1-30: The Best NBA Draft Picks Ever
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
So you’re a fan of an NBA team other than the Cavs or T-Wolves (thank God) and you’re worried that your squad won’t be able to land in impact player in Thursday’s draft. Word on the street is that this year’s draft class is uglier than Shawn Marion’s jumper and conventional wisdom says that players drafted outside the lottery rarely pan out.
But if we take a journey through history, we will find that All-Star players have been snagged at every spot. With that, let’s look at the top players selected at overall picks 1-30 in NBA history.
No. 1: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1969 by the Milwaukee Bucks
Kareem’s numbers speak for themselves: 38,387 points, 19 All-Star appearances, six rings, and six MVP awards. That’s enough to make him the best No. 1 overall pick of all-time.
No. 2: Bill Russell in 1956 by the St. Louis Hawks
You’ve got to feel a little bad for the Rochester Royals who passed on the ultimate champion for Sihugo Green in the 1956 NBA draft. Russell never looked back, going on to win 11 championships in 13 seasons with the Celtics
No. 3: Michael Jordan in 1984 by the Chicago Bulls
No explanation needed.
No. 4: Dolph Schayes in 1948 by the New York Knicks
The No. 4 pick in the 1948 draft, Schayes played in 12 All-Star games and posted 18,438 career points in 15 seasons with the Syracuse Nationals and Philadelphia 76ers.
No. 5: Kevin Garnett in 1995 by the Minnesota Timberwolves
KG and fellow No. 5 overall pick Charles Barkley have put up similar career numbers. Both have notched 20,000+ points, 12,000+ rebounds, and have taken home one MVP award. But the Big Ticket separates himself from Barkley because of his ring with the Celtics in 2008.
No. 6: Larry Bird in 1978 by the Boston Celtics
The sixth pick of the 1978 draft, Larry Legend earns the top spot thanks to his 13 seasons averaging at least 19 points per game. Bird earned three titles and three MVP awards with the Celtics.
No. 7: John Havlicek in 1962 by the Boston Celtics
The fourth Celtic to make the list, Havlicek appeared in 13 All-Star games and won eight titles. The Hall of Famer averaged over 20 points per game throughout his career, putting him slightly ahead of fellow No. 7 picks Chris Mullin and Bernard King.
No. 8: Willis Reed in 1964 by the New York Knicks
Despite owning two fewer rings than Robert Parish (the No. 8 overall pick in the 1976 draft), Reed earns the top spot. Reed dropped 18.7 points per game throughout his career and earned the 1970 MVP award after averaging 22 and 14 for the Knicks.
No. 9: Dirk Nowitzki in 1998 by the Milwaukee Bucks
Dirk cemented his position as one of the greatest to ever play the game this month when he led the Mavs to their first championship in franchise history. The German import has been selected for the All-Star game 10 times and took home the 2007 NBA MVP award.
No. 10: Paul Pierce in 1998 by the Boston Celtics
Pierce earns the honor of the best No. 10 overall pick of all time over Paul Westphal primarily because I grew up watching The Truth drop buckets while the Celtics wallowed in mediocrity. (Part of me misses the days when I could sneak into the third row of the TD Garden to watch Tony Allen blow out his knee trying to dunk after the whistle or see Sebastian Telfair brick jumpers for just $10.) Pierce is also deserving because of his nine All-Star appearances and 2008 Finals MVP award.
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June 22nd, 2011 at 1:52 pm
First & Foremost says:
Since we are fielding article suggestions…
1-30 Worst picks by position of all-time.
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:15 pm
JAY says:
Great piece! Rings aside, I’d put Charles over KG because he was really a tough guy, not just an act. Who else bodyslammed Shaq?
And can you follow this up with he worst lottery picks of all time?
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:16 pm
JAY says:
My bad F&F. I had this opened on my desktop for a half hour. I didn’t see your suggestion.
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Stunnaboy2K11 says:
Come on you have got to give Gil the number 30 spot!
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Martin Kessler says:
@First & Foremost and JAY
Working on it now
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Aron Phillips says:
Great piece, Martin!
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Diggity Dave says:
Wade over Garnett at #5.
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:14 pm
heckler says:
@ DIME –
dont bother with a 30 WORST list.
by the time you get pass Yinka Dare, we wont recognize any names on the list anyway….
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Celts Fan says:
For.26, kg also has those #s.
@diggitydave – someday, but wade aint passed kg yet. Give it time…
@ jay – chuck over kg?!? Gtfoh. Chuck couldnt defend or work hard in the offseason. Damn good, but not better than kg.
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:27 pm
sh!tfaced says:
The worst? The whole 2000 draft.
…but this year’s draft has the potential
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:44 pm
JAY says:
@Celts fan
That’s your opinion. I have mine. I give more respect to the dude who will get in your face and stay there. Not the dude who will pick on the smaller guys and bust a moonwalk when their bigger teammate shows up. Charles finished games and led his teams deep into the playoffs without the help of 2 other hall-of-famers. Barkley shouldered the load. Look at their careers bud, before you tell me to gtfo. As Martin pointed out, it’s close. It boils down to what you prefer. I’ll take one of the best rebounders to ever play over KG. Chuck averaged single digit rebounds just once in his entire career(rookie year). No small feat from a dude listed as 6’6″.
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:55 pm
EN FUEGO says:
1. Kwame/Olowokandi/Oden
2. Darko/Shawn Bradley/Stroshow/Thabeet
3. Chris Washburn/Adam Morrison
4. Marcus Fizer/Donyell
5. Nikoloz Tskitishvili
6. Robert Traylor(RIP)/William Bedford
7. Chris Mihm
8. Kimble/Araujo/Joe Alexander/Brandan Wright
9. Ed O’Bannon/Patrick O’Bryant/Diogu/Mike Sweetney
0. Luke Jackson/Keefe/Sene
June 22nd, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Detroit Dave says:
Dime Should do a Where are they now on: Rodney White
June 22nd, 2011 at 5:12 pm
JAY says:
@Fuego
Not to tear down your list, but there are way worse picks than those guys. Shawn Bradley? I understand the lanky guy is the butt of everyone’s jokes but he was a productive center.
What about Steve Francis @ #2 by the real Grizzlies. Sure he was an all-star, and co-ROY but dude publicly expressed that he didn’t want to play for Vancouver. He even turned down multiple invites to workout for them. Without even witnessing a workout, Stu Jackson still wanted to draft him even though another freshman (Lamar Odom) said he wanted to play for the Grizz and performed very well in his workouts. What made it even dumber was the year before they took Mike Bibby 2nd overall who made the all-rookie 1st team.
“Bad picks” doesn’t necessarily mean “bad players”. In Vancouver’s case, it’s picking a player who is dissing you throughout the whole scouting process while you have another good young player playing the same position. Dumb.
June 22nd, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Celts Fan says:
@jay – everyone conveniently forgets kg got into it w dirk, zaza, noah, etc. Know why other bigs never bugged small guards like kg does? Cuz they couldnt cover EVERY POSITION ON THE FLOOR. Also, kg lead the league in rebounding 4 straight years and has more for his career than chuck did i believe. and u just proved my point. at 6 6, how was dude gonna effectively guard normal sized 4s?
June 22nd, 2011 at 7:03 pm
EN FUEGO says:
@JAY
Its cool. Just a list I did on the fly. If that’s what you mean by a bust, then you can add Danny Ferry on the list. He publicly expressed he didn’t want to play for the Clippers and went to Europe, forced a trade to the Cavs (who blew up their young core – oozing with potential at the time), played a bust and busted the Cavs’ bright future.
Although Ferry finished his career way better than Francis (and most lottery picks, for that matter) ever did.
June 22nd, 2011 at 7:37 pm
Chicagorilla says:
I think the worst picks would be more fun to read. Most BBall heads can tell you off top who the top picks were are those spots
June 22nd, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Nyeme says:
I got Barkley over KG too. KG never got into it with other good PFs, only lesser ones. He never shut down Karl, Sheed, Webber, Duncan, Clippers Brand, Dirk, hell even Vin Baker & even Maurice Taylor lol
I’ll also take Terry Porter over Sprewell
June 22nd, 2011 at 8:42 pm
dagwaller says:
I would pick KG over Barkley not because I think he’s better, but because KG as a high schooler was a riskier pick, making Minnesota’s choice seem better in hindsight.
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Phileus says:
I have to say Sprewell over Sabonis just makes no sense to me at all. Sure his NBA stats were better but you discussed intangible things, and, well, there are few players better than Sabonis, and worse than Sprewell, in that category.
But the fact that just one pick out of 30 stands out to me as totally indefensible is a good sign. Nice article!
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:43 pm
solomon says:
gotta agree except… put arvydas over spree… not just the nba game, but dude was the man in europe during his prime…
June 23rd, 2011 at 1:03 am
Thatnateguy says:
Garnetts missing off that list under 26
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:55 am
superfreak says:
Anyone else bothered that Rondo is listedahead of Finley this earlier in his career?
June 23rd, 2011 at 4:56 am
Eugene says:
I’m in the process of making a Sporcle quiz out of this. Nice article!
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:21 am
JAY says:
@Celts fan
“everyone conveniently forgets kg got into it w dirk, zaza, noah, etc.”
Wow. Great tough guy list. He wasn’t the dude guarding Calderon when he was clapping in his face. That was just some punk move. He stepped to Anthony Peeler and Peeler called his bluff with an elbow and punch to his jaw and sent him to the floor. I guess as a former teammate, he knew KG was all hot-air. “Fake thug” is a description sometimes used to describe Garnett. That wouldn’t fit Barkley when he played. He body slammed Shaq and even got in it with MJ on a couple occasions. KG doesn’t step to other star players.
“Know why other bigs never bugged small guards like kg does? Cuz they couldnt cover EVERY POSITION ON THE FLOOR.”
What are you talking about? KG steps to players he isn’t covering. As I said, KG wasn’t guarding Calderon when he was clapping in his face. Instead of stepping to his matchup, he steps to the smaller guys. Q-Rich? Barking at Jeryd Bayless? Really? Rookie Bayless?
“and u just proved my point. at 6 6, how was dude gonna effectively guard normal sized 4s?”
Dude, he guarded all front court positions. maybe you don’t remember but he was a good defender in his prime. Barkley defended post players by preventing guys from getting deep position. That’s how they did it in his era with the illegal defence calls. Nowadays they rely heavily on help defense. There’s less onus on individual defense and more emphasis on team defensive schemes. He wasn’t going to make any defensive teams but Chuck did a good job on Malone, Kemp and even Shaq by keeping them out of their comfort zones. To say he “couldn’t defend” is ridiculous. He was a beast on both ends of the floor. Isn’t he like 4th or 5th all-time in steals for forwards?? and top 100 in blocks? Not bad for a 6’6″ dude, although he’s closer to D-Wade’s height.
And it’s nice KG led the league in rebounding 4 times… how many other dominant bigs played in his era? That’s like Dwight Howard winning the last 3 defensive awards and likely winning a ton more. Is he truly THAT good of a defender? Or is it an indication of the lack of other dominant defenders? To me, it’s the latter.
KG dropped to single digit rebounding when he joined the Celts… playing beside Kendrick Perkins. Barkley averaged double-digit rebounding as an old-man playing beside Hakeem. And as a youngster Chuck led his team in rebounding playing with one of the best rebounders ever in Moses Malone. I think Malone had a string of 4 straight rebounding titles (or 4 in 5 years, or something like that) when Barkley broke it. KG does some things better than Chuck but don’t argue that KG was a better rebounder. That’s hilarious. KG paired with another solid rebounder and his numbers dropped significantly. That didn’t happen to Chuck.
For me, it comes down to demeanor, attitude and confidence. Barkley had a REAL mean streak and always believed in his ability. KG looked timid sometimes throughout his career especially in 4th quarters, and you can’t deny that. No coach has ever had to light a fire under Barkley’s ass. You can’t say the same about KG.
Hopefully this rant reminded you of the type of player Barkley was and how dominant he was. I doubt it will change your mind though, Celts fan. Your name tells me you are a bit partial towards KG.
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:31 am
JAY says:
To confirm some things I posted from memory in my above post, I googled stats.
- His teammate Moses Malone didn’t win 4 straight rebounding titles as I claimed… he won the rebounding titles 6 out of 7 years just before Barkley led the Sixers team in rebounding.
- Barkley isn’t 4th in steals for forwards… he’s actually 3rd in steals for all-time forwards.
- He’s #88 in blocks. Not bad for a player who Celts fan claims “couldn’t defend”.
Stats aside, Barkley’s big ass, strength and low center of gravity helped him keep other post players from getting good lowpost position.
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:46 am
Nyeme says:
@Superfreak – Oh yeah, I comepletely forgot about the Rondo over Finley. We not having that either especially when Finley was a 20-5-5 player for several years
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:55 am
Nyeme says:
I agree with Jay on KG. Thats why I always tell people I rank Webber ahead of him. Plus, KG rebounding numbers were padded. He used to tip the ball up towards the rim a couple of times, then go to grab it; a far cry from the days when players went and snatched them down or tipped to a teammate.
June 23rd, 2011 at 12:08 pm
JAY says:
@Fuego
Good call on Ferry. Lol! What a fiasco THAT was.
June 23rd, 2011 at 5:58 pm
yns says:
You “think” you have to give the nod to tony parker vs ian mahnini ?? lol