Ralph Sampson
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The Houston Rockets selected the 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson with the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft (the same draft in which Michael Jordan was taken #3 overall).
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Just two years later, alongside Hakeem Olajuwon, Sampson took the Rockets to the NBA Finals, thanks to an epic upset of the vaunted “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers (Sampson hit the buzzer-beating shot to win that series).
But Sampson hurt his knee the following season, and rushed back to the court way too soon. THe result was the destruction of the cartilage in his knee, which led to a myriad of other related injuries that plagued him for the rest of his career.
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