2. Danny Granger hurts his knee
Following the retirement of Reggie Miller and the dismemberment of the Malice in the Palice team, Danny Granger was the Pacers' savior. They drafted him in the first round of the 2005 Draft and he immediately became the face of the post-Reggie Pacers.
Granger was a prolific scorer. That culminated when he won Most Improved and was named an All-Star in back-to-back seasons. During the 2008-09 season, he scored 25.8 points per game. He continued to score at a high clip until the 2012-13 season.
During that season, he only played five games due to left knee tendinosis. That troublesome knee never got better. He played just 76 games in the final three years of his career, including both the 2012-13 and the 2013-14 seasons when the Pacers were title contenders.
Imagine if the Pacers had both a healthy Granger and Paul George out there at the same time during those two seasons. The Pacers lost to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in both years. Things could have been different with an elite scorer like Granger available to them.
Granger was never the same once that knee trouble hit. His career was done by the time he was just 31 years old. That injury also kept the Pacers from making the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.
The final player on our list suffered the worst-looking injury but has actually made it back to be an All-NBA player.