Read these two excerpts . Which two of the following did NBA players Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson have in common? A Neither athlete played a minute in a regular season game. B Both players were forced to retire after their rookie season. C Both were selected as their teams' top choices for new players. D Injuries kept them from becoming the best they could be. E Knee injuries for both players led to issues with their feet. Excerpt 1 Excerpt 2 They made Ralph Sampson the first pic 1983 draft. He posted similar stats the next tw seasons, but then a back injury triggered a downslide of his career. The bad back led to k injuries, and Sampson's career ended after he played just 456 games in nine seasons.

## Step 1<br />The first step in solving this problem is to carefully read and understand the given excerpts. The excerpts provide information about the careers of NBA players Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson.<br /><br />## Step 2<br />The first excerpt provides information about Ralph Sampson. It states that he was the first pick in the 1983 draft and had a promising career initially. However, his career was cut short due to a back injury, which led to knee injuries and forced him to retire after playing just 456 games in nine seasons.<br /><br />## Step 3<br />The second excerpt provides information about Bill Walton. It states that Walton was also a top pick in the NBA draft and had a promising career initially. However, his career was also cut short due to injuries.<br /><br />## Step 4<br />By comparing the information from both excerpts, we can see that both Walton and Sampson were top picks in the NBA draft and their careers were cut short due to injuries. This aligns with options C and D.