#1 Overall Picks in the NBA Draft (Part 6) Quiz

Answer:

First off, here are the players that were #1 overall draft picks in various years:

The first overall pick in the 1952 NBA Draft was Mark Workman, selected by the Milwaukee Hawks. The 6'9" forward/center consensus second-team All-American played at West Virginia University, averaging 21.0 points per game over his college career. But in only two seasons as a pro (1952-1954) for the Milwaukee Hawks, Philadelphia Warriors, and Baltimore Bullets, he averaged only 4.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Averaging an amazing 31.3 points and 19.5 rebounds per game over his college career, in 1958, Elgin Baylor led Seattle University to the Champion ship game in the NCAA tournament. Despite losing, Baylor was the #1 pick in the NBA draft, chosen by the Minneapolis Lakers. Playing 14 seasons for that franchise (they moved to Los Angeles), he averaged 27.4 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. He is a legendary bridge between early and modern basketball, with a style of play that influenced players to this day. His accolades: NBA Rookie of the Year (1959), 11× NBA All-Star, 10× All-NBA First Team, and though Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game in 1962, Baylor's 71 points in 1960 had been the previously held record. Baylor still holds the record for most points in an NBA Finals game with 61 points in Game 5 of the 1962 series.

LaRue Martin was a two-time All-American for Loyola University Chicago, where he holds the school's career record with 1,062 rebounds. In 1972, The Portland Trail Blazers drafted him 1st overall (ahead of future Hall of Famers like Bob McAdoo (2nd) and Julius Erving (12th), but he only played 4 seasons, averaging 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

The following year, Doug Collins was selected 1st overall in the 1973 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. As a shooting guard for the Illinois State Redbirds, he averaged 29.4 points per game. In a career spanning eight seasons with the 76ers, he was a 4-time NBA All-Star and averaged 17.9 points per game. After retiring as a player, he coached several NBA teams, including the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers. Collins was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024 as a contributor, which means he contributed more to the game than just being a player; he was also a coach and a TV analyst.

At Syracuse University, Derrick Coleman was a consensus first-team All-American and the Big East Player of the Year in 1990 when he was drafted first overall. In 15 NBA seasons for the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, and Detroit Pistons, he was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1991, an NBA All-Star in 1994, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team twice (1993, 1994). He is one of four players ever to accomplish a five-by-five in a single game-that is, have a total of 5 in five stats categories-points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.

As a junior at Purdue University Glenn Robinson led the nation in scoring (30.3 ppg) and won multiple player-of-the-year awards, including the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith College Player of the Year. After the Milwaukee Bucks made him the #1 draft pick in 1994, he signed a 10-year, $68 million contract, the richest rookie contract in NBA history at the time. It led to the league implementing a rookie salary scale the following season. In 11 NBA seasons for the Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs, Robinson finished his career with averages of 20.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He was a 2-time NBA All-Star (2000, 2001) and an NBA Champion in his final season (2004-05), as a member of the Spurs.

Speaking of the Spurs, they made Tim Duncan the #1 pick in 1997, after his Wake Forest University career as a two-time consensus first-team All-American, two-time National Defensive Player of the Year, and John R. Wooden Award winner in 1997. His entire 19-season NBA career was with the Spurs and he won 5 NBA Championships along the way. After winning Rookie of the Year, he became a 2-time NBA MVP, 3-time NBA Finals MVP, 15-time NBA All-Star, 15-time All-NBA Team member (the record for most selections), and 15-time All-Defensive Team member. He was elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Kenyon Martin was selected by the New Jersey Nets as the first overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft playing college ball at the University of Cincinnati, where he was the consensus National Player of the Year as a senior, when he averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game. He played 15 seasons in the NBA (2000-2015) for the Nets, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and Milwaukee Bucks, and was an NBA All-Star in 2004, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2001.

In 2005, Andrew Bogut became the first Australian player selected with the first overall pick in the NBA draft, when The Milwaukee Bucks got him. At the University of Utah, he was the consensus National Player of the Year, and won the Naismith College Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award. In 14 NBA seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Los Angeles Lakers, he was an NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors in 2015, an All-NBA Third Team member in 2010, and the NBA blocked shots leader in 2011.

The Italian Andrea Bargnani became the first European player to be selected with the first overall pick in the NBA when the Toronto Raptors drafted him in 2006. In Italy, he played for Benetton Treviso, winning two Italian League championships and the Italian League MVP in 2006. He played 10 seasons (2006-2016) for the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets, was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2007. His best season came in 2010-11 when he averaged a career-high 21.4 points per game for the Raptors.

The Philadelphia 76ers traded up with the Boston Celtics in order to acquire the first overall pick in the 2017 draft, and they selected Markelle Fultz from the University of Washington, where he averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game. He was a third-team All-American and first-team All-Pac-12 selection. During his rookie season he became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, but that record was later.

Cooper Flagg of Duke University's Blue Devils, was the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, when he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks despite them having only a 1.8% chance of getting the first overall pick, as they moved up from the 11th spot. As a freshman at Duke, Flagg was the consensus National Player of the Year (winning the Wooden Award), the ACC Player of the Year, and a first-team All-American. He led Duke to the Final Four, averaging 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. How did Dallas win that #1 pick with only a 1.8% chance? It's a weighted lottery, not a ranked one, which means...
Step 1: The 14 non-playoff teams are ranked by their regular-season record, from worst to best. The three teams with the worst records each receive the highest chance (14.0%) of winning the first pick.
Step 2: A lottery machine contains 14 ping-pong balls (numbered 1-14). creating a four-digit combination (for example, 4-7-9-12). There are 1,001 possible combinations, and 1,000 of them are pre-assigned to the lottery teams based on the odds from Step 1.
Step 3: When the 4-digit combination is drawn, the team that was assigned that combination gets the first pick.
Step 4: After each draft position is determined, the balls are put back in the machine, mixed, and then the next combination drawn will get the #2, pick and then the balls are returned and the #3 pick is determined, and then the 4th. But then it stops there.
Step 5: Determining picks 5 thru 14. The 11 remaining non-playoff-making teams are assigned the 5th through 14th picks in order from worst record to last.
Step 6: The 16 teams that did make the playoffs are now assigned a draft position in order from worst record to best.
Subsequent draft rounds are determined solely by order of worst record to best record.

Here are the players among the answer choices that were NOT NBA overall #1 draft picks:

Kobe Bryant was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets (who then traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers).

Stephen Curry was the 7th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. He's often cited as being one of the biggest draft "steals" in NBA history,

Adrian Dantley was selected with the 6th overall pick in the 1976 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves

Grant Hill was selected with the 3rd overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.

Earl Monroe was close to being #1, but he was the 2nd overall pick in the 1967 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets.

Dirk Nowitzki was selected with the 9th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks in a draft-day deal.

Isaiah Thomas was selected with the 2nd overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, after a coin flip decided The Dallas Mavericks were awarded the first pick, and the Detroit Pistons received the second

Klay Thompson was selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, after a draft-day trade by the Milwaukee Bucks (who held the 10th pick) cleared the way for Golden State to take him.

Nate Thurmond was selected as the 3rd overall pick in the 1963 NBA Draft by the San Francisco Warriors, now the Golden State Warriors.

Wes Unseld was selected with the 2nd overall pick in the 1968 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets, now the Washington Wizards.