NBA’s Lost Potential 🩹🤕
Watching these young men fail to live up to their vast potential is always disappointing…
NBA injuries are part of the game, and with 16-year veteran Derrick Rose announcing his retirement, we felt it was a good time to talk about five players who were destined for greatness before debilitating injuries derailed their promising careers.
Derrick Rose is officially retiring from basketball 😢
An incredible career filled with unforgettable moments.
Thank you for everything, D-Rose! 🌹 #DerrickRose #Legend #NBApic.twitter.com/XqZkKYnyvy
— LockerRoom RAW (@LockerRoom_RAW) September 26, 2024
What Should Have Been
Many things can go awry when a highly touted college or international prospect makes the leap to the NBA. Sometimes a young phenom’s game just doesn’t translate to the much stiffer competition of the NBA players he’ll face on a nightly basis or the allure of fame and fortune distracts him from focusing on improving the skills that got him there.
And although watching these young men fail to live up to their vast potential is always disappointing, it’s not nearly as sad as seeing external forces, such as injuries, shatter the dreams of what could have been an illustrious career. Let’s take a look at five players who could have had legendary careers but were bitten unmercifully hard by the injury bug.
5. Greg Oden (Center, No. 1 2007 NBA Draft)
I’m a draftnik, and I clearly recall the great debate between choosing seven-foot center Greg Oden or 6’11” Kevin Durant. Hindsight is 20/20, but at the time the arguments were heated, with many believing Oden would be a force of nature and rim protector, ala Shaquille O’Neal, for years to come. Others sided with Durant being the face of the franchise, but the ultimate decision would be Portland’s.
Unfortunately for the Trail Blazers, they backed the wrong pony. Durant would go No. 2 to the now-defunct Seattle Supersonics and go on to have a Hall of Fame career where he is still plying his trade with the Phoenix Suns. Oden, on the other hand, would miss his first full season after having microfracture surgery on his right knee.
That was only the beginning, as Oden’s tenure in the NBA was that of a journeyman that ended in 2014 with the Miami Heat.
@german2kballin Greg Oden Highlights 🔥 Do you remember him? #gregoden #NBA #whatif #fasion ♬ End of Beginning – Djo
4. Gilbert Arenas (Guard, No. 31 2001 NBA Draft)
Unlike Oden, Arenas’ career had three years of highlights, beginning a few years after he was drafted by the GS Warriors and subsequently dealt to the Wizards. He was an NBA All-Star from 2005-2007, and it appeared his career was on full tilt to exceed all expectations as a second-rounder.
However, an MCL injury he suffered near the end of the 2006-07 season was one from which he would never quite recover. Off-court issues also made NBA news and complicated his stay in the league, and the 2012 season with Memphis would be his last.
“When you’re on fire, you’re on fire.”
OTD (06) Gilbert Arenas scored 54 PTS against Steve Nash & the Suns!
2006/2007 season
vs Kobe: 60
vs Nash: 54
vs Williams: 51
vs Telfair: 44
vs Bibby: 43
vs Tinsley: 40
vs Terry: 38
vs Marbury: 38pic.twitter.com/413kKDeOp9— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 22, 2019
3. Brandon Roy (Shooting Guard, No. 6 2006 NBA Draft)
The 2006 Rookie of the Year Award winner busted out of the blocks just the way the Trail Blazers had anticipated, and it appeared as though the team had hitched its wagon to a rising star after Roy made the All-Star team in three consecutive seasons (2008-2010).
However, Roy would prove to be a supernova that burned brightly, but only for a short time. A degenerative knee condition slowed the prolific shooting guard until he announced his retirement in 2011 before returning to the league the following season when he was signed by the Timberwolves. He played only five games before requiring career-ending surgery on his right knee.
Brandon Roy: One of the greatest “What Ifs” in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/Kqw7Bxebhf
— Fastbreak Hoops (@FastbreakHoops5) September 19, 2024
2. Penny Hardaway (Guard, No. 3 1993 NBA Draft)
The Orlando Magic had their Batman and Robin duo in the form of Shaquille O’Neal, drafted No. 1 in 1992, and the slick-shooting Anfernee Deon ‘Penny’ Hardaway at No. 6 the following year.
The two were magic on the court together for four seasons and reached the 1994-95 NBA Finals only to be ousted by future Hall-of-Famers Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon and Clyde ‘The Glide’ Drexler and the Houston Rockets.
Shaq departed in free agency to the LA Lakers while Hardaway was on a Hall of Fame trajectory as a 4x All-Star and 2x All-NBA first-team selection while finishing third in MVP voting at the end of the ’96 season. However, microfracture surgery to repair cartilage damage in his right knee changed history during the 1997-1998 season, and he would never be the same, retiring in 2007.
Penny Hardaway highlights 🔥 pic.twitter.com/O5PNhD9hXw
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) March 26, 2021
1. Derrick Rose (Guard, No. 1 2008 NBA Draft)
The Chicago Bulls believed they had an heir apparent to Michael Jordan when they tapped Derrick Rose as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft. He immediately paid dividends by capturing the 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year Award and was poised for greatness after the 2010-2011 season when he was named the league MVP, the youngest player in NBA history to win the coveted award.
Derrick Rose’s stats that year showed him averaging 25 points per game, and the Bulls finished with a league-leading 62-20 record before getting ousted from the postseason by Miami’s holy trinity of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
9 minutes of D-Rose highlights 🌹
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 26, 2024
However, the storybook career took a turn for the worse in the 2012 playoffs when D-Rose tore his ACL. He would miss the next season and return the following year when he tore his meniscus in his other knee and missed the remainder of that season.
Rose would stick in the league until he was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies only a few days ago, which spelled the end of what could have been a legendary career.
Comments (0)