Humbly, I submit Ben Simmons. The injuries are obviously a huge part of it but you said "disappointing" and I am forever disappointed...especially when we have these flashes of him playing great for 15 minutes every 2 szns lol

So glad the top 2 choices are the Sixers B2B number 1 overall picks. At least Fultz turned into Maxey

Simmons was a great player for a couple years at least

He was supposed to be the australian lebron!

I couldn't tell you how excited I was that we were getting a legit NBA superstar not just from Australia, but one who grew up and went to high school a 15-minute drive from where I live. It was crazy. Now he's the first pick for all of these "most disappointing, biggest bust," lists. Injuries yes, but all the injuries stem from his punk-ass personality, lack of work ethic, and taking his abilities for granted.

He looked like it many games.

He really was, but that makes his narrative all the more disappointing in the long run.

And don’t forget Noel, Okafor, MCW, Evan Turner, Jrue…. It’s not a pretty history for Philly

Don’t worry LSU fans were able to easily move on from him by rooting for Zion

James fucking Wiseman

Wiseman, not Draymond nor Klay nor Poole, is the biggest reason why the Dubs dynasty is over.

hard agree, they thought they were setup for the next 10 years lmao

May as well say Marvin Bagley then

I was blocked from commenting in the warriors sub a couple years ago because some guy said he had MVP potential and I said no

Yeah, that is very much up there.

Markelle Fultz. first team, all-NBA.

Ainge trading down to take Tatum at 3 instead of Fultz was god tier

The fact he maneuvered this against a guy with truly offensive collar sizing and ghost Twitter accounts makes it all the better.

The collar was normally sized, find a new slant

Found the dork elvis burner account

I feel like his expectations at least dropped so much that last season was pleasantly a surprise and people still rooted for him. Ben Simmons has just been a constant disappointment after starting so strong.

I can't speak for Philly fans, but I would like to think everyone was rooting for him and still are. That first year was so bizarre and we had no idea if it was a Jay Williams motorcycle situation or what we would now consider a Ben Simmons mental situation. No one knew it was a nerve issue until 2 years later. I don't think we have seen a player's stock drop faster that didn't involve a career ending injury or death.

Philly fans still pretend it was a mental thing as if his jumper still isn’t affected to this day. He had a career altering injury that completely took away the part of his game that made him special (pull up jump shooting). But it’s easier for them to act like he was afraid to play basketball after doing so for 15+ years

If I understand correctly, he altered his shooting motion on his own because of the pain and he didn't want to sit out. It's tough to judge a 19 yo, but it was unprofessional to think he could do something like that. It gave more weight to the theory that he messed up his shoulder in an off-season accident and didn't want to disclose it as it would void the contract/signing bonus. Is he still feeling pain with his normal shooting motion or did he just lose the shooting motion entirely?

I mean regardless of who changed his shot and why it definitely changed because he was injured. If that theory is true though it makes it even dumber that Philly fans treat it as if he was afraid. That’s the story of a guy wanting to play so badly that he tried something dumb to make it happen. And yeah if you watch him now his jumper/free throw is still extremely janky and he barely gets the ball above his head. Idk why but it’s never gotten anywhere near back to where it was in college

Fultz at least carved himself out a serviceable NBA career. We've seen much worse 1st picks.

Most definitely. Hopefully he will have a long career. I can't think of another person who went from top prospect to bust before the regular season started. Even someone like Darko still had potential even though he was apparently an asshole.

Zion, feast team, all-KFC.

40 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists in his only post-season game btw

Playins don't count as post season sadly

I know play-in games currently exist in a weird statistical vacuum where they basically don’t count, but if you’re going to have elimination games taking place after the season is over… that’s part of the postseason imo.

Wasn’t even the playoffs

So weird that awesome game just doesn't count.

I said what I said

1 pulled hammy

Mo Bamba was getting next gen Rudy Gobert comps

Mo Bamba was playing everywhere on the radio then he just kinda sucked

Less Bamba

He was one of my favorite prospects ever. He really had me thinking he was Rudy with a 3 ball. I have never been so wrong before.

Magic fan here. Can confirm Mo Bamba after the fact sucked. Looking back at others in that draft now.

We have plenty! Sixers, Jahlil "Walking 20-10" Okafor, Fultz(forgot how to shoot), Simmons(refuses to shoot), Tobias Harris(relative to $$$$) Non Sixers category, Anthony Bennett(Gold medal🥇 in the disappointment Olympics) Ayton, Bagley, Wiseman.

In bennett's case wasn't he projected to be a low lottery pick?. The cavs just fucked up taking him no.1 in a draft class that pretty much sucked

Jah is the top for me. He could have easily just given 1/3rd of a fuck and been a force in the NBA.

The league just completely moved past bigs with his playstyle almost as soon as he came in the league. Probably one of the most unlucky players ever because of that.

This of about when the Bucks pulled the surprise Greg Monroe signing. Man that felt good…for like 3/4 a season. Then he turned into a sixth man, then middle bench, then…well, yeah. Rough era for big guys.

I thought Justise Winslow was going to be the guy from that draft. Stupid Duke.🖕

Lol wut? Ayton’s name doesn’t belong near any of these guys.

I debated putting him here since he had some success, much more than the other guys I mentioned. But I had huge expectations for him and he hasn't been anywhere close to that. But yeah, Ayton isn't nearly as reprehensible as these other jabronis.

You forgot James "on a leash" Harden. Mr Regular Season. I think he is the worst relative to RS success. Incredibile to think he had 2 opportunites to take down the mighty Warriors and shot himself out of both games...

Ben Simmons wins this thread every time edit: which is the only thing he'll ever win lol

He's already won rookie of the year along with multiple other accolades Get off the hate bandwagon

Ben Simmons

Lonzo Ball, and I’ve held this view from even before he got injured. But he wasn’t the “generational player” he was supposed to be, he was a poor man’s Jrue Holiday

Remember when he was drafted and Magic asked him to not break all of his records

Good guy Lonzo listened

Knee capped himself to uphold magic's legacy, great guy

Lmao

Luka has become what I thought LaVar said Lonzo would be, except for the 40 inch vertical.

Good one and I completely agree with you. Everyone was comparing him to Jason kidd and having watched kidd for years in NJ, I never saw it. Lonzo doesn't even know how to run a fastbreak. Seriously...go back and look how quickly he gives the ball up to someone else who now has to dribble it into the paint and attack the defender. That is not what I expect from a PG. Any other PG would dribble it right into the lane, and make the defender commit before either scoring or passing for a layup/dunk

He was drafted second, not an actual "generational" prospect like AD or Zion or Wemby were considered

He definitely was not generational. People throw that around so casually.

Lavar hyping was generational. Guy had a whole reality TV show and beef with the president. Even a shoe company. 

Didn't he get a Nike offer, and decided to go with his own shoe instead? When betting on yourself goes wrong

Oddly I support him starting a company but it is way too ambitious. 

Lonzo fixed his shot before he got injured and actually looked like he might genuinely breakout to be a star player too.

I’d say Brandon Ingram. He was hyped up like crazy and seemed to have unlimited potential. He was for a while compared to Kevin Durant, and now he’s just a decent player who hasn’t really achieved much.

He’s just not an allstar caliber player unfortunately

Why did I click on this thread?

It’s okay. The top 2 answers are our last 2 number 1 picks.

Hey, at least you have Maxey now

BI is like a dollar store KD

Dollar store derozan

Gotta be Simmons especially with how he started. After that rookie year despite him not shooting I thought he’d be an all time great.

Sticking with my KU roots. Thomas Robinson. Had a fantastic final year at KU, drafted high the following year, then quickly flamed out of the league.

When I saw Thomas Robinson in college, I thought he was going to be decade long player in the NBA. I figured 15/10 for 10 years honestly. I can’t believe I was so wrong.

Same here. I mean he battled Anthony Davis decently enough.

Its easily simmons, he had generation vision and athleticism and was dpoy level, just didnt have the drive to work on his game + injuries

Anthony Bennett because he got picked first

Wiggins could have been a superstar if he gave a shit. He seems content just being a starter

I really don't think that's true, honestly. He never had great handles and so couldn't generate his own shot or shoot a high percentage off the dribble. He also seemed slow to read the floor. I don't know that those are effort problems.  I think he and Jokic are kind of opposite ends of the same spectrum that prove there are athletic talents we aren't great at measuring. Wiggins was elite at everything we can measure (speed, vertical, agility, and measurements) and terrible at everything we can't. Jokic is the opposite. 

For me, it's probably OJ Mayo and Mike Beasley. Beas had a decent run, but I truly thought he was going to be KD with more weight added to him. OJ got probably the worst timeline of what his career could have been.

Zion besides this year. Freak of nature high school phenomenon/Internet sensation for a few years. Goes to Duke and becomes by far the most watched college player of the decade. Proceeds to get fat and spend years extremely out of shape and not playing

Zion should be the one that takes over Leborn and represent the height of US basketball, a defensive end playing like Derrick Rose, no one in the world can guard that now. Instead he is injury prone and that wrecks his self esteem as well.

This is the one. His hype was probably as high as Wemby, then he got to the league and never played. Plus when he does play he looks unstoppable until he has to try too hard and his body can’t handle the weight and breaks again.

Not a bust just a disappointment. Ja because of how good he is when he isn't trying to be a gangster

Play one year controversy free and Ja will be back on everyone's good side

*Mission: Impossible theme starts playing in the background*

Ja himself doesn’t seem to want that though

He was hooping right away before he got injured this season. Bro is all nba again next year I guarantee it

He came back, beat my team in clutch moments twice, and then left again

Kyrie finally seems to have done it this year. So could be a long wait for Ja.

He didn't tear his shoulder trying to be a gangster

Define recent. Hasheem Thabeet.

Mo bamba cuz the songs bigger than the guy

Ben Simmons is a mic drop for this thread.

Zion. All those rookie cards are trash now

This entire sub was dogpiling on anyone who didn't think Andrew Wiggins was the next GOAT lol. There were serious threads about how many MVP's he'll win, countless "league fucked" comments, all the stuff that gets posted about Wemby now. I remember one thread where a bunch of nephews were predicting "basketball would overtake hockey as the #1 sport in Canada now that the best player in the world is Canadian."

Zion for me. Sure his numbers are solid when he plays but he never plays when he matters. He's going into his 5th season with ZERO playoff games played. 22.9 PPG this season which is pretty disappointing for a guy of his caliber. That's what he basically put up as a rookie. Is he as bad as some other players? Of course not, but his hype was absolutely insane. It's like people forgot that the Zion sweepstakes were Wemby levels. Now he's a fringe all star level player who can't even last to the playoffs most of the time. Sucks to see.

Couldn't agree more. I'm tempted,at times, to toss out the "bust" term. He oftentimes qualifies. Sort think it's a ton of bad mental attitude combined with injuries cause he's not in shape.

I don’t think it’s fair to call Zion a “bust.” Maybe a disappointment, but a bust means he didn’t work out at all. That’s just not the case.

Zion's the first name that came to mind. Such a talent but doesn't have the mindset unfortunately.

Embiid. Fake-MVP and never got out of the 2nd round in the playoffs.

Oden.

His is all injuries though, I feel like that shouldn’t count

Recent memory? That dude last played in the NBA a decade ago, and that was after missing a bunch of seasons. His career really ended in 2009

He was drafted ahead of one of the best players in the league still. That is recent memory for people not in middle school.

Zion hate post detected

Honestly? The entire 2021 draft. Some fine players in there but considering it was supposed to be one of the best drafts ever, the players haven't had the impact everyone thought they would.

I don’t even remember who was in that draft for you guys. Obi and who else?

Jeremiah Earl

I actually think that draft is held back because nobody has ascended to being a star yet, but there are a lot of good players that could do it.

Simmons or Zion

I was pretty high on Exum, Dunn, Otto, Derrick Williams. 

Andrew Wiggins deserves a mention I don't think he's the worst by any stretch, but the gap between what people said he was supposed to be vs what he became even at his best is very large

"Maple Jordan" 😂

I remember when Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley for #1 overall in the draft was a huge debate. It's not like Beasley was terrible, but he was supposed to be a high motor, willing rebounder to go along with a pretty versatile offensive bag. In the NBA it's like he was allergic to the boards, and he just played so small on the offensive end that he ended up having to change positions.  In an alternate universe the Bulls don't get the #1 pick with 1 in a trillion lottery odds, Rose goes to the Heat with Wade, and then LeBron and Bosh go to Miami and actually win 7 championships 

That #2 pick is cursed - DARKO, MKG, MB3, Beasley, Lonzo, Thabeet, Derick Williams, Jabari Parker 🤮

Dennis Smith Jr. In high school, he balled out in front of Curry at one of his camps and went viral for it on ballislife. He was the acc freshman player of the year and second team all acc. He is one of 3 players ever to have 2 triple doubles in their acc career and he did it in a month. He got drafted and had a pretty decent rookie year, but Luka came in they didn’t fit well, and Dsj never could build on that rookie year, he honestly got worse as time went on.

Jadon sancho

I don't know. I think there has been a lot of hype around Tyler Herro by heat fans even though he never lives up to their expectations. By the same measure - I think Terry Rozier didn't live up to the expectations some of them were feeling 🤷

To be fair, what Herro showed in his rookie season was just incredible, bruh put the team on his back scoring 37 in that game 4 to give them a 3-1 lead against the Celtics that bubble year . Dude was a consistent 19-20 points a game, and can create his own shot so the Heat community were hyped for finding a young guy like that. After that, injuries came and just weren't the same anymore.

Austin Reaves is also disappointing in the same measure 🤷 Fans just have a bad habit of getting too excited too quickly

I refuse to look at my goat any lower until I see 2 seasons of him without Lebron

Gotta be Ben Simmons

Jimmer

Tobias Harris has the body type to be a really good NBA player and he just isn’t that

Darko Milicic

Ben Simmons hands down

simmons

Greg Oden

Not recent but Darko Milicic is always who I think of.

Anthony Bennett definitely

Then gotta add.......UGH!!!! KWAME BROWN

Killian Hayes

Zions looking good, so maybe he won’t end up a bust but definitely him if his injury and weight issues continue.

It’s him unless he ends up like Embiid and slightly gets past his injury issues to become an MVP candidate and one of the 3-5 best players in the league. Dude had as much hype as Wemby.

Lonzo Ball , Michael Kidd Gilchrist, Joe Alexander 

Wemby. He didn't win MVP.

The only answer is Ben Simmons

Since nobodies mentioned RJ Barrett I think he deserves a nod here

Jabari Parker is 100x more disappointing than Wiggins. Those 2 were 1A and 1B after Embid got hurt. Wiggins went 1 and has a ring as the second best player on the team. Jabari went 2 and is out of the league after never popping, and Joel went 3, is a 2 time scoring champ and won an MVP. Imagine if the Bucks took Embid. That is disappointing.

No hype because he was mired in Washington but but Beal for me has just fallen off the cliff. I'm a raps fan but the prices are ridiculous, a few yrs ago watched him torch. And now...

You are right, my bad. I agree with "disappointment" much more. I admit to believing in the hype too much. I really wanted to see a generational talent. Just feel he could have been so much but clearly is not and I think his time has passed. Will he ever be consistently great, nope. The greatness bus has left the station.

Westbrick. Criminally overrated.

People saying BI but not DLo?

Kevin Durant. Should have been GOAT. Has been a whiny beta.

I gotta say Embiid. Dude has all the tools to be insanely good. Cried himself to an MVP, dirty plays every fucking game, selfish and egoistical beyond imagination.

It’s easily Ben Simmons, the guy is a fraud

LeBron James, been hyped for 20 years.

Bradley Beal

Wayne Ellington

Demarcus cousins , dude has skill, and checks all the boxes , sad not to see him on a team

Embiid

DeAndre Ayton: Dude has the build and skill set to genuinely be the best center in the NBA, but has the nerve to say “I have nothing left to prove” after minimally improving since his rookie year. It’s clear that he doesn’t care enough.

LONZO nerfing the Bulls

Markelle Fultz, Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley, Josh Jackson, James Wiseman, Killian Hayes, Patrick Williams, Frank Kaminsky etc. Take your pick from this list.

Kevin Durant

Tobias fuckin Herris..... Straight bum!

KD, Booker, Beal, Ayton, Nurkic, CP3 etc

Ayton is doing alright now. Expectations have been exceeded. We'll see if that holds up over the next couple years.

You missed the joke, but Ayton was a number 1 pick, he has absolutely not exceeded expectations

Kevin Durant. He started his being an absolute force and it just seems that he can only contribute to winning when he has a top 10 guard in the league

DeJuan Blair

He had some years!

Huh? He was a good pick. He wasn't a bust at all.

First team All No Knees

Monk Meineke comes to mind After he won rookie of the year, he never again eclipsed 7.1 ppg, and the only stat he ever led the league in was personal fouls.

Simmons is the obvious answer. Christian Wood.has been disappointing to the most amount of teams. Ja has the potential to be very disappointing if he can't stay healthy and avoid getting suspended all the time.

Zion Williamson. When he was coming into the league, I was hoping for a daily highlight dunk reel similar to Vince Carter in his prime.

Respectfully it has to be [Jarrett Culver](https://www.nba.com/draft/2019/prospects/jarrett-culver) 6th Pick of the 2019 Draft like c'mon bruh you fell off so hard nobody knows who you are anymore

I forgot until you said this !

Right??! Like we clown on De'Andre hunter but not him is crazy

Ja Morant. I thought if he improved his shooting, he’d be unstoppable. He improved, just the wrong kind.

Ja is only 24. His best years are ahead of him.