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I was thinking about this the other day. What was one of the best talents in the NBA but had a career cut short by injury or death or something that kept him from playing or competing at a high level.

Any thoughts?

I don't know if he was going to be a great player or not, but Bobby Hurley of the Kings (Duke guy) got into a car accident like two miles from my house and was never the same player again.

Drazan Petrovic

(01-18-2013, 11:30 PM)rjcj2017 Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know if he was going to be a great player or not, but Bobby Hurley of the Kings (Duke guy) got into a car accident like two miles from my house and was never the same player again.

Yeah I was thinking about bobby hurley too. Hard to tell. He was kind of like Steve Alford, great college player, but never found his nitch in the NBA. Hurley could have been a good PG like Nash possibly. We'll never know.

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(01-19-2013, 12:29 AM)awoj Wrote: [ -> ]Drazan Petrovic

Have to say I don't remember this guy. What happened to him? Why didn't he make it?

Petrovic was from Croatia. Like Kukoc, played plenty of ball in Europe before deciding to come to the NBA.
Died in a car accident around 1994 and only played 3-4 yrs in the NBA, check out his stats in the lnke below

http://www.nba.com/historical/playerfile...n_petrovic

Arvydas sabonis. By the time he finally made his way over to the NBA he was a fraction of what he was in is prime. This guy was an absolute beast. Drafted out of Russia in 1985 yet didn't come into the league for a decade. He would have been a dominant center.

This one is easy to answer.

Maurice Stokes.

He played three seasons in the NBA, averaged 16.4ppg, 17.3rpg and 5.3apg, was a 3 x All-Star and 3 x All-NBA 2nd Team member.

His career was cut short by a terrible on court accident whereby he landed on his head. He then took a flight during which time he had a seizure and nearly died. He went to hospital and was paralysed. He spent the next 10 years or so in hospital before dying there. Stokes didn't have any money, so his white teammate, Jack Twyman, became his legal guardian and paid all of his bills.

Twyman also arranged an annual All-Star Game to raise money for Stokes. Players like Wilt Chamberlain played in the game.

Many historians believe that Stokes would have gone down in history as one of the greatest to ever play the game, if he hadn't suffered such a devastating end to his career.

I was so moved by the story that I just had to buy this old press wire photo of Stokes and Chamberlain. I've got it framed in my study.

There are several players that could be debated for this topic...

Penny Hardaway
Maurice Stokes
Yao Ming
Ralph Sampson
Brad Daughtery
Terell Brandon
Greg Oden
Brandon Roy
Bill Walton
Dajuan Wagner
Matt Harpring
Harold Miner


Just a few that get over looked....

Matt Harpring? He doesn't belong on that list. He was a good solid player; nothing more, nothing less. Harold Minor is also out of place on that list - he simply wasn't a very good player. Terrell Brandon? He had a fairly long and successful career. The others are good choices though.

One player I don't expect many to have heard of is Alex Groza. He was going to be a superstar of the 1950s before being banned for match fixing.

Jay Williams