How A Single Possession Ruined Their NBA Careers Forever

in the 2021 playoffs the Philadelphia 76ers faced off against the Young upand cominging Atlanta Hawks in a series that seemed like it should have been a cakewalk for the heavily favored Sixers turned into the most disappointing Series in franchise history this was the play that perfectly encapsulated the entire Sixers franchise and the immediate downfall of Ben Simmons a man once crowned as the next LeBron James games how's it going folks my name's Andy and today we're going to take a look at three different players who each got ruined by a single possession why did these plays in particular have such a drastic impact on their careers as they were never the same afterwards let's take a look at the start of the 2021 playoffs there were three teams in the Eastern Conference who were fighting to make the finals that year the Bucks the Nets and the Sixers who finished as the number number one seed in the conference they were poised to reach at least the Conference Finals that year so when the series reached a game seven it surprised everyone that the Sixers have not dominated the way they should not only that but all eyes were on Ben Simmons even before game seven Simmons had been very passive the whole series but it reached a low point in games five and six where he only scored eight and six points respectively game five in particular because the the Sixers blew a 20-point lead and Simmons missed 10 free throws this was his first sign of his wavering confidence in an interview Simmons was asked about his struggles at the free throw line which basically lost them the game and he responded with I think it's mental I have no idea why my shooting dropped off you don't want to hear this from your second best player even if he's telling the truth Ben Simmons passiveness and lack of motivation was already a huge headline so this set the stage for game seven some folks will remember this game for Joel embiid's disastrous choke a game where he recorded eight turnovers many of them down the stretch however Simmons saved him from generational slander with this play right here that's when you know that the game is in your head that's a dunk for Ben Simmons right there you got to and I know you got to De you got because of this single possession everyone shifted the slander towards Simmons instead however the frustration towards him did not come out of nowhere his scoring his aggressiveness have always been criticized and he always lacked the mental fortitude when it matters most we didn't know it at the time but it was the last game he'd ever play for the team this play became the culmination of his entire time in Philly and he was so mentally broken all the negativity all the critics and doubters who were waiting for the chance to pounce even his own coach and teammates threw him under the the bus and ran over him with of course Doc Rivers doubting he could ever be the point guard on a championship team doc you think Ben Simmons can can still be a point guard for for a championship team like the one you guys want to become yeah David I don't know that question or the answer to that right now um you know so I don't know the answer to that Simmons had a hard time blocking out the noise cuz when his own team is saying stuff like this it had a severe impact on his mindset so much so that he that out an entire season which he attributed to his back problems but we all know that wasn't the main reason prior to the start of The Following season on October 19th 2021 Simmons got thrown out of practice and no longer wanted to be a part of the team then he got suspended the Sixers released a statement citing his behavior as detrimental to the team the team also fined him for missing games missing practices missing road trips reportedly Simmons surpassed $10 million in fines stamping his name in history as the most fined player the NBA has ever seen after getting traded it really didn't help much and as the years went by the injuries piled up he got back surgery he got several injections into his knees to combat the soreness and another surgery to fix a nerve issue in his back Simmons Game and his numbers plummeted never again will he ever return back to his All-Star form by the end of his contract in the summer of 2026 it's unlikely he'll even get another one in the very very best case scenario maybe a team will sign him to the minimum maybe some team will throw him some money simply because they still have an ounce of faith in him it's clear at this point however the career of Ben Simmons is coming to an end Andrea barani if you ask Raptor's fans their thoughts on baryani they probably say something like oh yeah he sucked 7 ft of wasted Talent the dude couldn't get a rebound to save his life if he played up to anywhere close to his potential maybe him and Chris Bosch could have led the Raptors somewhere statistically at face value you would think barani had some decent years in Toronto but don't let these numbers fool you he was much worse than his numbers indicated coming in this dude was touted as the next Dirk nitzki if you're a nick fan we remember baryani in a slightly different way by the time he arrived in New York the former number one pick was 28 years old supposedly in the middle of his Prime in terms of age yet the Raptors had already given up on him the Knicks however were just coming off a 54 win season where they got eliminated in the second round by the Pacers this organization was eager to make a trade to bolster their team and for some reason Andrea barani intrigued them this is what the trade looked like the 2016 first round pick they gave up eventually became yaka purle this trade was heavily criticized by the media cuz Not only was barani a negative asset but the Knicks gave up pcks and Fan Favorite Steve Novak to get him in a rather hilarious article Kaho Kelly wrote about Bar's tumultuous time in Toronto and mocked the Knicks for even wanting him in the first place what was new GM MSU jiri wearing when he negotiated this deal a ski mask getting picks in return for a cap sagging player everyone in the NBA knew you were aching to be rid of is theft the Knicks were hopeful though keep in mind winning 54 games and reaching the second round was their biggest accomplishment during the Carmelo Anthony era it's it's sad to put it this way but it was this is Bar's first interview as a New York Nick I was very excited come and play for New York you is playing such a competitive team have the possibility you know to fight in the playoffs to move for in the playoffs to move for in the playoffs to move for in the playoffs well he never had a chance to play in the playoffs in New York cuz the moment he arrived they went back to being terrible baryani played in 42 games in his first year in New York and he registered the worst box plus minus out of anyone on the team who played over 1,000 minutes a reporter once asked him why don't you get that many rebounds bounds to which barani replied with an insane answer it's called basketball not rebound ball yeah he he really said that then he was asked to expand on his answer and he gave the real reason being lazy maybe that's the only reason it can be I've got the body I've got everything it takes to get 10 rebounds a game it's just sometimes I get lazy have you ever heard an NBA player let alone a former number one pick admits that they don't care about getting back despite him underperforming no other moment became as memorable as this one on December 18th 2013 in a close game against the Milwaukee Bucks this happened offensive rebound Chandler to baratti what is he doing what is he doing folks why would he shoot the ball why yeah you saw that correctly the Knicks grabed the offensive rebound and were supposed to hold the ball until time expires or until the Bucks foul them instead when the ball swings to baryani he threw up an inexplicable three-point shot missed it and now the Bucks have a chance to tie or win the game granted the Knicks still won at the end but this single possession defines baran's entire career a zero IQ player who just doesn't give a crap yet he's still in the league based off the theoretical version of who he is is and that is one of the most talented seven-footers the world has ever seen prior to his arrival to the NBA time and time again he was still given chances to prove himself the funny part is you could point to this exact possession when the Knicks realized okay the Raptors were right this dude sucks before this game against Milwaukee baryani averaged over 31 minutes a game 15 points a game on about 13 shots a game and he finished the rest of the season averaging just 27.7 minutes a game only 11 points a game on fewer than 10 shots a game 22% from three which dropped from an already terrible 29% previously his role on the Knicks instantly diminished after this one play and he deserved it fast forward a month later January 22nd 2014 barani faked a three went to the rim tried to jump over his Defender to dunk it the result he fell awkwardly and suffered an elbow injury that caused him to miss the rest of the season this was the moment his NBA career essentially ended and somehow it's the perfect representation of how it should end barani played Just 75 more games after this injury looking back at his NBA career most would say baryani was one of the biggest busts in NBA history especially for a number one pick even if his numbers on paper don't look that bad for a typical robust he completely lacked any drive to succeed you add on his putrid defense and out of all centers in the NBA he was widely regarded as the worst Defender at his position he should have been out of the league a lot sooner but there were still some folks who believed in him even when there were zero signs he cared about basketball JR Smith as the 2018 NBA Finals commenced there was only one thing for certain the Cavs stood no chance so when they were neck to neck the entirety of game one and even had a chance to win it it shocked everyone in the crowd then this happened Hill misses rebound goes to the Cavs JR Smith brings it back out throws it the hill hill shot blocked when J.R Smith got the offensive rebound which oh by the way did you see Kevin Durant completely forget how to box out here that's a huge blunder he got away with but anyway Jr grabs the board pulls it back out and dribbles out the clock now over the years everyone has made such a big deal over this brain fart by Jr and when he's been interviewed his story kind of changes every time he initially claimed he thought they were up then he claimed he thought they were going to call a timeout another time he thought the warriors were about to foul him what I do know is if the Cavs did call timeout Tyron louu is one of the best coaches in the league when it comes to drawing plays out of a timeout which makes this blunder even more infuriating the aftermath of this one possession cannot be understated the Cavs got blown out in overtime and they could never recover from this mental lapse as the Warriors swept the series and LeBron left Cleveland again for J.R Smith he shot 32% from the field in the next three games and he only appeared in 17 more regular season games after this season before pre charie retiring in the 2018 to9 season after playing just 11 games and averaging career lows across the board the Cavs announced that Jr would no longer be part of the team and literally asked him to leave the organization even though he was still under contract they weren't even interested in having him be a mentor for their young players as they start their rebuild it makes sense I guess according to the Cavs he never showed signs of being a leader eventually by the summer of 2019 Jr got waved there's something to ponder had he never made this mistake and the Cavs actually won game one could he have regained his confidence and contribute more in the games following Jr played terribly for the rest of the series but he's always been a player who plays better under the right circumstances if his mentality isn't in the right spot if his confidence is adversely impacted by a play like this where the entire world knows he's screwed up every headline he sees in the media they called it the dumbest play in NBA finals history it takes a toll on a guy like Jr whose confidence plummets when people don't believe in him it's not surprising at all his career ended shortly after this to give you an idea of how much this affected him several years later Jr had this to say about his slip up that ruined his career I believe I've recovered from it but I ain't going to lie bro I used to dream about it like I was in a depressed state because I really thought this is why I'm not in the league teams didn't even look at giving him a chance anymore and Jr claimed that one play is the reason the NBA blackballed him and that the Lakers only picked him up because of LeBron maybe there's some truth to it but his game has been regressing towards the end anyway and it's likely he would have been gone fairly quickly regardless anyway That's all folks those were three different times when a single possession ruined their NBA careers let me know your thoughts on this video can you think of any other players who also saw their careers change forever after a single mistake and do you think they deserve the backlash they got thank you everyone so much for watching I hope you all enjoyed the video and of course as always I'll see you next time peace [Music]

Channel: Andy Hoops

Views: 165,130

Keywords: nba basketball, nba history, nba trivia, nba story, nba analysis, nba mystery, best nba youtuber, andy hoops, nba stories, greatest nba, single possession ruined their careers, single play, andrea bargnani bad shot, jr smith dribbles out, jr smith dumbest play, nba dumbest players ever, dumbest plays history, ben simmons dumbest play, ben simmons pass, ben simmons vs hawks, andrea bargnani knicks, bargnani dumb play, bargnani terrible shot, nba brainfarts

Id: _C8hpf0JSh4

Length: 14min 59sec (899 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 06 2024