Some big moments in sports history have left us wondering what if things had played out differently. Like if a player was traded to a different franchise, or if they hadn’t gotten a career-ending injury. What if players in history hadn’t missed game-winning points, or if the draft went differently. These are the biggest what if stories in sports history.
What if Bo Jackson hadn’t gotten injured?
Bo Jackson is probably the best two-sport athlete the world has ever seen. He was so good at baseball and football he played them professionally, but not one after the other, he played them both at the same time. It’s likely that if he hadn’t been injured, he would have led the Raiders to a Superbowl and been in both Halls of Fame.
What if Kobe was drafted to the Nets?
Kobe told the Nets coach John Calipari he would rather play in Italy. If Calipari had called his bluff and drafted him, would the Nets have been dominant like the Lakers? Maybe Shaquille O’Neal would have traded to his native Jersey, and they still would have ended up playing on the same team. They probably would have won as many championship rings but still fallen out with each other.
What if Scott Norwood didn’t choke his kick?
At Super Bowl XXV it all came down to one kick from Scott Norwood, if he scored he would win the game for the Bills, miss and they would lose. If Norwood had actually scored maybe the Bills wouldn’t have gone to four consecutive Super Bowls and lost. They might have taken that momentum and won all four instead of losing them, setting up a dynasty of their own.
What if Babe Ruth didn’t go to the Yankees?
After Babe Ruth left the Red Sox in 1920, he started the “Curse of the Bambino.” The Red Sox had to wait 86 years before winning another World Series, and the Yankees became the biggest baseball franchise in the world. Ruth was also offered to the White Sox in 1920, and New York’s franchise could have been very different. The Yankees wouldn’t have won as many World Series, and they would never have gotten their famous pinstripes. The pinstripes were allegedly introduced to make Ruth appear slimmer.
What if Michael Jordan kept playing baseball?
Jordan retired from the NBA to pursue a career in MLB but things didn’t really work out, and he quickly made a return to basketball. He was making progress in the minor leagues, and some reckon if he had stuck at it he could have made it to MLB for real. Instead, he went back and helped the Bulls win another three NBA championships. Perhaps if he didn’t, there would have been a bunch of different players with championship rings and he might not have been in the GOAT conversation.
Sporting titles are won and lost on tight margins. These what-if scenarios have made us look at some of sports greatest achievements and wonder how things could have been different if fate took a different turn.
