[alingeParticipant]

I am always intrigued by the what-if’s in sport and how different legacies are formed by one decision. Here are ten of the biggest what if’s in NBA history, share your opinion’s on how history changes if these things happen.

1.What If Havlicek Hadn’t ‘Stolen the Ball?. If Philadelphia win this game, how many more of Russell’s titles does Wilt win and does this start a Philadelphia dynasty with Wilt and Hal Greer.
2.What if Dr.J stayed in New Jersey?. When the ABA-NBA merged Dr.J was forced to go to Philly due to the Nets invading Knicks territory. If Dr.J stays do the Nets win multiple titles in the late 70’s when the NBA was very weak with a core of Dr.J and Nate Archibald. If he stays could the Nets still be in New Jersey today.
3.What if Magic vs Larry rivalry never happens?. People often say these two saved the NBA, without them is the NBA still the league it is today, would it have survived long enough for Jordan to save it.
4.What if Portland picks MJ?. Would MJ still be the GOAT, how dominant could a Portland team with MJ at SG and Clyde at SF be, how many titles could they win.
5.What if Len Bias lives?. Does Boston carry on a dynasty and does the big 3 era get a new injection of life and a few more championships. What is Bias’s destiny, does he become one of the greatest as many including Coach K thought or like many of the 1986 draft does he become a bust due to off-court problems.
6.What if Drazen Petrovic lives?. Does he become the first European superstar and an all-time great. If he fully succeeds does it remove the stigma of European draft picks and mean players like Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker are drafted higher.
7.What if Arvydas Sabonis comes to the NBA aged 21?. We all know the Soviet Union prevented this happening but if he comes over in 1986 do Portland with Drexler and Sabonis become a great dynasty. Is Sabonis looked at as one of the great NBA big men if he plays his whole career in the States.
8.What if Tim Duncan enters the 1996 Draft?. Duncan was strongly considering declaring as a junior but in the end returned to Wake. If he decided to enter the draft he would of went No1, how successful is a Duncan-Stackhouse duo, does Duncan still become the greatest PF. If Duncan does enter the draft, Iverson possibly slips to Minnesota at 4, how great a duo would KG and Iverson have been, were they compatible and does KG become the greatest PF.
9.What if Kobe and Shaq never split?. Had this duo run it’s course or if they buried the hatchet could they have gone on and won more titles. Would Kobe always be seen as the Robin to Batman’s Shaq.
10.What if Lebron says he is taking his talents to Chicago?. How many titles could a core of Rose-Lebron and Noah have won, would Lebron have been so vilified in the months after his decision. Would a great rivalry with a DWade and Bosh led Miami happen.

[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

What if Greg Oden and Brandon Roy didn’t have the knees of an 85 yr old.

[Toronto16Participant]

What if T-Mac never left Toronto… They would have made the finals a few times, possibly even knocked off the Lakers at least once. Vince would have played harder playing with his cousin.

What if Kobe was ok with playing in Charlotte? I doubt he would have 5 titles now, but he would still be a superstar.

[kingofbumsParticipant]

damn didnt see your post when i posted, my bad for a repost basically but i guess us fans feel the same

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

What if Nash doesn’t get checked my Horry into the scorers table getting Amare and Diaw suspended. They would have had to play Utah in WCF and Cavs in finals. At that point the Suns were much better than both those teams. Damnit…

[HitsterParticipant]

The Len Bias one is always the one that I ponder most, also the Celtics lost Reggie Lewis at 27 when he was a 20ppg player so they lost the two guys who could have carried them past the Bird era.

I’ll also add what if Magic Johnson had not got ill, in 1996 he would have still been younger than Steve Nash was when he joined the Lakers and could have helped the Shaq era achieve even more. Magic could have pulled the strings for Shaq and Kobe for maybe 4 or 5 years.

Also what if MJ had not retired in 1993, could Chicago have gone 8 in a row in that decade, the chances must have been good.

[kingofbumsParticipant]

What if lebron didnt choke against the Mavs meaning he now has two rings…where would that put him on “the list” compared to just one after those 60%+ games and stuff? Two finals MVP vs Kobe’s two. Then what if he won this year as well making it 3 MVPS and 3 Finals MVPs?

After today, what if lebron did take PEDs? (i really think the whole story is absolute bs, especially the ppl doubting anyone can be that big yet howard came in the league just as skinny and is now the size of my friggin house lol and my house is big) if ppl think lebron is a physical specimen they should watch jon jones in the UFC…that guy would be on some other ish.

What if McGrady wasnt selfish and stayed on the raptors at least for another year to play that game 5 against philly…if it would have even taken them 5 games to beat them…?

What if the raptors listened to bosh and TJ ford and drafted aldridge? Bosh and Aldridge duo, both can stretch the floor and play inside as well.

questions as a raptors fan…

[Sewok15Participant]

Yo, what if Jordan never had Scottie?

What if Ewing would have dunked it instead of faded away?
The Knicks woulda been the champs he wouldn’t a got traded away

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcnrE8ocjZ0

[i’m jus so offendedParticipant]

Great post as the Westbrook vs Lopez thread seemingly just ran its’ course. Really like what everyone has posted but I’ll add a few:

What happens if Ben Wilson never gets killed? Kid had it all
Saw the Greg Oden one but what if POR had taken Durant instead?
What if Bill Russell hadn’t refused going to St Louis?
What would be going on if David Stern hadn’t pulled that sketch move and that original CP3 trade went through?
What if the Supersonics never moved?
What if OKC had kept Harden?
What if Bill Walton had feet that worked?
What if Charles Barkley had given a s*** about his body and health?

and I think the biggest one of all…

What if Michael Jordan had never originally retired or retired after ’98? Do they win 8 straight titles? 10? I think they would have gotten 8

[alingeParticipant]

I never knew Bill Russell refused to go to St Louis, I thought St Louis wanted Ed Macauley from the Celtics and the Celtics would only do the trade if St Louis gave up the rights to Russell.

[PyronParticipant]

what is jay williams didn’t get into that motorcycle accident? how good would he have been?

what if boston didn’t form their big 3. would lebron/wade/bosh have still come together?

what if magic didn’t have aids!?

what if the dream team didn’t play in the olympics? would we have great international talent that we’ve had through the years?

what if jordan didn’t retire twice in the middle of his career?

what if horry wasn’t clutch?

what if NBC still showed bball game? man i miss the old nba on nbc theme music.

[aamir543Participant]

What if T-Mac had a work ethic and Yao stayed healthy? A couple of years ago Jeff Van Gundy talked about how T-Mac relied on natural talent, and didn’t put nearly enough time into his game. And Yao was on his way to a couple 28 and 12 season, we all know it, had they reached their full potentials they could’ve been absolutely DEADLY.

What if Steve Francis didn’t age 4 times faster than the average man, I swear if I didn’t know any better I’d say that he was about 55-60 years old. His game went away quick too, hasn’t been relevant in about 6-7 years.

[PyronParticipant]

what if AI went to PRACTICE!!??!? 😀

[jonus grumbyParticipant]

What if LA had not traded Gail Goodrich to New Orleans?

What if Boston had not drafted Bird while he was still in school?

What if MJ got his way and the Bulls drafted Joe Wolf instead of Grant?

[HitsterParticipant]

Grant Hill staying healthy from 2000 to 2004, could have made him a dozen time all star.

If the 2006 draft had not had the one year in college rule introduced, KD would have likely been taken by Chicago at 2 and the Knicks have given away the chance to draft him.

[Author]

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