Biggest fall from grace in NBA history?

[Celts Fan 92]

You all forgot about our good friend "career threatening wrist injury" Jermaine O' Neal; He should have just hung his jersey a long time ago.

his fall off came after da malace in da palace he was neva da same people forget he was a 20 & 10 playa injuries played a part but after a while dude was porcelain dishes fragile

[footey]

Gin Baker.

[indeedproceed]

Gin Baker.

Yeah, Vin Baker is right up there for sure.

[CelticG1]

Lamar Odom may very well fall onto this list in a few years.

The year before last 6th man of the year (was he an all star?) Possibly his best year of his career. The next year possibly worst year of his career.

If he doesn't bounce back this year he could be headed that way.

[RMO]

There are better candidates than him but just trying to think of one I haven't seen mentioned yet, Glenn Robinson?

Another mention might go to Shareef Abdur-Rahim.  Not that he would ever go down as an all time great but he might actually be remembered if he wasn't on such awful teams his ENTIRE career.

[Finkelskyhook]

There are better candidates than him but just trying to think of one I haven't seen mentioned yet, Glenn Robinson?

Another mention might go to Shareef Abdur-Rahim.  Not that he would ever go down as an all time great but he might actually be remembered if he wasn't on such awful teams his ENTIRE career.

Abdur-Rahim might not have been on such awful teams if he wasn't the los Nash of power forwards defensively.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Whatever happened to the intimidating defender known as Ben Wallace after he signed that rich contract to play for Chicago?

[Chris]

Whatever happened to the intimidating defender known as Ben Wallace after he signed that rich contract to play for Chicago?

He got old.  In fact, when you look at his career rebounding stats, you will see one of the best bell curves possible.  It took him a few years to get established.  Then he hit his prime and put up staggering numbers.  Then, after age 30, those numbers started dropping.

[Chelm]

Although he never played a NBA game it has to be Len Bias! There were numerous amount of exec's scouts who thought he would be better than Jordan & truly woulda been a threat to Jordan's legacy & greatness because of how stacked the Celtics were & the Lebron James type body paired with the skills & athleticism to play 3 positions 2-3-4 at an all-star future HOF level! That's a BIG fall from grace & boy were we cheated from seeing maybe 4 straight titles with the team he was coming to while seriously extending the window another 10-15 yrs. Coach K himself still to this day says he don't know who was better when he was witnessesing their greatness 1st hand.

Jordan didn't really have a legacy at that point.  He was just a physical specimen.

[Finkelskyhook]

You all forgot about our good friend "career threatening wrist injury" Jermaine O' Neal; He should have just hung his jersey a long time ago.

his fall off came after da malace in da palace he was neva da same people forget he was a 20 & 10 playa injuries played a part but after a while dude was porcelain dishes fragile

The dude tanked.  O'Neal made Mark Blount look like a gamer.

[Celtics4ever]

Jayson Williams is my pick.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Williams

Manslaughter charges

On February 14, 2002, 55-year-old limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was shot to death at Williams's estate in Alexandria Township, New Jersey.[4] Christofi had been hired to drive Williams's NBA charity team from a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania event to his mansion, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Trenton, New Jersey. Members of Williams's NBA charity basketball team were present at the scene. The New York Post reported that Williams was playing with a shotgun while giving a tour of his 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) home when the weapon fired, killing Christofi.

In April 2004, Williams was acquitted of the more serious charges against him, but the court's jury deadlocked on a charge of reckless manslaughter. He was convicted on four counts of trying to cover up the shooting.[5]

On April 21, 2006, a Hunterdon County appeals court ruled that Williams could be retried on a reckless manslaughter charge stemming from the shooting death of Christofi.[6][7] The court repeatedly delayed the retrial for a series of reasons, such as the State's 2008 appeal of a ruling relating to prosecutorial misconduct at the first trial.[8]

On January 11, 2010, Williams pled guilty to aggravated assault.[9] On February 23, 2010, he was finally sentenced to 5 years in prison with possible parole after 18 months.[10] Williams was subsequently moved on April 19, 2011[11] to Riker's Island to serve an additional 1 year sentence for a DUI,[12] of which he served 8 months and was released from custody on April 13, 2012.[13][14]

[Celts Fan 92]

There are better candidates than him but just trying to think of one I haven't seen mentioned yet, Glenn Robinson?

Another mention might go to Shareef Abdur-Rahim.  Not that he would ever go down as an all time great but he might actually be remembered if he wasn't on such awful teams his ENTIRE career.

his knees were terrible nd ended his career early he was on da spurs 03 roster tho. Shareef could play too under da radar versatile power forward he neva had a fall from grace he was just on wack teams then got injured

[Eja117]

The most obvious one we all missed was Len Bias

[greg_kite]

If the fall from grace is based on reputation more than actual skills you have to consider LeBron as well.

Before "the decision" he was not among the most hated.  Yes, he was immature and could never live up to Jordan but he definitely was at the top of the NBA.  In a flash he went from one of the most popular to THE most hated.

That hadn't happened so quickly since Randy Savage broke up the Mega Powers when he attacked the Hulkster!

[thirstyboots18]

Jayson Williams is my pick.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Williams

Manslaughter charges

On February 14, 2002, 55-year-old limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was shot to death at Williams's estate in Alexandria Township, New Jersey.[4] Christofi had been hired to drive Williams's NBA charity team from a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania event to his mansion, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Trenton, New Jersey. Members of Williams's NBA charity basketball team were present at the scene. The New York Post reported that Williams was playing with a shotgun while giving a tour of his 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) home when the weapon fired, killing Christofi.

In April 2004, Williams was acquitted of the more serious charges against him, but the court's jury deadlocked on a charge of reckless manslaughter. He was convicted on four counts of trying to cover up the shooting.[5]

On April 21, 2006, a Hunterdon County appeals court ruled that Williams could be retried on a reckless manslaughter charge stemming from the shooting death of Christofi.[6][7] The court repeatedly delayed the retrial for a series of reasons, such as the State's 2008 appeal of a ruling relating to prosecutorial misconduct at the first trial.[8]

On January 11, 2010, Williams pled guilty to aggravated assault.[9] On February 23, 2010, he was finally sentenced to 5 years in prison with possible parole after 18 months.[10] Williams was subsequently moved on April 19, 2011[11] to Riker's Island to serve an additional 1 year sentence for a DUI,[12] of which he served 8 months and was released from custody on April 13, 2012.[13][14]

TP.  Totally forgot about him.