Former NBA journeyman makes wild ‘biggest what-if’ in league history claim

A former NBA player reveals what stopped him from becoming a basketball star.

During the late 2000s and early 2010s, the NBA saw a change in the face of the league as the likes of LeBron James , Carmelo Anthony , and Dwyane Wade reached the prime of their respective careers.

Speaking of Anthony, he was involved in a massive trade to the New York Knicks in 2011 in a package involving former sixth overall pick Danilo Gallinari .

At the time, Gallinari was on course to become the next big thing in the NBA, but he could never reach his full potential.

Danilo Gallinari says not the NY Knicks trade, but injuries ruined his career

During a recent interview with HoopsHype , Gallinari recalled some major moments from his career, including the trade to the Denver Nuggets .

Gallinari explained how he's the 'biggest what-if' NBA star in the history of the league.

"No, I sometimes talk about it. I think about it just with friends and family when we sometimes talk about basketball and my career.

"We think about it, or when I come back to New York and I talk to my fans or people in New York that still work for the Knicks, we talk about it, but there is a lot of, unfortunately, because of my injuries, there is a lot of what-if in my career," Gallinari said.

He added, "I don't know, I'm probably the biggest what-if guy in the history of the game, maybe. But it's part of an NBA career.

"It happened to me, unfortunately, more than any other athlete probably, as far as injuries, but I don't think about it too much."

After getting traded to the Nuggets, Gallinari established himself as a stellar scorer, but injuries always held him back. Moreover, he suffered a torn ACL in 2013 that completely derailed his NBA career.

Gallinari still played in the league until the 2023-24 season, albeit as a role player for multiple franchises, and officially announced his retirement in 2025, at the age of 37.