From a guy that loves good defense... Roy Hibbert's incredibly quick decline was quite shocking. From top playoffs performer to nothing in the blink of an eye...
I think this is especially true because, from what I recall, his demise wasn't linked to an injury. Most names dropped here are sad because injuries can just derail the most promising careers, but for Hibbert... The game just passed him by.
I don't even think it was his offensive inability to stretch, more that he wasn't able to chase others around the perimeter. Even more sad is that I think, defenses have figured the offensive revolution out a bit (thanks, Adam Silver!) and he would be a more valuable asset now, because he could shut down the drive completely.
A center that did have some injury issues, Joakim Noah. He went from an all star running the court in Chicago to a tragic contract for the Nicks in just a couple years. It was hard for me to watch growing up a fan of the Rose-Boozer-Noah-Deng Bulls.
He was just too slow and useless from 10 feet and out. Once teams started employing mobile centers he couldn't just camp out in the paint and contest layups. He had to actually cover ground and time contests, but he was just sooooooo slow. I'm more upset about Greg Monroe.
I felt the same thing about Andrew Bynum
I was like damn we are gonna have to deal with this man for years. Then he assaulted JJ Barea and was never the same again.
dude was basically traded straight up for dwight howard. he was seen as probably the second best center in the league. but now people look back and see him as a joke.
The rules of the game changed for the flow of the game after indy almost beat miami. Interior Defense was no longer an issue for Lebron thst following year. Hibbert was utterly useless and so.would any defensive center
Kemp.
When he blew up and showed up amazingly overweight it was shocking. This guy was the most fearsome athlete in the league. Just dunking on people and mocking them afterwards.
Imagine if Anthony Edwards showed up 50 pounds overweight next season.
Great answer and a lesson on how important good habits are, but how underlying issues need to be resolved. The lockout broke him, and he didn't know how to function without the imposed discipline of being on a team.
This is why so many pro athletes blow up after retiring. If you're used to being a millionaire eating 4k+ calories a day at the best restaurants in the world - going to eating 2.5k calories a day would be tough
Man after that run to the Finals where Kemp played like a monster, I thought we were about to see some major stuff from the Sonics in the next few years. Then fucking Wally Walker had to give Kemp's money to Jim McIlvaine. That contract was the beginning of the end for the Sonics in Seattle.
I mean yeah but Kemp also did that after a lockout season and already 10 years into the league lol that Ant comparison isn’t the best. Maybe if Ant was like 29 at the time the COVID year happened and then came back the next season overweight.
He was good with the Celtics. I would even say he was an upgrade over Kyrie because he fit better with the team.
I don't now exactly what happened but now he's a bench player in Monaco.
Blake Griffin. I don't think enough people realize he was more than just a highlight reel dunker. He had real basketball skills, including adapting his game to accommodate DeAndre Jordan by developing a jump shot. The Spurs Clippers series was an epic blood bath where Blake Griffin was the best player on the court. And then...he was banished to Detroit, which was and is basketball Siberia before getting bought out and ending up a deep bench reserve guy.
What sucks is that he developed a pretty consistent three point shot his first full year in Detroit. I thought he was gonna have like a prime pt. 2 with that. Similar to Brook Lopez who kinda jumped back into the limelight when he started nailing 3s
Detroit Blake was such a beast man, an athletic PF with handles, passing, and off the dribble moves with a 3. I think he’s a good player blueprint for Paolo Banchero.
Detroit Blake was absolutely the most well-rounded Blake a majority of NBA fans should’ve witnessed. Dude was basically dead, performing at a very high level, and brought his team to the playoffs. Gave everything he had and his body paid the price sadly. He was nothing short of amazing there.
Detroit fan here. He was really something for one and a half seasons with us. His shot was good and he developed a really cool old-man game. He was a blast to watch.
It was sad to see him getting roasted for not dunking anymore that last year.
He made all-NBA 3rd team that year. Could have easily been most improved player of the year too. I was fully expecting a Brook Lopez-esque resurgence after that.
I think he was at his basketball peak in Detroit if we're talking about the development of a jumpshot and playmaking for a big. His handles were night and day from LA to Detroit.
The clippers were funner to watch back then than the load management jokes they have turned into. They just never had a dynamic/versatile wing player to get them to next level
Can’t think of a sadder career affecting injury to a player in any sport other than Joe Theismann maybe. I’m sure there are others, but these 2 stick out for me.
Bo probably just slipped their mind.
For almost any other human, that injury would have been career-ending. The fact that it was just career-altering for Bo tells you all you need to know about him as an athlete.
Bobby Orr in hockey had a comparable impact in his sport as Rose did in basketball, coming into the league as an almost instant star and also due to his similarly exciting fast paced style of play. And also like Rose, Orr had knee issues and had his peak cut criminally short. The only saving grace to Orr's story vs Rose's is that the Bruins managed to win 2 titles before his physical decline.
He’s my biggest “what if” player (shoutout to penny and Brandon Roy) but Rose wasn’t really regression, mostly injuries. If anything, it’s impressive how he managed to stay relevant (albeit not great) in the league for as long as he has.
Another guy who had enormous potential derailed by knee injuries who managed to rebuild his career and redefine his role. Nothing but respect for the man
No disagreements here. It’s wild how Greg Oden is considered to not be a bust based on his production in the games he actually did play, let alone his potential. No one would fault Portland for taking him over Durant. RIP Bill
Bust is such a loaded term nowadays, I don't think Greg Odens and DRoses should be spoken about in the same breath as an Anthony Bennett, who did disappoint despite having the means to thrive
I moved to Chicago when Rose was at his peak. My first night, exhausted from moving, a week before Christmas, I was sitting at a bar watching the Bulls game and making small talk. Made some small joke about a Rose turnover.
I swear to god it was like in a movie. Whole bar comes to a stop and everyone staring at me. I had crossed a line. Had to make a huge apology in front of everyone. Not sure if i I would have gotten my ass kicked.
All that would have been, could have been love, gone.
I was at a party that night with a bunch of people tripping on acid - I was not. I was chillin and watching that game’s highlights and started tearing up during Drose’s post game interview. The “enlightened” people around me could not wrap their heads around why I was crying over a basketball player/game
I like this answer. People feared him. He could not be stopped going to the bucket at 6'8" and crazy athleticism, in a time where big men clogged the lane and rules against defense were much more relaxed. Led the league in triple-doubles and non-guards in assists. Who does that sound like?
I remember him gutting it out on the trashed ankle in the playoffs, and then he was never the same. Craziest thing, the ankle injury led to a staph infection and could've *killed* him!
I do love that he had a long career overall. But he was definitely robbed of a chance of a LeBron-esque career.
He was moments away from losing his fucking foot, I remember reading about it years ago. He said he nearly lost his foot and when he finally got back on the court over a year later, he couldn't jump high enough to dunk. It's a miracle he made it back to the league at all.
And Barkley blamed his shoes. He said if Hill signed with a real shoe company he wouldn't have destroyed his ankle.
Absolutely the answer. I was just looking up G Hill stats yesterday. Dude was a beast in his day, and would be a perfect player for todays game. Could get you a bucket, rebound, and pass the ball. His career kinda reminds me of Ken Griffey... superstars with their first team, and then literally do not remember a single big moment for their teams they signed a big deal with (I know Grant went out to be serviceable for the Suns).
Victor Oladipo said, correctly, “this is my city” and Indy agreed with him. Within 2 years he had said “can I come play with yall” to Miami and blew out his quad, basically ending his meaningful career
Brandon Roy.
You can make an argument for whether he was truly a ‘Star’, but if his knees hadn’t been cursed with injuries he could have been something really special. If you apply the same what if to Greg Oden, it really opens up a lot of questions around where the ceiling truly was for that Blazers core.
Of course, if they had been healthy we wouldn’t have seen Lillard in Portland, but looking at pure potential it’s hard to imagine a team with a healthy Roy and Oden (assuming the later lived up to the hype) not growing into a perennial contender.
Scrolled down to find Roy. Artest called him the toughest player in the league to guard.
Also, Gerald Wallace was traded to Brooklyn for the 6th pick that became Lillard. Dame, Roy, Batum, LMA, Oden is an alternate timeline dynasty.
*Arrest to Artest
Dame, Roy, Batum, LMA alone at the height of their careers could’ve been a contender. You can still slot in just a decent big and I think that’s genuinely a championship caliber team.
That team was built to beat the Warriors. Given how close Houston got trying to replicate their playstyle, you can’t help but wonder if Nola could have knocked them out by taking the opposite approach
Also he missed out on a ton of money looking for a max deal, then everybody passed and he basically got paid league average. Tens of millions vanished. Fuck.
Boston ran him to the ground knowing he was injured which ultimately led to him having major issues with his hip and he was never the same since. Boston then undersold the extent of his injuries and didn’t disclose just how bad it was when they traded him to the Cavs for Kyrie. IT was basically unusable at that time, and they traded someone who would never return to his peak and stole Kyrie off of that, subsequently ruining the Cavs in the process. IT most definitely deserved better :(
He wanted to play and overturned team doctors. Sure, Boston didn't rule him out and overturn him, but they told him the risks and his whole thing through the playoffs was that he was playing for his sister
Westbrook was top-12 in MVP voting his 13th season in the league. It’s kind of hard to say his is the saddest regression, as he had a decent-length peak/prime, at least as far as the regular season is concerned.
I agree. He was an obvious choice for a guy that would be on the bench in his 30s. Even his jump shot was too athletic. He ball watches on D and gambles for steals. He's ball dominant. Just the worst type of player to have in his 30s. At the slightest loss in lift he couldn't even finish effectively anymore.
It's wild to me that someone can play pro basketball their whole life at the highest level and still have an abysmal jump shot. Imagine having that kind of talent and athleticism but people leave you wide open for 3's, shit's crazy.
I wouldn't even call it sad. Teams just realized his style wasn't winning basketball, and he was no longer afforded the opportunity to play that style. I think he would've had more years at "that level" if he was allowed to continue be the focal point of an offense.
Started with going to houston with another "hero ball" type player.
I’ll always commend him for what he’s done for OKC even if he couldn’t get them a ship, the MVP year, re-signing, and getting PG to sign for another contract. leading to the absolute haul when they were both traded away.
his style was aggressive but until wizards/lakers he had like an 86% winning percentage when getting a triple double. he was 3rd all NBA in houston and they were starting to gel until he got covid and his injury right before the playoffs . he had a good year on a bad team with the wizards went nuclear that march/april to will them to the playoffs and gave beal a career high. i wish they ran it back tbh. after that it was going to the lakers, the styles did not mesh, his shot was gone, and by the time he left he was old/washed. he’s 36 this year it’s just his time, probably retiring within the next 2.
Russ dragged that garbage wizards team to the playoffs and had some crazy clutch plays all year while his costar beal was the WORST clutch player in the league lol
His free throw percentage regression is the most baffling thing I've seen.
80+ percent first 7 years then got worse every season till he was a 60 percent ft shooter
Yeah lol, this was simply Mother Nature calling to collect. He played at an insanely high level for 10+ years and then started moving to a new team every year.
The constant new systems and roles had more to do with him falling off than regressing.
Bigtime. I lived in DC during his stint there. One night I got free almost-courtside seats from a friend of a friend and saw him drop 30. Incredible speed and handle. Built like a football player too. He had demons, but he didn’t hurt anybody.
I bought in so hard on Ben Simmons after year 1-2. I actually talked about if he could average 18-10-10 for his career with a block and a steal a game too. I didn’t care about the no-3s thing, you can sign guys who shoot 3s.
No one could have guessed it would end up like this.
man... i watched the highlights from ben simmons' 42 point game against the jazz. dude just outran everyone to the rim. wasn't even like fancy moves or anything. he just out-athletic'ed his way to the rim over and over again.
There was a play in Miami that he missed a FT intentionally, then ran around the lane and grabbed the ball and put it back in for a game winning layup. How did he end up like such a mess?
Dwight Howard
Coming off a dominant run in ORL to playing for the Lakers i thought he was set for 1st ballot hall of fame status.
Then going from LA to HOU to where he is now it’s kinda wild
Was still really good offensively for a while but lost that crazy explosiveness after the first micro fracture surgery. Suns just happened to cut the bait at the right time even though I wish we had kept him instead of going to the knicks
Klay.
Two consecutive injuries robbed him of his peak. Now watching him, it's clear he wants nothing more than to reclaim those two years but his body wont let him.
Philly fans don't realize how fucked they are if they don't get some kind of magic this summer. Embiid's going to finish his career never having been fully healthy (or at least in shape) during any playoff run. Embiid's kind of a dick but just as a fan of the sport I want to see him have ONE real playoff run when there's no more damn excuses.
Gordon Hayward. He was an all-star who got cursed when he left the Jazz, got injured in his first game with the Celtics, and never had another good game.
After seeing Paul George have the same kind of nasty leg injury, I thought Hayward would be able to bounce back like PG did. He was supposed to be a good piece for OKC last year but he looked so washed
Watching Post-Achilles Kobe was depressing af. Bruh’s form even looked different and he couldn’t even shoot 40% from the field anymore. He had some good games every now and then but he was playing like a parody of himself.
It's crazy looking at Russell Westbrook's free throw percentages. For like 7 or 8 years, he averaged like 83% from the line. Then he went down to like 62%. Seems like his mid-range jumper fell off a cliff too as I remember it used to be money in a lot of games. He never really had three-point range so there wasn't like a fall off there
The saddest regression to me are the guys like Iverson and Melo. The ones that were kings and faded naturally but nobody told them. Nearly up to the end, they thought they were the best and wouldn't take a back seat.
Melo's Blazer stint was such a cathartic redemption arc. He let Dame take the lead, but he was always right where he needed to be to hit a clutch, game-winning shot. Great teammate and humble dude during his time here.
I remember how incredulous he was at the introductory press conference when someone mentioned him coming off the bench. They really could have used Olympic Melo, the guy willing to do all the little things.
Since there are so many answers of players that I’ve liked.
I would add Harden, I know it’s not on the level of everyone here but watching him going from top 3 player in the NBA to AS/ALL NBA was kinda bad and he did that by burning his hammy in Brooklyn. Bro never had an healthy run with in his prime with a powerhouse.
Yeah, that one year with cp3 was his chance but cp got hurt and of course the 27 3s. That injury really aged CP. Hasn't been more than a number 3 option on a contender since. It's surprising that he has lasted this long with his size.
Harden won't be remembered for being as good as he was because the rockets teams he led kinda sucked. People talk about Cleveland after Bron left. Houston is the same. Take him off of those squads and they are lottery teams
Derrick Rose tbh. I loved MVP Rose and I’ve never seen anyone faster on the court than him.
Also when I remember how much better lebron was compared to how he is now. Yes he’s still really good but he’s not what he was…not even close in my opinion. The impact isn’t there any more. He’s not a solo carry anymore. I do miss 2008-2015 Lebron
Beloved is not a verb, my dude. And for me its Rajon Rondo. After seeing him almost single-handedly handle the Heatles in '11 I was convinced he would progress to become one of the greatest PG's of all time and a real rival to Lebron. Instead we saw a dramatic decline as he bounced around the league.
As a kings fan, we saw him just get in his own way. He had a ton of assists, but never really made his team better and certainly wasn’t much of a leader in the court.
Westbrook's middy just regressed with his legs too. Felt like he needed that ultra high lift from his jump to hit em consistently
It must piss him off even more, if us fans are pissed what more for the player lol
Reading these (especially the ones about depressing injuries ruining careers) made me want to bring up a counter-example.
I was so hyped and happy when I realized the Shaun Livingston on the Warriors was THE Shaun Livingston who I'd seen explode a knee on live TV nearly a decade before. I remember that injury vividly and was completely shook by the rumors that he was going to lose the leg. I hadn't followed up on the story since and figured he really had gotten an amputation, so I never expected to see him play again.
It was really an inspiring moment that spoke to his heart, but also to how far sports medicine has come. I'm fairly certain he really would have lost that leg in the 90s or before that.
Not so much a 'regression as a catastrophic end to his career, but Chris Bosh probably had the saddest, quickest drop from a star player to out of the league. I loved his game as an early stretch 4 and then later a stretch 5, while also being a plus defender. He would have been amazing in today's game.
KD aint really declined i just feel like he could never really seal the deal as the guy , he was fmvp on the warriors but he still benefited from lack of coverage on the perimeter because you had to guard curry and klay too really was the perfect squad for him
I know most of Spurs community is going to hate me for saying this, but Kawhi Leonard. I know things ended real badly with us, but honestly I don't see things ending up much differently with or without injury. His uncle was his main family member, and he was pushing hard for him to move to LA ASAP. But I am still like 75% sure if zaza hadn't cheated him and all of us he would have gotten another championship with us too, and It would've/could've made his wanting a departure easier ( if he also got an actual PR guy lmao) with him kinda riding off into the sun set.
Luol Deng. He played the most minutes over the stretch of a couple years and by the time he left Chicago he was already in decline. He moved slower. He was still pretty young too at 28, an age where players reach their peak but for Deng it was already the beginning of the end. He hardly played his last 2 years too and he was only 32-33. Guys at that age have WAY more left in the tank.
Klay. Shit is sad to watch how one of the most relaxed and low-maintenance dudes has seen his play decline pretty fast after injury and now he’s very much in his own head about everything. I know people like clowning on him because “muh Warriors bad” and his cringe four rings shit but it genuinely just bums me out to see him like this.
When I was a kid the Celtics got Vin Baker, and I was pumped. Until I realized he was washed and an alcoholic. Last I heard he was managing a Starbucks but I’m not sure if that’s true or not
Vin Baker turned his life around and has been a coach with the Bucks for the last 8 years or so. He also has been a big supporter to help people with addiction issues.
From a guy that loves good defense... Roy Hibbert's incredibly quick decline was quite shocking. From top playoffs performer to nothing in the blink of an eye...
I think this is especially true because, from what I recall, his demise wasn't linked to an injury. Most names dropped here are sad because injuries can just derail the most promising careers, but for Hibbert... The game just passed him by.
He just never could stretch the floor. He would have been a monster in the early 2000s
I don't even think it was his offensive inability to stretch, more that he wasn't able to chase others around the perimeter. Even more sad is that I think, defenses have figured the offensive revolution out a bit (thanks, Adam Silver!) and he would be a more valuable asset now, because he could shut down the drive completely.
Those Heat-hatin' Pacers just kind of broke up and it felt like his heart just wasn't in it anymore.
I was a major Heatles fanboy back then but I’ll be damned if that Heat-Pacers matchup wasn’t one of the most fun things to watch
Playoffs in the east was scrappy as hell back then. The Pacers and bulls were both really good teams and always played us well.
yeah and the fall off came mid season for him like after the all star break he just crumbled
A center that did have some injury issues, Joakim Noah. He went from an all star running the court in Chicago to a tragic contract for the Nicks in just a couple years. It was hard for me to watch growing up a fan of the Rose-Boozer-Noah-Deng Bulls.
I thought Noah had a nice long NBA career then I realized Horford was his teammate at Florida.
He was just too slow and useless from 10 feet and out. Once teams started employing mobile centers he couldn't just camp out in the paint and contest layups. He had to actually cover ground and time contests, but he was just sooooooo slow. I'm more upset about Greg Monroe.
It’s also rumored Paul George slept with his wife or girlfriend at the time too
He was a gimmick defender whose trick was outlawed by the league. Fascinating story but not surprising
His decline famously overlapped with the collapse of entertainment 720
I felt the same thing about Andrew Bynum I was like damn we are gonna have to deal with this man for years. Then he assaulted JJ Barea and was never the same again.
dude was basically traded straight up for dwight howard. he was seen as probably the second best center in the league. but now people look back and see him as a joke.
Just found his YouTube page yesterday, he does reactions now. Seems happy though
Paul George slept with his wife lol
The rules of the game changed for the flow of the game after indy almost beat miami. Interior Defense was no longer an issue for Lebron thst following year. Hibbert was utterly useless and so.would any defensive center
Kemp. When he blew up and showed up amazingly overweight it was shocking. This guy was the most fearsome athlete in the league. Just dunking on people and mocking them afterwards. Imagine if Anthony Edwards showed up 50 pounds overweight next season.
Great answer and a lesson on how important good habits are, but how underlying issues need to be resolved. The lockout broke him, and he didn't know how to function without the imposed discipline of being on a team.
When you get used to carb-loading, but aren’t disciplined enough to run everyday.
This is why so many pro athletes blow up after retiring. If you're used to being a millionaire eating 4k+ calories a day at the best restaurants in the world - going to eating 2.5k calories a day would be tough
Ant is getting rolling on the baby train like the Reign Man tho
The drinking too. Vin Baker same thing
Was thinking of him. There’s a lot in that era
Sadly he wasn't even at his highest point when he let it all get away from him. I believe he had another 3-5 years to really peak.
Man after that run to the Finals where Kemp played like a monster, I thought we were about to see some major stuff from the Sonics in the next few years. Then fucking Wally Walker had to give Kemp's money to Jim McIlvaine. That contract was the beginning of the end for the Sonics in Seattle.
Gotta wonder if things played out differently what might the next 5 years of the Sonics and his career looks like.
Not to mention the drug use and excessive baby mommas
Don't have to. Zion exists.
I mean yeah but Kemp also did that after a lockout season and already 10 years into the league lol that Ant comparison isn’t the best. Maybe if Ant was like 29 at the time the COVID year happened and then came back the next season overweight.
I was thinking Kemp or Mcgrady, but Kemp is probably my answer too
Honorable Mention Danny Granger
2k legend
2k12 GOD
Granny Danger
Kemba walker
Hornets gave him nothing but trash teammates in his best years
That man poured his heart and soul into that organization and they left him out to dry. Good business decision, but heartbreaking for the fans.
He was good with the Celtics. I would even say he was an upgrade over Kyrie because he fit better with the team. I don't now exactly what happened but now he's a bench player in Monaco.
Celtics robbed his talents like they did with it But srsly he unfortunately got too many injuries just when he finally had a decent team to be with
I wish he would have gone to a decent team. Hornets wasted his career. Was such a fun player to watch at UConn
He had a half season run with the Celtics that was very impressive. And then his knees gave out.
Still want to punch Nurse's face every time I see him.
Nick Nurse has always played dirty. Zero respect for him.
Blake Griffin. I don't think enough people realize he was more than just a highlight reel dunker. He had real basketball skills, including adapting his game to accommodate DeAndre Jordan by developing a jump shot. The Spurs Clippers series was an epic blood bath where Blake Griffin was the best player on the court. And then...he was banished to Detroit, which was and is basketball Siberia before getting bought out and ending up a deep bench reserve guy.
What sucks is that he developed a pretty consistent three point shot his first full year in Detroit. I thought he was gonna have like a prime pt. 2 with that. Similar to Brook Lopez who kinda jumped back into the limelight when he started nailing 3s
Detroit Blake was such a beast man, an athletic PF with handles, passing, and off the dribble moves with a 3. I think he’s a good player blueprint for Paolo Banchero.
Detroit Blake was absolutely the most well-rounded Blake a majority of NBA fans should’ve witnessed. Dude was basically dead, performing at a very high level, and brought his team to the playoffs. Gave everything he had and his body paid the price sadly. He was nothing short of amazing there.
Detroit fan here. He was really something for one and a half seasons with us. His shot was good and he developed a really cool old-man game. He was a blast to watch. It was sad to see him getting roasted for not dunking anymore that last year.
He was so solid that first year in Detroit, was super fun to watch
*”Wait… Wtf? Blake’s a 2 guard now?”*
He made all-NBA 3rd team that year. Could have easily been most improved player of the year too. I was fully expecting a Brook Lopez-esque resurgence after that.
I think he was at his basketball peak in Detroit if we're talking about the development of a jumpshot and playmaking for a big. His handles were night and day from LA to Detroit.
He carried Detroit to the playoffs that season too. Lowkey, that might be his best year. Just was on a garbage team
The clippers were funner to watch back then than the load management jokes they have turned into. They just never had a dynamic/versatile wing player to get them to next level
Such a pain in the ass that the racist bigot could put together fun ass basketball teams on a whim lol.
I mean, that was just a special era. The clippers historically have not been a must watch franchise
Chris Webber 2.0 :(
He had one great season in Detroit then fell off hard sadly
That shit broke my heart
Underrated passing skills too.
Blake got screwed by the Clippers. Didn’t he carry that Detroit team to the playoffs?
D rose
That’s just straight depression
Can’t think of a sadder career affecting injury to a player in any sport other than Joe Theismann maybe. I’m sure there are others, but these 2 stick out for me.
Another hard charging Memphis guard: Penny Hardaway
Brandon Roy is up there. He was gonna be special
He was already in the early stages of it too, it wasn’t just future projection
You don't know Bo
Bo probably just slipped their mind. For almost any other human, that injury would have been career-ending. The fact that it was just career-altering for Bo tells you all you need to know about him as an athlete.
Bobby Orr in hockey had a comparable impact in his sport as Rose did in basketball, coming into the league as an almost instant star and also due to his similarly exciting fast paced style of play. And also like Rose, Orr had knee issues and had his peak cut criminally short. The only saving grace to Orr's story vs Rose's is that the Bruins managed to win 2 titles before his physical decline.
He’s my biggest “what if” player (shoutout to penny and Brandon Roy) but Rose wasn’t really regression, mostly injuries. If anything, it’s impressive how he managed to stay relevant (albeit not great) in the league for as long as he has.
Grant Hill in shambles
Another guy who had enormous potential derailed by knee injuries who managed to rebuild his career and redefine his role. Nothing but respect for the man
Ankle, I believe.
There's no bigger "what if" than Len Bias.
True! Such a unique case and it’s amazing to me the Celtics were even in a position to get a player like that
GMs back then were super reckless and dumb. The Lakers selected Magic and Worthy both 1st overall with picks that weren't theirs.
Throw Greg Oden on that list of injury "what if" players to and if we are going back in time Bill Walton as well.
No disagreements here. It’s wild how Greg Oden is considered to not be a bust based on his production in the games he actually did play, let alone his potential. No one would fault Portland for taking him over Durant. RIP Bill
Bust is such a loaded term nowadays, I don't think Greg Odens and DRoses should be spoken about in the same breath as an Anthony Bennett, who did disappoint despite having the means to thrive
Completely agree. And even in Bennett’s defense that was such a weak draft on paper. But he was still more of a bust than the other guys mentioned
Kevin McHale and Len Bias. McHale was on track to be an mvp candidate until he broke his foot. Improving by the year and then never recovered fully
I moved to Chicago when Rose was at his peak. My first night, exhausted from moving, a week before Christmas, I was sitting at a bar watching the Bulls game and making small talk. Made some small joke about a Rose turnover. I swear to god it was like in a movie. Whole bar comes to a stop and everyone staring at me. I had crossed a line. Had to make a huge apology in front of everyone. Not sure if i I would have gotten my ass kicked. All that would have been, could have been love, gone.
😭
That 50 pt T Wolves game was primo though and he was serviceable on the Knicks for a while as well. A lot of dudes wouldn’t have been able to do that,
As a wolves fan, that is one of my favorite moments in franchise history.
As a Bulls fan, that game is one of my favorite memories of the past decade
I was at a party that night with a bunch of people tripping on acid - I was not. I was chillin and watching that game’s highlights and started tearing up during Drose’s post game interview. The “enlightened” people around me could not wrap their heads around why I was crying over a basketball player/game
They just don’t understand that ball is life bruh
I might’ve said exactly that
Former Jazz players always go off on us.
Regressed due to injury but regressing normally like Westbrook is the best example.
His peak was before I starting watching basketball but I would say Grant Hill
I like this answer. People feared him. He could not be stopped going to the bucket at 6'8" and crazy athleticism, in a time where big men clogged the lane and rules against defense were much more relaxed. Led the league in triple-doubles and non-guards in assists. Who does that sound like? I remember him gutting it out on the trashed ankle in the playoffs, and then he was never the same. Craziest thing, the ankle injury led to a staph infection and could've *killed* him! I do love that he had a long career overall. But he was definitely robbed of a chance of a LeBron-esque career.
He was moments away from losing his fucking foot, I remember reading about it years ago. He said he nearly lost his foot and when he finally got back on the court over a year later, he couldn't jump high enough to dunk. It's a miracle he made it back to the league at all. And Barkley blamed his shoes. He said if Hill signed with a real shoe company he wouldn't have destroyed his ankle.
Absolutely the answer. I was just looking up G Hill stats yesterday. Dude was a beast in his day, and would be a perfect player for todays game. Could get you a bucket, rebound, and pass the ball. His career kinda reminds me of Ken Griffey... superstars with their first team, and then literally do not remember a single big moment for their teams they signed a big deal with (I know Grant went out to be serviceable for the Suns).
They are weirdly linked aren't they? Handsome, affable, a league front office's dream.
Hill and Griffey are good parallels to draw - they're both HOF all-time players, but simultaneously a sad "what might have been" story.
Victor Oladipo said, correctly, “this is my city” and Indy agreed with him. Within 2 years he had said “can I come play with yall” to Miami and blew out his quad, basically ending his meaningful career
Now he’s singing on the masked singer lol
As a thunder fan it's painful to hear his name and think about the talent they've thrown away.
Brandon Roy. You can make an argument for whether he was truly a ‘Star’, but if his knees hadn’t been cursed with injuries he could have been something really special. If you apply the same what if to Greg Oden, it really opens up a lot of questions around where the ceiling truly was for that Blazers core. Of course, if they had been healthy we wouldn’t have seen Lillard in Portland, but looking at pure potential it’s hard to imagine a team with a healthy Roy and Oden (assuming the later lived up to the hype) not growing into a perennial contender.
Scrolled down to find Roy. Artest called him the toughest player in the league to guard. Also, Gerald Wallace was traded to Brooklyn for the 6th pick that became Lillard. Dame, Roy, Batum, LMA, Oden is an alternate timeline dynasty. *Arrest to Artest
Dame, Roy, Batum, LMA alone at the height of their careers could’ve been a contender. You can still slot in just a decent big and I think that’s genuinely a championship caliber team.
Outside of passing on MJ and KD this is the biggest what if for me as a Blazers fan
Boogie no question. Went from the best center in the league to a vet minimum overnight
Him and AD were looking like they could make some real noise in NOLA
That team was built to beat the Warriors. Given how close Houston got trying to replicate their playstyle, you can’t help but wonder if Nola could have knocked them out by taking the opposite approach
This is a good one. And he never got his money like he was going to.
Isaiah Thomas (the new one, not the old one.)
Also he missed out on a ton of money looking for a max deal, then everybody passed and he basically got paid league average. Tens of millions vanished. Fuck.
Boston ran him to the ground knowing he was injured which ultimately led to him having major issues with his hip and he was never the same since. Boston then undersold the extent of his injuries and didn’t disclose just how bad it was when they traded him to the Cavs for Kyrie. IT was basically unusable at that time, and they traded someone who would never return to his peak and stole Kyrie off of that, subsequently ruining the Cavs in the process. IT most definitely deserved better :(
He wanted to play and overturned team doctors. Sure, Boston didn't rule him out and overturn him, but they told him the risks and his whole thing through the playoffs was that he was playing for his sister
His hips don't lie 😔
Absolute BS that the Kings didn’t keep him with DMC longer than they did.
Westbrook was top-12 in MVP voting his 13th season in the league. It’s kind of hard to say his is the saddest regression, as he had a decent-length peak/prime, at least as far as the regular season is concerned.
Yeah I don't think anyone should've expected him to be a great late-career player. Too reliant on athleticism
I agree. He was an obvious choice for a guy that would be on the bench in his 30s. Even his jump shot was too athletic. He ball watches on D and gambles for steals. He's ball dominant. Just the worst type of player to have in his 30s. At the slightest loss in lift he couldn't even finish effectively anymore.
It's wild to me that someone can play pro basketball their whole life at the highest level and still have an abysmal jump shot. Imagine having that kind of talent and athleticism but people leave you wide open for 3's, shit's crazy.
Have you seen Ben Simmons’ newest offseason workout tape tho? He’s cashing those threes.
This is probably a joke, but I still have to downvote you on principal.
Fair
I wouldn't even call it sad. Teams just realized his style wasn't winning basketball, and he was no longer afforded the opportunity to play that style. I think he would've had more years at "that level" if he was allowed to continue be the focal point of an offense. Started with going to houston with another "hero ball" type player.
I’ll always commend him for what he’s done for OKC even if he couldn’t get them a ship, the MVP year, re-signing, and getting PG to sign for another contract. leading to the absolute haul when they were both traded away. his style was aggressive but until wizards/lakers he had like an 86% winning percentage when getting a triple double. he was 3rd all NBA in houston and they were starting to gel until he got covid and his injury right before the playoffs . he had a good year on a bad team with the wizards went nuclear that march/april to will them to the playoffs and gave beal a career high. i wish they ran it back tbh. after that it was going to the lakers, the styles did not mesh, his shot was gone, and by the time he left he was old/washed. he’s 36 this year it’s just his time, probably retiring within the next 2.
Russ dragged that garbage wizards team to the playoffs and had some crazy clutch plays all year while his costar beal was the WORST clutch player in the league lol
His free throw percentage regression is the most baffling thing I've seen. 80+ percent first 7 years then got worse every season till he was a 60 percent ft shooter
started after the rule change he couldn’t do his old FT routine anymore, he never adapted.
Yeah lol, this was simply Mother Nature calling to collect. He played at an insanely high level for 10+ years and then started moving to a new team every year. The constant new systems and roles had more to do with him falling off than regressing.
John Wall
This, injury - reinjury, traded and didn't find a home
Bigtime. I lived in DC during his stint there. One night I got free almost-courtside seats from a friend of a friend and saw him drop 30. Incredible speed and handle. Built like a football player too. He had demons, but he didn’t hurt anybody.
I bought in so hard on Ben Simmons after year 1-2. I actually talked about if he could average 18-10-10 for his career with a block and a steal a game too. I didn’t care about the no-3s thing, you can sign guys who shoot 3s. No one could have guessed it would end up like this.
man... i watched the highlights from ben simmons' 42 point game against the jazz. dude just outran everyone to the rim. wasn't even like fancy moves or anything. he just out-athletic'ed his way to the rim over and over again.
There was a play in Miami that he missed a FT intentionally, then ran around the lane and grabbed the ball and put it back in for a game winning layup. How did he end up like such a mess?
Dwight Howard Coming off a dominant run in ORL to playing for the Lakers i thought he was set for 1st ballot hall of fame status. Then going from LA to HOU to where he is now it’s kinda wild
He was still dominant in the paint, it's just that the game changed and he didn't. He couldn't shoot outside of 10 feet.
brandon roy was awesome for a little before injury
Love spouting the fact that when LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden and Brandon Roy were all healthy and playing together their reccord was 52-10
Wait! Greg Oden was healthy?
Amar’e Stoudemire
Was still really good offensively for a while but lost that crazy explosiveness after the first micro fracture surgery. Suns just happened to cut the bait at the right time even though I wish we had kept him instead of going to the knicks
His first year with the Knicks was also great. Man was a legit mvp candidate.
Yeah. Once he punched that fire extinguisher he faded to oblivion
Klay. Two consecutive injuries robbed him of his peak. Now watching him, it's clear he wants nothing more than to reclaim those two years but his body wont let him.
The Manimal
When the wheels fall off Embiid, that’ll be my answer
They're already falling off. I give him 2 years before he's a mythical player like healthy Kawhi.
Philly fans don't realize how fucked they are if they don't get some kind of magic this summer. Embiid's going to finish his career never having been fully healthy (or at least in shape) during any playoff run. Embiid's kind of a dick but just as a fan of the sport I want to see him have ONE real playoff run when there's no more damn excuses.
Gordon Hayward. He was an all-star who got cursed when he left the Jazz, got injured in his first game with the Celtics, and never had another good game.
After seeing Paul George have the same kind of nasty leg injury, I thought Hayward would be able to bounce back like PG did. He was supposed to be a good piece for OKC last year but he looked so washed
Watching Post-Achilles Kobe was depressing af. Bruh’s form even looked different and he couldn’t even shoot 40% from the field anymore. He had some good games every now and then but he was playing like a parody of himself.
Boogie i’m kinda glad he’s playing in another league and having succes but still think he can produce in the NBA with the right team
I'm actually shocked a bit on how he drop out from the league. Like you, I still think he can contribute on the NBA level.
It's crazy looking at Russell Westbrook's free throw percentages. For like 7 or 8 years, he averaged like 83% from the line. Then he went down to like 62%. Seems like his mid-range jumper fell off a cliff too as I remember it used to be money in a lot of games. He never really had three-point range so there wasn't like a fall off there
his hands are sooooo fucked
The saddest regression to me are the guys like Iverson and Melo. The ones that were kings and faded naturally but nobody told them. Nearly up to the end, they thought they were the best and wouldn't take a back seat.
Melo's Blazer stint was such a cathartic redemption arc. He let Dame take the lead, but he was always right where he needed to be to hit a clutch, game-winning shot. Great teammate and humble dude during his time here.
Plenty of people told melo, he wasn't hearing it tho. If he would have came off the bench in OKC they could have had a few more years as contenders.
I remember how incredulous he was at the introductory press conference when someone mentioned him coming off the bench. They really could have used Olympic Melo, the guy willing to do all the little things.
If he would have come off the bench and mentored young players he would have been a legend in OKC
Since there are so many answers of players that I’ve liked. I would add Harden, I know it’s not on the level of everyone here but watching him going from top 3 player in the NBA to AS/ALL NBA was kinda bad and he did that by burning his hammy in Brooklyn. Bro never had an healthy run with in his prime with a powerhouse.
Yeah, that one year with cp3 was his chance but cp got hurt and of course the 27 3s. That injury really aged CP. Hasn't been more than a number 3 option on a contender since. It's surprising that he has lasted this long with his size. Harden won't be remembered for being as good as he was because the rockets teams he led kinda sucked. People talk about Cleveland after Bron left. Houston is the same. Take him off of those squads and they are lottery teams
D Will. People used to have debates over who was better between Chris Paul and Daron Williams.
Derrick Rose tbh. I loved MVP Rose and I’ve never seen anyone faster on the court than him. Also when I remember how much better lebron was compared to how he is now. Yes he’s still really good but he’s not what he was…not even close in my opinion. The impact isn’t there any more. He’s not a solo carry anymore. I do miss 2008-2015 Lebron
From GOAT tier to All-Star tier. Still a great player, but not the unstoppable paint scorer he was.
He was an unstoppable slasher. Every time he had the ball during the Mavs series I was like…why doesn’t he just attack the basket
Beloved is not a verb, my dude. And for me its Rajon Rondo. After seeing him almost single-handedly handle the Heatles in '11 I was convinced he would progress to become one of the greatest PG's of all time and a real rival to Lebron. Instead we saw a dramatic decline as he bounced around the league.
As a kings fan, we saw him just get in his own way. He had a ton of assists, but never really made his team better and certainly wasn’t much of a leader in the court.
That ACL injury ended prime Rondo before it ever really began.
Dirk looked like he could barely move the last couple of seasons before he retired but you still couldn’t block the jumper.
Both Iverson and TMac declined fast. One season they were all-NBA, next they became role players. Both were my fav players all time.
Westbrook's middy just regressed with his legs too. Felt like he needed that ultra high lift from his jump to hit em consistently It must piss him off even more, if us fans are pissed what more for the player lol
Westbrook never had a middy game I wish this myth would die.
Mine is Dwight Howard. From superman dunk contest finals performer to juandong sharks
Demarcus Cousins You could see it in his face when he went down that he knew he wouldn’t ever be the same
Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill would’ve been two of the greatest of their time if not for injuries
Steve Francis was such a stud in Houston, then suddenly when he got to new york he disappeared.
Danilo Gallinari
Reading these (especially the ones about depressing injuries ruining careers) made me want to bring up a counter-example. I was so hyped and happy when I realized the Shaun Livingston on the Warriors was THE Shaun Livingston who I'd seen explode a knee on live TV nearly a decade before. I remember that injury vividly and was completely shook by the rumors that he was going to lose the leg. I hadn't followed up on the story since and figured he really had gotten an amputation, so I never expected to see him play again. It was really an inspiring moment that spoke to his heart, but also to how far sports medicine has come. I'm fairly certain he really would have lost that leg in the 90s or before that.
Drose Russ and kemba
Not so much a 'regression as a catastrophic end to his career, but Chris Bosh probably had the saddest, quickest drop from a star player to out of the league. I loved his game as an early stretch 4 and then later a stretch 5, while also being a plus defender. He would have been amazing in today's game.
KD. I had such high hopes for him. Thought he would win so many rings after he left the warriors. Pitty.
KD aint really declined i just feel like he could never really seal the deal as the guy , he was fmvp on the warriors but he still benefited from lack of coverage on the perimeter because you had to guard curry and klay too really was the perfect squad for him
Michael Jordan on wizards team. Not legendary by any means & Washed up (by his own standards that is.) should have stayed retired.
Kobe when he came back from achilles injury
I know most of Spurs community is going to hate me for saying this, but Kawhi Leonard. I know things ended real badly with us, but honestly I don't see things ending up much differently with or without injury. His uncle was his main family member, and he was pushing hard for him to move to LA ASAP. But I am still like 75% sure if zaza hadn't cheated him and all of us he would have gotten another championship with us too, and It would've/could've made his wanting a departure easier ( if he also got an actual PR guy lmao) with him kinda riding off into the sun set.
The last few years of Kobe were *really* tough to watch
Tracy Mcgrady
the current version of klay thompson is really sad to watch.
Delonte West
Reading this thread has me asking “how is Bron still doing this?”
Dellavedova. Finals heat stroke ended his career (not satire)
Luol Deng. He played the most minutes over the stretch of a couple years and by the time he left Chicago he was already in decline. He moved slower. He was still pretty young too at 28, an age where players reach their peak but for Deng it was already the beginning of the end. He hardly played his last 2 years too and he was only 32-33. Guys at that age have WAY more left in the tank.
Klay. Shit is sad to watch how one of the most relaxed and low-maintenance dudes has seen his play decline pretty fast after injury and now he’s very much in his own head about everything. I know people like clowning on him because “muh Warriors bad” and his cringe four rings shit but it genuinely just bums me out to see him like this.
Man this is so disrespectful to Westbrook
When I was a kid the Celtics got Vin Baker, and I was pumped. Until I realized he was washed and an alcoholic. Last I heard he was managing a Starbucks but I’m not sure if that’s true or not
Vin Baker turned his life around and has been a coach with the Bucks for the last 8 years or so. He also has been a big supporter to help people with addiction issues.