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NBA Injuries: 20 Stars Who Deserve A Career Do-Over

By Gerald Bourguet

AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Detroit Pistons player Grant Hill (L) drives around Indiana Pacers player Chris Mullin during the first half of their game 07 February at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons beat the Pacers 107-98. AFP PHOTO/JEFF KOWALSKY (Photo credit should read JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images)
AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Detroit Pistons player Grant Hill (L) drives around Indiana Pacers player Chris Mullin during the first half of their game 07 February at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons beat the Pacers 107-98. AFP PHOTO/JEFF KOWALSKY (Photo credit should read JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images) /
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NBA Injuries
KING HOLDS COURT Knicks’ shelved captain, Bernard King, ponders question during Garden news conference concerning rehabilitation of his injured knee. King said he’s confident he’ll be an NBA star again, but refused to speculate on whether he’ll be able to make his return before the end of this season. (Photo by Gene Kappock/NY Daily News via Getty Images) /

9. Bernard King

You know what’s scary? Bernard King is a Hall of Famer, universally renowned for his innate scoring ability…and he might’ve had an even better career if not for nagging injury problems.

A four-time All-NBA selection and four-time NBA All-Star, King was an absolute scoring machine for the New Jersey Nets, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Washington Bullets. It didn’t take long for King to establish himself as one of the league’s best scorers, averaging 24.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his first season en route to All-Rookie Team honors.

During the 1984-85 season, King posted a monstrous 32.9 points per game 53 percent shooting, but what’s terrifying about that figure is that he did it while making a grand total of one three-pointer for the entire season. But because of his speed on the fast break, slashing to the rim and releasing his jump shot, King was virtually unstoppable on the nights he started heating up.

But even with his 60-point game and his career averages to 22.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, Bernard King’s undeniable coolness couldn’t overcome a horrible knee injury in the middle of his prime that included a torn ACL, torn knee cartilage and a broken leg bone. He missed the entire 1985-86 season, just after posting a career high in scoring the season before.

At that point, no player had ever returned from a knee injury of that magnitude, and even after returning for six games to close out the 1986-87 season, King was released by the Knicks.

This story ends on a happy note (sort of, since King only played 32 games over his final two seasons), with King averaging 22.0 points per game over his last four seasons with the Bullets. But he played 32 games or less in five different seasons, so if he hadn’t been so injury-prone, how many scoring milestones would have his name inscribed on them?

Next: No. 8