re: Greatest What If NBA Player

Len Bias is almost certainly the answer, so let's take him off the table and come up with other interesting choices:

David Thompson: (
My dad used to get Street & Smith's magazine every year, and for some reason he held onto them. I found the year where Jordan was a HS senior, and the description on him said that he had the potential to be next David Thompson (or something like that). Thompson was Jordan before Jordan but unfortunately was a big fan of the cizzell for his nizzell.

Very good grantland.com article on David Thompson. Lost Moments in Basketball History


Bernard King:
Was averaging 33 ppg on 53% shooting 55 games into the 1984 season when he tore his ACL. Nowadays he might have made a full recovery in less than a year and come back as good as ever. But in the 80s when ACL reconstructive surgery was in its infancy, if you tore your ACL, you were basically done as an athlete. And King was never the same.

"I have never feared anybody that I've played against -- Bird, Magic, Doctor, Michael -- and I respect and love all of those guys. Bernard King is the only guy that ever scared the hell out of me."
--Dominique Wilkins

"the best scorer I've ever seen or played against."
--Larry Bird