Top 10 Most Frustratingly Inconsistent Athletes
#10: Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba was the perfect footballing athlete - tall, quick, and extremely technical with the ball at his feet. Perhaps he still is, but after meandering through inconsistent form during what should have been his prime years, people began to lose faith. Pogba is a joy to watch at his best, and he has an absolute cannon in his right foot. However, his attitude has always been a point of contention - and productive spells at Juventus and Manchester United were always overshadowed by other factors. An eighteen-month doping ban cost him his Juve contract and though he still has time to rebuild himself, he remains one of football’s greatest ‘what ifs.’
#9: Lamar Odom
Lamar Odom came into the NBA with all of the ingredients he needed to become something truly outstanding. Sometimes he succeeded in this regard, but he also had a knack for underperforming and leaving us all frustrated. When he was in the zone, he could do it all. Scoring, rebounding, playmaking. He was a truly fantastic forward who could set the court on fire. Plus, he was a dependable big game player at the best of times. But fans began to get annoyed with Odom’s inconsistency and how he was liable to check out from time to time. Off-court personal issues didn’t help matters. Though he was a two-time NBA champion, he wasn’t quite as dependable as he should have been.
#8: B.J. Penn
There might not be a more talented MMA fighter in history than B.J. Penn. But he also managed to find himself in one ugly decline. Penn was first a prodigy on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu circuit, who picked up insanely good boxing skills upon switching to MMA. Then he went on to win championships at lightweight and welterweight in the UFC. But just as he was right in the thick of the G.O.A.T. debate, problems surfaced. His lackadaisical approach to training left him with some real problems later on. Penn’s motivation to work was becoming an issue. Things got so bad that he left the sport after breaking the UFC’s record for the most consecutive losses with seven straight defeats.
#7: Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard at his peak? As dominant as can be - a generationally gifted center who was as athletic as they come. But for as much as he looked like a world-beater on one night, he could come out the next looking totally off. Don’t get us wrong; he’s an NBA champion and an eight-time All-Star. That’s still impressive. But it was hard to watch Howard and not feel like he could’ve been something greater if he had a stronger level of focus. It’s hard to get out there eighty, ninety, or even a hundred or more times in a season and maintain your intensity. But that’s what the truly great ones can do, or at least they could do it better than Dwight Howard.
#6: Adrien Broner
Adrien Broner might just be the prime example of a mercurial boxer that we’ve seen since the turn of the century. When he burst onto the scene, he seemed to have it all - astounding technical and physical skills, along with charisma and star potential. But here’s the thing. You’re going to be judged by how you perform under the brightest possible lights and Broner was undeniably inconsistent at the top level. He had some big moments and huge wins, but you could never count on him to be fully dialled in every single time he made that ring walk. Losses to the likes of Marcos Maidana, Shawn Porter, and even an aging Manny Pacquiao made it clear that Broner was far from a safe bet.
#5: JaMarcus Russell
JaMarcus Russell was so good during his college career that he was selected first overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2007 NFL Draft. Would this promising youngster become the standout quarterback that Oakland had been so desperately craving? Well, not exactly. He clearly had the talent but struggled to keep his head on straight. Simply put, Russell didn’t have the mentality necessary to become a top-flight star. His dedication to his training was always in question and issues with his weight and a persistent codeine habit threw him completely off-course. After just three years in the NFL, the Raiders cut their losses and took a big financial hit just to get Russell off their books.
#4: Ryan Leaf
No list of famous NFL draft busts would be complete without a special mention for Ryan Leaf. As a member of the 1998 draft that gave us Peyton Manning, Leaf was at the center of quite a lot of media scrutiny and hype. From that time onwards, the Ryan Leaf story was one of undeniable disappointment. Sure, we got to see glimpses of his skill and his readiness for the elite level, but problems related to work ethic and discipline caused him to unravel. Was it his attitude, his conditioning, immaturity, or all of the above? Well, he only managed to last four years in the NFL before it all came crashing down.
#3: Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne was the most talented English footballer of his generation. In fact, he remains one of the most gifted players the country has ever produced. But despite the performances that saw him clearly fulfilling all that promise, he also had his demons. When he was on, he was practically unstoppable - but a chaotic life outside of football left him with a very uneven career. Throughout his life, both during his prime and post-retirement, Gazza indulged a little too heavily in the luxuries that celebrity life brought him. Even though he could still let his genius shine in spots, he became more and more volatile and unpredictable before he eventually hung up his boots for good.
#2: Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli was always going to be a star. Some players just have that special aura that makes them an unmissable attraction. His immense physicality is mixed with some real elegance on the pitch, but if there has been one common problem throughout Mario Balotelli’s career, it’s his attitude. To say that Balotelli has a discipline problem would be putting it lightly. Sometimes he looks like the greatest striker on Earth, but then he’ll go and act like an unruly teenager - both on and off the field. He lives a pretty wild lifestyle and sometimes it seems like he couldn’t care less what happens to the club he’s playing for. For some managers, Balotelli is totally uncoachable.
#1: Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios is a truly mercurial player - capable of incredible feats when he’s in prime form but also liable to self-destruct without warning. He’s a powerful player with a real flair to his game, but he is unfortunately prone to emotional outbursts that end up throwing him off-course. Whether he’s arguing with officials or complaining about audience noise, it doesn’t take much to set Kyrgios off. On his best day, he’s a threat to anyone, but it’s also pretty clear that he didn’t reach his full potential due to the fact that he can be pretty erratic.
Which notoriously inconsistent athlete would you have added to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
