Top 10 Great Players in TERRIBLE Sports Teams

WatchMojo

They were legends on the field, but their teams? Not so much. Join us as we count down our picks for the athletes who shined brightest while surrounded by mediocrity! These superstars deserved better than the struggling franchises that couldn't match their talents. Who do you think was the most wasted talent in sports history?

Transcript

00:00He has this talent for making the extraordinary seem straightforward.

00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 players who

00:08ended up playing in teams that they'd clearly outgrown.

00:11He thought he was going to have some administrative or managerial role, and what they really

00:15wanted him for was almost a carnival character.

00:18I mean, he was a drawing card.

00:19That's all he was.

00:21Number 10, Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns.

00:24In 11 seasons in the NFL, Joe Thomas made 10 Pro Bowls, six first-team All-Pro selections,

00:29and two second-team All-Pro selections.

00:31Oh, man, you know, Joe Thomas, every year he's been, you know, the number one left tackle

00:36in the league.

00:36I think Joe Thomas is, you know, the best tackle in the game right now.

00:39The best.

00:40Hands down, the best.

00:41By the time he retired, he was regarded as one of the greatest offensive linemen in NFL

00:44history.

00:45But here's the catch.

00:46He spent all of that time with a Cleveland Browns team that never once made the playoffs

00:50during his playing career.

00:51He's always been the Pro Bowl because he's that dominant of a player.

00:54Thomas was a consistent bright spot in a consistently disappointing team, and the fact that he never

00:58made a single postseason appearance in all that time is truly shocking.

01:02I'm not sure why I was so emotional about a 1-15 or a 1-14 record at that moment, but

01:08it just felt like we were doing all the right things and we weren't getting that payoff.

01:13Number 9, Antonio Di Natale, Udinese.

01:16There's something to be said for the loyalty of Antonio Di Natale.

01:19In a sport where money is becoming more and more of a prevalent factor, Di Natale chose

01:27to spend the majority of his career at Udinese, a middling Serie A team.

01:31During his 385-game stint with the team, he scored a whopping 191 goals and even managed

01:36to score 11 for the Italian national team during an especially strong period for them.

01:41But despite the lucrative offers and opportunities that came his way, Di Natale spent the last

01:4512 years of his playing career at Udinese, showing individual brilliance but never finding

01:50it with his team as a cohesive unit.

01:56Number 8, Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves.

01:59One great player usually isn't enough to drive a low-level team to the playoffs in the NBA.

02:04Kevin Love throws it down!

02:07That's the power of love!

02:09That was a lesson that Kevin Love had to learn the hard way during his time at the Minnesota

02:12Timberwolves.

02:13Don't get us wrong, Love himself was a beast during this period, posting the type of stats

02:17that made him one of the best forwards in the entire league.

02:20Love for three, knocks it down!

02:23A huge triple for Kevin Love to tie it up!

02:26Prior to his run of success with the LeBron-led Cavaliers, Love was basically carrying this

02:30franchise on their stat sheet, and he never did manage to get them into a playoff spot.

02:34The sad part?

02:35He probably could have been contending for championships under different circumstances.

02:38Got it!

02:39Oh my, oh my, oh my!

02:43This crowd is stunned!

02:46Number 7, Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs.

02:48Ernie Banks had a folky enthusiasm that made him one of the most cheerful and likable stars

02:53of his era.

02:53The hot and cold Cubs move into Milwaukee, featuring Ernie Banks, who succeeded Henry Aaron

02:58as the National League's most valuable player.

03:00But here's the issue, his beloved Cubs were struggling through a real tough patch during

03:04the 19 seasons he spent with them.

03:06By the time he retired, Banks had earned the right to call himself one of the greatest

03:09players of all time.

03:11Yay!

03:12Woo!

03:13Ernie did it!

03:15Number 499!

03:18But he never once got to show those skills in the postseason.

03:21A truly great ambassador for the sport, a generational athlete, and a guy who was doomed to spend

03:26his career with a team that was going nowhere.

03:27Long after I'm not here, I'll still be here.

03:34Number 6, Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels.

03:37We could have quite easily gone for Shohei Otani with this pick, but Mike Trout is the

03:41real standout for this list.

03:433-1 to Trout.

03:44High fly ball deep to left and that ball's gonna go.

03:48Mike Trout hits it out.

03:50We could sit here and talk about his insane accomplishments or how he's been regarded as

03:54the single best player in baseball for large portions of his career.

03:57And that is driven out to left center.

04:00Forget about this one.

04:02Drive home safely.

04:051-0 walk off.

04:13One swing of the bat ends it.

04:15But despite sticking it out with the Los Angeles Angels after signing an insane 12-year, $426 million

04:21contract, his individual success has not been replicated by the team as a whole.

04:25Just one playoff appearance since 2011, which they lost, has left many people wondering whether

04:30this all-time great is actually only being allowed to use a fraction of his greatness.

04:34That one, a three-run home run for Trout.

04:38What a game he has had so far.

04:42On the long list of NFL players who've been let down by substandard franchises, Calvin Johnson

04:48basically had his potential squandered by the Detroit Lions.

04:51Into the end zone, the pass is caught for the touchdown, Calvin Johnson.

04:57Two playoff appearances in nine seasons is just not the type of return that any elite

05:01player should put up with.

05:02And for the aptly named Megatron, his drive to compete slowly whittled away until he eventually

05:07retired from the sport at the young age of 30.

05:09Johnson is there for the touchdown.

05:15Number three on the day for Calvin Johnson.

05:18Johnson was, in some ways, the perfect wide receiver.

05:21Tall, fast, powerful, and great with his hands.

05:23It's a real shame that he never fully got to show us what he was capable of.

05:26He goes up, he makes the catch, are you kidding me?

05:30Oh, Megatron, you did it again.

05:33Number four, Elton Brand.

05:34Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers.

05:37Timing's everything in the world of sports, and for Elton Brand, joining up at the Chicago

05:40Bulls directly after the Michael Jordan era was a real shame.

05:43Leading all rookies in score, rebounding in blocked shots.

05:46He's everything the Bulls had hoped for.

05:49They were a franchise who were struggling for momentum and identity, even though Brand

05:53himself was at times spectacular.

05:55He spent two impressive seasons with the struggling Bulls before getting traded to the LA Clippers.

06:00Elton Brand is 24-10, 26-10 rebounds.

06:04He gets great extension on that jump shot.

06:06But once again, this was another franchise who were being sorely mismanaged.

06:10Instead of competing for top honors in the playoffs, Brand was a standout member of a pretty

06:14mid-level pair of teams.

06:15Still got it.

06:17I'm Brand finishing up a long and outstanding career.

06:22Number three, Matt Letizier, Southampton.

06:25Matt Letizier well and truly came out of nowhere in the late 80s and into the 90s, boasting the

06:30stylish approach to the beautiful game that made him a huge hit with the fans.

06:33And now Letizier.

06:35Oh, it's another stunning goal from Matthew Letizier.

06:38He spent his entire career with Southampton, a middling team who were never too far from

06:43a relegation battle.

06:44Letizier went for goal.

06:46Fantastic goal.

06:49And that is worth the admission for your loan.

06:52Called the most gifted English player of his generation, Letizier was a technical master

06:56who never truly showed it on the biggest possible stages.

06:59Sure, the fact that he was a one-club man was admirable, but staying at Southampton ensured

07:03that he would never be a contender for any major titles in the game.

07:06And scoring a terrific goal, even by his elevated standards, that is something special.

07:14Number two, Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions.

07:16Barry Sanders was a truly electric player in his prime.

07:19One of the most impressive running backs to ever do it.

07:21Hand off Barry, skirts to the left side, breaks a tackle, and he will take it in, touchdown!

07:27But despite his clear world-class talent, he stuck with a very mediocre Detroit Lions team

07:32for far too long.

07:33The lack of quality support really started to show in his output.

07:36In other words, Sanders was carrying this franchise on his back for pretty much his whole career.

07:40Barry, spin three, touchdown Lions!

07:43Wow!

07:44But when he retired suddenly at the age of just 31, it came as a major shock to the sporting

07:48world.

07:48His career was legendary, and the Lions retired his number 20 jersey in 2004.

07:53Unfortunately, we can't help but wonder just how great he could have been under a different

07:57team's banner.

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08:20Number one, Babe Ruth, Boston Braves.

08:22Time has a way of catching up to even the greatest of players.

08:25No athlete in baseball commanded the same level of respect and awe as Babe Ruth did in

08:30his prime.

08:30The Bambino is still the game's greatest showman.

08:33However, by the time he left the New York Yankees, he was a shadow of his former self.

08:37But nothing could have prepared him for just how bad his next team would be.

08:41And I appreciate being with the Boston Club, and I'm going to do all I can to bring them

08:44what you want.

08:45Thank you, sir.

08:45And I'm going to like the Boston Club.

08:47I met the fellas a few minutes ago, and they all seem to be lovely chaps.

08:50Joining the Boston Braves turned out to be the final nail in his career's coffin.

08:54The year was 1935, Babe's last in the pro ranks.

08:57The Braves would compile an abysmal record of 38 to 115, one of the worst in MLB history.

09:03It makes you wonder just how much even a peak Babe Ruth could really help them.

09:07Ruth always harbored the hope that by signing on with Boston, the Braves, as a player, this

09:14could mean a transition to becoming a manager.

09:17But what truly great player do you think stood out in a pretty subpar team?

09:20Let us know in the comments.

09:22Love?

09:22Oh, what a shot by Kevin Love!

09:25A thing of beauty!

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