Pioneer10

Bernard King would have been known as a better Knick then Ewing

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bootstrenf

i wonder about penny hardaway and grant hill...they could've been special...

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Najee

I guess it depends on your definition, because as it is Grant Hill is a seven-time All-Star with career averages of 20 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists.

The player I think about the most in this category is Ralph Sampson. Basically, Sampson was a taller version of Kevin Garnett when it came to basketball skills and athletic ability.

Minstrel

I'm curious as to what Sam Bowie could have done minus the injuries. While it's basically impossible that he could have justified his selection ahead of Jordan (the way Olajuwon nearly has), he might have been good enough that it wouldn't have been considered the worst mistake ever. Bowie was a very skilled center in college and had he been a missing major piece in a few Blazers title teams, his legacy and the legacy of that pick would be a lot more forgiving.

Bill Walton, also, of course is a good "what if?" player. He was dominant for a season or two and still had his whole prime ahead of him. It's possible he could have been a top-five center of all-time had he played a full, healthy career.

And when you consider Arvydas Sabonis, it's interesting how many "injury-limited center" problems the Blazers have had over the years.

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unluckyseventeen

Grant Hill would have been known as one of the best players in NBA history had he not been repeatedly injured. We would be saying "Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Grant Hill".

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Goubot

I'd be more curious to see what would have happened if Sabonis had joined the Blazers when he was drafted in 1986 (he was drafted by the Hawks the year before but this was nulled) instead of 1995 and then just let his NBA career play out from there. This is ignoring things like that pesky Soviet Union, granted, but if he actually went to Portland in the mid-80s, the Blazers would have been absolutely stacked in the early 90s.

The guy was really good albeit limited in his time in the NBA, and he was in his 30s then.

BadBaronRudigor

Do Connie Hawkins and Lenny Bias count as injuries . . . well Hawkins did have that brutal knee injury in his second season that made him totally revamp his game, but all the great skywalkers of his day did . . . used to be accepted practice to undercut them to keep them from "showing you up"

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PauloCatarino

Good call on Sam Bowie. I've always liked his play on the Nets, and it's really to bad he just couldn't stay healthy. I think he would have no problems being a consistent 17/18ppg-10/11rpg player, at least. I also liked the fact that he was a team-first player and took at heart his defensive duties.

Pervis ellison is another one who couldn't get free of the injury bug.

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da bully

well, being a bulls fan, ive always wondered how many wins the bulls would have had if they didnt have so many injuries in the 96-97 season. i believe they were good enough to probably win 75-78 games considering that they lost longly for 20 games, kukoc for 25, rodman for almost 30, and brian williams only played in 9 games that season. even with the injuries they won 69 games. which is good for the second best record ever in nba history.97 BULLS GREATEST TEAM EVER.

Minstrel

Connie Hawkins lost the chance to play most of his prime in the NBA due to being unfairly blackballed by the NBA. He was accused of being on the take from a fixer, but no evidence was ever put forth for that besides him being friends with the guy (and the guy befriended lots of those kids on NYC playgrounds before he ever suggested payola to any of them). David Stern (who was an NBA lawyer on the case) now admits that they wronged Hawkins. The courts overturned the NBA's exclusion of Hawkins, but by then, most of his prime years were gone.

I think Hawkins is a great "what if?" player, but not due to injury.

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K-Dub

Grant Hill and T-Mac could have been one of the greatest duos ever.

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