Former NBA Studs Who VANISHED

Andy Hoops

Part 2! (more former NBA studs who vanished) - https://youtu.be/hwQ-Uo7Ih_4  Get 60% OFF your first 4-bottle box http://bit.ly/BrightCellarsAndyHoops Bright Cellars is the monthly wine club that matches you with wine that you’ll love. Get started by taking the taste palate quiz to see your personalized matches. In this video, we take a look at 7 former NBA studs who fell off the face of the earth. These guys used to be pretty good back in their day, but now...they've basically vanished. Hope you enjoy!  I make all kinds of NBA videos which include analysis, player stories, countdowns, and mysteries. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video!  ► Instagram: @Andy93y ► Twitter: @AndyHoopsYT  ► Music:  E L L A - Chill Hip Hop Beat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFfncn6YPW0 Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod Eternity by Kevin MacLeod  Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Find all of his songs and download them for free here: http://incompetech.com  ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-the-nba-abandoned-roy-hibbert/  #nba

Transcript

00:01Have you ever wondered what in the world happened to this guy?

00:04There's a ton of NBA players in recent history that were absolute studs.

00:09Some were on the rise to stardom, but then they all of a sudden completely fell off.

00:15Nobody has heard much from them since their best days,

00:18and even if they're still in the league, nobody cares about them anymore.

00:21At one point, a huge portion of the NBA fanbase knew about them and had high hopes for them,

00:27but now they're completely irrelevant.

00:30Why did this happen? How did they fall off so quickly?

00:34In this video, I'm going to cover more recent players,

00:37not guys from the 80s or 90s or something like that, so how's it going folks?

00:41My name's Andy and here are 7 former NBA studs who fell off the face of the earth.

00:48But before we start, this video is sponsored by Bright Cellars,

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01:47Number 7, Larry Sanders.

01:49Before Giannis, Larry Sanders was the guy who Bucs fans were excited about.

01:54As the 15th overall pick in 2010,

01:57Sanders developed on a team that featured Brandon Jennings and Monte Ellis,

02:02who took most of the shots, but Sanders played a crucial role,

02:05filling the void as a tough defensive-minded player which this team desperately needed.

02:10The 2012-13 season would be his best, as he averaged around 10 points and 10 rebounds with nearly 3

02:18blocks per game.

02:19Sanders wasn't just your typical defensive big man.

02:23He was quick and versatile.

02:24He could move his feet very well for a guy of his size.

02:28He was on his way to making a few defensive teams if he continued this trajectory.

02:33In the summer of 2013, he was rewarded with a 4-year $44 million contract.

02:40But in the following season, he started to run into some problems.

02:44First, it was a thumb injury he suffered at a nightclub where he was charged with assault.

02:50In that same year, he was charged with animal cruelty on multiple occasions.

02:55Then, he fractured his orbital bone, forcing him to sit out for the rest of the year.

02:59He was also suspended for violating the NBA's drug policy.

03:04After all these things, by late 2014, he just wasn't feeling it anymore.

03:09He didn't want to play basketball anymore and lost all the motivation he once had.

03:15Sanders would return for a little bit, but his career was all but over.

03:20It's kind of sad.

03:21It would have been interesting to see him and Giannis develop together.

03:24I'm not sure they would have been the best fit, but having such a dominant defensive frontcourt is certainly something.

03:32Number 6, Andre Roberson.

03:35A former second-team all-defender, back in 2017.

03:39If you watched the Thunder at any point in the last decade, you should know who this guy is.

03:44He's always gotten flack for his terrible shooting, but defensively, he was a monster.

03:49On all those stacked Thunder teams, Roberson was the go-to defender they relied on.

03:55However, on January 27th, 2018, he suffered a devastating injury.

04:01A complete rupture of his left patella tendon.

04:04The worst kind of knee injury you could get.

04:07His timetable to return was originally about a year, but he had numerous setbacks.

04:13And up until now, he still has not fully recovered.

04:17In three years since the injury, from 2019 to 2021, he appeared in 12 total games.

04:24And he looked like a shell of his former self.

04:27Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he'll ever return to form.

04:31I'm rooting for him, but might be too late at this point.

04:35The injury was worse than everyone thought.

04:38Number 5, Kenneth Farid.

04:41What on earth happened to this guy?

04:43Remember back in the day on the Nuggets?

04:45After the mellow trade, Farid emerged as a surprising young prospect.

04:49Full of energy, incredibly athletic, and quick.

04:53Although he didn't have a super diverse skillset, he was a breath of fresh air

04:58from the typical iso playstyle they've been accustomed to for so long.

05:02However, it was his limited skillset that ultimately caused his downfall.

05:08Farid never suffered any major injuries or any setbacks or anything like that.

05:13It's just, he never got better.

05:15The player you saw in Denver as a rookie was the same player you saw for the rest of his

05:20career.

05:21He was a great pick and roll finisher, a great hustle and energy guy, but that was literally it.

05:27For a power forward, he was undersized and he couldn't play small forward cause he couldn't shoot.

05:33He was not a good defender, nor did he have any quality post moves

05:37and he could not take you off the dribble either.

05:40When the Nuggets acquired Paul Millsap, Farid was moved to the bench,

05:44which upset him, but frankly, he was no longer needed.

05:48He had a long time to develop his skills, but he just never did.

05:53After a few stops in Brooklyn and Houston, Farid has been out of the league since 2019.

05:59He was good for his time, but as the NBA moved forward, teams want their big men to be more

06:05versatile,

06:06not just a one-trick pony like Farid.

06:09Number 4, Roy Hibbert.

06:12To go from an all-defensive player, a two-time all-star to out of the league in just a

06:17few years, that's crazy.

06:19Especially since Hibbert was only like, what, 29 years old when his career was over?

06:25How could a guy who was a critical part of a championship contender like the Pacers become completely irrelevant in

06:31such a short time?

06:32A guy who once anchored the best defense in the league with the old verticality rule that Hibbert popularized.

06:39There's been a lot of speculation on why Hibbert fell off,

06:43but the most logical reason is that he was in the perfect situation with the Pacers.

06:47They ran a traditional lineup with a traditional playstyle, almost like a 1990s style of play.

06:54It was rare at the time when the league was moving small.

06:58He would not have fit well on any other team besides the Pacers.

07:02Hibbert could stand his ground against a normal lineup, but he routinely got abused against smaller, faster ones.

07:09It was evident in the playoffs too, against the Hawks or the Heat who frequently went small.

07:15He struggled greatly.

07:17Similar to Farid, Hibbert's skill set was no longer valuable.

07:22According to his former coach Frank Vogel, he stated,

07:42Larry Bird also told Hibbert straight to his face that he wasn't athletic enough to keep up with the uptempo

07:48style of play,

07:49which he wanted the Pacers to move towards, instead of their outdated offensive game plan.

07:56Essentially, Hibbert was too slow-footed to adapt, and with his defensive prowess limited against smaller teams,

08:02he had trouble staying on the floor.

08:05By 2017, he was done.

08:08Number 3, Ty Lawson.

08:11Another former Denver Nugget who vanished.

08:14Unlike Farid, Lawson went through numerous off-court predicaments, which greatly affected his basketball career.

08:21In 2015, he was one of the best point guards in the league, a top 10 point guard, probably.

08:26But by 2017, he was gone.

08:30Through the years, Lawson struggled with an alcohol addiction.

08:33He got pulled over so many times for driving under the influence,

08:37and even after rehab, he relapsed.

08:40It was a real struggle for him, and the hardships translated onto the court.

08:45Lawson was not himself, and his game deteriorated.

08:49Once known as a bright young star in Denver who led the charge in the post-Melo era, Lawson used

08:55to be super popular.

08:56With his short stature, his speedy, flashy playstyle, there was a lot to cheer for.

09:02Everyone rooted for him, but after his off-court issues, Denver thought of him as too much of a burden.

09:08They gave up on him, and shortly after, the rest of the league gave up on him.

09:14Number 2, Andrew Bynum.

09:16It's been a while since we've heard anything about Bynum.

09:19To give you guys a recap, this is what happened.

09:22In 2012, Bynum was considered the second best center in the NBA, behind Dwight Howard.

09:29In fact, when it comes to offensive versatility and scoring in the paint,

09:33Bynum was arguably the best post-scorer in the entire NBA.

09:37On a championship contending team, the Lakers.

09:40He was dominating.

09:42At just 24 years old, he was so young too.

09:45However, the Lakers saw a chance to acquire Dwight Howard.

09:49In a trade involving four different teams, they accepted the offer.

09:54Bynum was sent to Philly, where he did not play a single game.

09:58Over the years, he had his fair share of injury problems, but it was never that serious,

10:03or at least that's what the Sixers thought when they traded for him.

10:07It turns out, right before training camp started, Bynum got multiple injections into both of his knees,

10:13to try and heal his arthritis.

10:15This forced him to sit out for a few weeks to recover from the pain,

10:19but that few weeks turned into a few months.

10:23By the All-Star break, reportedly, Bynum developed a degenerative knee condition,

10:27similar to what Brandon Roy had.

10:30So, his knees got worse and worse, with no hopes of reversing this condition.

10:36It also didn't help that Bynum was quite careless with his rehab.

10:40He went bowling and re-injured his knee.

10:43He attempted to make a comeback with a short stint in Cleveland and Indiana,

10:47but his knees were too sore for him to stay on the floor, thus forcing him to retire.

10:53Ever since then, he has not played a lick of professional basketball.

10:58And at number one, Isaiah Thomas.

11:01To give him credit, he's still kind of in the NBA.

11:05Most recently, he signed a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans in April of 2021.

11:11But to go from an MVP caliber player, one of the greatest scoring seasons in NBA history,

11:17to a 10-day contract?

11:19It's sad.

11:21Back in 2017, Thomas was ready to sign a massive contract,

11:25upwards of 100 million after that incredible season in Boston.

11:30Unfortunately, it was horrible timing, as it was revealed he had a hip injury.

11:35The Celtics knew he was a beloved player, but the injury was a major concern,

11:40so they traded him away.

11:42It was later confirmed that this hip injury was a lingering issue he's been struggling with.

11:47And you might not think hip problems are a big deal in basketball, compared to knee or foot problems,

11:53but for smaller players, it's a huge deal.

11:56They rely on their hips way more for balance and shooting.

11:59For Thomas, before the hip problems, he was phenomenal at finishing at the rim due to his body control.

12:05Within one offseason, an MVP caliber player turned into a journeyman.

12:11A tragic story of a man who was the last pick of the draft work his ass off to prove

12:16everyone wrong,

12:17but ultimately succumbed to the injury fate.

12:22Anyway, that's all folks.

12:24Those were seven former NBA studs who fell off the face of the earth in such a short time.

12:29For many of them, it was a devastating downfall.

12:32Hopes and dreams were shattered.

12:34Out of everyone in this video, only Roberson and Thomas played as recently as 2021,

12:40but for everyone else, I can't see them coming back ever again.

12:44They might get a chance here and there for a workout with a certain team, but their time is over.

12:49Thank you all so much for watching.

12:51Let me know your thoughts in the comment section if you can think of any other players.

12:55I know Chandler Parsons should also probably be on here, but I made a video with him recently in it,

13:00so I decided to not include him in this one.

13:03Let me know what other players you can think of.

13:05Thank you all so much for watching.

13:07I hope y'all enjoyed the video, and of course, as always, I'll see you next time.

13:11Peace.

13:11We will see you next time.

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