With Blake Griffin's knee going under the knife and all the frustrated groans heard around Los Angeles, I felt it was appropriate for our only top 10 list for the end of the decade. Though mostly free-associative, I pretty much based this list on a number of factors including how much the player was paid going into the knee surgery, how much the player was expected to help the team win before the surgery, and how much the player was able to rehabilitate himself after the injury.
10. Alfonso Soriano 2009
Used to be a 30 home run, 30 steals player. Then he started hitting more home runs and stopped stealing bases. His knees got worse, and lately hasn't been hitting much at all. Knee surgery. RIP Alfonso Soriano 1976-2009.
9. Greg Oden 2007
Like Griffin, Oden was taken first overall and never played a game in his first season. Maybe it's the every other year 1st pick, bad knees draft curse. The Blazers took Oden over Kevin Durant. Durant is now among the top 5 all-stars in the league. Oden goes out for season every season because of his shitty knees. Never draft a guy who's got the face of a 45 year old; he probably has the knees of a 45 year old.
8. Matt Stafford - 2009
The Lions counted on Stafford to save the franchise. He rewarded them with a subpar season ended early with knee surgery.
7. Andrew Bynum - 2008
Drew was having a breakout season when he knocked knees with Lamar Odom in 2008. He was averaging a double-double, slamming down alley-oops, and playing with a ferocity Los Angeles hadn't seen before. He was finally living up to his potential when he went down. The worst thing about knee surgeries is that you always think they'll come back in 4-6 weeks. And then you wait 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 7 weeks, before they finally say it's hopeless. The Lakers needed Bynum's big man presence badly in the finals against the Celtics and paid the price.
6. Gilbert Arenas 2007
Gilbert's knee problems put a stop to his exponentially rising career as a prolific scorer. He hasn't been himself since and has turned to guns. The Wizards are in shambles and it's all thanks to our old friend knee surgery.
5. Brandon Inge 2009
Both knees!?
4. Kevin Garnett 2009
The Celtics lost Garnett late in the season going into the 2009 playoffs. Without their best guy, all hope for a repeat was lost for Boston and they allowed Dwight Howard to laugh all the way to the finals. He's come back with his lowest MPG, APG, PPG, and RPG numbers since his rookie season
3. Carson Palmer 2006
A highlight in the history of knee surgeries. In only his second year, Palmer took the Bengals to the playoffs. On the first play of the game, he was slammed by Oelhoffen of the Steelers. The doctor told everyone that the injury to his knee was "devastating and potentially career-ending". There's a whole article here about how severe the injury was: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2290239. Palmer would come back the next year without any problems.
2. Kobe Bryant 2007
This was a great knee surgery. He had problems with his knee throughout the 2006 season, but he played on it, got the surgery in the offseason, and was ready to go in time for the regular season. His knee has not been a problem since, and he keeps getting better.
1. Tom Brady 2008
Tom Brady meant everything to New England. And it only took one game for all of the Patriots fans to see it all go up in flames. Big heartbreaker. However, he comes back next season and throws for a classic Tom Brady 4,000+ yards and 28 touchdowns.
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