Biggest Waste of Talent Poll:

[Dudd]

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clarett should be on this no doubt

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He was a fat slow running back. Even if his attitude problem didn't exist, would he really be any better than Ron Dayne?

And Lindros wasn't a big waste, he averaged over a point a game despite having massive concussion issues.

[jeramy576]

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Grant Hill came out of Duke, you shoulda known he was too gay/fragile to play in the NBA.

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This has to be a joke.

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Nah, thats pure truth. Look at all the duke players who've came out most have been failures.HAHA. And yes I'm a Tarheel

[72off]

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And Lindros wasn't a big waste, he averaged over a point a game despite having massive concussion issues.

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He could of been an all-time great, but he never really had the mentality for it, concussions and other stuff aside.

If guys like Tyson and Strawberry can be on this list, I don't see why Lindros is out of place.

[dlk9s]

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Why is Len Bias getting so many votes?

I never saw him play, but I can't imagine that he was so incredibly good you can say he's the biggest waste of talent without ever playing in the nba. Like if Carmelo died before he got to play, I doubt he would win this poll. It's just that the story of Bias has been romanticized over the years that people thought he was going to be the next Jordan or something. Someone like Richard Dumas would be a better pick.

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bias was an amazing talent; i think he's one of the few legit names on this list.

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Yet he wasn't picked ahead of Brad Daugherty.

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And Wade wasn't picked ahead of Darko.

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And Jordan wasn't picked ahead of Bowie.

BTW, Daugherty was a very good player. Sometimes teams pick based on *gasp* need.

As others have stated, Bias was a waste of talent because everyone who coached him, played with him, and watched him play felt that the sky was the limit with him. And he snorted it all, and his life, away.

Just because he never played in the pros doesn't mean his talent wasn't wasted. What would the cutoff be? Would he need to play in the pros for a year before dying? Two? Three?

That said, I'm sure his legend has grown since his death, but I still think he merits inclusion on this list.

I was actually thinking, in a similar vein, that the University of Virginia's Anthony Poindexter was a huge waste of talent. He was the best defensive player I ever saw play college football (no, I'm not old enough to have seen LT) and he got both knees torn up on freak hits before he graduated. He was drafted at the end of the 7th round and played maybe two seasons, barely ever playing.

[Victor]

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" the Suns received a top point guard (better than Mark Price)"

rofl.

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Newsflash - Kevin Johnson was better than Mark Price.

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cavs had a far better chance of winning a title with price than kj that year. cavs were an older team that had a small window at that time.

[slothinator]

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" the Suns received a top point guard (better than Mark Price)"

rofl.

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Newsflash - Kevin Johnson was better than Mark Price.

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cavs had a far better chance of winning a title with price than kj that year. cavs were an older team that had a small window at that time.

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I'm not disagreeing with this. That trade was a "let's win now" trade, but they gave up too much to get Nance. I was living in Phoenix when this trade happened, and I remember all of the Suns fans boo-hooing that their hero got traded. It didn't last long once they saw Johnson play, and by the middle of next season it was "Larry Who?". Especially when you factor in what West, Corbin, and later Majerle meant to those early 90's Suns teams.

[rubbrband]

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I was actually thinking, in a similar vein, that the University of Virginia's Anthony Poindexter was a huge waste of talent. He was the best defensive player I ever saw play college football (no, I'm not old enough to have seen LT) and he got both knees torn up on freak hits before he graduated. He was drafted at the end of the 7th round and played maybe two seasons, barely ever playing.

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QFT he was sick!

[kidcolin]

I think you're giving too much credit too West, and not enough credit to Mark Price or Larry Nance. Or Daugherty. He was a good center, and the best player from that draft to see any NBA time.

KJ was better than Price, but not by a whole lot. They put up a competitive team in the east against the likes of Jordan's Bulls and Isiah's Pistons. Championships are hard to come by. They made a push and came up short. There have been many, many, many worst deals than the Nance one. They paid a little more than value, but sometimes you have to.

[slothinator]

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I think you're giving too much credit too West, and not enough credit to Mark Price or Larry Nance. Or Daugherty. He was a good center, and the best player from that draft to see any NBA time.

KJ was better than Price, but not by a whole lot. They put up a competitive team in the east against the likes of Jordan's Bulls and Isiah's Pistons. Championships are hard to come by. They made a push and came up short. There have been many, many, many worst deals than the Nance one. They paid a little more than value, but sometimes you have to.

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I'll admit that my view of the trade is slightly askew as I was living in Phoenix at the time. That trade (along with the Tom Chambers signing) turned the entire franchise around. And after looking at his numbers, I'm not really giving Nance enough credit for the player he was. I had always remembered him as being "the best player on a bad team"; kind of like Mitch Richmond with the Kings.

I still think taking Daugherty ahead of Bias was a bad decision (although it obviously worked out better for them) and that they gave up too much for Nance. But I do see your point that they were in "win now" mode, and those Cleveland teams were very good. They just couldn't handle the Pistons and the Bulls, like you said. Thanks for pointing out to me that Nance was indeed a very good player, and not just a slam dunk champ / best player on a bad team.

[shane88888]

The answer to this question is Strawberry, and it's not even close.

Anyway, this poll is weak because waste of talent is not the same thing as unrealized potential.

Letting drugs destroy your career = waste of talent. And unlike Bias, Strawberry had proved he could dominate at the highest level, and threw it all away.

Having an injury problem is unrealized potential, not a waste of talent. It's a combination of bad luck and bad genes, unless your injury results from willful, mind-blowing stupidity (think Jay Williams, almost Ben Roethlisberger). In that case, then I'd consider injury a waste of talent.

Throwing your career away due to off-field behavior is a waste of talent (soon-to-be Michael Vick). Getting locked up on a very, very suspect rape charge (Mike Tyson), is a waste of talent, though that instance wasn't entirely on Tyson.

So:
Bo Jackson - N/A due to injuries. Anyway, he was on the decline when his hip went.
Darryl Strawberry - #1 all-time waste of talent
Doc Gooden - #2 (on this list at least)
Ricky Williams - #4
Grant Hill - unrealized potential
Ryan Leaf - How is he a waste of talent? He never was a good NFL quarterback. He's not a waste of talent or unrealized potential, he's simply a bust - another prospect who didn't pan out at the highest level.
Len Bias - #3 Celts fans are still traumatized. This puts him ahead of Williams.
Mike Tyson - Can't definitively be called a waste of talent. He was locked up on a BS charge in his prime; hard to gauge the rest of his career objectively.