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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
SACRAMENTO, CA – NOVEMBER 19: Peja Stojakovic #16 of the Sacramento Kings stands next to his teammates Chris Webber #4 and Mike Bibby #10 during the game against the Memphis Gizzlies at Arco Arena on November 19, 2004 in Sacramento, California. The Kings won 107-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) /

14. Chris Webber

Chris Webber‘s injuries weren’t as consistently intrusive as some of the guys on this list, but they were as ill-timed as his infamous timeout during the national championship game at Michigan.

Webber played only 15 games for the Washington Bullets in his third NBA season due to injury problems, but the biggest what-if of his NBA career didn’t come until after he and the Sacramento Kings had already established themselves as perennial title contenders.

Everyone remembers that memorable seven-game series against the Lakers in the 2002 Western Conference Finals, but the Kings were among the league’s title favorites again in 2003…until Webber sustained a non-contact knee injury in the conference semifinals. Sacramento would lose the series and Webber wouldn’t return to action until there were 23 games left in the 2003-04 season.

Despite missing Webber for so long, the Kings finished only three games behind the 1-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the standings…which hurt when they had to play Game 7 of the conference semifinals on the road against those same Wolves and lost. What if Webber had been healthy in 2003? What if he had led the Kings to the No. 1 seed in 2004 and they had home-court advantage throughout the playoffs?

After so many Game 7 heartbreaks, that promising Kings core was dismantled and Webber’s career ended four seasons later. He never got close to winning a title again and after that knee surgery in 2003, his game was never the same. Webber still had a Hall of Fame caliber career as one of the greatest passing bigs in NBA history, but it’s easy to wonder what might have been if not for that knee injury.

Next: No. 13