Who is the most disappointing NBA player in history?

[Snakehead]

I get that about AI but your talking about a guy that just struggled for the last 3 years how about his 11 before that? No one could ever tell me his was a dissapoinment becuase of what he has done latley. And yes he was a selfish player but I gurantee you ask anyone that played with them would they have gone anywhere without him. They would say no. The guys is seriously one of the best players ever to play the game all things aside. A six foot tall player how averaged 26 points and 6 assist in his carrer is not a dissapointment. He couldn't manage his last 3 season I give you that but was considered one of the best in the other 11.

He is a dissapointment if he could have been better with a better attitude for the game.  I believe that is the case.  I think he's one of the best ever just like you do, not saying otherwise, but I think so much of his abilities that I believe he could have been more and had his team achieve more with a better and smarter attitude. 

If he had the work ethic and team focused attitude of a guy like KG he would have been a better player.

[WeMadeIt17]

He had the work ethic! Your crazy the guy maybe was not the best teamate I will give you that but you dont have many guys that ever came close to the numbers he had ever? As an indivdual you could never tell me AI dissapointed. He was 6 foot guy that went out and busted everyones you know what and he worked hard as well. Come on


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=366

[Snakehead]

He had the work ethic! Your crazy the guy maybe was not the best teamate I will give you that but you dont have many guys that ever came close to the numbers he had ever? As an indivdual you could never tell me AI dissapointed. He was 6 foot guy that went out and busted everyones you know what and he worked hard as well. Come on


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=366

Practice?  We're going to talk about PRACTICE?!   

Dude, great numbers in his career but he DID NOT have the best work ethic and attitude towards his team and the game.

[Celtics4ever]

Sam Bowie is up there.


I will go with Len Bias.  Sad that he never made it to play a game, a complete and utter tragedy for us.   We would have won two more rings with Bias.

[shiggins]

I get that about AI but your talking about a guy that just struggled for the last 3 years how about his 11 before that? No one could ever tell me his was a dissapoinment becuase of what he has done latley. And yes he was a selfish player but I gurantee you ask anyone that played with them would they have gone anywhere without him. They would say no. The guys is seriously one of the best players ever to play the game all things aside. A six foot tall player how averaged 26 points and 6 assist in his carrer is not a dissapointment. He couldn't manage his last 3 season I give you that but was considered one of the best in the other 11.

He is a dissapointment if he could have been better with a better attitude for the game.  I believe that is the case.  I think he's one of the best ever just like you do, not saying otherwise, but I think so much of his abilities that I believe he could have been more and had his team achieve more with a better and smarter attitude. 

If he had the work ethic and team focused attitude of a guy like KG he would have been a better player.

Well prior to Garnett coming to the Celtics, Iverson had been farther in the playoffs that KG had.  They had the same amount of MVPs...Iverson carried much more of his teams than Garnett had to. Garnetts problem back then was he was too timid to carry his team, which is exactly the opposite of what AI was, possibly tried too hard to carry the team by himself.  Iverson did absolutely everything he could for that team and took arguably the most awful supporting cast to the finals with him.  

[Snakehead]

I get that about AI but your talking about a guy that just struggled for the last 3 years how about his 11 before that? No one could ever tell me his was a dissapoinment becuase of what he has done latley. And yes he was a selfish player but I gurantee you ask anyone that played with them would they have gone anywhere without him. They would say no. The guys is seriously one of the best players ever to play the game all things aside. A six foot tall player how averaged 26 points and 6 assist in his carrer is not a dissapointment. He couldn't manage his last 3 season I give you that but was considered one of the best in the other 11.

He is a dissapointment if he could have been better with a better attitude for the game.  I believe that is the case.  I think he's one of the best ever just like you do, not saying otherwise, but I think so much of his abilities that I believe he could have been more and had his team achieve more with a better and smarter attitude. 

If he had the work ethic and team focused attitude of a guy like KG he would have been a better player.

Well prior to Garnett coming to the Celtics, Iverson had been farther in the playoffs that KG had.  They had the same amount of MVPs...Iverson carried much more of his teams than Garnett had to. Garnetts problem back then was he was too timid to carry his team, which is exactly the opposite of what AI was, possibly tried too hard to carry the team by himself.  Iverson did absolutely everything he could for that team and took arguably the most awful supporting cast to the finals with him. 

This is absolutely false about KG.  If you look up stats for those Minnesota teams, KG was one of the most productive players in comparison to his team ever.  The gap was huge.  I wish I could find the oarticles and stats I've read backing this up, there are for sure out there, but here's an excerpt from a blog on the dispartiy between KG and his team:

The Tragedy of Kevin Garnett
May 28, 2006 · 25 Comments
The sportswriters selected Steve Nash as MVP this season. I have noted previously that Steve Nash had a very good season, ranking in the top 10 in Wins Produced. Previously I also argued that Jason Kidd was a bit better, ranking second overall in Wins Production and first among point guards.

But even Kidd was not the most productive player in the league. As Malcolm Gladwell revealed yesterday on his website, I analyzed the 2005-06 season and the player who led the league in Wins Produced was Kevin Garnett. Garnett finished the season with 26 Wins Produced. This marks the fourth consecutive season Garnett has been the most productive player in the NBA. Yet the sportswriters didn’t show KG any love when it comes to the MVP voting. Not a single sportswriter named him on an MVP ballot. He also wasn’t named to the All-NBA First Team, Second Team, or Third Team.

The problem for KG is not his game, but his teammates. In 2002-03 Garnett produced 31.5 wins. The rest of his team produced 15.1. The next season Garnett produced 30.5 wins while the rest of the T-Wolves produced 25.3 victories. The increased productivity of his teammates allowed the writers to notice Garnett and give him the league MVP award.

In 2004-05, as we note in the book, Garnett was essentially the same player who won the MVP. He produced 30 wins, but his teammates only produced 14.8 victories. This past season, just to make life even less fun, his teammates only produced 9.4 wins. So over the past four seasons, Garnett’s teammates have averaged 16.1 wins per year. Although Garnett is averaging close to 30 wins per season, it is not enough to overcome the performance of his co-workers.

This past season no player in the league had less productive teammates. Only two of his fellow T-Wolves posted an above average wins production per-minute played – Wally Szczerbiak and Eddie Griffin – and one of these was traded away during the season. And Griffin was only barely above average.

And that is the tragedy of Kevin Garnett. Year after year he is the most productive player in the league. And year after year he plays with many players who are not only not average, but quite a bit below average.

I should note that KG’s Wins Production has declined each of the past four seasons. He still leads the league, but the difference between him and everyone else gets smaller each year. Soon Father Time will take its toll and KG will no longer dominate the NBA. Hopefully before that happens, he finds a few co-workers who can help him achieve the recognition his performance indicates he clearly deserves.

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2006/05/28/the-tragedy-of-kevin-garnett/


If you think AI contributed more than KG, you rate scoring above all.  KG was the best rebounder in the NBA and its best defender for a number of years.  He should of won NBA MVP more than once, he was the leagues best player on a bad team. He only won the year his team was best, but it was truly not his best year.

In 2002-2003 he led his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. Tell me if AI has ever done that.  He contributed in every way to his team.  Do not underrate KG.  Just because he has never been a truly clutch player and scorer does not mean he was not the leagues best player for a few years.

He played on bad Minnesota teams for years.  Look at the last part of this article... written before he came to the Celts and won the title even with his diminished play.  If he came here earlier he would of won multiple rings.  He is a better player than AI, no doubt in my mind.

[Quinn]

Well in that case..Derrick Coleman should be high up there. Danny Manning...umm...Chris Webber..

I disagree with Webber. He is a borderline HOFer.

He is one of six players ever to average 20/9/4 throughout his career. Four are in the hall of fame right now, the other is K.G.

[shiggins]

I get that about AI but your talking about a guy that just struggled for the last 3 years how about his 11 before that? No one could ever tell me his was a dissapoinment becuase of what he has done latley. And yes he was a selfish player but I gurantee you ask anyone that played with them would they have gone anywhere without him. They would say no. The guys is seriously one of the best players ever to play the game all things aside. A six foot tall player how averaged 26 points and 6 assist in his carrer is not a dissapointment. He couldn't manage his last 3 season I give you that but was considered one of the best in the other 11.

He is a dissapointment if he could have been better with a better attitude for the game.  I believe that is the case.  I think he's one of the best ever just like you do, not saying otherwise, but I think so much of his abilities that I believe he could have been more and had his team achieve more with a better and smarter attitude. 

If he had the work ethic and team focused attitude of a guy like KG he would have been a better player.

Well prior to Garnett coming to the Celtics, Iverson had been farther in the playoffs that KG had.  They had the same amount of MVPs...Iverson carried much more of his teams than Garnett had to. Garnetts problem back then was he was too timid to carry his team, which is exactly the opposite of what AI was, possibly tried too hard to carry the team by himself.  Iverson did absolutely everything he could for that team and took arguably the most awful supporting cast to the finals with him. 

This is absolutely false about KG.  If you look up stats for those Minnesota teams, KG was one of the most productive players in comparison to his team ever.  The gap was huge.  I wish I could find the oarticles and stats I've read backing this up, there are for sure out there, but here's an excerpt from a blog on the dispartiy between KG and his team:

The Tragedy of Kevin Garnett
May 28, 2006 · 25 Comments
The sportswriters selected Steve Nash as MVP this season. I have noted previously that Steve Nash had a very good season, ranking in the top 10 in Wins Produced. Previously I also argued that Jason Kidd was a bit better, ranking second overall in Wins Production and first among point guards.

But even Kidd was not the most productive player in the league. As Malcolm Gladwell revealed yesterday on his website, I analyzed the 2005-06 season and the player who led the league in Wins Produced was Kevin Garnett. Garnett finished the season with 26 Wins Produced. This marks the fourth consecutive season Garnett has been the most productive player in the NBA. Yet the sportswriters didn’t show KG any love when it comes to the MVP voting. Not a single sportswriter named him on an MVP ballot. He also wasn’t named to the All-NBA First Team, Second Team, or Third Team.

The problem for KG is not his game, but his teammates. In 2002-03 Garnett produced 31.5 wins. The rest of his team produced 15.1. The next season Garnett produced 30.5 wins while the rest of the T-Wolves produced 25.3 victories. The increased productivity of his teammates allowed the writers to notice Garnett and give him the league MVP award.

In 2004-05, as we note in the book, Garnett was essentially the same player who won the MVP. He produced 30 wins, but his teammates only produced 14.8 victories. This past season, just to make life even less fun, his teammates only produced 9.4 wins. So over the past four seasons, Garnett’s teammates have averaged 16.1 wins per year. Although Garnett is averaging close to 30 wins per season, it is not enough to overcome the performance of his co-workers.

This past season no player in the league had less productive teammates. Only two of his fellow T-Wolves posted an above average wins production per-minute played – Wally Szczerbiak and Eddie Griffin – and one of these was traded away during the season. And Griffin was only barely above average.

And that is the tragedy of Kevin Garnett. Year after year he is the most productive player in the league. And year after year he plays with many players who are not only not average, but quite a bit below average.

I should note that KG’s Wins Production has declined each of the past four seasons. He still leads the league, but the difference between him and everyone else gets smaller each year. Soon Father Time will take its toll and KG will no longer dominate the NBA. Hopefully before that happens, he finds a few co-workers who can help him achieve the recognition his performance indicates he clearly deserves.

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2006/05/28/the-tragedy-of-kevin-garnett/


If you think AI contributed more than KG, you rate scoring above all.  KG was the best rebounder in the NBA and its best defender for a number of years.  He should of won NBA MVP more than once, he was the leagues best player on a bad team. He only won the year his team was best, but it was truly not his best year.

In 2002-2003 he led his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. Tell me if AI has ever done that.  He contributed in every way to his team.  Do not underrate KG.  Just because he has never been a truly clutch player and scorer does not mean he was not the leagues best player for a few years.

He played on bad Minnesota teams for years.  Look at the last part of this article... written before he came to the Celts and won the title even with his diminished play.  If he came here earlier he would of won multiple rings.  He is a better player than AI, no doubt in my mind.

I am trying to argue if he had KG's complimentary attitude he wouldnt have been a better player.  And there is no way you can tell me that the Spree, Cassell, Troy Hudson, Wally etc team was anywhere near as bad the team that was the Iverson finals squad...Maybe if KG had Iversons attitude he might have had a title before Boston?

[thirstyboots18]

I put AI not because he wasn't one of the best, but because he WAS one of the best, his attitude made him the most disappointing.  He never had a team attitude but was one of the best individual players in a TEAM sport.  He never recognized that his attitude would have an effect on his team mates.

[blackbird]

I think Sheed and Baron Davis should be on the list as well.

In his prime, Sheed was the complete package and more talented than TD or KG. He just didn't want it as much.

Baron Davis had all the physical tools to be a dominant offensive and defensive player if not for injuries and a poor attitude.

I agree with this list. Baron Davis had/has the skills to go down as one of the best ever. IIRC, Kenny Smith called him out in an interview. He's still really good, but disappointing to me because he's not great and could have been.

[Snakehead]

I get that about AI but your talking about a guy that just struggled for the last 3 years how about his 11 before that? No one could ever tell me his was a dissapoinment becuase of what he has done latley. And yes he was a selfish player but I gurantee you ask anyone that played with them would they have gone anywhere without him. They would say no. The guys is seriously one of the best players ever to play the game all things aside. A six foot tall player how averaged 26 points and 6 assist in his carrer is not a dissapointment. He couldn't manage his last 3 season I give you that but was considered one of the best in the other 11.

He is a dissapointment if he could have been better with a better attitude for the game.  I believe that is the case.  I think he's one of the best ever just like you do, not saying otherwise, but I think so much of his abilities that I believe he could have been more and had his team achieve more with a better and smarter attitude. 

If he had the work ethic and team focused attitude of a guy like KG he would have been a better player.

Well prior to Garnett coming to the Celtics, Iverson had been farther in the playoffs that KG had.  They had the same amount of MVPs...Iverson carried much more of his teams than Garnett had to. Garnetts problem back then was he was too timid to carry his team, which is exactly the opposite of what AI was, possibly tried too hard to carry the team by himself.  Iverson did absolutely everything he could for that team and took arguably the most awful supporting cast to the finals with him. 

This is absolutely false about KG.  If you look up stats for those Minnesota teams, KG was one of the most productive players in comparison to his team ever.  The gap was huge.  I wish I could find the oarticles and stats I've read backing this up, there are for sure out there, but here's an excerpt from a blog on the dispartiy between KG and his team:

The Tragedy of Kevin Garnett
May 28, 2006 · 25 Comments
The sportswriters selected Steve Nash as MVP this season. I have noted previously that Steve Nash had a very good season, ranking in the top 10 in Wins Produced. Previously I also argued that Jason Kidd was a bit better, ranking second overall in Wins Production and first among point guards.

But even Kidd was not the most productive player in the league. As Malcolm Gladwell revealed yesterday on his website, I analyzed the 2005-06 season and the player who led the league in Wins Produced was Kevin Garnett. Garnett finished the season with 26 Wins Produced. This marks the fourth consecutive season Garnett has been the most productive player in the NBA. Yet the sportswriters didn’t show KG any love when it comes to the MVP voting. Not a single sportswriter named him on an MVP ballot. He also wasn’t named to the All-NBA First Team, Second Team, or Third Team.

The problem for KG is not his game, but his teammates. In 2002-03 Garnett produced 31.5 wins. The rest of his team produced 15.1. The next season Garnett produced 30.5 wins while the rest of the T-Wolves produced 25.3 victories. The increased productivity of his teammates allowed the writers to notice Garnett and give him the league MVP award.

In 2004-05, as we note in the book, Garnett was essentially the same player who won the MVP. He produced 30 wins, but his teammates only produced 14.8 victories. This past season, just to make life even less fun, his teammates only produced 9.4 wins. So over the past four seasons, Garnett’s teammates have averaged 16.1 wins per year. Although Garnett is averaging close to 30 wins per season, it is not enough to overcome the performance of his co-workers.

This past season no player in the league had less productive teammates. Only two of his fellow T-Wolves posted an above average wins production per-minute played – Wally Szczerbiak and Eddie Griffin – and one of these was traded away during the season. And Griffin was only barely above average.

And that is the tragedy of Kevin Garnett. Year after year he is the most productive player in the league. And year after year he plays with many players who are not only not average, but quite a bit below average.

I should note that KG’s Wins Production has declined each of the past four seasons. He still leads the league, but the difference between him and everyone else gets smaller each year. Soon Father Time will take its toll and KG will no longer dominate the NBA. Hopefully before that happens, he finds a few co-workers who can help him achieve the recognition his performance indicates he clearly deserves.

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2006/05/28/the-tragedy-of-kevin-garnett/


If you think AI contributed more than KG, you rate scoring above all.  KG was the best rebounder in the NBA and its best defender for a number of years.  He should of won NBA MVP more than once, he was the leagues best player on a bad team. He only won the year his team was best, but it was truly not his best year.

In 2002-2003 he led his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. Tell me if AI has ever done that.  He contributed in every way to his team.  Do not underrate KG.  Just because he has never been a truly clutch player and scorer does not mean he was not the leagues best player for a few years.

He played on bad Minnesota teams for years.  Look at the last part of this article... written before he came to the Celts and won the title even with his diminished play.  If he came here earlier he would of won multiple rings.  He is a better player than AI, no doubt in my mind.

I am trying to argue if he had KG's complimentary attitude he wouldnt have been a better player.  And there is no way you can tell me that the Spree, Cassell, Troy Hudson, Wally etc team was anywhere near as bad the team that was the Iverson finals squad...Maybe if KG had Iversons attitude he might have had a title before Boston?

Both teams were not that good.  Sprewell, Cassell, Hudson, Wally is not a championship level squad.  Cassell was a pretty good PG but you don't go very far if he's your second best player.  Iverson's Finals team was bad, but how is KG's really that much better?  Everyone overrates Cassell and Sprewell.  KG always played far above his teammates.

Also, the big difference was that KG played in a FAR superior Western Conference, the East was pretty horrible back then.

I think you are partially right in that I think Iverson could possibly carry a bad team farther because of his clutch ability and scoring, but if either played on a better team during this period, KG would of been clearly the better player for his team.  If KG played alongside a capable and clutch scorer then that would not of been an issue. KG's attitude maybe kept him back from being quite as good of a player as he could of been, mostly in the scoring department, but also was what gave him the drive to be such a good defender and such a complet player in so many areas.  If he was more selfish like AI he would of scored more but I doubt been as good at everythign else.

KG was the best player on our 2008 championship squad at his age diminished level without being the teams clutch scorer.

[moiso]

Iverson may have dissapointed some people but I don't think he belongs on the bust list.  Glenn Robinson either.  He averaged 20pts and 6 rebounds for his career.  Someone like Adam Morrison was similar to Robinson in college- now there is a dissappointment.

[35Lewis]

I think some people missed the original post.  It's not asking for players that could have been it is asking for players that were on their way and then for some reason or another just didn't reach the top.

Roy has a good list and I think a guy like Vince Carter is definitely up there because he was supposed to supplant the Jordan legacy with the Carter legacy but he didn't put the work ethic in to be great.  Someone else mentioned Rasheed and this is true becasue he would have completely re-wrote the way the power forward position is played but he didn't have the drive to do so.  Jermaine O'neal is another that was supposed to be a superstar along with Antonio McDyess.

[Finkelskyhook]

Most people except us older guys won't know this name but it has to be LaRue Martin. He was a number one pick in 1972 and center from Loyola that gave UCLA's vaunted Bill Walton everything he could handle in their games in the early 70's.

He was a complete and utter NBA flop on a scale bigger than Darko and Kwame. So much of a flop that 2 years later Portland, the team that drafted him because he played so well versus college superstar player Bill Walton, again got the number one pick and ended up taking.....that's right....Bill Walton.

Martin was the first name that came to my mind too....Means we're old, Nick!

[Snakehead]

Jermaine O'neal is another that was supposed to be a superstar along with Antonio McDyess.

Antonio McDyess is a really big one, considering how much of a freak athlete he was.  When that disappeared he was still a good player but imagine if.

Jermaine had a few really good seasons for Indy, averaging 20/10, making All-Star teams and All NBA teams and earning Defensive Player of the year one year, so I wouldn't say he didn't live up to potential.  Maybe some expected more, but he was mostly on rebuilding teams or teams destined for failure (the Artest squad).

Both were hampered by injuries, McDyess earlier and Jermaine later.  O'Neals prime was definitely cut short.  He's still a pretty good big though.