1. Maurice Stokes
You might not know who Maurice Stokes is but trust us when we say that he was a beast. Playing for the Royals in the mid to late 50s, Stokes was a double double machine, averaging over 16 points and 17 rebounds a game in his short three year career. During the last game of the 57-58 season, Stokes hit his head on the floor after being fouled on a layup attempt. He did return to the game and finished with 24 points and 19 rebounds. A few days later, he suited up for the first game of their Playoffs run and notched 12 points and 15 rebounds. It was after that game, on the flight back home, where Stokes went into a seizure and became completely paralyzed. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy which resulted in permanent damage to his motor skills.
2. Sam Bowie
In the 1984 NBA draft, two players were drafted before Michael Jordan. The first one, Hakeem Olajuwon, will be remembered as one of the best centers in NBA history. The other, Sam Bowie, will forever be the poster boy for the phrase NBA draft bust. Bowie was a promising big man and was actually posting decent, non-bust numbers of 10 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game. But he came with a history of leg problems and that resurfaced during his sophomore year where he broke his left tibia. He came back for this third year and broke his right tibia in the 5th game of the season. He then suffered a hairline fracture on that same tibia during the pregame warmups for a preseason game for what was supposed to be his 4th season in the league.
3. Brandon Roy
To us, Brandon Roy is the Tim Duncan of shooting guards. He was a bit boring to watch but his fundamentals were sound. He didn’t wow you with high flying dunks or super acrobatic shots but you wouldn't be able to find a weakness in his game, either. He was supposed to be one of the best guards of his generation. But continuous injuries left him with virtually no cartilage between the bones of both knees which forced him to retire at the age of 26 years old. He did come back a year after but only for five games.
4. Ralph Sampson
7 foot 4 inch Ralph Sampson was a superstar even before he entered the NBA, winning three straight College National Player of the Year awards. He was probably the first notable center who played with surprising mobility and agility. It was not surprising to see him bring up the ball on a fast break and finish with the dunk on one possession and back you down for a skyhook on the next. In his first three years in the league, Sampson had monster numbers, averaging over 20 points, 10 rebonds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal per game. His shot against the Lakers in Game 5 of the 1986 Western Conference Finals will be remembered as the most iconic of his initially good run. Sampson hurt his knee in his 4th season and came back to playing prematurely which ended up hurting his career. He didn’t play a full season after that year and continued to have problems with his knee and, eventually, his back.
5. Brad Daugherty
The Cavaliers have had the first overall pick in the NBA draft six separate times. And one of those times, the Cavs drafted Brad Daugherty from the University of North Carolina. Daugherty was one of the best big men to ever suit up for North Carolina and that actually showed in his playing years for Cleveland. In his relatively short career, he put up a decent stat line of 19 points and almost 10 rebounds per game and was actually Cleveland’s all-time scoring and rebounding leader until LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas broke those records in 2008. Unfortunately for him, he injured his back with surgeons removing two herniated disks in his spine forcing him to retire. Daugherty played his last NBA game at only 28 years old.