The 25 Best NBA Careers Ruined by Injury

Image via Complex Original

Career years: 2007-present
Career stats: 9.4 PPG 7.3 RPG APG SPG 1.4 BPG
Teams: Portland Trail Blazers

There's not much to say about Greg Oden other than he was arguably the most hyped big man to come out in the draft since Kevin Garnett. Oden was the top high school prospect going into his freshman year at Ohio State and kept up the stellar play as he became a one-and-done player drafted first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers ahead of Kevin Durant. He has played a grand total of 82 games since he was drafted in '08 and despite flashes of some real ability, he will forever be in the "what if?" pile of players taken with the first pick. *cues the soundtrack* #hadtodoit #waytoocold

Career years: 1992-2003
Career stats: 11.9 PPG 6.5 RPG 1.6 APG SPG BPG
Teams: Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat

Laphonso Ellis isn't the most known guy on this list, but his game and potential may rival some of the most famous players in the league. He was drafted No. 5 overall out of Notre Dame by the Nuggets and started off his NBA career strong with two solid seasons that made experts feel like he would be a premier power forward in the game going into his third season.

Just like the stories of many others on this list though, a stress fracture to his right knee kept him off the court for nearly his entire third season. That injury paired with more to his other knee and a sports hernia plagued Ellis for the rest of his career, never fully allowing him to live up to the hype. Remember he actually did this.

Career years: 2002-2006
Career stats: 9.5 PPG 2.6 RPG 4.7 APG 1.1 SPG BPG
Teams: Chicago Bulls

Many forget just how highly touted and supremely talented Jay Williams was before his tragic career-altering motorcycle accident in 2003. He won the Naismith award in 2002 after an NCAA title run in 2001, and left the school with an average of 19.3 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 3.7 RPG from the point guard spot. He was so good, the Bulls drafted him No. 2 overall in 2002 behind Yao Ming. His rookie season wasn't spectacular, but he showed flashes of potential greatness, and quite possibly could've been their franchise guy.

Career years: 1993-2005
Career stats: 17.3 PPG 2.9 RPG 2.4 APG SPG BPG
Teams: Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks

(All Knicks fans scream "Yes, son!" upon seeing this page). Allan Houston, the $100 million dollar man after being a year or two past his prime. He had some good years for the Knickerbockers, most notably the '99 Finals run where he made "The Runner" to beat Miami and land the No. 8 seed vs. No. 1 seed upset. Then the pesky knee injuries caught him in '03 and he only managed 70 games in the two years after until his retirement. There's no doubt he could have gone down as a Knick great if he was able to get a couple more productive years out of those legs. Melo, take notes.

Career years: 1996-present
Career stats: 13.4 PPG 7.3 RPG 1.4 APG SPG 1.8 BPG
Teams: Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns

Jermaine O'Neal was part of the freshman class of today's prototypical star big man. He could dunk on you, he could step outside and hit a 15 footer, he could get at you on the defensive end, he was a worthy All-Star power forward on a stacked Pacers squad. That was until the rumble at the Palace and a slew of injuries to his shoulders, knees, and ankles. He's still playing now but he's not nearly the player he was in his prime. He could have been a possible future Hall of Famer had he kept up his production and stayed healthy but now he'll go down in history as a journeyman big who had a few good years.

Career years: 2001-2012
Career Stats: 20.7 PPG 3.9 RPG 5.3 APG 1.6 SPG BPG
Teams: Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies

You can hate on Gilbert Arenas all you want, but it's not debatable that Arenas was an offensive powerhouse when he was healthy and not bringing guns to practice. After some formative years in Golden State, Arenas signed with the Wizards and was on the verge of becoming a star from '04-'07, averaging nearly 28 PPG and six APG while leading Washington to the playoffs. At the tail end of the '07 season, however, he tore his MCL, and never played a full season again. Had he never gotten injured, the Wizards may have had a shot at being a serious title contender and Arenas may have been looked at now as one of the best scoring point guards of his era.

Career years: 1993-2003
Career stats: 19.1 PPG 5.4 RPG 4.0 APG 1.0 SPG BPG
Teams: Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets

Monster Mash may own car dealerships, Papa Johns, and Outback Steakhouses today, but in his prime he got busy for Dallas and later the Hornets during his NBA career. A prolific scorer coming out the gate, Mashburn's career was forever tainted by multiple knee injuries. As one-third of the "Three J's" in Dallas (Jim Jackson and Jason Kidd) he had high expectations, but the three young stars had a hard time co-existing and they were eventually broken up.

After his time in Dallas, Mashburn managed to play more than 50 games in only three of the seven years he had left in the league. Although, he is one of five players to average 20 a game in his last season (Drazen Petrovic, Jerry West, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan are the others).

Career years: 1982-1994
Career Stats: 13.9 PPG 6.0 RPG 6.2 APG 2.2 SPG BPG
Teams: Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks

Fat Lever has one of the most awesome names in all of sports, and also showed many that a point guard can rebound the ball and be a threat outside of dishing and shooting from the perimeter. Lever had a solid stretch from '86-'90 as a Denver Nugget averaging 18.9 PPG, 8.9 RPG, and 7.5 APG leading them to the playoffs every year. In 1990 Lever had a severe knee injury that held him out for most of the next two seasons and the entire '92-'93 season changing his NBA trajectory completely. Can we get back to talking about his name being Lafayette, though? 'Cause that's like amazing.

Career years: 1988-2003
Career stats: 14.0 PPG 5.2 RPG 2.3 APG 1.1 SPG 0.9 BPG
Teams: Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons

When you're drafted No. 1 overall a ton of pressure is put on you to perform and be the face of a franchise. Danny Manning faced just that after being taken first by the L.A. Clippers. He suffered a torn ACL his rookie season that had him miss most of the year, and later had more knee surgeries to fix nagging injuries as he grew into a potential star in the league.

Despite managing a few good seasons from '92-'94, Manning never was able to play more than 20 games in one season for the rest of his nine years. Had he never had the injuries, many projected him to be a star in the league and a household name.

Career years: 1986-1994
Career stats: 18.7 PPG 9.4 RPG 3.6 APG SPG BPG
Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers

Before LeBron James came around, Brad Daugherty held the title of greatest Cavalier ever as he proved prognosticators right after being the No. 1 pick in the 1986 draft. He was a legit center with real big man moves and a powerful tenacity that rivaled some of the games greats. Back injuries cut his career short however, as after eight seasons he called it quits already considered the franchise's greatest big man and All-Time scorer. Had he remained healthy who knows how he'd be remembered today, plenty of NBA fans probably don't even know who he was and he averaged almost 19 PPG and 10 RPG for his career! SMH.

Career years: 1983-1991
Career Stats: 15.4 PPG 8.8 RPG 2.3 APG 0.9 SPG 1.6 BPG
Teams: Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Washington Bullets

There aren't a lot of 7'4" guys walking around on Earth, let alone guys that size that can actually ball. Ralph Sampson was one of them. After dominating at Virginia, Sampson took his talents to the Rockets and started off his pro career strong averaging 20 and 10 with twi blocks to boot through his first three seasons. After the Rockets drafted Hakeem in 1985, they immediately became contenders, reaching the Finals in 1986. But Sampson eventually endured nagging knee and back problems which robbed him of his freakish athleticism.

Career years: 1987-2000
Career Stats: 17.9 PPG 3.3 RPG 3.3 APG 1.5 SPG BPG
Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns

Back before he was the mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson was letting any and everybody have it on the hardwood. Hakeem got some and him and Doc got into it. KJ was a beast in his prime. Then there were the not so great years after he got a hernia trying to lift Oliver Miller in '92 that led to multiple muscle strains and him missing 109 in a four-year span. Had he been healthy many think KJ and Barkley could have made a coupled title runs in the West. Oh, what could've been.

Career years: 2002-present
Career stats: 21.3 PPG 8.6 RPG 1.4 APG SPG 1.4 BPG
Teams: Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks

Many of you know him as a the weird dressing $100 million bench player for the failure New York Knicks. If we look back at Amare's career before his microfracture surgery in '05 however, he was on his way to being one of the leagues best bigs of his generation. He had the athleticism, the power, the work ethic, and the willing passers in Steve Nash and Stephon Marbury that led to his tremendous first two seasons in Phoenix. Like others before him, he lost a lot of the lift we knew him for post surgery and despite stepping out his range as a shooter, he just never was the same. Can you imagine pre-injury Amar'e with a jumpshot? Just scary.

Career years: 1977-1993
Career stats: 22.5 PPG 5.8 RPG 3.3 APG 1.0 SPG BPG
Teams: New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Washington Bullets

A lot of you may be wondering how Bernard King cracks this list with the epic accolades and support he receives from Knick fans regularly. But what many forget is that King had five of his 14 years in the NBA cut short due to injuries which included a torn ACL in 1986 when he was at the peak of his powers in New York. A scoring beast, King managed to still have a few more good years playing for the Bullets after the Knicks released him, but he was still never himself and eventually was forced into retirement. We don't have to wonder what he could have done statistically had he played a full 14 seasons anymore. Bernard the King was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Career years: 2006-present
Career stats: 18.8 PPG 4.3 RPG 4.7 APG 1.0 SPG BPG
Teams: Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves

Brandon Roy has one of the sadder stories in recent memory as far as injuries are concerned. The former Trailblazer was slowly developing into a premier player and arguably one of the best shooting guards in the league by his fourth year, but a slow degeneration of his knees led to his premature retirement. Roy had arthroscopic surgery on both knees and even tried the same platelet treatment Kobe received in Germany. He then attempted a comeback, but he just wasn't what he used to be and was waived shortly thereafter.

Career years: 2002-2011
Career Stats: 19.0 PPG 9.2 RPG 1.6 APG SPG 1.9 BPG
Teams: Houston Rockets

One of the most important players of this era, Yao Ming made great strides as not only the Rockets center but as an ambassador of the game in terms of international outreach. Ming was the 2002 No. 1 overall pick, coming into the league with as much hype and hoopla as anybody we had ever seen. He started off slow, but by his third year Ming solidified himself as one of the best centers in the game.

Then just as he was entering his prime, he developed osteomyelitis in his big toe that sidelined him for a good portion of his fourth season and later a broken bone in his foot. After that, Yao suffered a broken knee while having his best season yet and the year after had a microfracture in his left foot. When he was healthy, Yao was almost unstoppable and had he been able to stay on the court he might have gone down as one of the best big men ever. 

Career years: 1997-present
Career stats: 19.6 PPG 5.6 RPG 4.4 APG 1.2 SPG 0.9 BPG
Teams: Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs

Here's a debate some of you might remember having about a decade ago: Who you got? T-Mac or Kobe? Today that question is laughable as Kobe mde his  mark as not only one of the best ever but still one of the best active ballers, while McGrady isn't doing so hot. Back in '03 however, the debate actually had some legs and T-Mac was balling out of control dropping 13 points in 35 seconds, alley-ooping to himself, and just letting the league have it.

That was until the ever nagging back spasms, shoulder issues, knee injuries, and eventual microfracture surgery. Who knows where T-Mac would be? Probably not bench warming for the Spurs, for sure.

Career years: 1991-2001
Career stats: 16.2 PPG 7.5 RPG 3.3 APG SPG BPG
Teams: Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks

Oh, Grandmama! Knick fans vividly remember Larry Johnson for his contributions on the court and undoubtedly never being the same guy he was for the Hornets after his back injuries. During his first few years, he was a force at the power forward, averaging 20 PPG and 10 RPG. When his back went, LJ was able to successfully alter his game to be more of a perimeter player and still help his team. He retired after only 10 seasons because of the chronic back problems which possibly cost him a trip to the Hall.

Career years: 1993-2007
Career Stats: 15.2 PPG 4.5 RPG 5.0 APG 1.6 SPG BPG
Teams: Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Miami Heat

You've seen and loved the Little Penny commercials. That's just a testament to just how poppin' Penny was in his heyday. Shaq's running mate before Kobe was a 6'7" guard with handle and creativity like Magic Johnson but the athleticism of a young Kobe. That was until a serious left knee injury in '98 robbed him of his abilities on a Magic squad still recuperating from Shaq bolting to L.A. With so much talent and a drive to keep at it, there's no doubt that he would have been a Hall of Famer had he been able to stay healthy.

Career years: 1993-2008
Career stats: 20.7 PPG 9.8 RPG 4.2 APG 1.4 SPG 1.4 BPG
Teams: Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets/Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons

Not too many players have come into the NBA with the hype, talent, and expectations that Chris Webber did. When he was drafted first overall in 1993 by the Magic, he was dealt to Golden State for Penny Hardaway. C-Webb was a supreme talent that dunked on guys left and right, had a shooting touch from 15-20, could pass better than many of the big men we had ever seen, and he had a deadly post game to boot. Webber was the full package that you'd want from your power forward.

He had some successful seasons with the Kings and Washington, but suffered a career-altering knee injury in 2003 that left him in a reduced form for the rest of his years in the league. It's hard to call Webber a bust considering his accomplishments statistically, but you have to wonder what could have been had he not had the injuries. With his skills he might have even still been in the league.

Career years: 1994-present
Career Stats: 16.7 PPG 6.0 RPG 4.1 APG 1.2 SPG BPG
Teams: Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers

Grant Hill has arguably one of the greatest "what if" NBA stories we've ever seen as it relates to catching the injury bug and having a derailed career. Hill may still be playing today, but he's a shell of what he was before he got those nagging ankle injuries that left him playing 47 games in his first four seasons with the Magic. He was a budding superstar going into the move to Orlando but the time off the court forever changed the franchise and Hill's legacy. He went from a triple-double machine/superstar with endorsements up to his ears to a solid role player.

Career years: 1979-1992
Career stats: 24.3 PPG 10.0 RPG 6.3 APG 1.7 SPG BPG
Teams: Boston Celtics

Larry the Legend cracks this list despite playing 13 seasons for the Celtics and leading a HOF career. We all know he's one of the greatest of all time, but had he not had those nagging back injuries towards the end of his career, Bird may have went down as even greater. Three of his final four years he missed 20+ games, and by his final year he was hardly what fans and analysts knew him to be.

Career years: 1970-1980
Career Stats: 24.2 PPG 4.2 RPG 5.4 APG 1.4 SPG BPG
Teams: Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans/Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics

Pistol Pete was one of the most electrifying NBA players to ever lace them up. So there's no doubt that his early retirement due to injuries will go down as a travesty of drastic proportions. After putting up 44 a game in college, Maravich entered the league already a primetime player. He averaged 23.1 PPG his rookie year and upped that to a career high of 31.1 by the 1976-1977 season.

Suffering from a lack of great talent around him, Pistol stole the show for the Hawks and Jazz during his time with both team until injuries to his knees left him missing major stretches of the '75-'76 and '77-'78 seasons. He still managed to put up solid numbers in the time he did make the court, but there's just no knowing how great he might have been without the setbacks.

Career year: 1974-1987
Career stats: 13.3 PPG 10.5 RPG 3.4 APG SPG 2.2 BPG
Teams: Portland Trail Blazers, San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics

A favorite NBA commentator for many of us fans, Bill Walton was also one of the league's more memorable big men during his playing days. After being drafted No. 1 overall by the Blazers, Walton came into the NBA as a rebounding machine who eventually led the team to a title in 1977 and also won the MVP.

However, foot and ankle injuries plagued him the rest of his career which never allowed him to regain his Blazer heyday form. He ended up picking up a title and the Sixth Man of the Year in 1986 with the Celtics. Even with the injuries, Walton's college career and his short NBA tenure were good enough to get him into the Hall of Fame.

Career years:1955-1958
Career stats: 16.4 PPG 17.3 RPG 5.3 APG SPG BPG
Teams: Rochester/Cincinnati Royals

There probably aren't a lot of you who know about Maurice Stokes, but in the '50s he was pretty much Dwight Howard on steroids. Just kidding about the PEDs part of that last statement. However, he did dominate three seasons for the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals and averaged an incredible 16.4 points, 17.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, standing at only 6'7".

His career was cut extremely short when after he landed on his head during a game. He stayed in the game and a couple days later was taken to the hospital and fell into a coma. He was diagnosed with a brain injury in the form of post traumatic encephalopathy that left him paralyzed and eventually took his life in 1970. Had he stayed healthy, Stokes would've eventually teamed up with Oscar Robertson to form one of the greatest 1-2 punches in NBA history.