Which modern day athlete has had the quickest and worst fall from grace?

[Da_Eggman]

Would have to say RG3 went from this guy is changing the QB position and taking over the league

To well we all know how that ended

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Who?

I meant Marvin Hagler

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Tiger was a billion dollar athlete before all that shyt went down and he hasnt won a major since

How is it not him?

Because it's Lance Armstrong.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Roy Hibbert and Ronda Rousey are fantastic candidates.

Hibbert went from such a scary, dominant player in 2013 (22 and 10 against the champs in the ECF while being dominant defensively) to a weird complete breakdown in 2014. In the 2013 playoffs, he had one gamescore below a 5.7 (when he went for 8 points and 9 boards in Game 3 of the 1st round. He had at least 6 points and 6 boards in EVERY game). Then 2014 rolls around, and he's still great the first half of the year....starts randomly sucking every once in a while the second half...and then the bottom completely drops out in the playoffs. He had his game score go NEGATIVE six times in the playoffs, including 0 points and 0 boards in 1st Round Game 5, 0 points 2 boards in 1st Round Game 6, 0 points 0 boards in ECSF Game 1, and 0 points 5 boards in ECF Game 5. The lost ALL those games. And that doesn't even count his 1-7 game, his 2-9 game, his 2-7 game, or his 4-turnover game.

Hibbert doesn't make the honorable mentions list (not even in the NBA, let alone sports in general) because he was never nice like that, much less "scary, dominant". There's a reason why his surface numbers - 12.8 ppg, 8.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks as his career-high season, read like they do. He's basically had one standout series (where he averaged nearly 40 mins) while the rest of his career has been forgettable.

 

[Sugar]

.

 

[Doctor Doom]

@krackdagawd

Come get your mans

 

[krackdagawd]

@krackdagawd

Come get your mans

he's 51 that not a quick fall at all

 

[Doctor Doom]

he's 51 that not a quick fall at all

I was just talking about the gif, my guy.

 

[Cladyclad]

When was he ever on? He never had a consistent enough jumper to be a star caliber player

Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans is rising to top of rookie class: NBA Insider | cleveland.com
Maybe it is because he plays in Sacramento and does much of his work late at night on the East Coast and is almost never on national television. Maybe it is becauseBrandon Jennings ' 55-point game back in November was so mesmerizing that he's been overshadowed. Maybe it is because No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin has yet to play in a game, and it's affected the perception of the kids.

Whatever it is, Tyreke Evans isn't getting fair treatment. The entire league and its fans should be paying attention to this very special rookie. Not only has he been the best rookie over the season's first two months, he may be the best rookie to hit the league in the past several years.

One thing is for sure: He won over the Cavaliers players and coaches this week after their first look at him. With him leading the way, the Kings shoved the Cavs to overtime in Sacramento on Wednesday night. It took a masterful defensive effort from LeBron James to hold him down late in the game, and even James knew those tricks he pulled won't work on the young guard forever.

This may sound like hyperbole, but it is perhaps because the 20-year-old Evans' style and skill are a bit numbing to watch for his age and experience level.

But his play and moves resemble a youngDwyane Wade . The way he conducts business on the floor and the way he controls the game, with a bunch of younger but less mature players around him, actually resembles what James did as a rookie with the Cavs.

At 6-6 and 220 pounds, Evans is strong and long. He isn't as athletic or as shifty as Wade is, but he's bigger and just as willful in getting to the basket, no matter who is defending him. As he observes the way defenses treat him and react to his moves -- always monitoring where he should pass -- he makes the right decision most of the time, which is remarkable for a rookie.

He may be a bit shoehorned into point guard for the Kings at the moment. Eventually he'll be back alongside current franchise player and shooting guard Kevin Martin , who was averaging 30 points per game before he broke his wrist six weeks ago. For that reason, Evans has been on the ball a lot, and it has been predictably challenging.

He turns it over at a high rate, and because of it, point guard probably is not his best position, sort of like James trying that same role for a desperate team in 2003-04. But Evans makes big-time plays about every night, sort of like James did. His jumper is suspect, and teams are already learning the only reliable way to hold him down is to back off and let him shoot, sort of like the scouting report on a young James.

But you can just see that he'll get better, smarter and stronger. Sort of like a young James and Wade.

With key players Martin and Francisco Garcia out with injury, it is because of Evans the young and raw Kings are right around .500, and they are probably only going to get better.

If all of that praise doesn't convince you Evans looks like a special prospect, then refer to the cold numbers. He's averaging 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. There are only four players in the entire league doing that right now. There are James, Wade, Hawks All-Star Joe Johnsonand the rookie out of the University of Memphis.

If Evans can stay on that pace, he'd be just the fourth player in NBA history to reach those statistical levels as a rookie. The others? James and two guys namedMichael Jordan and Oscar Robertson .

It is still rather early in the season, and it is likely Evans will face his struggles, as all rookies do. But all signs point to Evans not only being a future cornerstone of the reemerging Kings, but establishing himself as a superstar along the way.

During his rookie run the praise for TY was through the roof

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

Tiger obviously

 

[Ghpstface]

Owen hart

Ruthless

 

[Ghpstface]

has to be the winner... .cause the OP definitely said QUICKEST


RG3 went from rookie of the year at the end of the year to career ending injury (basically since he's a bum now) in the very next game

Never got on the hype train with this guy and I had been following him since high school (we're from the same area)

Not to mention he missed a whole year at baylor with the same kinda injury

 

[Jordan>>LeFrozen]

When was he ever on? He never had a consistent enough jumper to be a star caliber player

Tyreke had some hype following him for a quick minute

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Because it's Lance Armstrong.

Wait, what?

Armstrong had had doping allegations since 1999, was criticized for working with a doping-tainted trainer his entire career, was the subject of a book focused on his doping allegations by 2004, was accused by a former employee of doping in in court in 2005, had positive drug tests in the Tour de France exposed later in 2005, had the Andreus testify to his doping in 2006, by 2008 in his comeback the allegations were being taken so seriously that he promised to post his blood tests online, in 2009 he had a flareup with the French anti-doping agency, had Floyd Landis publicly accuse him of doping launching a federal investigation in 2010, had the USADA publicly publish a report confirming extensive evidence of Armstrong's doping in 2012, and finally admitted to it in 2013, years after his retirement.

I ain't saying that everyone was believing it the whole time (I was living in fantasy land until 2012, though doubts had been planted before then), but it wasn't a single quick fall from grace. It was a loooong and steady slide pretty much from 2005 on.

Hibbert doesn't make the honorable mentions list (not even in the NBA, let alone sports in general) because he was never nice like that, much less "scary, dominant". There's a reason why his surface numbers - 12.8 ppg, 8.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks as his career-high season, read like they do. He's basically had one standout series (where he averaged nearly 40 mins) while the rest of his career has been forgettable.

It wasn't just one standout series - he was damn good the entire 2013 playoffs and was the 2nd-most important player in a Conference Finals that included the defending champs and Lebron James. He was an All-star twice in three years and All-Defensive team too.

Hibbert wasn't incredibly high, but his fall was as rock-bottom as any in the NBA that I can remember mattering. He went from "the guy in the East who has the biggest say in stopping Lebron James from reaching the Finals" to "the single most useless player in the entire NBA" virtually overnight, sometimes even game-to-game.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Wait, what?

Armstrong had had doping allegations since 1999, was criticized for working with a doping-tainted trainer his entire career, was the subject of a book focused on his doping allegations by 2004, was accused by a former employee of doping in in court in 2005, had positive drug tests in the Tour de France exposed later in 2005, had the Andreus testify to his doping in 2006, by 2008 in his comeback the allegations were being taken so seriously that he promised to post his blood tests online, in 2009 he had a flareup with the French anti-doping agency, had Floyd Landis publicly accuse him of doping launching a federal investigation in 2010, had the USADA publicly publish a report confirming extensive evidence of Armstrong's doping in 2012, and finally admitted to it in 2013, years after his retirement.

I ain't saying that everyone was believing it the whole time (I was living in fantasy land until 2012, though doubts had been planted before then), but it wasn't a single quick fall from grace. It was a loooong and steady slide pretty much from 2005 on.

Allegations are just that - allegations. It wasn't a long and steady slide - his reputation was still in one piece on a world scale, his achievements were still in the record books and his sponsorship was still in rotation (he lost Nike, Honey Stinger, Trek, Easton-Bell Sports, 24 Hour Fitness, Anheuser-Busch, RadioShack and Oakley almost immediately following the RA in 2012 - 5-6 months before he confessed in 2013). Following the dismissal of his lawsuit; declining to contest ASADA's charges, and therefore being banned and having his records expunged dating back to '98 - everything came tumbling down in the latter half of 2012. This was not a decade-long thing like you're stating, his fall came within a few months.

All these other sportspeople mentioned in here still have whatever accolades and achievements their "grace" was built upon in tact; at the very least their names still mean something in their respective sports, despite whatever fall they succumbed to. Armstrong went from one of the most dominant, iconic and respected athletes of all time, to not existing overnight.

It wasn't just one standout series - he was damn good the entire 2013 playoffs and was the 2nd-most important player in a Conference Finals that included the defending champs and Lebron James.

It was only ONE standout series, I don't care if you think he was "damn good" for the entire '13 playoffs. The only series that's of worth in this context is his performance in the ECF. One standout playoff series, and no dominant/elite regular seasons during his career is not worthy of even being in this discussion. It doesn't even belong in a discussion centered around the rise and fall of modern NBA players, let alone athletes in sport in general.

He was an All-star twice in three years and All-Defensive team too.

I. His All-Star selections spoke more about how weak the frontcourt scene was during that time in the East (not to mention he was selected in 2012 before they eliminated the C spot), not because he was this dominant player.
II. All-Defensive (second) team selections usually come with anchoring one of the best defenses in the league.

Hibbert wasn't incredibly high, but his fall was as rock-bottom as any in the NBA that I can remember mattering.

It wasn't even remotely high, at all, that's why he has no business even being mentioned in this thread.

He went from "the guy in the East who has the biggest say in stopping Lebron James from reaching the Finals" to "the single most useless player in the entire NBA" virtually overnight, sometimes even game-to-game.