10 Greatest sporting chokes of all time (Part-1)
Fans expect sportspersons to be invincible and indomitable, but not all of them are able to cope with the stress encompassed with the loud cheers. There are endless reasons to dissect a failure or a descent in a player’s career. People end up making comebacks from the dark pitfalls of their careers, but there have also been plenty of cases depicting the best in the business losing the psychological battles. Some try to hide with a hideous excuse of under performance, while others simply try to laud the opponent in order hide their mental frailties- All in all, no matter what they come up with, sportspersons in front of a huge set of dedicated fans and a scrutinizing bunch of media, on the biggest of occasions, just cannot avoid the fact that they choked.
Here are some of the defining moments in the world of sports, when even the most formidable sports icons crumbled under the fear of failure.
The Lakers of the 2003-04 season boasted a host of superstars. Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’ Neal, Karl Malone and Gary Payton – four futures Hall of Famers, were tipped to overpower Detroit Pistons with an attacking outlay. In fact, it was Malone and Payton who moved to LA Lakers to get the first taste of a championship victory which added a whole lot of drama to this final.
What happened afterwards wasn’t something one would place a bet on – Lakers losing the championship finals comprehensively in the space of 5 games. Detroit ended up celebrating one of their most famous wins, their first championship victory since 1990.