For every recreation league and weekend gym rat, it’s pure joy to watch NBA games and gawk at the sheer athleticism and how easy the league’s superstars make the game look.
Off-balance turnaround jumpers, long three-pointers with the shot clock winding down, killer crossovers, leaps for rebounds, and dunks that seem to simply freeze time—it can make ordinary basketball folks wonder what it would be like just to have those skills for just one Saturday at the local gym.
That’s why it’s that much more frustrating to watch certain players with a myriad of hoop skills and blessed with speed, agility, and size not realize their full potential and let it all go to waste. That downfall can come from a variety of reasons: injuries, contract situations, dislike for the coach/organization, or just plain stupidity.
Here is a list of players that make me shake my head and hurl obscenities at the television in disappointment each time for one reason or another when I see this list of characters play.
10. Wally Szczerbiak, Cleveland Cavaliers
His inclusion on this list is mainly due to some stupid owner or general manager who gave him a gaudy contract extension. Wally World, who was averaging 6.4 PPG and 1.3 RPG entering play this week, will make almost as much as LeBron James and nearly $5 million more than Mo Williams this year.
This for a guy who cannot create his own shot, isn’t a great passer, and doesn’t play a lick of defense or rebound. Yes he made the All-Star team one year while playing with KG in Minnesota, but come on, each time I see him on the tube it makes me cringe when I think how horribly overpaid he is.
9. Erick Dampier, Dallas Mavericks
Granted, some of this vitriol comes from the fact he often dogged it for my Golden State Warriors, but Dampier is the epitome of an inconsistent player. In his 2004 contract year with the Warriors, the guy averaged 12 PPG and 12 RPG and showed flashes of promise. He has yet to get back to those numbers, and he will make $11 million this year, topping out at $13 million in 2010.
While Dampier doesn’t have a great post game or defend well against great centers, he does run the floor well. But I always get the feeling he could average more points if he sprinted hard on every possession, especially in the run-and-gun Mavs’ offense. Let’s not forget he once lost his starting spot to DeSagana Diop.
8. Drew Gooden, Chicago Bulls
comments (22) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
I don't know how you can say that Marbury, Artest, Davis, or Francis is frustrating. Unless you mean injury wise.
The reason why Marbury was traded to the Knicks is because D'Antoni didn't like him. It wasn't like Mabury was demanding a trade to go to his hometown team the Knicks, it was D'Antoni wanting to go in a different direction. Even then Marbury took the Suns to the playoffs.
Yes, he had some maturity issues and wanted more money when he was in Minnesotta and it almost made Kevin McHale quit. Maybe he should have quit the T-Wolves because he's made more mistakes to last a lifetime as the GM of the T-Wolves. Mabury also lead the Knicks to the playoffs in his first year.
Marbury has been injured as of late. He wanted to play for his hometown team. It hadn't got as well as expected part of it was due to owner James Dolan handing out cash like it's candy and not actually doing anything to impove the team but instead Dolan managed to make the team worse. Marbury though still manage to keep his stats up and if you look at his career he has better numbers than Steve Nash.
I guess you could say that Steve Francis is frustrating. I don't see how signing a 2.5 million dollar contract with the Rockets was stealing. Francis at 6'3" could get you rebounds, he could score, he could drive on anyone, he was a good passer, etc...
The problem with Francis is that people remember for him being drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies, but refused to play for them. The funny thing is that people will call Francis out for that, but Kobe Bryant did the same thing he refused playing for the Charlotte Hornents and only wanted to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The funny thing is that fans will say that other teams missed out on Kobe. The truth is that even if he was drafted by them he would have never played there. So how come Kobe isn't on your frustrating players list?
Baron Davis the only frustrating thing with him is that he has been injury proned. With that being said Davis has been apart of winning teams. He's in his 9th year and yes the Clippers aren't making the playoffs but with that being said for Davis's career 67 percent of the time he's been on a team that made the playoffs.
Yes, Davis didn't get along during the season he got traded by the Hornets to the Warriors. If the Hornets hadn't made the trade and Davis was happy the Hornets would have never been able to draft Chris Paul.
Davis was going to stay with the Warriors even after declining his team option. Chris Mullin had a contract for him the only thing he needed was approval from Team President Robert Rowell so Mullin could go to Chris Cohan. It wasn't approved and only God knows why. Rowell is a complete and utter embarrassment for the Warriors.
Ron Artest. The only frustrating thing about him is that people still judge him from the incident in Detroit. Artest is one of the best defenders in the league. He plays hard every night, which can't be said for some other players. It's just that he gets too intense sometimes so he makes dumb decisions.
If he can hold his tongue but keep the same intensity to help the Rockets win then it will be a success for the Rockets.
from about 1 month ago
Hey Steven....good points. But as a fan, Francis has to be considered a pain in the side for the teams he's played for. He was always a bit of a malcontent. Yes he could fill up the stat sheet, remember how he sulked like a little kid once the Magic traded away his buddy Cuttino Mobley?
It's not about the last contact with the Rockets, it's that the Blazers chose to pay $30 million for him to NOT be associated with him.
I thought about putting Kobe on this list. I can't stand him as a player for all those stunts he pulled and how he always comes out smelling like roses because he is the NBA's golden goose. The thing with Kobe is people overlook all those things because he is so good. That isn't the case with most of the other guys on the list.
I understand about Baron, but it's not really about him being injured. He too is a malcontent. I'm a huge Warriors fan and I think there was some funny business in the front office with his contract situation, but he certainly didn't make things better with his feud with Don Nelson at times during the season.
I'm not buying Nash and Stoudemire...Nash is a two-time MVP and Amare has had issues with his knee. Yes they've had failures in the playoffs, but that was due to the style of play and the pieces around them.
from about 1 month ago
Kobe didnt refuse to play for the Hornets, he was traded almost immedietly
about 1 month ago
Now Tyler I'm confused you could have had a tie with two teammates. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. They have had the Suns in the playoffs against the Spurs and can't win a playoff series if they have to go through San Antonio. Four times in the past six years the Suns have been taken out of the playoffs by the Spurs. There's something that's frustrating.
about 1 month ago
Darius Miles.
...actually, I think I'm more frustrated with the fact that team's keep signing him.
from about 1 month ago
Good one Sam..Miles is a headache. I always hated that stupid head tapping thing he did with Quentin Richardson....in fact....Q should be on this list also.
about 1 month ago
I agree with Steven, Artest isn't frustrating. People hate on him for his behavior from several years ago.
That's such a cop out to add him to the list.
How about Eddie Curry? or Larry Hughes? or Stromile Swift??
from about 1 month ago
Yep Chris...Larry Hughes fits the profile nicely, he's been with several teams in a short time frame, takes a ton of bad shots and turns the ball over all the time, complains often in the media and is wayyyy overpaid.
I'm not giving Artest a pass until he stays out of the negative limelight for another three years.
about 1 month ago
How about 'Sheed and Odom? Their inconsistency gotta be downright frustrating for the fans, more so than Gooden anyhow, at least for Gooden, your expectations are lower.
about 1 month ago
Sheed and Odom??? wha?? how about Carlos boozer in the playoffs or better yet Karl malone in the finals...ha got you all beat...
about 1 month ago
im a die hard knick fan, but i have to ageee with your choice for number 1.
about 1 month ago
Tracy "3-Mac" McGrady definitely needs to be on this list. His body has betrayed him and he rarely puts his head down and drives to the hoop any longer. Plus, being a Rockets fan, I've never seen the Orlando Magic version of him in Houston. In Houston, we just have to be happy seeing him on the court. Of course, he's not a bad player. But he's definitely frustrating.
about 1 month ago
If you guys are going to count injuries then Penny Hardaway has to be on this list...if he never got injured he could have easily been one of the Top 50 players of all time, he was a freak in his early days...basically putting up numbers like 22-6-6...
about 1 month ago
I have mixed feelings about Marbury. Yes I think he has wasted his talent because he's so concerned about his own personal stats at the expense of wins and losses. Having said that, he has worked very hard to get in shape in the off-season to do what he can to help the knicks win(so he says). Its just weird the way D'Antoni played him in the pre-season and when the regular season starts he hasn't played 1 minute. Something is going on that only the coach, the player and the GM know about. I feel they should give Marbury a chance to show if he is honest when he says he wants to win a championship in NY (it won't take long to find out because you can only win as a team) if it works great if not , let him ride the pine until you can get rid of him. But for now I think you can use him for at least this year then the money can come off the books next season. I guess the coach thinks he is a cancer and does not want it to spread thru the team. I just think their can be a better solution to this problem. P.S. I'll always take a guy on my team that has "something to prove".
about 1 month ago
Let's not forget Jerome James. How's that for a waste of money and pine. If we were to expand this list, Ben Wallace would have to be on it. Ever seen this guy attempt a free throw? Or a jump shot? Its's painful! How frustrating is it when you're defensive/rebounding specialist isn't doing a good job defending or rebounding?!
about 1 month ago
Boris Diaw is frustrating for me but in the opposite spectrum of Marbury. The guy has so much talent but plays timid and doesn't look for his shot enough, ecspecially inside.
about 1 month ago
Kwame Brown should be on the biggest bust list... not this one
about 1 month ago
YAO MING should be on this list. He's frustrating because he should be the most dominate player in the NBA with his height and skill set but instead he gets bitch-slapped up and down the court by anyone physical (essentially anyone not international) and he can't stay healthy. He posts good numbers but is defense is disgusting, and he remains far from a defensive stalwart downlow; in fact I've never seen someone as tall as him worse at blocking shots. He's the best center in the league by default, and with Dwight Howard getting beastlier by the minute, the slow but steady progression of Andrew Bynum, and Greg Oden coming up, he could soon lose that title.
Case and point: He was rejected by Nate Robinson
from about 1 month ago
Let's not forget Yao was also dunked on by Robinson. You present a very good case for Yao being on the list. The problem is that he puts up very good numbers in 23, 10 and 3 bpg, and he is always an All Star. I think the thing that is frusterating with Yao is that everyone keeps waiting for him to develop that killer instinct -- like Shaq did when someone said he couldn't do something -- and then take things to the next level. He's still got a couple of years before I give up on him.
from about 1 month ago
I completely agree. However the all-star awards can be misleading considering he has the country of China voting for him every year. He's also playing during a time where centers are not at a premium.
I haven't given up on Yao winning, but I have given up on him developing a killer instinct or leading a team to a title without a very good supporting cast. Luckliy he's starting to get that. But the instinct won't be there, he's just one of those guys (of which there are many) that has all the talent without the angry drive to embarrass or dominate your opponent.
about 1 month ago
nice article
about 1 month ago
Yao is a finesse center. He'd rather shoot a jump shot or rely on layups to get his points. Although as I watched the Wizards/Rockets game tonight, someone or something made him mad b/c he threw a hellacious dunk on JaVale McGee in the 4th quarter. I don't remember the last time I saw Yao throw down on a big man like that.
I also think it's funny that so many people are down on Yao now when I used to hear people say that "Yao Ming"was Chinese for "Shawn Bradley." He's never going to be Shaq, but he'll still be a pretty good center in NBA history when it's all said and done (assuming he has a reasonably healthy career).
I also think the other thing you have to consider is the effect McGrady has on Yao's willingness to assert himself. I still think the Rockets are McGrady's team first and he is going to always defer to him as long as McGrady is on the team.
write a new comment