happens in the near future. Plus it's in DC, another basketball mecca.
tracy's back injuries started in 01-02, the midst of his prime. the back spasms really killed him in 05-06, which remains in his prime b/c he was still a great player in 04-05. and let's not talk about yao here. yao's injuries started when he was 25. and yao's career has been better than arenas' career. but again, they are opinions.
His back injuries may have started in 01-02, but they didn't noticeably resurface until 05-06. Also, his was the only injury on the list that didn't require surgery. Listing McGrady at #4 is already very generous considering his is the only injury that wasn't career threatening. Why are you even bringing up Yao's toe injury in 2005? How is that relevant at all to the stress fracture in his foot? The author isn't talking about the most significant injury prone players....just the most significant injuries. And its disgusting how severely you underrate Arenas.
Having seen his training videos with that douchebag Wayne Hall, I actually, honestly think this was at least part of the cause.
I would have ranked Webber higher. He could have been one of the best PF's ever had it not been for injuries and bad luck. His combination of raw talent, athleticism and skill was almost unheard of for his position. It was almost as if he was created on a video game. Too bad he couldn't stay healthy or win the big games. Some food for thought: Injuries are about the only thing that separates Webber from a pre-Boston KG yet everybody speaks of KG as if he's one of the best big men ever, on Duncan's level, etc. Regardless of whether Sacramento got screwed in that infamous 01-02 WC Finals series against the Lakers, they got about as close as you can possibly get to a championship without winning it and were primed to return in 02-03 ready to extract revenge. With Webber's legacy on the line, his crippling postseason injury against Dallas changed EVERYTHING.
It's so tough to do a list like this because a lot of it is speculation. Would the Kings have won with a healthy Webber? Would the Suns have won with a healthy Amare? To this I'd think not. What would Orlando have been with a healthy Grant hill? Honeslty, I don't think they would have won it all. Rarely does one player make the difference between a lottery team and a champion. Maybe they would have been an eastern conference finalist team, but there were some very good Detroit, Indiana, and western conference teams they'd have to go against. Yao's injury last year was massive for multiple reasons, but we don't know the full out come. Would the Rockets have beaten the Lakers with a healthy Yao? Who the heck knows for sure. The Lakers last two wins were laughers - and their first two wins had Yao playing. But who knows for sure there are other considerations. T-mac injuries - well, this is the first year he has been out with Yao by himself in the playoffs. His injury alone didn't shape the Rockets future, so I'd say Yao's injuries have actually been bigger. T-mac was on an incredible trajectory - but you know what, a lot of these super athlethic players flame out after so many years. Kelly says that T-mac stopped going hard to the rack after his back issues...but a lot of vetern guards stop going hard to the rack. You can't keep doing it. Jordan changed his game, as is Kobe. Guys like Iverson - look at the guy, he's body is about to fall apart. Explosiveness is great when you are young, but it doesn't last past much the age of 26-27. So as far as I am concerned, you really could make this list many ways...all of these injuries were pretty significant...but a lot of which is "more" significant is subjective.
There were alot things went wrong on Hill's injure, he also got a bacterial infection that almost cost him a leg. There are alot things to blame other than rushing him back. The doctors were so bad, after he changed his doctor, he gained significant progress on recovery.
