With an average career length of 4.5 years, getting enshrined into the Hall of Fame is a longshot for the majority of NBA players. Only a few get in every year and those players often had exceptional careers in the association.
However, there are plenty of players who were once destined to be enshrined in basketball immortality but lost their chance due to injuries.
Today, we will take a look at 10 NBA Players that would definitely be Hall of Famers if it weren’t for horrible injuries.
Grant Hill, SF (NBA Career: 1994-2013)
There was a time when Grant Hill was considered as one of the future faces in the league. He was named an all-star in just his rookie season(a rarity). Throughout his career, he was a 7x all-star and a 5x member of All-NBA Teams.
However, after suffering an ankle injury in a regular season game on April 15, 2000, his chances of becoming a Hall of Famer quickly disappeared. The ankle injury, initially thought to be mild, ended up as career-threatening and even life-threatening at some point. Although he managed to overcome it, he was never the same player again.
Jermaine O’Neal, PF (NBA Career: 1996-2014)
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O’Neal was just 17 years old when he was selected in the 1996 NBA draft by the Blazers. When he got traded to Indiana in 2000 due to a lack of playing time in Portland, O’Neal started to show his true potential as a player.
He won the NBA Most Improved Player in 2002, was selected to six all-star teams and was a 3x member of the All-NBA Team. An injury to his right shoulder in 2005 served as a prelude to his downfall as a player. O’Neal’s on-court production degraded hastily. He was subsequently hobbled by various knee and wrist injuries for the rest of his career.
Gilbert Arenas, PG (NBA Career: 2001-2013)
Arenas was initially viewed as a backup point guard at the NBA level but surprisingly went on to become one of the best players in the league from 2005 to 2007. He was a 3x all-star and a 3x member of the All-NBA Team.
After suffering an MCL injury towards the end of the 2006-2007 regular season, his game never fully recovered. Arenas only played eight games in the following year while frequently clashing with the team doctors about his recovery. He was out of the league at 30 years old after a significant decline in his performance on the court.
Brad Daugherty, PF (NBA Career: 1986-1994)
Before LeBron James became the undisputed ‘King’ in Cleveland, Daugherty once held the throne. He was selected as a 5x all-star and a one-time member of the All-NBA team as a member of the Cavs.
His NBA career was cut short at 28 due to recurring back injuries. After two years of inactivity, he finally announced his retirement in 1996. Daugherty definitely had the potential to become one of the best power forwards in his era but sadly, his injuries were too difficult to overcome.
Ralph Sampson, C NBA (Career: 1983-1992)
Victor Wembanyama was not the first 7’4” baller who had the skills of a guard equipped with otherworldly shot-blocking abilities. That title belongs to Ralph Sampson.
Sampson was a 4x all-star, won the all-star game MVP in 1985 and was a one-time member of an All-NBA Team. His career suddenly took a wrong turn after suffering his first major knee injury in 1987. He subsequently had multiple operations on the same knee in the following years which inevitably robbed him of his abilities as a dominant basketball player.
Amar’e Stoudemire, PF (NBA Career: 2002-2016)
Nobody thought that Stoudemire would become one of the best players in the 2000s era. Drafted straight out of high school, Amar’e won Rookie of the Year in 2003. He was selected to six all-star games and was named to five All-NBA Teams throughout his career.
After a knee surgery in 2005, Stoudamire rushed his rehab, which eventually caused stiffness in both of his knees. While he did manage to come back strong, his career was further derailed a few years later after the same knee problems emerged during his time with the Knicks.
Penny Hardaway, PG (NBA Career: 1993-2007)
Penny was once dubbed as the second coming of Magic Johnson. A 4x all-star and a member of three All-NBA Teams, Hardaway took the league by storm with his insane athleticism and jaw-dropping no-look passes.
After suffering a knee injury that required surgery at the start of the 1997-1998 season, Hardaway’s career quickly went downhill. On top of multiple surgeries on his left knee, he also suffered recurring foot injuries later in his career that severely robbed him of his athletic prowess.
Brandon Roy, SG (NBA Career: 2006-2011, 2012-2013)
If it wasn’t for knee injuries, Brandon Roy would have been one of the best shooting guards in the modern era. He was a 3x all-star and was a 2x member of the All-NBA Team before he was forced to retire prematurely in 2011 due to the lack of cartilage on both of his knees.
After resting for a full season and getting multiple treatments done on his knees, Roy decided to make a comeback in 2012 and signed with Minnesota. Sadly, after playing in just five games, Roy’s season and career ended after suffering another injury setback.
Greg Oden, C (NBA Career: 2007-2012, 2013-2014)
While Oden lacked the career credentials most of his peers have in this list, he certainly had the best potential of the bunch. During his college days, Oden was a behemoth on both ends of the floor. Analysts often compared his playstyle to a young Shaquille O’Neal.
Problems began to emerge after he missed his first season in the league due to a microfracture surgery on his right knee. Finally healthy heading into the 2008-2009 season, Oden suffered another setback after injuring his left knee on December 5, 2009. After the surgeries, his confidence waned and so did his play on the court.
Derrick Rose, G (NBA Career: 2008-Present)
Rose would have been one of the best players in this era if it wasn’t for a bunch of injuries. In 2011, he became the youngest MVP winner in league history at the age of 22. He is a 3x all-star and a one-time member of the All-NBA First Team.
An ACL injury in the 2012 playoffs drastically changed the trajectory of Rose’s career. While he fully recovered after missing an extensive period of time, it was clearly evident that Rose was not the same player as he was pre-injury. He was once a shoo-in in the Hall of Fame before but the same thing can’t be said once he decides to step away from the game.
