That’s a question I saw on twitter, and I thought it’d be fun for us to discuss that here. Off the top of my head, here’s my list:
1. Larry Bird. He may not have had major injuries, but I just wonder how much better he would have been if he were completely healthy, especially in the latter part of his career.
2. Bo Jackson. I would have liked to have seen how far he could have gone.
3. Bill Walton. Had he been totally healthy, there would have been some epic battles with Kareem, Moses, Parrish/McHale,and Hakeem.
I know I’m probably missing some obvious ones, but I’ll stop there.
Bo Jackson was the second person to come to mind. The first was Darryl Strawberry. But that’s not my list yet. I want to think about it some more.
Is it cheating to say Roy Campanella, Darryl Kile, Thurman Munson, or Jose Fernandez?
I think those athletes whose careers have been shortened by death should count.
(I didn’t realize Strawberry was injured…or are you thinking of drug abuse? I guess that could count, too.)
I agree Bo Jackson is a great choice.
Weird but the first person that came to my mind was Derrick Rose. I’m not sure why, but I think he could have been an all-time great.
Derrick Rose is a solid choice, in my opinion, especially if you just limit it to basketball. Len Bias might have been another one.