There are a ton of “what if’s” in every single sport.   You just never know what kind of player a person could have been had this not happened or that not happened.   Usually the what if scenarios come in the form of injuries that prevented said player from achieving the potential they could have achieved.

It kind of sucks to talk about but a debate is a debate.   So anyway, here are 6 NBA players whose careers will or have come up short….

Baron Davis

Surprisingly enough he’s only been an All-Star twice.   When dominant Davis is easily a top 5 point guard.  At least he is stats wise and playoff caliber wise.   The dude was scorching in his only playoff appearances and put up ridiculous stats in his healthy years.  Unfortunately Davis really hasn’t had any healthy years and that’ll be the difference between a good career and one I think could have been hall of fame.  Hopefully he’ll do some damage with the Clippers but it’s unlikely.

Penny Hardaway

Remember that Hardaway was nearly as hyped as Shaq at the beginning of his career.  And let’s not forget the guy had 4 all star appearances and was a dominant force in Orlando.  He was labeled the next Magic Johnson remember?   Oh how things get forgotten.   Just as he was entering his prime, injuries messed him up and he was never the same.   He showed signs in Phoenix but nothing matriculated.

Tracy McGrady

We’re talking a potential top 50 of ALL time player here.  When McGrady was in his prime in Orlando there weren’t many guards as good as him.  At the time I would say that Kobe Bryant and he were the top 2 and everyone else was a notch below.   He’s still only 33 years old but his knees are probably made of foam at this point.   It’s  shame.  This is a 25, 5, and 5 guy.  Oh well.

Grant Hill

Everyone knows the Grant Hill story and it sucks.   He’s still gutting it out in the league but if there was ever a modern day Oscar Robertson, Grant Hill had it.  Look at his stats in his first 7 seasons.  They are ridiculous.   Sucks.

Yao Ming

Most big men suffer from bad feet and it sucks that Ming isn’t an exception.   He was clearly the predecessor to Shaq and it looks like now Ming may never play again.  It’s rare to have a 20-10 guy at the center position and Ming was certainly a hall of fame caliber player when healthy.  Oh well.

Michael Redd

He was about as close to a modern day Bernard King as you can get.   The guy was just pure scoring.   He had flashes of brilliance with a couple of  50 point efforts and he seemed to score whenever he wanted.  Now Redd has all but disappeared from the league.