A_Iverson_I
OzCardTrader
CWeb played on a pretty good Kings team back in the day....
Most Talented, Underachieving Player in NBA History?
- Thread starter jimboiitmac
- Start date
CWeb played on a pretty good Kings team back in the day....
jimboiitmac
miami pride
Some good names. I guess I picked McGrady because his talent on the professional level wasn't questioned. Guys like Laettner etc, I don't think people would have said they could be one of the greatest. That kind of ability was in McGrady though, but he just didn't live up to it (despite the fact that he still had an awesome career).
Kenyon Martin and Okafor are good picks, probably Martin more-so than Okafor. Someone raised Arenas too, great pick.
---------- Post added 10-04-2011 at 04:00 PM ----------
Bargnani is a flop. There were plenty of other guys in that draft who could've/should've been #1. A common thread among NBA franchises is to become hypnotized by the unknown. E.g. if a player in US is the same caliber as a guy in Europe, they'll pick the guy in Europe for some unknown reason.
Kemp was a great name raised also, Vince Carter too (although I don't know if he underachieved, his mental ability wasn't there, perhaps people just tried to make him be someone that he's not).
Webber I don't think underachieved. He was great with the Kings and was robbed by the NBA anyway...
U need to distinguish between a flop and an injury hampered career. Can a flop be considered to be underachieving - I mean did they ever achieve??
If it's an injury hit career, Hill for sure, Laphonso Ellis was a player I loved whose knees were destroyed. I'm fond of Larry Johnson - 19-11 in his rc year, 22-10-4 his 2nd year, All NBA 2nd team then SPRAINED HIS BACK! Now that's an injury...Still had a decent career but what would he have done with those numbers so early on??
If it's an injury hit career, Hill for sure, Laphonso Ellis was a player I loved whose knees were destroyed. I'm fond of Larry Johnson - 19-11 in his rc year, 22-10-4 his 2nd year, All NBA 2nd team then SPRAINED HIS BACK! Now that's an injury...Still had a decent career but what would he have done with those numbers so early on??
Yeah, really there was no clear direction in this discussion. For my money, injury plagued players don't count as having underachieved, they are a victim of injury and not their attitudes. Then there were lots of players who were brought up who are busts, but did they really have the talent to begin with? Michael Olowakandi and Kwame Brown? Were they talented or just drafted for their size and potential?
There's so few players who are talented and squander that talent. I can only think of one active player, JR Smith. He can shoot the lights out and elevate but with all his talent, could never take it to the next level and be a better defender or make the better shot selection or be a more consistent player. Explodes for 30 one game then inexplicably finishes shooting 30 percent the next day.
There's so few players who are talented and squander that talent. I can only think of one active player, JR Smith. He can shoot the lights out and elevate but with all his talent, could never take it to the next level and be a better defender or make the better shot selection or be a more consistent player. Explodes for 30 one game then inexplicably finishes shooting 30 percent the next day.
If u took out injuries I'd have to go with Kemp. 95-96 finals - he took them there with Payton and he schooled Rodman any time he wanted....Then 2 years later he comes back from the lockout looking like Mr Stay puft. He coulda been top 50 of all time. Instead he snorted and ate his career away...
Baron Davis is another who has eaten his career away. No one can guard him in the post when he cares IMO...
Baron Davis is another who has eaten his career away. No one can guard him in the post when he cares IMO...
jimboiitmac
miami pride
Yeah sorry I should have been more specific. I think I meant more like people who had great ability, physically, basketball gifted etc but never worked hard enough to reach the max or had mental issues.
So guys like McGrady, Sprewell, Marbury, Baron Davis, Shawn Kemp, Antoine Walker, Gilbert Arenas etc are all probably good fits to that classification.
MattWasGF4L
Administrator
Heat Say No to 350 Pound Curry
2001 - 1st round (4th pick) by the Chicago Bulls
put this in persepective
Roy Hibbert 7ft2, 278lbs
Shaq 7ft1, 325lbs
Curry @ workout 7ft, 350lbs - last listed at 295lbs with TWolves
2001 - 1st round (4th pick) by the Chicago Bulls
put this in persepective
Roy Hibbert 7ft2, 278lbs
Shaq 7ft1, 325lbs
Curry @ workout 7ft, 350lbs - last listed at 295lbs with TWolves
murrke03
Banned User
curry needs to go on the biggest loser...
pete23nba
OzCardTrader
HERE IS A BIG LIST. In terms of talented players wasting their talent (not including injuries, because its not under their control):
Chris Webber (a guy that talented should NOT be a jump-shooter)
Derrick Coleman
Kenny Anderson
Michael Ray Richardson
Ralph Sampson
Vince Carter
Shawn Kemp
Darius Miles
Steve Francis
Baron Davis
Lamar Odom (could've been so much more)
Antoine Walker
Isaiah (JR) Rider
Darryl Dawkins
Len Bias
Arvydas Sabonis (should've come over when he was younger)
Jim Jackson
Latrell Sprewell
Walt Williams
Robert Horry (Pippen 2.0 if he was motivated enough)
Oliver Miller (see Eddy Curry, Original Version)
Glenn Robinson
Rasheed Wallace
Tim Thomas
Larry Hughes
Dajuan Wagner
Anthony Randolph
Chris Webber (a guy that talented should NOT be a jump-shooter)
Derrick Coleman
Kenny Anderson
Michael Ray Richardson
Ralph Sampson
Vince Carter
Shawn Kemp
Darius Miles
Steve Francis
Baron Davis
Lamar Odom (could've been so much more)
Antoine Walker
Isaiah (JR) Rider
Darryl Dawkins
Len Bias
Arvydas Sabonis (should've come over when he was younger)
Jim Jackson
Latrell Sprewell
Walt Williams
Robert Horry (Pippen 2.0 if he was motivated enough)
Oliver Miller (see Eddy Curry, Original Version)
Glenn Robinson
Rasheed Wallace
Tim Thomas
Larry Hughes
Dajuan Wagner
Anthony Randolph
DGCollectables
https://www.dgcollectables.com.au/
larry bird as well. he could have played better defense.
drobfan8
OzCardTrader
I agree with some of these but
Chris Webber was not underachieving (although he was super hyped)
nor was Vince Carter (took a terrible raptors team to heights they will not reach again)
Shawn Kemp was pretty damn good for about 8/9 years, athleticism does'nt last forever
Lamar Odom could've been putting up bigger numbers on an average team but chose Championships (great choice)
Latrell Sprewell also did not underachieve, was the only good thing about the Warriors in the 90's and was a part of an excellent Twolves team and a big part of the Knicks (yes the Knicks) making the 99 NBA finals (without Ewing) he was an idiot for choking his coach though.
Robert Horry? Are you serious, never was hyped, just an excellent role player, came up with tough plays when it counted, 7 championships? That is overachieving and I'm sure every team he was on would say they could'nt have done it without him.
But I reckon you hit the nail on the head with every other pick.
Great discussion though, it really makes guys like Kobe stand out, does'nt just sit back after one good year, he wants to go again and again and again.
Cobretti
Fleer Collector
damn straight that baseball side track ruined his greatness.
Also Glenn Robinson for me under achieved for the name he was in the 90s.
Even though he was still an absolute champion, when I think of players who could have been better, Allen Iverson comes to mind.
He's last 2 or 3 seasons of his first stint at the sixers were damaged because of his ego and putting himself ahead of the team. Denver is where I believed he could have played his best but didn't quite live up to his potential. Pistons he had similar problems that he had early in his career with Sixers. Grizzlies is not even worth talking about and back to Sixers his age had caught up to him.
I honestly thought he could have been in the top 3 point guards of all time. Maybe an attitude adjustment and putting the team first he could have been. He is still one of the greatest point guards anyway IMO and one of my all time favourite players, but he could have been more.
He could make up for it by coming to play in Australia in the near future
He's last 2 or 3 seasons of his first stint at the sixers were damaged because of his ego and putting himself ahead of the team. Denver is where I believed he could have played his best but didn't quite live up to his potential. Pistons he had similar problems that he had early in his career with Sixers. Grizzlies is not even worth talking about and back to Sixers his age had caught up to him.
I honestly thought he could have been in the top 3 point guards of all time. Maybe an attitude adjustment and putting the team first he could have been. He is still one of the greatest point guards anyway IMO and one of my all time favourite players, but he could have been more.
He could make up for it by coming to play in Australia in the near future
A_Iverson_I
OzCardTrader
Even though he was still an absolute champion, when I think of players who could have been better, Allen Iverson comes to mind.
He's last 2 or 3 seasons of his first stint at the sixers were damaged because of his ego and putting himself ahead of the team. Denver is where I believed he could have played his best but didn't quite live up to his potential. Pistons he had similar problems that he had early in his career with Sixers. Grizzlies is not even worth talking about and back to Sixers his age had caught up to him.
I honestly thought he could have been in the top 3 point guards of all time. Maybe an attitude adjustment and putting the team first he could have been. He is still one of the greatest point guards anyway IMO and one of my all time favourite players, but he could have been more.
He could make up for it by coming to play in Australia in the near future
Why do so many people refer to him as a PG? Sure, he played the position a couple times, but he played SG for the majority of his career & that was his natural position. He just was an undersized one.
sktwentythree
OzCardTrader
Under achieving equals what though? As if it's based just on rings which counts the most, I'd say charles barkley. What about massive contracts and not getting back what you paid for? Juwan Howard got some massive contract back in the day for the Washington Bullets and I don't remember the team getting much back out of it.
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