In a special Halloween-themed list, we look at the scariest, gruesome, and downright most horrific injuries in NBA history that hampered the chances of a legitimate title contender. This is an update to a list that originally ran on 3/28/19.
1) '18-'19 Golden State Warriors: Kevin Durant
"Right calf strain" was how the Warriors initially announced Durant's injury during the 2019 Western Conference Semifinals which would soon completely change the trajectory of at least four franchises. The first was, of course, Golden State, who managed to breeze past the Rockets and Blazers without their star forward, as his seemingly minor injury lingered, but found themselves in trouble in the NBA Finals against the second impacted franchise in this scenario, the Raptors. When Durant rushed back for game five of the Finals, he dominated early, further reiterating that this Warriors team fully healthy was unstoppable, but then tore his Achilles tendon early in the second quarter, ending his season and likely all of '19-'20. The Raptors managed to win the first title in franchise history while the Warriors were denied a chance to join the all-time NBA greats who three-peated. The Rockets team that fell short against the Durant-less Warriors had a reckoning in the ensuing summer, going for broke by trading Chris Paul and several first round picks to the Thunder for Russell Westbrook. Meanwhile, knowing he likely wouldn't be able to play in '19-'20, Durant opted to leave Golden State to sign with the Brooklyn Nets.
2) '11-'12 Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose's career trajectory was a steadily meteoric one his first three seasons, from Rookie of the Year in '08-'09 to an All-Star in '09-'10 to MVP in '10-'11. After his Bulls lost in a valiant effort against in the Heat in the 2011 Conference Finals, they seemed to be just a piece or two and some more playoff experience away from reaching the Finals. Chicago added a reliable free agent shooter in Rip Hamilton, and saw promising improvements in '11-'12 from Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Omer Asik. Despite Rose missing almost half the (abbreviated, due to the lockout) regular season due to injury, the Bulls finished 50-16 and secured the East's top seed for a second straight year. With their star point guard back on time for the first round of the playoffs, Chicago was putting the finishing touches on a game one victory over the 76ers when Rose, who nearly had a triple-double in the game, went down with an apparent knee injury. It was later diagnosed as an ACL tear that would require surgery and ultimately cost Rose not just the remainder of those playoffs, but the entire '12-'13 season. The shell-shocked Bulls were eliminated by the Sixers, becoming just the fifth #1 seed in NBA history to lose a first round series. Neither Rose nor the Bulls ever fully recovered from that fateful May day.
3) '88-'89 Los Angeles Lakers: Magic Johnson
Despite having already won five titles in the past nine seasons, including the last two, the Lakers were feeling the pressure on and the clock ticking in '88-'89. After all, Pat Riley had coined and trademarked the term "three-peat" to describe how he expected the season to end, and the team was further inspired to send out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had announced his impending retirement, with one more title. They cruised to their ninth Pacific Division title in 10 years, and the top seed in the Western Conference. After steamrolling Portland, Seattle, and Phoenix in three consecutive series sweeps, the Lakers headed into the NBA Finals against the team they had vanquished the year before, Detroit. Already delivered some poor luck before the series began, when starting shooting guard Byron Scott pulled a hamstring in practice, things went from bad to worse when Magic Johnson, who had just been named MVP for the season, came up limping during game two against the Pistons. Though the Pistons ultimately swept the series, the Lakers played them tight in games two and three without Johnson, attesting that a healthy Magic may have been a difference maker for Los Angeles.
4) '48-'49 Washington Capitols: Bob Feerick
The Capitols franchise, which has no connection to the Washington Wizards or any other current NBA team, existed for just four full seasons, three in the BAA and one in the NBA, but made the playoffs in all four campaigns. Their roster architect was none other than Red Auerbach, and the lessons learned from this stint would guide him in developing the selfless, defensive-minded Celtics juggernaut of the '60s. Before the start of the '48-'49 BAA season (which is technically considered an NBA season historically), four teams joined from the NBL, including George Mikan's powerhouse Minneapolis Lakers. Though Mikan was an unstoppable force of nature, many considered the seasoned, balanced, and well-coached Capitols to be the real title favorites. They had five players average double-digit scoring, but losing shooting guard Bob Feerick to a knee injury late in the regular season was still a crushing blow. Feerick was 1st-Team All-BAA, the Capitols' top scorer, and also the team leader on the floor. Despite an additional injury that hampered their starting point guard Fred Scolari, the Capitols still managed to reach the Finals, where they fell to the Lakers in six games. Mikan was not his usual self in that series, as he was nursing a broken hand suffered in game one which forced him to take the floor in a cast, so it's arguable that the Capitols could have stolen the series with Feerick on the floor. Auerbach resigned after the season due to disagreements with ownership, and the franchise folded two years later.
5) '02-'03 Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki
When the Teutonic sensation Nowitzki came to the team as a rookie in 1999, Dallas was an entire decade removed from their last winning season or playoff appearance. After back-to-back second round losses in 2001 and 2002, the Mavericks looked stronger than ever in '02-'03, stymying opposing teams with a (newly legalized) zone defense, and paced offensively by Steve Nash at point guard. They won 60 games, tied for the league's best record, but had to settle for the three seed in the West due to tiebreakers. After tough series wins over the Blazers and Kings, Dallas looked to be peaking at just the right time as they advanced to the Conference Finals against the top seeded Spurs. It was only the second playoff meeting ever between the in-state rivals, and after Nowitzki's 38 points led Dallas to a game one win in San Antonio, they returned home for game three with a 1-1 series tie and upset on their minds. But Nowitzki injured his knee in a game three collision with Manu Ginobili, and was quickly declared out for the rest of the season. Dallas fought valiantly, with Michael Finley leading the way in a shocking game five upset win in San Antonio, but the Spurs ultimately took the series in six games and went on to easily defeat the Nets in the Finals.
6) '73-'74 Milwaukee Bucks: Lucius Allen
With the Lakers' Wilt Chamberlain having retired and the defending champion Knicks quickly aging, the Bucks entered the '73-'74 season as title co-favorites with the Celtics. Though legendary point guard Oscar Robertson was starting to show his age, Milwaukee was still stacked with megastar center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar flanked by All-Star small forward Bobby Dandridge and a rising star at shooting guard in Lucius Allen. Allen had been drafted third overall by the Sonics in 1969 (two spots after his UCLA teammate Abdul-Jabbar), but came to the Bucks soon after in a trade. He played sparingly on the team that won the 1971 title, but by '73-'74 the speedy Allen was arguably the team's second most important player, an elite play maker who could drive to the basket at will. Milwaukee was cruising to the playoffs when Allen tore his knee in an Ides of March game against the Pistons. His replacement, Mickey Davis, played admirably down in the stretch and in their playoff victories over the Lakers and Bulls. But Boston's defensive specialist Don Chaney was able to shut down Davis in the NBA Finals, and with everyone except Kareem struggling offensively, the Bucks lost in seven games. Two years later Abdul-Jabbar and Allen were teammates on the Lakers, and the Bucks haven't returned to the Finals since.
7) '67-'68 Philadelphia 76ers: Billy Cunningham
Though Wilt Chamberlain had the pure physical advantage and unmatched statistical output, by 1968 there was no doubt left that he was never going to catch Bill Russell in the stat that matter most, titles won. Russell already had nine rings by the time Chamberlain won his first in 1967 with the 76ers. Philadelphia's performance that season is still one of the most dominant in league history, and they returned essentially the same roster for the '67-'68 follow-up. Though he didn't always seem fully self-aware, Chamberlain was a student of basketball history and definitely understood that his place in it could be defined right alongside Russell's if the Sixers could produce another dominating season. They finished 62-20 in the regular season, easily securing the top seed in the East while Chamberlain was awarded a third straight MVP, but injuries mounted throughout the season and crested in a first round series against New York when starting power forward Billy Cunningham broke his wrist. Though that injury to Cunningham was the most severe they suffered, Philadelphia was already the walking wounded, with Chamberlain nursing an ailing toe, Wali Jones and Hal Greer fighting through sore knees, and Luke Jackson playing despite a pulled hamstring. Despite all the injuries, Philadelphia somehow took a 3-1 lead on the Celtics in the Conference Finals, but dropped the next three games (including two at home) to lose the series. The longer the series went, the more obvious that the ailing Sixers just couldn't keep up, and the Celtics moved on to win their 10th title of the Russell era. Chamberlain was traded to the Lakers that summer, and did eventually win one more title (and Finals MVP) in 1972.
8) '05-'06 Phoenix Suns: Amare Stoudemire
Already a star player on one team on this list (Dallas, #4 above), Steve Nash's star-crossed fate of never winning an NBA title was truly sealed in 2005 and 2006 with the Suns. After an eye injury to Joe Johnson may have cost the Suns a chance to upset the Spurs in the 2005 Conference Finals, they shockingly traded Johnson that summer (the first of several abjectly cheap moves by owner Robert Sarver that sabotaged the Suns' title hopes as badly as any injury). The future still seemed bright in Phoenix, with young phenom Amare Stoudemire primed to build on a breakout performance in the 2005 playoffs that had drawn comparisons to Shawn Kemp. Even when cartilage damage was discovered in Stoudemire's knee in the preseason that required microfracture surgery, the Suns were upbeat, seemingly assured that he would return on time for a playoff push. But Stoudemire's March return lasted just three games before the Suns shut him down for the season to give his knee more time to rest and heal. Questions arose of whether the team rushed him back too soon, and even though they entered the playoffs as the two seed, postseason expectations were low. Nash managed to carry Phoenix past the Lakers and Clippers, but the Suns just didn't have enough firepower to hang with Dallas in the Conference Finals. Stoudemire would never fully recover his vaunted explosiveness, and, despite being relatively fully healthy, the Suns would come up just short again in the 2007 playoffs against the Spurs.
9) '77-'78 Portland Trail Blazers: Bill Walton
Long before Derrick Rose or Amare Stoudemire, this was the ultimate case of an injury ruining not just one season, but the long-term fortunes of a franchise and its star player. Hailed as a savior in Portland when he was drafted with the first pick in the 1974 draft, Walton suffered through two injury-heavy seasons before making good on his potential in '76-'77, leading the Blazers to their first (and still only) title in franchise history. Though that 1977 Finals victory over Philadelphia was an upset, Portland was undisputed title favorite in '77-'78, especially after they raced out to a 49-10 start. Their 50th win was a marquee one over the Sixers, but it came at the cost of Walton breaking his foot. Without their star center the Blazers struggled down the stretch, winning just 8 of their final 22 games, but still managed to hold on to the top seed in a weak Western Conference. They were heavy favorites in their Conference Semifinals series against Seattle when Walton's return was announced, but the big man was injured again during game two, fracturing a bone in his foot, and the Sonics won the series in six games. Walton would never suit up again for Portland. He demanded a trade that offseason, citing the negligence of the Blazers training staff as the cause of his injury woes, and when the trade wasn't granted he sat out the '78-'79 season in protest before leaving as a free agent. Though he would never fully return to 100% on the court, Walton did eventually win one more title as a member of the Celtics bench in 1986. The Blazers seem to have been cursed ever since at the center position, weathering devastating injuries to Mychal Thompson, Sam Bowie, Arvydas Sabonis, and Greg Oden.
10) '82-'83 Los Angeles Lakers: James Worthy
Long before a 1989 injury to Magic Johnson portended the dusk of the Showtime Lakers dynasty (see entry #2 above), their NBA sovereignty was just getting started in the Spring of 1983 when rookie sensation James Worthy went down with a broken leg. Despite coming off their second NBA title in three seasons, the Lakers were able to net Worthy with the top pick of the 1982 draft thanks to a years-old trade with the cellar-dwelling Cavs. Worthy had an astounding rookie season coming off the bench at both forward positions before it came to a crashing end in an April game against the Suns with a fractured tibia. Los Angeles was still able to net the West's top seed and defeat the Blazers and Spurs in playoff series to set up a Finals rematch with the 76ers. But not only were the Lakers missing Worthy in that series, they were also getting limited minutes from key reserves Bob McAdoo (who tore his hamstring in the Conference Finals) and Norm Nixon (who separated his shoulder in game one against Philadelphia). This left the team razor-thin on the bench, and despite leading every Finals game at halftime, they wore down in each second half and were swept by the overpowering Sixers that featured Julius Erving and Moses Malone. Though Worthy would return healthy in '83-'84 and help the Lakers to three titles (including a Finals MVP performance in 1987), coach Pat Riley lamented the injury for years, and considered the 1983 playoffs one of his greatest disappointments.
11) '57-'58 Boston Celtics: Bill Russell
Bill Russell famously won 11 titles in his 13 seasons in the NBA, a total arguably unheralded in any major professional sport. The reasoning for how his Celtics teams so dominated the era have been well documented, and the inverse question is apparent but less pried: what happened in the two seasons they didn't win the title? When analyzing the '66-'67 season, the answer is a mixed bag: Red Auerbach's retirement (forcing Russell into an exhausting player-coach role), trying to work in new starting power forward Bailey Howell, and the suddenly abrupt decline of aging point guard K.C. Jones led to a Conference Finals loss to a Sixers team that was easily the best non-Boston squad of the '60s. In the 1958 the answer is much simpler: with their NBA Finals series against the St. Louis Hawks split 1-1, Russell went down with a severely sprained ankle in game three. Boston played on valiantly without their star center, but lost the series in six games. It was the only title in Hawks history, even though the squad, led by Bob Pettit, made three other Finals appearances in the era, losing to Russell's Celtics in 1957, 1960, and 1961.
12) '86-'87 Houston Rockets: Ralph Sampson
The '85-'86 Rockets were a revelation, and though they lost in the Finals to Boston, the stage seemed set for them to take the NBA by storm. Just four years removed from losing Moses Malone to the 76ers, Houston quickly rebuilt their team by drafting two more elite big men with back-to-back #1 overall picks in 1983 and 1984. Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon, who came to be known as the "Twin Towers," were both named to the 1986 All-Star team and led the Rockets to a shocking upset of the Lakers in the Conference Finals before succumbing to the Celtics. Expectations were sky high for Houston in '86-'87, but problems arose from the beginning, with Sampson missing 11 of their first 13 games due to knee and hip ailments that were lingering from a nasty fall taken late in the '85-'86 season. Drug suspensions were then handed out to Mitchell Wiggins and Lewis Lloyd, and even though Sampson put up solid stats upon returning, the Rockets struggled with him in the lineup, losing in 10 of the first 13 games he played. Even with Sampson hobbling and the bench rendered thin, Houston was able to rally from a 10-17 start to squeak into the playoffs but lost in a second round series against Seattle. Sampson was traded early in the '87-'88 season to the Warriors, and never fully recovered from his injuries. Olajuwon and the Rockets did eventually win back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.
13) '14-'15 Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love
14) '16-'17 San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard
15) '17-'18 Houston Rockets: Chris Paul
Consistently sporting a lineup of at least three All-Stars since the '14-'15 season, the Warriors certainly haven't needed any additional luck over the past few seasons to help them win titles, but they've often received it anyway. It started in the spring of 2015, when the new look Cavaliers, led by the recently returned LeBron James, were the second seed in the East but the definitive conference favorites. They managed to reach the NBA Finals despite losing Love to a dislocated shoulder in the first round (in an arguably dirty play by Boston's Kelly Olynyk), and took the heavily favored Warriors to overtime in game one before losing. But it was then announced that Irving would miss the remainder of the series with a fractured kneecap, and though James battled valiantly, the Warriors won the series in six games.
Two years later, with Kevin Durant on the roster, '16-'17 seemed like a foregone conclusion coronation season for the Warriors, especially after sweeping the Blazers and Jazz in the first two rounds of the postseason. But lest we forget game one of the Western Conference Finals, when the Spurs waltzed into Oracle Arena and almost ran the mighty Warriors off their home floor. Led by an absolutely dominant two-way performance by Leonard, who was then the two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year and had just finished third in MVP voting, the Spurs opened up a 78-55 lead early in the third quarter. But things turned quickly when Zaza Pachulia undercut Leonard on a jumper, causing the Spurs star to land awkwardly and severely sprain his ankle. Golden State went on an immediate 18-0 run with Leonard on the bench, and eventually won the game 113-111. With Leonard unable to return, the undermanned Spurs were blown out in each of the remaining games and Golden State went on to win the title. Golden State was legitimately on the ropes a year later, falling behind 3-2 in the Conference Finals against Houston. But Paul pulled his hamstring late in the game five Rockets win, leaving them without their floor general for the final two games of the series. Houston opened up significant first half leads in games six and seven, but wore down in the second half due to fatigue and a barrage of Warriors three-point shots. The Warriors won their fourth consecutive Western Conference title and soon their third NBA title over that stretch. Karma finally caught up in 2019, when two separate major injuries to Kevin Durant, plus tough breaks for DeMarcus Cousins and Klay Thompson, likely cost Golden State a chance at three straight titles.
16) '50-'51 Minneapolis Lakers: George Mikan
Simply put, Mikan dominated basketball no matter where or with whom he played. He led DePaul to the NIT title in 1946 (which was arguably more prestigious than the NCAA title back then), then turned pro and won back-to-back NBL titles in his two seasons in the league, first with the Chicago American Gears in 1947 and then with the Minneapolis Lakers in 1948. After the Lakers joined the NBA for the '48-'49 season, Mikan spent six full years in the league (not counting his ill-fated, partial-season comeback in '55-'56) and lead the Lakers to titles in five of them. What happened in the one season that Mikan and the Lakers didn't wind up as champions? While taking on the rival Rochester Royals in the 1951 Conference Finals, Mikan fractured his leg early in the series and was forced to essentially dodder around the court on one foot for the remainder. Even though the Lakers had managed to win the championship in 1949 when Mikan was playing with a broken hand, this leg injury proved to be too much to overcome and the Royals won the series three-games-to-one, en route to their first and only title in franchise history (they are now the Sacramento Kings). Minneapolis came back to become the first NBA team with three consecutive titles, winning in 1952, 1953, and 1954, which means that without his fractured leg, Mikan likely would have captured a Bill Russell-esque eight titles in all eight of his full pro seasons.