Hardly Legendary: Top injured NBA professionals lose out on fame
We always praise the present great players like, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and often forget amazing players who came to the NBA and were predicted to be the next legends however could not live up to the thought.
Let us take a glance at the top 4 players that came to the league in the past two decades but lamentably could not live up to their full potential due to various injuries:
Yao Ming’s career with the Houston Rockets began in 2002 but it was not long before the player retired due to countless foot injuries. Ever since the Chinese player step foot on the American soil he was cheered by the crowed even if they were not Rockets fans. The 7’6” giant is currently the tallest player in the NBA, although the star player has been unable to win a championship title, he has led the Houston rockets along with Tracy McGrady to many playoffs. Due to his injury plagued 2009-2010 season, he decided to retire and go back to China. The stellar player kept an astounding average of 19.8 points per game and a career high 25 points per game in the 2006-07 season.
Tracy McGrady; a player, who according to many experts could have been contending for the title of the best in the league against Kobe Bryant, has had an extremely unfortunate career. At 31 years of age McGrady is a free-agent struggling to find a team to join, as no-one wants to contract him. Tracy started getting injured after he was drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2000. The player has suffered from back to back problems with his knee, foot, and elbow. The veteran player is not anymore the player everyone thought he would become, but still the desperate player has not managed to go past the first round in the playoffs since forever and the last time he made it to the playoffs was 3 years from now.
Anfernee Hardaway famously known as Penny Hardaway started of his career with the Orlando Magic in 1993, and was the face of the franchise. In the 1996-97 season Penny finished right besides Michael Jordan averaging 31 points per game. He was a growing star and was often compared to Magic Johnson but sadly could not live up to the assessment made by his fans and experts. He become injury prone during the 1996-1997 season and since then has encountered countless injuries. He faced a devastating knee injury in the 1997-98 season followed an ankle injury during his tenure with the Phoenix Suns. Countless injuries slowed Penny down from becoming a legend, however the All-Star, 1996 Olympic goal medallist will always be remembered as one of the best small forwards to come in the NBA and Magic history.
Grant Hill; a tremendous small forward who made his debut with the Detroit Pistons in 1994 and since then has played for great teams such as Orlando Magic and currently plays for the Phoenix Suns. He started off as a fiery young player obtaining the NBA co-Rookie of the Year award by next year. The young aspiring player did not take time in making records, joining legends like Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only player who has led their team in points, assists and rebounds per game three times. He joined McGrady in Orlando Magic to support team up with the budding star. Since then he was hampered with ankle injuries more than four times, spraining it, fractured it and exploding tendons. Grant is still without a championship ring after a long 16 year career, however he has few highlights in his career, he starred in the All-Star team 7 times and has won 3 NBA sportsmanship Awards till date.
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