Ranked: The greatest wasted talents in NBA history

The NBA is a tough league to join because of the extreme talent on every team. However, some players destined to be great were stopped in their tracks for many reasons. Here they are.

Brandon Roy exploded onto the NBA scene after being drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2006. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year award in 2007, was named a three-time All-Star (2008-2010), and was an All-NBA member twice. However, he only managed five seasons.

However, during the 2011 NBA lockout season, at the age of 27, Roy had to retire from basketball because his knees had regenerated so much—he lacked cartilage between the bones in both knees. Roy averaged 18.8 points before reaching his prime. Who knows how good he could have been?

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Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons was billed as a Hall of Fame talent after being drafted first in 2016, but due to constant injuries and choosing to sit out due to being unhappy in Philadelphia, Simmons is a shadow of the player that Phili drafted.

According to StatMuse, Simmons averaged around 16 points and eight assists in his first three NBA seasons. Since 2022, he has played less than 80 games in two and a half seasons and has averaged 5.4 points and 6.6 assists this season. Can he return to his best?

The Houston Rockets thought they had found their savior when they picked up Steve Francis in the 1999 NBA Draft, even nicknaming him 'Steve Franchise.'

All started well for Francis, who was named an NBA All-Star in 2002, 2003, and 2004 and named the Rookie of the Year in 2000. However, following a trade from Houston in 2004, Francis's poor defensive ability and attitude overshadowed his performances. He showed a lack of killer instinct and moved to China in 2010.

According to The Richest, Derrick Coleman averaged 16 points and nine rebounds during his NBA career, so can that be a waste of talent? After being drafted first in the 1990 NBA Draft, Coleman was billed to become the most incredible power forward ever.

Coleman was compared to Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, only with the additional ability to shoot three-point shots. He made the 1994 All-Star game, but his injuries and attitude problem made him a solid player, not one of the best.

After being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2008, Derrick Rose looked like an unstoppable force, winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award in 2009, having three All-Star selections, and becoming the youngest player to win the NBA MVP award (22 years, 7 months).

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Rose was on track to become one of the all-time greats in the NBA, but an ACL injury in 2012 stopped his progression to the top. Between 2012 and 2016, constant knee injuries limited Rose's availability and production. Later in his career, he changed his game from high-flying dunks to being a consistent role player.

Greg Oden was the Portland Trail Blazers' first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. However, after being touted as the next best big man in the NBA, Oden played only three seasons due to some serious injury troubles.

Oden injured his right knee in September 2007 and missed the whole season before more niggly injuries stopped him from making any real progress. In 2010, he injured his left knee and missed the entire 2010-11 season before leaving the NBA and moving to China.

Michael Jordan saw Kwame Brown as the next big thing in the NBA after he drafted him for the Washington Wizards as the first pick in the 2001 draft. MJ pressure is a different kind of pressure, especially when you're drafted out of high school, and Brown couldn't deal with it.

Despite being explicitly picked by the GOAT, Brown was a glorified role player for 12 seasons in the NBA. According to ESPN, he bounced around the league and averaged 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Len Bias was labelled the next Michael Jordan during his college career with Maryland. He scored 2,149 points and won the ACC Player of the Year award twice. The Boston Celtics selected him second in 1986 before tragedy struck.

Bias was on the verge of becoming an NBA superstar, but two days after being drafted, Bias was found dead after a cocaine overdose. Bias wasn't a bad person; it was just one bad mistake that ruined his life.

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