Biggest Waste of Talent in Sports History?

[selurah]

Larry Bird

[hedxcold]

wow, i think jeff george looks younger now (or at least, looked younger a few years ago) then he did when he was drafted

[Gregatron]

The most convincing argument I have heard so far is for Dwight Gooden.

[Tom Ames]

John Daly gets no love? The guy did win a couple of majors, which is more than most pro golfers can claim. But still a waste of enormous talent not to have accomplished more.

[Chairman Wood]

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John Daly gets no love? The guy did win a couple of majors, which is more than most pro golfers can claim. But still a waste of enormous talent not to have accomplished more.

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Always thought of him as more of an overachiever if anything. Guy had problems but sobered up a few times and ran super hot for a PGA and a British. I just never viewed saw him as a underperforming talented player.

[Tom Ames]

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Always thought of him as more of an overachiever if anything. Guy had problems but sobered up a few times and ran super hot for a PGA and a British. I just never viewed saw him as a underperforming talented player.

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Perhaps you're forgetting the year he was contending for the British Open and seemed to be going into DT's during the final round.

I really don't think he's the most egregious example of squandered talent, but he's certainly worthy of honorable mention.

[Max Raker]

LOL at Jordan. You could make a much better case for the exact opposite, he was the person who got the most out of his abilities. His mental strength is what set him apart from everybody else.

[Clarkmeister]

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John Daly gets no love? The guy did win a couple of majors, which is more than most pro golfers can claim. But still a waste of enormous talent not to have accomplished more.

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Daly's a pretty good call.

[Triumph36]

I think Alexandre Daigle is not the right answer - I don't think Daigle would've been a great player even if he did care. His skates were NHL speed but his hands never caught up. It wasn't like this guy was making circus moves but wasn't showing up for games - he just never took his game to the next level.

Daigle did come back and enjoy one 'successful' season in Minnesota.

A way better answer to this in the NHL is someone like Petr Klima or Viktor Kozlov. Klima's personal problems stopped him - Kozlov has unbelievable skills but doesn't seem to know what to do with them.

[thedarknight]

[ QUOTE ]
John Daly gets no love? The guy did win a couple of majors, which is more than most pro golfers can claim. But still a waste of enormous talent not to have accomplished more.

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Amazing that Daly even won 2 majors. He should be someone who's exceeded expectations, especially considering his personal problems.