Fansided

5 modern-day NBA careers that ended too quickly

By David Rouben

Sep 09, 2016; Springfield, MA, USA; Yao Ming speaks during the 2016 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony at Springfield Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 09, 2016; Springfield, MA, USA; Yao Ming speaks during the 2016 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony at Springfield Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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4. Penny Hardaway

After plenty of injury-plagued seasons, Derrick Rose has been unfavorably compared to Penny Hardaway. While he has a chance to regain his form with the Knicks, last season was one of his healthiest in a long time, and it was far from a productive one.

But Hardaway was often compared to Magic Johnson because his size and speed were incredible for a point guard. And while he was paired with Shaq in Orlando, he was a premier talent at the point guard position. He’s also one of the best players in Magic history, having been on one of Orlando’s two teams that made it to the NBA Finals.

But once Shaq left the Magic, Hardaway was forced to shoulder a heavy load. His increased workload was what led to the first of many injury-plagued seasons, and although he was still productive in 1997, averaging 20.5 points and 5.6 assists, but he never got to 20 points per game after that.

He arrived in Phoenix with a lot of optimism, but his injury problems wouldn’t go away. In 2001, he was limited to four games because of two microfracture surgeries on his left knee. And when he did play, flashes of the great player he was were there, but they were just flashes.

Ironically, Hardaway’s last NBA season was spent in Miami where he was reunited with Shaq. But he was waived midseason to make room for Luke Jackson, which tells you all you need to know about how much they really coveted him. While Hardaway didn’t make life easy on himself by attempting to come back early from devastating injuries, at least we’ll always have those first few years of him and Shaq together in Orlando.

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