20.) The Nets trade the world for Garnett and Pierce
So, what this didn't do is ultimately matter in leading the Celtics to winning a title. If anything, six years later the Nets are better built for the future with the prospect of Kevin Durant returning next year. But what that did was gut a franchise to the lowest of lows, give the Celtics undue credit for mostly being there to take advantage of the Nets' idiocy, and give them so much draft capital that it led to years and years of speculation-turn-ire at the Celtics for not doing anything. When they finally pushed their chips in (somewhat) and traded away one of their picks from teh Nets, it was for Kyrie Irving, which in reality didn't work too well. In the end, it was a trade that showcased some of the worst, if entertaining, elements of the NBA, in a decade where interests in transactions overtook the actual game.
19.) Neymar's Multiple Sagas
First he went to Barcelona in an extremely shady transfer where a lot of money was essentially shoveled to Neymar's dad somewhat off the books. Then he performed excellently in his four years at the Camp Nou, even if the first was somewhat a disappointment. In Barcelona's treble-winning 2014-15 season, he was at times their best player - especially early on when Messi got injured and Neymar's brilliance kept them afloat. Hsi transfer and profligacy at Barcelona was the beginning fo the teardown of Barcelona's 'More than a Club' arrogance, while him finally escaping Barcelona - mostly to escape Messi's shadow - was the perfect end result. His time at PSG hasn't live up to his Barcelona heyday, but his transfer away seemed to break financial fair play, break the sports axis, with one of the most profitable clubs actually bullied out of a player. It was stunning to see, and while Barcelona has had domestic success, their losses in Europe have only gotten worse.
18.) Andrew Luck Retires
Obviously, it's actual impact on the decade of 2010-2019 is minimal, only really destroying the 2019 Colts chances (though they woudl be quite strong) but it might be the most stunning single decision by any athlete in teh decade. We had seen young in-their-prime football players retire before (in fact, a pair of them doing so the same offseason is slightly higher up the list), but never a QB. Andrew Luck started this decade as one of the most hyped QB prospects ever. He ended it after a successful eight seasons, but left with everyone wanting just a little bit more. After we got some time to digest it, and saw his heartbreakingly raw press conference, it made a bit mroe sense. He was purely just mentally and physically exhausted from never ending rehab. If anything, I could have listed the decision to play an injured Luck in 2015 that started him on the downslope that would end with his retirement. It sneaked in at the very end of the decade, but it was still a lasting, poignant, and truly shocking, moment.
17.) Chris Bosh is forced to retire
Chris Bosh was quietly maybe the second best player for the Heatles. He was having a great season the year LeBron left for a very good Heat team. And then he fell ill with a heart issue. He never recovered to the point he could play again. There was some ugliness in how fixable his condition was, but at a high level, an easy first ballot HOFer, who was still in his relative prime, had to step away, short-circuiting what could have been an interesting run for the Heat in a weak Eastern Conference in 2015 (weaker than normal, at least) one by a very iffy Cavaliers team. It robbed us of a potential Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavs and his former team. It robbed a truly great player (and let's remember, Bosh joining Miami was huge - it was a very much a big three) of a deserved ending.
16.) The Penguins hire Mike Sullivan
Let me take you back to early 2016, mid-season in NHL terms. The Penguins were languishing - a team that had taken a long slow fall from their 2009 Stanley Cup title. Despite having two of the maybe six best players in the NHL (admittedly, Crosby was injured for a lot of 2010-2012), the Penguins were clearly on teh decline. They were a division winner in 2014, and blew a 3-1 lead to the Rangers. The next year, they snuck into the playoffs, and were beaten easily 4-1 by the Rangers again. It was supposed to be clear we were living in a post Penguins world.... until they hired a guy named Mike Sullivan, who had the balls to make a guy named Matt Murray his starter, and they won back-to-back Stanley Cups, cementing Sidney Crosby's place in the Top-10 of players all time, Malkin as a sure-fire Top-50 type guy, Phil Kessel a folk hero, and of course Matt Murray the same. Despite having won a Stanley Cup in 2009, Crosby was seen as something of a disappointment until 2016, but after back-to-back Cups and Conn Smyth trophies, his resume is unassailable, as was the Penguins dominant run.
15.) Patrick Willis and Calvin Johnson Retire at 28
Andrew Luck retiring was shocking. If not more shocking, definitely more troubling for a league deep in the throws of the concussion crisis, was two players on track for first-ballot HOF status retiring the same offseason before they each turned 30. Patrick Willis had made 1st team All Pro every season of his career but one when he stepped away. Calvin Johnson had put up some of the most dominant seasons for a receiver ever. They both stepped away in their primes, leaving millions on the table. Hopefully they'll both end up in the HOF - Willis is quite close to a lock. But even then, their decision cemented in everyone's mind the worst-case scenario for football, the idea that truly dominant players could leave hte game - and in future maybe not even play the game in the first place - because they feared lasting brain damage. The first time I really remember serious discussion about concussions was in 2009 (the year James Harrison memorably hit Jerome Harrison). Years later, it reached its apex when two hall of famers walked away.
14.) The Colts accuse the Patriots of deflating footballs
In terms of mental drain and time spent on a story, this might be number one. Something that happened in the tail end of the 2014 season was still a story by the tail end of the 2016 season, when Tom Brady won the Super Bowl and got his MVP trophy from Roger Goodell the same year he was suspended. In terms of actual impact, given the Patriots went 14-2 and won teh Super Bowl the year of hte suspension, it was minimal. On the whole though, it represented the NFL at its absolute worst, with needless drama, litigation and overblowing a small matter into something ridiculous. Did Tom Brady probably have two lackeys deflate footballs? Probably - I mean one guy was literally nicknamed the deflator. Did it actually matter? Probably not other than to make Brady feel comfortable. Did the NFL overblow it for no reason? 100%, with 300-page reports and way more about the PSI levels than you ever need to know. It started with an innocuous tweet from Bob Kravitz - a Colts reporter - late into the morning after the Patriots 45-7 thrashing of the Colts in teh 2014 AFC Championship Game, and it wouldn't end for 750 days.
13.) Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown beats out Mike Trout
By 2019, Mike Trout is inarguably seen as the best player in baseball, and a player who has had the best start to a career since insert-all-time-great-here. By 2019, he would win the MVP for a sub-.500 team despite missing 20 games, and having a player on a historically-good team be about as good. This coming three years after winning another MVP for a non-playoff team in 2016. Why? Well, because the world screwed Mike Trout of an MVP in 2012, a decision that still looms significant in terms of how the casual fans view baseball. In 2012, it was the statheads that were arguing that this obviously good 5-tool player was better than the guy that got the first triple crown in 70 years. By the end, the statheads had moved way beyond that argument, and casual fans know what WAR is or what OPS is or understand defense matters. There's a few tentpole award decisions in baseball that have seemed to have reverberated over time - the first probably being when Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum won the Cy Youngs in 2009 with neither guy winning more than 16 games. For the MVP it took a few years longer, but the real catalyst was overvaluing trip crown numbers.
12.) Jim Harbaugh Fall's Out with the 49ers
The 49ers went 2-14, 4-12, 5-11, 7-9, 8-8, 7-9, 6-10 from 2004 through 2010. Then they hired Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford. He had limited NFL experience as a coach (tough had some as a QB). The team he inhereted had a talented defense, but had what was seen as a bust in Alex Smith at QB. Harbaugh saw in that team one that looked a lot like he did - hardworking, tough, underdogs. He molded them in that fashion, and they immediately went 13-3, and came a few muffed punts away from making the Super Bowl. They made it the next year, after Harbaugh made the tough decision to bench Alex Smith for Colin Kaepernick. The next year they nearly beat Seattle in Seattle - narrowly losing to the same Seahawks team that would win the Super Bowl 43-8. And then the rumblings began of his fight with owner Jed York. York, as you would imagine, won the battle, and Harbaugh left for Michigan. The 49ers spiraled to the death until Kyle Shanahan rescued him. Harbaugh built up Michigan but hasn't been able to really get anywhere important. It was a pure lose-lose. It short-circuited one of the best stories in the NFL, and it all happened so quickly.
11.) The Giants don't trade Madison Bumgarner when he has velocity issues
OK, so there's no real evidence the Giants were planning on trading Bumgarner - at most there are a few stories they listened to offers, But if we go back before the 2010 season started, the Giants were a middling team that was only at all interesting because Tim Lincecum had won back-to-back Cy Youngs. They had a guy they drafted in teh Top-10 in 2008 named Madison Bumgarner, who was a great prospect. But then all of a sudden he lost his velocity - going form about 94-95 to 90-91. The Giants held on to him. They ended up promoting him, and at 20 years old he threw eight shutout innings in Game 4 of the 2010 World Series - a series the Giants would win in 5. Bumgarner threw another near-shutout in the 2012 World Series. Then threw a for-real shutout in the 2014 World Series - and threw five more shutout innings in Game 7 on two days rest. The Giants won three world series in five years, a fact that still seems a bit unbelievable all these years later. Buster Posey was probably their best player, but Bumgarner their most iconic, and if they listened to many scouts, it may not have ever happened.
So, what this didn't do is ultimately matter in leading the Celtics to winning a title. If anything, six years later the Nets are better built for the future with the prospect of Kevin Durant returning next year. But what that did was gut a franchise to the lowest of lows, give the Celtics undue credit for mostly being there to take advantage of the Nets' idiocy, and give them so much draft capital that it led to years and years of speculation-turn-ire at the Celtics for not doing anything. When they finally pushed their chips in (somewhat) and traded away one of their picks from teh Nets, it was for Kyrie Irving, which in reality didn't work too well. In the end, it was a trade that showcased some of the worst, if entertaining, elements of the NBA, in a decade where interests in transactions overtook the actual game.
19.) Neymar's Multiple Sagas
First he went to Barcelona in an extremely shady transfer where a lot of money was essentially shoveled to Neymar's dad somewhat off the books. Then he performed excellently in his four years at the Camp Nou, even if the first was somewhat a disappointment. In Barcelona's treble-winning 2014-15 season, he was at times their best player - especially early on when Messi got injured and Neymar's brilliance kept them afloat. Hsi transfer and profligacy at Barcelona was the beginning fo the teardown of Barcelona's 'More than a Club' arrogance, while him finally escaping Barcelona - mostly to escape Messi's shadow - was the perfect end result. His time at PSG hasn't live up to his Barcelona heyday, but his transfer away seemed to break financial fair play, break the sports axis, with one of the most profitable clubs actually bullied out of a player. It was stunning to see, and while Barcelona has had domestic success, their losses in Europe have only gotten worse.
18.) Andrew Luck Retires
Obviously, it's actual impact on the decade of 2010-2019 is minimal, only really destroying the 2019 Colts chances (though they woudl be quite strong) but it might be the most stunning single decision by any athlete in teh decade. We had seen young in-their-prime football players retire before (in fact, a pair of them doing so the same offseason is slightly higher up the list), but never a QB. Andrew Luck started this decade as one of the most hyped QB prospects ever. He ended it after a successful eight seasons, but left with everyone wanting just a little bit more. After we got some time to digest it, and saw his heartbreakingly raw press conference, it made a bit mroe sense. He was purely just mentally and physically exhausted from never ending rehab. If anything, I could have listed the decision to play an injured Luck in 2015 that started him on the downslope that would end with his retirement. It sneaked in at the very end of the decade, but it was still a lasting, poignant, and truly shocking, moment.
17.) Chris Bosh is forced to retire
Chris Bosh was quietly maybe the second best player for the Heatles. He was having a great season the year LeBron left for a very good Heat team. And then he fell ill with a heart issue. He never recovered to the point he could play again. There was some ugliness in how fixable his condition was, but at a high level, an easy first ballot HOFer, who was still in his relative prime, had to step away, short-circuiting what could have been an interesting run for the Heat in a weak Eastern Conference in 2015 (weaker than normal, at least) one by a very iffy Cavaliers team. It robbed us of a potential Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavs and his former team. It robbed a truly great player (and let's remember, Bosh joining Miami was huge - it was a very much a big three) of a deserved ending.
16.) The Penguins hire Mike Sullivan
Let me take you back to early 2016, mid-season in NHL terms. The Penguins were languishing - a team that had taken a long slow fall from their 2009 Stanley Cup title. Despite having two of the maybe six best players in the NHL (admittedly, Crosby was injured for a lot of 2010-2012), the Penguins were clearly on teh decline. They were a division winner in 2014, and blew a 3-1 lead to the Rangers. The next year, they snuck into the playoffs, and were beaten easily 4-1 by the Rangers again. It was supposed to be clear we were living in a post Penguins world.... until they hired a guy named Mike Sullivan, who had the balls to make a guy named Matt Murray his starter, and they won back-to-back Stanley Cups, cementing Sidney Crosby's place in the Top-10 of players all time, Malkin as a sure-fire Top-50 type guy, Phil Kessel a folk hero, and of course Matt Murray the same. Despite having won a Stanley Cup in 2009, Crosby was seen as something of a disappointment until 2016, but after back-to-back Cups and Conn Smyth trophies, his resume is unassailable, as was the Penguins dominant run.
15.) Patrick Willis and Calvin Johnson Retire at 28
Andrew Luck retiring was shocking. If not more shocking, definitely more troubling for a league deep in the throws of the concussion crisis, was two players on track for first-ballot HOF status retiring the same offseason before they each turned 30. Patrick Willis had made 1st team All Pro every season of his career but one when he stepped away. Calvin Johnson had put up some of the most dominant seasons for a receiver ever. They both stepped away in their primes, leaving millions on the table. Hopefully they'll both end up in the HOF - Willis is quite close to a lock. But even then, their decision cemented in everyone's mind the worst-case scenario for football, the idea that truly dominant players could leave hte game - and in future maybe not even play the game in the first place - because they feared lasting brain damage. The first time I really remember serious discussion about concussions was in 2009 (the year James Harrison memorably hit Jerome Harrison). Years later, it reached its apex when two hall of famers walked away.
14.) The Colts accuse the Patriots of deflating footballs
In terms of mental drain and time spent on a story, this might be number one. Something that happened in the tail end of the 2014 season was still a story by the tail end of the 2016 season, when Tom Brady won the Super Bowl and got his MVP trophy from Roger Goodell the same year he was suspended. In terms of actual impact, given the Patriots went 14-2 and won teh Super Bowl the year of hte suspension, it was minimal. On the whole though, it represented the NFL at its absolute worst, with needless drama, litigation and overblowing a small matter into something ridiculous. Did Tom Brady probably have two lackeys deflate footballs? Probably - I mean one guy was literally nicknamed the deflator. Did it actually matter? Probably not other than to make Brady feel comfortable. Did the NFL overblow it for no reason? 100%, with 300-page reports and way more about the PSI levels than you ever need to know. It started with an innocuous tweet from Bob Kravitz - a Colts reporter - late into the morning after the Patriots 45-7 thrashing of the Colts in teh 2014 AFC Championship Game, and it wouldn't end for 750 days.
13.) Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown beats out Mike Trout
By 2019, Mike Trout is inarguably seen as the best player in baseball, and a player who has had the best start to a career since insert-all-time-great-here. By 2019, he would win the MVP for a sub-.500 team despite missing 20 games, and having a player on a historically-good team be about as good. This coming three years after winning another MVP for a non-playoff team in 2016. Why? Well, because the world screwed Mike Trout of an MVP in 2012, a decision that still looms significant in terms of how the casual fans view baseball. In 2012, it was the statheads that were arguing that this obviously good 5-tool player was better than the guy that got the first triple crown in 70 years. By the end, the statheads had moved way beyond that argument, and casual fans know what WAR is or what OPS is or understand defense matters. There's a few tentpole award decisions in baseball that have seemed to have reverberated over time - the first probably being when Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum won the Cy Youngs in 2009 with neither guy winning more than 16 games. For the MVP it took a few years longer, but the real catalyst was overvaluing trip crown numbers.
12.) Jim Harbaugh Fall's Out with the 49ers
The 49ers went 2-14, 4-12, 5-11, 7-9, 8-8, 7-9, 6-10 from 2004 through 2010. Then they hired Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford. He had limited NFL experience as a coach (tough had some as a QB). The team he inhereted had a talented defense, but had what was seen as a bust in Alex Smith at QB. Harbaugh saw in that team one that looked a lot like he did - hardworking, tough, underdogs. He molded them in that fashion, and they immediately went 13-3, and came a few muffed punts away from making the Super Bowl. They made it the next year, after Harbaugh made the tough decision to bench Alex Smith for Colin Kaepernick. The next year they nearly beat Seattle in Seattle - narrowly losing to the same Seahawks team that would win the Super Bowl 43-8. And then the rumblings began of his fight with owner Jed York. York, as you would imagine, won the battle, and Harbaugh left for Michigan. The 49ers spiraled to the death until Kyle Shanahan rescued him. Harbaugh built up Michigan but hasn't been able to really get anywhere important. It was a pure lose-lose. It short-circuited one of the best stories in the NFL, and it all happened so quickly.
11.) The Giants don't trade Madison Bumgarner when he has velocity issues
OK, so there's no real evidence the Giants were planning on trading Bumgarner - at most there are a few stories they listened to offers, But if we go back before the 2010 season started, the Giants were a middling team that was only at all interesting because Tim Lincecum had won back-to-back Cy Youngs. They had a guy they drafted in teh Top-10 in 2008 named Madison Bumgarner, who was a great prospect. But then all of a sudden he lost his velocity - going form about 94-95 to 90-91. The Giants held on to him. They ended up promoting him, and at 20 years old he threw eight shutout innings in Game 4 of the 2010 World Series - a series the Giants would win in 5. Bumgarner threw another near-shutout in the 2012 World Series. Then threw a for-real shutout in the 2014 World Series - and threw five more shutout innings in Game 7 on two days rest. The Giants won three world series in five years, a fact that still seems a bit unbelievable all these years later. Buster Posey was probably their best player, but Bumgarner their most iconic, and if they listened to many scouts, it may not have ever happened.
