If You Had The Power...

[DJ]

I want to change the team that drafted him too.

LOL.

 

[DJ]

If it's basketball....

Grant Hill.

 

[DrewScott]

Bo
Magic (HIV)
Bernard King
Sandy Koufax

Good call on Bernard King. When healthy he was a scoring machine. Ahh but those knees of his.

 

[DrewScott]

Stephen Strasburgh--- great when healthy, but barely ever was.

Jacob deGrom---still active, has 3 Cy Youngs and was easily on pace for another in 2021 when he went down with another injury just prior to all star break with a 1.08 era. He really was on pace to being an all time great if it wasn't for all the injuries. Maybe he can recover and still get a couple more CY's.

 

[The Q]

since the Indians/Guardians are my favorite team one of the guys that comes to mind is Grady Sizemore- looked like a sure-fire hall of famer and then it fell apart because of injury.

first 4 full years in the big leagues:

22 years old- 2005- 158 games- 22 hrs, 22 sb, 111 R, 81 RBI's- amazing defense
23 years old- 2006- 162 games- 28 hr, 22 sb, 134 runs (wow), 76 rbi,- amazing defense
24 years old- 2007- 162 games- 24 hr, 33 sb, 101 runs, 78 rbis- amazing defense
25 years old- 2008- 157 games, 33 hr, 38 steals, 101 runs, 101 runs, 90 rbis

fell apart after that

power, speed, defense, athleticism- played practically every single game.....he was a true 5 tool guy- and his last full season was at age 25- how many guys have over 110 homers and SB's 3 all star games, 2 gold gloves and 3 top 12 MVP finishes before turning 26?- couldve been one of the best CF'ers in a long time....but not to be.

Just do Trevor bauer and win a ws bro….

 

[DJ]

 

[trojanfan12]

About damn time someone posted that.

Thought I was gonna have to do it. lol

 

[logic]

I was going to go Bo Jackson since he was amazing in both sports. But I have a strong suspicion that some of that was due to steroids and it would just catch up to him in some other form.

So, I’m going to stick with the Pistons and say Grant Hill, though also would love to see an injury free Tracy McGrady. Both were just amazing players that we did not get to see enough of their greatness

 

[RobToxin]

Here's one that you won't think about right away but ....

Roger Staubach.

Thanks to Vietnam, he only played 11 seasons. He could have done 15-16 seasons had he not been military commissioned.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

Derrick rose
Brandon roy
Drazen Petrovic
Greg Oden
Len Bias

It’s hard to choose.

 

[Black Adam]

Joe Delaney. In his two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, he set four franchise records that would last for over 2 decades.

Delaney died at the age of 24. Drowned while trying to save small children from the same fate.

On that note, it would've also been nice to see Derrick Thomas finish his career in KC. One of the best LB's ever...

 

[redskinsfan1963]

On that note, it would've also been nice to see Derrick Thomas finish his career in KC. One of the best LB's ever...

folks forget he great he was at bama too.

 

[Hbomb]

Bobby Orr. Career ending and what a career.

Mario Lemieux. Interrupted career.

 

[Kings4OT]

Bo, Barry Sanders, Lemieux

 

[DJ]

About damn time someone posted that.

Thought I was gonna have to do it. lol

Me too....

LOL.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Interesting discussion bc there are different levels to this conversation.

#1. A player we got to see play and at their best but their prime was shortened dramatically by injuries (ex: T-Mac and Walton)

#2. Players who were injury riddled throughout their career, we saw some of their best but we never got to see their true prime (ex: Roy, Strasburg)

#3. Players we never got to witness at all but their potential was extremely high (ex: Greg Oden, Len Bias)

My pick is Oden for the #3.

My pick for #1 was Tiger. I think it is a different case in golf bc most guys play in their 50’s then into their 60’s on the tour before they move to the senior tour.
I got to see Tiger for most of his career and the injuries sucked but watching him continue his career would have been fun for golf. He easily had the best prime ever, just not the longevity.

 

[Manster7588]

I want to change the team that drafted him too.

Nope, that's not in the OP.

 

[Manster7588]

to go back and remove injury or circumstance from 1 players career (any sport) to see what they could have done with a full career...who are "saving"?

Bo Jackson who was all star caliber in 2 professional sports?

Arvydas Sabonis who was arguably the greatest international player ever and who, due to where he was born, wasn't able to play in the NBA until he was 31 with bad knees. But still was a very good NBA player?

Andrew Bynum who had just reached a point where he was considered one of, if not the best center in the NBA and had his knees fall off.

Andrew Luck who was one of the best QB's in the NFL and suddenly retired in his prime?

How much more does Tiger Woods accomplish if not for injuries and other "circumstances"?


Who ya got?

Ok, you keep Bo injury free, but you gotta keep Boz injury free too, so we can see if the dummy learned how not to get ran over.

 

[shopson67]

Bo, Barry Sanders, Lemieux

What was Barry's injury? Broken heart/spirit?

 

[trojanfan12]

What was Barry's injury? Broken heart/spirit?

It can be circumstances as well...maybe he's saying if Barry ever got to play with better talent around him than the Lions had?