Knicks · Who is the one NBA player that you think wasted their career. (page 2)

JesseDark wrote:Not necessarily due to injury but just lazy or poor attitude.

That player for me is Shawn Kemp.

(Stole this from one of my FB buddies.)

Shawn Kemp wasn't lazy in Seattle.... he got into a depression in Cleveland and couldn't shake it. He looks great now. Be lost that weight last time I saw him

Allanfan20 wrote:Eddie Curry

Was content with getting a check... now he was lazy and going through the motions. If not for Isiah Thomas putting confidence in him he would have faded out the league slot sooner

Jerome James was crazy... he had all the physical gifts, he even had the skills. He truly just did not give a damn. Isiah paid him and he actively retired for the next 5 years on the bench

EnySpree wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:Eddie Curry

Was content with getting a check... now he was lazy and going through the motions. If not for Isiah Thomas putting confidence in him he would have faded out the league slot sooner

Isiah gave him too much confidence and also enabled him. Curry didn’t improve any of his bad habits.

Nyc legend Lloyd Daniels should have been one of the best. Dude was an addict all his life. He managed to finally get some playing time in san Antonio but he was a shell of himself.

Roy Tarpley had it all too. He should be a hall of Famer. Again those drugs took the 80s by storm. So many what ifs

EnySpree wrote:Nyc legend Lloyd Daniels should have been one of the best. Dude was an addict all his life. He managed to finally get some playing time in san Antonio but he was a shell of himself.

Roy Tarpley had it all too. He should be a hall of Famer. Again those drugs took the 80s by storm. So many what ifs

I thought about "Sweet pea." I heard he was a beast, but never saw him play. Earl "The Goat" Manigault is another name you hear along with Richard "Pee Wee" Kirkland. Connie Hawkins got a raw deal and was unable to showcas his talent. You could fill a roster for a .500 NBA team with New York Street all legends.

jrodmc wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Vin Baker, Lenny Bias, and Derrick Coleman are the first name that comes to my mind

Gilbert Arenas is another name... I think people forget how good he was before he just went batshit crazy

Knicks that come to mind are Steve Francis, Steph Marbury, (not necessarily with the Knicks) Latrell Spreewell, Sugar Ray

Sprewell was an All-Star, made it to the Finals and was perennially in the playoffs. Choking an azzhole and fiscal irresponsibility doesn't exactly equate to a wasted career.

He's one of my favorite Knicks of all time but you can't really be arguing that choking a coach didn't materially affect his career? We were able to get him for a cheap price for a reason and he was shown the door for a reason. I think he deserved way more ASGs and accolades than he got because he 'choked an azzhole'. Yeah that might be accurate but I mean that's kinda of dismissive of assault, no

SupremeCommander wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Vin Baker, Lenny Bias, and Derrick Coleman are the first name that comes to my mind

Gilbert Arenas is another name... I think people forget how good he was before he just went batshit crazy

Knicks that come to mind are Steve Francis, Steph Marbury, (not necessarily with the Knicks) Latrell Spreewell, Sugar Ray

Sprewell was an All-Star, made it to the Finals and was perennially in the playoffs. Choking an azzhole and fiscal irresponsibility doesn't exactly equate to a wasted career.

He's one of my favorite Knicks of all time but you can't really be arguing that choking a coach didn't materially affect his career? We were able to get him for a cheap price for a reason and he was shown the door for a reason. I think he deserved way more ASGs and accolades than he got because he 'choked an azzhole'. Yeah that might be accurate but I mean that's kinda of dismissive of assault, no

spree was in the league for over 10 seasons when the avg was 4 to 5 yrs. Definitely one of my favorite knick players

Eddy Curry and Tim Thomas had soooooo much potential to be super stars and didn't even make it to above avg

knicks1248 wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Vin Baker, Lenny Bias, and Derrick Coleman are the first name that comes to my mind

Gilbert Arenas is another name... I think people forget how good he was before he just went batshit crazy

Knicks that come to mind are Steve Francis, Steph Marbury, (not necessarily with the Knicks) Latrell Spreewell, Sugar Ray

Sprewell was an All-Star, made it to the Finals and was perennially in the playoffs. Choking an azzhole and fiscal irresponsibility doesn't exactly equate to a wasted career.

He's one of my favorite Knicks of all time but you can't really be arguing that choking a coach didn't materially affect his career? We were able to get him for a cheap price for a reason and he was shown the door for a reason. I think he deserved way more ASGs and accolades than he got because he 'choked an azzhole'. Yeah that might be accurate but I mean that's kinda of dismissive of assault, no

spree was in the league for over 10 seasons when the avg was 4 to 5 yrs. Definitely one of my favorite knick players

Eddy Curry and Tim Thomas had soooooo much potential to be super stars and didn't even make it to above avg

Yeah, I agree with you about Sprewell. I think him and Melo hit their potential and stayed there for a good amount of time. Melo wasn’t a team player and didn’t play much defense and Spree wasted his money away but their NBA careers were not wastes at all.

Tim Thomas is a good one as well. Even Keith Van Horn could be mentioned here.

SupremeCommander wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Vin Baker, Lenny Bias, and Derrick Coleman are the first name that comes to my mind

Gilbert Arenas is another name... I think people forget how good he was before he just went batshit crazy

Knicks that come to mind are Steve Francis, Steph Marbury, (not necessarily with the Knicks) Latrell Spreewell, Sugar Ray

Sprewell was an All-Star, made it to the Finals and was perennially in the playoffs. Choking an azzhole and fiscal irresponsibility doesn't exactly equate to a wasted career.

He's one of my favorite Knicks of all time but you can't really be arguing that choking a coach didn't materially affect his career? We were able to get him for a cheap price for a reason and he was shown the door for a reason. I think he deserved way more ASGs and accolades than he got because he 'choked an azzhole'. Yeah that might be accurate but I mean that's kinda of dismissive of assault, no

Not arguing that it didn't materially affect his career. The thread is about wasted careers. So despite being one of your favorite Knicks, you maintain Spree was a waste? Everything else he accomplished in the game still equates to a wasted career in your mind?

Yes, he definitely was lacking something mentally, but did he waste a career? No. Maybe having a more calm, collected personality would have made his career less troublesome and not have so many bonehead personal decisions involved in it. It may also might have made him into a mediocre player without the mindset to succeed the way he did. We're talking about someone who was compared to MJ at the highest level possible. Dueling basket for basket with Duncan in the Finals.

Maybe you define waste differently.

jrodmc wrote:

FrenchKnicks wrote:Melo a HOF ? You must be kidding right ?

You're kidding about kidding right? tkf has returned, apparently. Guess he's renting other login ID's.

Basketball reference is kidding too.
Hall of Fame Probability
98.2%
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/hof_prob.html

I would say there's honestly a 100% chance he makes the HOF at this point. There isn't even a fraction of a chance he doesn't make it. And it's almost certainly first ballot.

When I first moved to Rochester I was good friends with a guy that grew up playing with Bill Willoughby. He raved about him. I never saw him play but I talked b-ball with this guy all the time and went to a Knick game with him. Chris Washburn was a guy I thought would be a star. I thought John Wallace had a shot coming out of Cuse.

Jrod is right, have to look a "Wasted" vs "Not lived up to potential.
Michael Ray might have been better than Magic Johnson. Not my words, that was scouts back then. Magic played on great Mich State team and his laker teams was stacked with HOF's. Not taking anything away from him. Not here to argue, but Sugar Ray was the poster child for "Waste. The talent was their. Bias was tragic.
David Thompson was incredible and he proved it at the highest level. Cocaine got him. If chemical dependency and addiction are "wastes", might throw Pete Maravich in there.
He suffered depression and alcohol was a problem. His knee injury just killed his spirit. He was empty without hoop.
Dwight Howard still had a great career but he could have had had a shot at mt rushmore of hoops if he kept developing. Is being an asshole a waste? He was that too.
Eddy never had the passion for the game. Not a waste in my book if you never had it.
Spree was not a waste. He had a great career.
Connie Hawkins was not a waste. He got shafted but he was the MVP of the ABA and made all star games. He played into his 30's and succeeded.
Spencer Haywood did make HOF. His Olympic showcase and ABA dominance put him there. His NBA career cut short to cocaine. We saw it happen in NY.

Nalod, Curry never had the passion. You are right and I remember Curry admitting that himself. He was given the contract though and that contract was absolutely a waste. So were the assets we had to give up for hum. He also had all of the ability in the world. Maybe he didn’t like his job like most Americans, but he was certainly in a position to be much better. He never took advantage of his gifts. He never played to his contract. He never got better. He never got in shape. It was a bad look on him and Isiah.

Wasted career.

Don’t ever forget this gem on Curry. When Marbury had that completely stupid interview where he shouted out “NOW we have a beast to throw the ball down low to!!”.... Curry was still on the team and was supposed to be that beast. His own teammates knew he was unreliable, to be nice.

Allanfan20 wrote:Don’t ever forget this gem on Curry. When Marbury had that completely stupid interview where he shouted out “NOW we have a beast to throw the ball down low to!!”.... Curry was still on the team and was supposed to be that beast. His own teammates knew he was unreliable, to be nice.

Wasn't that "we got youth-ier" moment? Marbles in his prime!

Knixkik wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

FrenchKnicks wrote:Melo a HOF ? You must be kidding right ?

You're kidding about kidding right? tkf has returned, apparently. Guess he's renting other login ID's.

Basketball reference is kidding too.
Hall of Fame Probability
98.2%
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/hof_prob.html

I would say there's honestly a 100% chance he makes the HOF at this point. There isn't even a fraction of a chance he doesn't make it. And it's almost certainly first ballot.

I'm not a Melo fan but saying 1) that his career was wasted and 2) that he won't make the hall of fame, exposes whoever's saying that as totally bonkers.

EnySpree wrote:

JesseDark wrote:Not necessarily due to injury but just lazy or poor attitude.

That player for me is Shawn Kemp.

(Stole this from one of my FB buddies.)

Shawn Kemp wasn't lazy in Seattle.... he got into a depression in Cleveland and couldn't shake it. He looks great now. Be lost that weight last time I saw him

What I recall is that he came back after the lockout overweight and with a substance problem. He was totally different player with the weight on.

Melo top 25 points, 2 gold metals and an NCAA chip and MVP. First ballot.
He might not be a great Knick, but he has had a great career.

He wasn't a disaster but I would have liked to see what an in shape, good attitude Derrick Coleman could have achieved.

How could I forget Lenny Cooke! Darius Miles also comes to mind.