Biggest Bust in Sports all time

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

To each their own. I do think its sad what happened to Jay Williams, but I do still consider him a bust.

Anyways, Darko Milicic has to be on here. I never believed he got a fair shake in Detroit because of Larry Brown's notoriety for not liking young players, rookies especially, but he has to be a bust at this point.

Other names that have popped into my head: Colt Griffin by the Royals, Charles Rogers by the Lions, Michael Olowokandi by the Clippers, Nik Tskitishvili by the Nuggets.

I still think of Josh Hamilton as a bust to an extent too, to be completely honest. If he had a full, healthy, substance-free career from the get-go he'd probably be one of the few players in the stratosphere of Pujols and A-Rod right now.

[OregonDuck1989]

Darko never did get his fair shake at playing time but he was supposed to one of the better players in the league right now. He's a minor bust I'd say.

And also, not a HUGE bust but considering the hype Yao Ming got before he got drafted I would consider him somewhat of a disappointment. Not a bust quite though he has performed but he was supposed to be as good as Shaq.

[Coach Owens]

Al Chambers has to be pretty far up there. A .208/.326/.292 in 57 career games. Pretty darn awful.

[Reade]

Jason Williams broke his leg in 2 or 3 places and was never the same.

Biggest bust, every RB the Bears have drafted since Payton retired except Neal Anderson. This list include Enos(Penn St), Salaam(colorado), Benson(Texas)

[etothep]

kwame brown (vs sam bowie) - 3 less points per game (a whopping 7.5/game), 2 less rebounds a game (a whopping 5.5/game), & barely a third as many blocks per game as bowie (brown with a staggering .7 blocks per outing). all in just 4 less mins per game in his career thus far.

again, bowie lived up to his potential better than brown, which is how i measure a bust, so brown is the biggest nba bust in my opinion.

if you count personal tragedies in measuring busts, then i think len bias is the biggest bust as he died of an overdose the week he went #2.


biggest nfl bust is either leaf or akili smith to me (heath schuler is close too)

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

if you count personal tragedies in measuring busts, then i think len bias is the biggest bust as he died of an overdose the week he went #2.


biggest nfl bust is either leaf or akili smith to me (heath schuler is close too)

I was thinking of Bias too, but something like that is untouchable when it comes to this type of discussion in my opinion.

I would go Leaf, but I think Lawrence Phillips was probably a bigger bust than Smith, and Joey Harrington probably too.

[OregonDuck1989]

Salaam has to be a big bust in the NFL too. Coke addiction ruins his career.

[etothep]

I was thinking of Bias too, but something like that is untouchable when it comes to this type of discussion in my opinion.

I would go Leaf, but I think Lawrence Phillips was probably a bigger bust than Smith, and Joey Harrington probably too.

i dont see how a motorcycle incident is within the conversation when a guy ODing isnt


smith went #3, philiips went #6...harrington is at least still in the league

[EVEN11323]

Charles Rogers sucked it up in Detroit.

[etothep]

Charles Rogers sucked it up in Detroit.

good call

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

i dont see how a motorcycle incident is within the conversation when a guy ODing isnt


smith went #3, philiips went #6...harrington is at least still in the league

It's just.....different. I can't explain it, but it just doesn't feel right labeling a guy who died within a week after being drafted a bust.

Harrington is barely in the league, he's been released by the Saints like three times this season and probably won't be playing in the NFL again anytime soon. I could certainly see an argument for Smith over Phillips, but personally I think Phillips was more of a bust that Smith.

[etothep]

It's just.....different. I can't explain it, but it just doesn't feel right labeling a guy who died within a week after being drafted a bust.

Harrington is barely in the league, he's been released by the Saints like three times this season and probably won't be playing in the NFL again anytime soon. I could certainly see an argument for Smith over Phillips, but personally I think Phillips was more of a bust that Smith.

so if jay williams died in his motorcycle accident has opposed to just being horribly injured, he wouldn't have been a bust?

hard to measure statistically how a qb is a bigger bust than a rb, so i won't even attempt to (assuming i could to begin with)...for the record i count leaf as the bigger bust due to smith at least being mobile enough to earn some yards with his legs when he played

[BINGLEBOP]

Steve Chilcott, drafted #1 overall in the 1966 MLB draft. He and Brien Taylor, through 2005, are the only #1 picks to fail to even reach the majors, I believe.

Brien Taylor would probably top my list too. He was damn good in high school (476 K's in 239 innings pitched), and who knows what would have become of him (even though the odds are against high school pitchers).

An "honorable mention" (or is it dishonorable?) goes to Toe Nash.

[Arctic Blast]

Poor Leaf. I am not sure why he failed so miserably. At the time he was drafted, as I recall, many, many "experts" believed that he was better than Peyton Manning. Things didnt work out that way.

Actually, from what he himself has said a couple of times on Dan Patrick's show, he was immature, he didn't put in the work, and he couldn't handle the pressure. He's actually really turned himself around...works as a coach at a small college, and grew up.

As for horrible picks, how about the 'forgotten man' from the 1983 QB draft, Todd Blackledge. Went 7th overall, and was the 2nd QB picked after Elway...ahead of Jim Kelly and that Marino guy.

Sean Gilbert went 3rd overall to the Rams in '92. He was supposed to be a difference maker, and he was...at the postgame buffet table. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Blair Thomas 2nd overall to the Jets in 1990. Wasn't strong enough to break tackles, and wasn't fast enough to get away from tacklers, which doesn't lerave too many options.

And, of course, Tim Couch #1 overall in '99. Actually, while we're talking Browns, how about Courtney Brown #1 in 2000? Uhhh...who else comes to mind.

Also in 2000, Peter Warrick 4th to the Bengals. Wasn't fast enough to blow by DBs the way he had in college, and never really had learned to run routes in the college game, getting by just on physical ability.

Aundray Bruce #1 to the Falcons in '8...arguably the worst #1 pick of all time, he started a whopping 42 games in his career.

And Rick Mirer #2 to Seattle in '93. Had a record breaking rookie season, then completely fell apart. And on the subject of Seattle QBs, in '91 they took Mark McGwire's brother Dan in the first round. He was flat out horrendous.

[KowboyKoop]

Kimbo!