WHAT IF? ... THESE FOUR PIVOTAL DRAFT MOMENTS HAD HAPPENED DIFFERENTLY?

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE Top Reds scout Gene Bennett pounds his fist; Cincy brass actually listens, drafts Derek Jeter No. 5 in 1992, not Chad Mottola. NEW ENDING With Barry Larkin at SS, Jeter moves to CF and opens a nightclub, starting a Queen City nightlife boom. Bennett becomes widely accepted as MLB's brightest mind.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE Pistons nab Carmelo Anthony (as some projected) over Darko Milicic in '03. NEW ENDING Detroit still wins '04 Finals, with 'Melo coming off the bench. He emerges in '05 as Pistons beat Spurs in Final Game 7. Two years later Kobe Bryant doesn't veto trade to Detroit; era's first superteam forms.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE Niners and Patriots can't agree on '85 draft-day trade; Jerry Rice slips one pick to Cowboys at No. 17. NEW ENDING Rice starts career hot before Danny White breaks wrist in '86; Aikman takes over in '89, goes on to tie Montana and Bradshaw with four SB wins. Michael Irvin ends up in San Diego, where he beats Rice and the Boys in SB XXIX.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE Nets coach John Calipari ignores Kobe's '96 bluff that he'd rather play in Italy than N.J., drafts him No. 8. NEW ENDING Shaquille O'Neal chooses his hometown, Newark, instead of L.A. Nets add Jason Kidd in '01; the three take over the NBA. Calipari stays in pros; Coach K becomes face of one-and-done recruiting, luring likes of John Wall, Anthony Davis.