20 NBA Hall-of-Fame careers that were cut short by injury

NBA Hall-of-Fame career cut short: Yao Ming

At this point in our list, we pivot from college basketball standouts to players who accrued much of their Hall of Fame candidacy playing internationally before coming to the NBA. The most famous of these players is Yao Ming, whose popularity in China helped to propel him to an international icon.

Yao was a native of Shanghai, China and played for the local basketball team, the Shanghai Sharks, as a teenager. He won league MVP in 2001 and a championship in 2002. He was also a linchpin of the Chinese National Team in international competition, winning MVP of the Asia Cup three times. His resume without even considering his NBA career is impressive.

Drafted first overall in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, Yao Ming played eight seasons in the NBA, missing large chunks of time in four of those seasons due to injury. Such was his popularity upon entering the league, however, that he was selected to an All-Star roster in all eight of those years, including his final season when he played in just five games.

Yao was absolutely a good player while in the league, but his eight All-Star appearances were due to his international popularity, not merit; when healthy he was an All-Star, but Yao was unfortunately not healthy. In each of his mostly healthy years, he was named to an All-NBA team, good support of his merit, but the highest he ever finished in MVP voting was 12th.

If Yao stayed healthy, perhaps he shows the league just how consistently great he could have been.