He was less successful after he had signed with the washington bullets

Adjctive phrase modifier - "less successful" is the adjective.

He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks, small forward Bernard King nevertheless earned a steadfast group of admirers who consider him one of the greatest scorers in basketball history.

A) He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to------- comparison should be with his success with the success of WB. LESS-THAN comparison marker is not used correctly
B)Being less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets as compared to-----LESS-THAN
C) Less successful after he signed with the Washington Bullets than he had been with------CORRECT
D) Although he was less successful after signing with the Washington Bullets compared to--------LESS-THAN, present participle
E) He had been less successful after signing with the Washington Bullets than with-------Present participle

what is the issue with 'less than' in option B ?

There is no "less.... than....", but "less.... as...." in option B, one reason that option B is wrong.

"...less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets as compared to..."

He was less successful after he had signed with the washington bullets compared to the New York knicks small forward Bernard King nevertheless earned a steadfast group of admirers who consider him one of the greatest scorers in basketball history

(A) He was less successful after he had signed with the washington bullets compared to
(B) Being less successful after he had signed with the washington bullets as compared to
(C) Less successful after he signed with the washington bullets than he had been with
(D) Although he was less successful after signing with the washington bullets compared to
(E) He had been less successful after signing with the washington bullets than with


Thanks,
GyM

look at choice C, the official answer
I want
"than WHEN he had been with..."
I prefer to add "when". am I correct?

C seems to be more appropriate
Less successful after he signed with the Washington Bullets than he had been with

Correct usage of Had(to refer to more past) and meaning is conveyed correctly

(A) is also a run-on

He was less successful ... small forward nevertheless earned. Two independent clauses with no conjunction in between.

He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks, small forward Bernard King nevertheless earned a steadfast group of admirers who consider him one of the greatest scorers in basketball history.

Split 1 - incorrect comparison: less successful with X than Y construction literally compares his success to the team itself
(A) He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks
(B) Being less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets as compared to the New York Knicks
(D) Although he was less successful after signing with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks

Split 2- Comma splice (more complex than the first split)
(A) is a comma splice. We need a conjunction to connect two independent clauses together. Here are the subjects and verbs of two independent clauses:
He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks, small forward Bernard King nevertheless earned
(E) He had been less successful after signing with the Washington Bullets than with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks, small forward Bernard King nevertheless earned


(C) Less successful after he signed with the Washington Bullets than he had been with

C is correct as it corrects the comparison error made in other answer choices by using the "less successful after he signed with [X] than he had been with [Y]". Also, C turns the first clause into a modifier, attaching itself to the subject, "Small forward Bernard King...", of the independent clause.

If 'Less' then 'than' is required and compared is unnecessary.

Also 1st he was in NY Knicks so that will be in past perfect.

Hence C

I still have a doubt .
He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks,small forward Bernard King nevertheless earned a steadfast group of admirers who consider him one of the greatest scorers in basketball history.

If the sentence had compared between Bernard king and a person i.e. Ronaldo ,Option C would have been a better choice ??

He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to the New York Knicks, small forward Bernard King nevertheless earned a steadfast group of admirers who consider him one of the greatest scorers in basketball history.

(A) He was less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets compared to

-- opening portion must be a modifier since 'small forward Bernard King' is in the non-underlined portion. Incorrect.

(B) Being less successful after he had signed with the Washington Bullets as compared to

-- Comparison error

(C) Less successful after he signed with the Washington Bullets than he had been with

- Correct

(D) Although he was less successful after signing with the Washington Bullets compared to

-- Comparison error

(E) He had been less successful after signing with the Washington Bullets than with

-- opening portion must be a modifier since 'small forward Bernard King' is in the non-underlined portion. Incorrect.
-- 'had been' is incorrect.

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