We all have at least one player that comes to mind when we think of the biggest “what ifs” in sports history. Whether it be a player who struggled through injuries or bad luck struck them with illness or death. Some of the potentially greatest athletes of all-time were never given an opportunity to show what they were all about due to this.
For this piece I will be looking at the five biggest “what ifs” within all of sports. For this list I will be forgoing players like Jim Brown who cut his career short on his own accord.
Obviously, there can only be hypotheticals on this list, but the hypothetical will be restricted to players only, not situations like what if the “tuck rule” was never called or if Michael Jordan never retired the first time.
5. What if Roy Campanella never got into the car?
Campanella, a catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1948-57, was one of the best catchers of his time, possibly ever. The three-time MVP may have been on the downswing of his career, just two years out from his third MVP, Campanella operated a liquor store in the offseason when tragedy struck. Little did he know his age 35 season would be his last ever.
January 28, 1958 Campanella was driving home after a day at his store. On his way home he hit a patch of ice, lost control of his car and ran into a telephone pole before the car flipped. The accident broke his neck and compressed his spinal cord, paralyzing him from the neck down.
Campanella would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair due to the accident.
Campanella’s legacy still lives on among the greatest catchers of all-time but one can only imagine what else he could have done if tragedy never struck. We have seen great players bounce back from down years, which Campanella had in 1956 and 1957, but because of this accident we never got another chance to see the great Campanella take the field again.
4. What if Mario Lemieux never contracted Hodgkin’s disease?
Lemieux was one of the greatest player’s to ever skate on the ice, eighth all-time on the career points list, Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease at age 27 during January of the 1992-93 season.
Lemieux had battled injuries throughout his career and missed games due to that, but no one knew what to expect when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had played 40 games up to that point and had 104 points before the diagnosis. Lemieux began radiation which was a total of 22 treatments which forced him to miss playing until March 2, 1993. Lemieux came back to play 20 more games that season and score 56 points in those 20 games, earning him the points title that season.
The next season Lemieux only played in 22 games after recovering from back surgery for a herniated disk. The following season he took a medical leave of absence to recover from the radiation treatments of two years prior. Lemieux came back and played the next two seasons, leading the league in points each of those seasons. Following those two seasons Lemieux retired in 1997 to what many thought would be the end to an exceptional career.
In 2000 Lemieux ended his retirement to come back for his age 35 season. It was obvious that taking those three seasons off affected Lemieux’s game play, never reaching the 100-point threshold again. Lemieux would play until age 40, missing his age 39 season due to the cancellation of the season with 1723 career points.
Would Lemieux have been considered the greatest off all-time next to Gretzky, probably not, but he would have made a case for an argument if he never contracted cancer. He is tied for fourth with three Hart Memorial Trophies (MVPs) and now he is just a what could have been.
3. What if Derrick Rose didn’t have two knee injuries?
Rose was going to be the next great thing that happened to Chicago basketball. Rose was the youngest NBA player to ever win MVP at the age of 22. Rose won the MVP over two of the greats in 2010-11, Dwight Howard and LeBron James, and it wasn’t even close. He earned 1,182 points out of 1,210 possible points, over 500 points more than Howard. Rose had 25.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, and 7.7 apg in his MVP season, a controversial pick, but a pick that showcased the next great player in the league.
Rose then dealt with minor injuries the following season which decreased his production on the court, only playing in 39 games. Then the first of his injuries occurred.
In the first-round playoff matchup between the Bulls and the 76ers Rose went up to what appeared to be a layup attempt, he immediately felt the pain and passed out of the shot attempt. Rose went down and immediately started holding his left knee, everyone feared for the worst, and that fear was warranted with Rose tearing his left ACL. Many questioned why he was still in the game with a minute left in a game that was already over.
Either way, this marked the end of the Derrick Rose that we all knew. In 2013, a year and a half after the injury Rose had another knee surgery on his right knee, a medial meniscus tear, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. In 2014 Rose was back and healthy for what seemed like the first time in three years. Not the same player he once was he adapted his game to fit his new body, but he was not nearly as affective as he had been.
In 2015 Rose tore his right meniscus again, forcing him to miss time. After this everyone thought his career was over. Rose however didn’t see it that way and came back the following season. Finally, in 2017 Rose went down with yet another knee injury tearing his left meniscus.
10 NBA seasons and four knee surgeries gave Rose some of the worst injury luck of any star player. The youngest MVP ever and an established star already, many who were alive to see him in his prime were lucky enough to witness greatness in the making. Rose is one of the biggest what ifs in NBA history and we can only think at how great he could have been.
2. What if Bo Jackson Wasn’t so Strong?
Jackson, one of the oddest cases because he had the potential to be a hall-of-famer in two sports, was so strong it led to his injury. A primary baseball player according to him he played in the NFL in his spare time (MLB offseason). Jackson was a prime example of just how athletic one person could be. Not saying Jackson never practiced to get where he was, but he was so naturally gifted and strong it didn’t seem to matter.
Jackson was gifted like no other, allowing him to be an all-star in two professional sports. When looking back Jackson was clearly better at Football, but never played a full season because of his passion for Baseball. In 5 seasons before the injury in the MLB Jackson had 109 HR, 313 RBI and 81 SB. In the four seasons in the NFL he had 2,782 rushing yards, 16 TD, and averaged 5.4 yards per carry in 38 career games.
Jackson was not just a power player though, he had unmatched speed recording an unofficial 40-yd dash time of 4.12s, the fastest in the history of the event. He was a highlight reel in both sports having countless memorable moments, like making a catch and running on the wall with the Royals or running over Brian Bosworth on his way to a touchdown for the Raiders.
January 13, 1991 changed all of that. A playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals the Raiders ran a sweep right for Jackson where he gained 34 yards after getting tackled by Bengals LB Kevin Walker. Jackson fractured and dislocated his left hip on the play, although Bo only thought it was a hip pointer. Jackson’s pure strength did not allow him to go down immediately after getting touched, he took a long stride with his left leg while his right leg was tangled in Walker’s grasp. This is the play that ended his football career for good.
Jackson’s legacy will never be forgotten, as he is possibly the greatest athlete to ever live, but for his career his injury ended his Football career and virtually ended his Baseball career. Jackson will forever go down as how great could he have been.
1. What if Len Bias never Overdosed?
Len Bias is different than everyone else on this list due to the fact that he never actually played a professional game. That is part of the aura that makes him so fascinating, that also makes this entry all speculation. Due to that I have no problem saying that Bias could have changed the entire landscape of the NBA.
The second pick of the 1986 draft Bias was selected by the Celtics, two days later Bias died of cocaine intoxication. Even without Bias, the Celtics made the NBA Finals, losing to the showtime Lakers. If the Celtics had Bias, we could have seen the best dynasty in NBA history firsthand. They already had a core three of Bird, McHale, and Parrish, add Bias to that and you potentially have the greatest team of all-time.
Bias went to Maryland University where he advanced his game every single season becoming an All-American his Senior season, winning two ACC player of the year awards in 1985 and 86, and won ACC athlete of the year in 1986. Bias was an all-around player, yes, he needed to be leading the Terrapins, but by the end of his career he was compared to His Airness, Michael Jordan.
Jordan was more polished coming out of college, but at the rate Bias was improving his game he could have been right up with him in a couple years in the pros.
Bias and the Celtics could have taken away part of Jordan’s legacy if he were to have played in the pros, but because of the unfortunate situation we will never know, making him the biggest what if in all of American sports history.
There are numerous examples of “what ifs” in American sports history and I could have named countless more, but I think these are five of the biggest that we have ever seen.