What is the biggest what-if in NBA history?

Knees, draft picks and one phone call from the league office. Every entry here rewrote a decade that never happened.

1. 1
   Portland picks Sam Bowie

   Portland took Bowie second in 1984 and Chicago got Jordan with the next pick.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Yao Ming's early retirement

   The most globally significant centre of his era retired at 30 with a broken foot.
   763pts
3. 3
   Jordan's baseball detour

   Michael Jordan retired at his peak in 1993 and spent a season in minor-league baseball.
   680pts
4. 4
   Derrick Rose's 2012 knee

   The youngest MVP in league history tore his ACL in his first playoff game that spring.
   624pts
5. 5
   The 1985 frozen envelope

   New York won the first draft lottery and Patrick Ewing, and the conspiracy theory never died.
   560pts
6. 6
   Penny Hardaway's knees

   Orlando's other star broke down before the partnership with Shaquille O'Neal could pay off.
   560pts
7. 7
   Portland picks Greg Oden

   Portland took Oden first in 2007 ahead of Kevin Durant, then lost him to knee surgery.
   397pts
8. 8
   Bill Walton's feet

   A dominant Portland centre lost most of his prime to repeated foot fractures.
   397pts
9. 9
   The vetoed Chris Paul trade

   The league office blocked a 2011 trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers.
   397pts
10. 10
    Grant Hill's ankle

    A player compared to Jordan played 47 games in his first four Orlando seasons.
    397pts
11. 11
    Brandon Roy's knees

    Portland's All-Star guard was out of the league at 27 with no cartilage left.
    291pts
12. 12
    Kawhi Leonard's 2017 ankle

    San Antonio led Golden State by 25 when Leonard landed on a defender's foot.
    291pts
13. 13
    The 1998 Bulls breakup

    Chicago dismantled a team that had just three-peated rather than run it back.
    162pts
14. 14
    Kevin Durant's 2019 Achilles

    Durant went down in Game 5 of the Finals and Golden State's run ended with him.
    162pts
15. 15
    Ralph Sampson's Twin Towers

    Houston's 7-foot-4 forward broke down two years after reaching the Finals.
    162pts
16. 16
    Shaq leaves Orlando

    Orlando lost a 24-year-old centre to Los Angeles in 1996, a year after reaching the Finals.
    162pts