NBA Superstars Who Were Devastated by Injuries

This unfortunate incident could drastically change the fate of a team or a player’s career. Injuries are always part of sports, especially in the NBA. Being sidelined for a period of time will prove costly to a squad’s chances in the NBA championship odds, but far more severe injuries devastate a player’s career.

From being hailed as the new face of a franchise to barely making it to the lineup, here’s a list of NBA players whose careers were plagued and rigged by injuries throughout their professional career which destroyed the chances in the basketball odds to reach their full potential.

Grant Hill

During his four-year stay with Duke, Grant Hill helped them win a national title in 1992, which is why the Detroit Pistons picked him up as their third pick in the 1994 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-8 forward was looking good to be the leading man for the Pistons after winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1995 and the NBA All-Star game in his initial year. But an ankle injury during his seventh season with Orlando started his decline.

More injuries were followed and limited him to only 200 games with the Magic in six seasons. He then transferred to the Phoenix Suns in 2007 and wrapped up his career with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2012-13 as a reliable rotation player. Overall, he had an average of 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 18 years of experience.

Brandon Roy

Brand Roy became an instant star in the NBA when he entered the league in 2006. Proof of this ascent is when he bagged the Rookie of the Year award and became an NBA All-Star for three straight years from 2008 to 2010. But this rapid rise to stardom was parallel to his fall as a bone bruise and a meniscus tear in his right knee hit him.

The injury that Roy obtained is unique and incurable, the reason why he was out of the league after playing a total of 326 games in five NBA seasons. After a season hiatus during 2011-12, he tried to return for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the return was brief after only playing five games. Roy’s career averages were 18.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

Derrick Rose

Being the youngest NBA MVP in history speaks a lot for a generational talent like Derrick Rose. The Chicago Bulls guard collected the Rookie of the Year accolade in 2009 and two seasons after, and he bagged the MVP award in 2011 after just three seasons. 

Rose was the biggest hope of the Chicago franchise to see another player lead the team to championship contention. Still, it was all shattered after he sustained a torn ACL in their playoff game against Philadelphia. Since then, Rose was only a shell of his old self as he hopped to five teams. So far, his 13-year career numbers are 18.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

Greg Oden

Before playing an NBA game, Greg Oden suffered an injury that required a microfracture surgery from the get-go and missed his whole rookie season. After recovering from the said injury, he was able to suit up for the Blazers and put up decent numbers in the 2008-09 season, which gave high hopes from the rebuilding franchise.

But the following year, after playing a solid start to the new season, Oden went down with another major injury on his left knee, a fractured left patella, that ultimately robbed his professional career and his full potential of being a dominant center. He only played 105 games and accumulated 8.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks.

Yao Ming

Yao Ming was supposed to be the next iconic big man in the NBA when he entered the league in 2002 as the number one draft pick. The 7-foot-6 superstar consistently upped his offensive numbers each year in his first five seasons with the Houston Rockets. In 2005 however, the injury bug started to bite him.

After playing an entire season in 2004-05, Yao was pronounced with Osteomyelitis in his left big toe and required an injury to recover. He only appeared in 57 games in that season. Since then, the behemoth center experienced multiple injuries in his knee and ankles and eventually forced him to retire prematurely. In eight seasons, Yao Ming had 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per contest.