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In NBA Draft history, NBA executives' judgment of talent with high picks has not always been spot on. Many players have been selected with the first overall pick, only for them to have underwhelming NBA careers.
On that note, let us have a look at the five worst No. 1 picks in NBA Draft history.
NBA Draft - Five worst no. 1 picks in league history
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It is not easy to make the right NBA Draft picks at all times because there are a lot of imponderables involved. A player with a fabulous career in college or high-school basketball is not always able to step up against seasoned pros in the NBA due to a bevy of reasons like injury, loss of form or a lack of drive, to name a few.
When a top NBA Draft pick is not able to live up to his expectations, it is a massive missed opportunity for the franchise that picked him, as they could have picked up another prospect or an established star in his place.
Through out the history of the NBA Draft, there have been fabulous no. 1 picks like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969), Magic Johnson (1979), Tim Duncan (1997) and LeBron James (2003), to name a few, who managed to live up to their hype and gone on to achieve superstardom in the competition.
However, there have been a few who turned out to be real duds. Without further ado, let us have a look at five such no. 1 drafts in NBA Draft history who flattered to decieve.
#5 Kwame Brown - (2001 NBA Draft)
Kwame Brown was the first selection in the 2001 NBA Draft. He was picked up by the Washington Wizards, but the 6' 11'' power forward/center only started three games in his rookie season.
He averaged 4.5 points per game in his debut season, shooting a dismal 38% from the field. He went on to play 12 years in the NBA but only averaged 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in his career.
Brown was picked first in an NBA Draft that comprised of Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas.
#4 LaRue Martin - (1972 NBA Draft)
With the first pick of the 1972 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers selected LaRue Martin from the Loyola University, Chicago.
Martin had averaged 18 points and 15.9 rebounds per game during his three years in college to attract the attention of Portland heading into the 1972 NBA Draft.
However, he only played four seasons in the NBA, averaging only 5.3 points per game on 41% shooting from the field, which was hardly a great output from a 6' 11'' center.
After Martin went first in the 1972 NBA Draft, the Buffalo Braves selected future NBA Most Valuable Player winner Bob McAdoo with the second pick. The Boston Celtics selected Paul Westphal 10th and Julius Dr J Erving (who continued to play in the ABA) 12th for the Milwaukee Bucks in that NBA Draft.
#3 Michael Olowokandi - (1998 NBA Draft)
Michael Olowokandi, who went first in the 1998 NBA Draft, was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers.
A 7' center from Nigeria, Olowokandi had a decent NBA career but not one that a player selected ahead of legends like Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce should have had.
Olowokandi averaged 8.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in his rookie year. In his fourth and fifth seasons in the NBA, Olowokandi averaged double digits, but his career took a downward turn from there. He started to bounce around in the league before fading away.
#2 Greg Oden - (2007 NBA Draft)
The Portland Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden with the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. While it wasn't necessarily a poor pick, it looked worse because of the player who was picked up next - Kevin Durant - on that Draft night.
Kevin Durant, who was picked up by the Seattle Supersonics (now called the Oklahoma City Thunder), went on to make his name as one of the greatest scorers in history, winning two NBA Championships and a bevy of other individual accolodes.
In stark contrast, the big man out of Ohio State, afflicted by a series of untimely and unfortunate injuries, largely failed to impress in the 105 games he played during his career.
Oden missed his entire rookie year with a knee injury and then played 82 regular-season games in the next two years. His career, however, never took off, as Oden averaged just eight points and six rebounds per game.
#1 Anthony Bennett - (2013 NBA Draft)
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Anthony Bennett with the first pick of the 2013 NBA Draft.
The Canadian forward had played just one year at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he averaged 16 points and eight rebounds per game. However, the player failed to make the step up in the NBA.
Bennett played 52 games in his rookie year but did not start a single game in the 2013-14 NBA season. He averaged just four points per game, shooting a terrible 35% from the field. Bennett was then sent off in a trade to Minnesota, with Kevin Love going the other way.
A change of scenery did not bring about a change in his fortunes in the NBA. At the age of just 24, Bennett was out of the league after having played for four teams in as many years.
Though the 2013 NBA Draft class was not the greatest in draft history, the judgement of talent from the NBA executives left a lot to be desired, though. There was a certain Giannis Antetokounmpo in that Draft class, but he was only taken as the 15th pick; the rest, as they say, is history.
Also read: NBA Trade Rumors: A Chris Paul trade could be too risky for the New York Knicks.
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