Kawhi Leonard the Latest of Many NBA Stars Who Got Paid Then Injured

Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard’s one season with the Toronto Raptors in 2018-2019 was a legendary campaign that saw him carry the franchise to its first NBA Championship, and leverage himself into a major contract in free agency. Leonard would go on to sign a massive three-year, $103 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, who understandably carried title hopes after pairing him with star forward Paul George.

Since then, the Clippers have fallen short of expectations. George is now with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Leonard has appeared in just 229 out of a possible 410 games with the franchise due to injuries and “load management.” This all coming after signing a new four-year, $176.3 million max extension in 2021.

Leonard is reportedly out indefinitely with the 2024-2025 NBA season rolling around due to knee inflammation, the latest of injury setbacks for the star. Make no mistake, Leonard is a superstar in his own right. However, his absence due to injury calls back to several other NBA stars who signed mega deals with big expectations, only to fall short of delivering on them.

Grant Hill

Grant Hill
Image Credit: Keith Allison via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

Grant Hill is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, just like Leonard will be one day. But many of his accolades were accumulated early in his career, before he got his big payday with the Orlando Magic.

Hill rarely missed time during his first six years in the league with the Detroit Pistons, and was an All-Star five times. He signed a seven-year, $92.8 million deal with the Magic ahead of the 2000-2001 season, and almost immediately found himself suffering from multiple ankle injuries along with other ailments. Hill missed the entire 2003-2004 seasons after complications from ankle surgery left him with a nearly fatal MRSA infection. He played in just 200 games across six years with Orlando, though managed to stay in the league until he reached 40.

Penny Hardaway

Penny Hardaway
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To have experienced Penny Hardaway with the Orlando Magic was to have been part of one of the coolest periods of time in the NBA. Penny and Shaq brought excitement to Orlando with their complimentary play, leading them to an NBA Finals appearance in 1995. But even as knee injuries started to accumulate for the star guard, that didn’t stop the Phoenix Suns for making a sign-and-trade deal worth $86 million to pair him with Jason Kidd in the backcourt.

It didn’t work out. Both Kidd and Hardaway struggled with injuries in their lone season together, sharing the court just 45 times. Hardaway would play just four games the following year, and his time with the Suns would end in the 2003-2004 season after being traded to the New York Knicks. He’d play just 57 more games in the NBA.

Eddy Curry

Eddy Curry
Image Credit: Greg Ma via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

In fact, the Knicks know all too well about spending big on players only to have injuries get the best of them. See no further than Eddy Curry, whose name still sends shivers down the spine of any Knicks fan.

Curry had a strong run during his rookie contract with the Chicago Bulls, but there were concerns over him potentially dealing with a heart condition. The Knicks decided it would be worth it to trade for the 23-year-old, sending the Bulls three players and four draft picks, two of which were first-rounders. He stayed largely healthy his first two seasons, and even averaged nearly 20 points per game in his second year with the team, but his career torpedoed after. He struggled with his weight and conditioning, and dealt with knee injuries that saw him play just 28 games from 2008 to 2013.

Amar’e Stoudemire

Amar’e Stoudemire
Image Credit: Keith Allison via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

The Knicks made another high-risk move on a big man not long after, signing popular Phoenix Suns big man Amar’e Stoudemire to a five-year, $99.7 million contract in 2010. Stoudemire was a five-time All-Star with the Suns, but did struggle with knee injuries in Phoenix.

New York went forward with the move anyway, and he produced an All-Star campaign in his first season there that made him a fan favorite almost instantly. Stoudemire struggled the next season with his weight and a bulging disc in his back, resulting him playing just 47 games that year. Knee and back soreness would persist, and Stoudemire missed 53 games in 2012-2013, all as the Knicks aimed to make a run with Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks would miss their window, and Stoudemire was gone after the following season.

Brandon Roy

Brandon Roy
Image Credit: Keith Allison via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

Brandon Roy’s career is truly a case of “what could have been?” The Portland Trailblazers probably wish they knew that before they signed him to a massive contract extension.

Roy won NBA Rookie of the Year in 2006-2007, averaging nearly 17 points per game. He would be named an All-Star the next three seasons, and it appeared Portland had a franchise staple on its hands. He signed a four-year max extension with Portland in the summer of 2009, and chronic knee injuries started to stack up almost immediately. It was revealed Roy lacked cartilage in them, making healing from any knee injury extremely difficult. He retired in 2011-2012, but tried to make a short-lived comeback the following season with Minnesota.

Andrew Bynum

Andrew Bynum
Image Credit: Keith Allison via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

The Los Angeles Lakers took Andrew Bynum in the NBA Draft at just 17 years old, meaning there was plenty of time to develop him into the next big thing in the league. Unfortunately for Bynum, that never materialized.

He played in fewer than 60 games four times with Los Angeles, but was an All-Star in 2011-2012. That earned him enough equity to be a part of the Dwight Howard megadeal between four teams, one that saw Bynum end up in Philadelphia. Philly acquired him and his $16 million per year salary hoping he could blossom into the big it badly needed, but knee injuries persisted, including one sustained while bowling. He’d never play a game for the 76ers.

Chandler Parsons

Chandler Parsons
Image Credit: By Norma Gonzalez, The Pan American, CC BY-SA 2.0,

Chandler Parson was a strong contributor for the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks over his first five seasons in the NBA, and he seemed primed to cash in on a big contract upon hitting free agency in 2016. But there was one problem: he already had suffered two significant knee injuries.

Nevertheless, the Memphis Grizzlies believed he was worth a four-year, $96 million contract, and he was tabbed to be a strong small forward scoring threat in their rotation. Parsons missed the entire preseason and first six games of the regular season, played six games, then missed 17 more due to knee injuries. He partially tore his miniscus in March, and would miss the remainder of his first season in Memphis. Parsons played in just 96 games across three seasons with Memphis, and was traded to Atlanta in July of 2019.

Victor Oladipo

Victor Oladipo
Image Credit: Keith Allison via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

Former No. 2 overall pick Victor Oladipo bounced around the league in his first few seasons, finding himself in Oklahoma City as he started to burst into his prime. He would sign a four-year, $84 million contract extension with the Thunder in 2016-2017, before almost immediately suffering from wrist and back injuries.

Oladipo and his contract were moved to the Indiana Pacers, where he won NBA Most Improved Player the next season. Unfortunately for him, he would play more than 36 games in a season just once through 2024, dealing with a quad tear and various knee issues throughout the years. He sat out the entire 2023-2024 campaign due to injury, and it appears unlikely he will play again at this juncture.

Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose
Image Credit: Keith Allison via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

Derrick Rose was an NBA MVP and Rookie of the Year when the Chicago Bulls gave him a massive $94.8 million extension ahead of the 2011-2012 season, which seemed like a no-brainer. Little did they know, the All-Star guard had reached his peak.

Rose tore his ACL that postseason, which caused him to miss the entire 2012-2013 season. He played in just 10 games the following year, and ended up traded to the Knicks in 2016. Rose would deal with chronic knee issues throughout the rest of his career, and though he managed to put several respectable seasons together, he is on pace to become the first NBA MVP not to make the Hall of Fame.

Kenyon Martin

Kenyon Martin
Image Credit: Keith Allison via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

The New Jersey Nets were electric at the turn of the millennium, and Kenyon Martin’s play was a big reason why. The 2000 No. 1 overall pick energized the Nets with big defensive blocks, thunderous jams, and helped carry them to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances.

A fallout with management saw him seek a fresh start, and he ended up part of a massive sign-and-trade deal with the Denver Nuggets in 2004, with Denver giving up three first-round picks. Martin would develop knee tendinitis, and struggled with injuries to both of his legs over the course of his Denver tenure. His scoring output dropped considerably, and he played in just two games in his second season with the Nuggets. He ultimately played in 371 games for them across seven seasons.

Jonathan Isaac

Jonathan Isaac
Image Credit: Jonathan Isaac via CC2.0, WikiCommons.

Jonathan Isaac was drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2017 under the idea he would flourish into one of the NBA’s best defensive players. When he’s on the court, he has been just that. The issue, however, has been him staying on it.

Isaac has missed two full seasons during his time in the NBA, and played in 34 games or fewer three times. That didn’t stop the Magic from extending him twice though, as he first signed a four-year, $80 million extension in 2020 despite having a torn ACL. He played in a total of 69 games during that deal, yet earned a five-year, $84 million extension once more this past offseason. That contract, however, is only guaranteed for two years.

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