LeBron James have outlasted 10 first overall picks drafted after him in the NBA
Dwight Howard
Andrew Bogut
Andrea Bargnani
Greg Oden
Derrick Rose
Blake Griffin
John Wall
Anthony Bennett
Ben Simmons
Markelle Fultz
Who is the next one in line?
Ayton , Kyrie , AD , Wiggins ,KAT ,
I can see Ayton being the first one to go on this list if he really doesn’t wanna play basketball anymore
Kyrie might go crazy at some point.
AD might take medical retirement.
KAT has a few years left in his knees, so he will outlast Lebron, though he might be on a sharp downturn in 4 years.
Wiggins looks to stick around the league for a while, probably the last of these 5.
Wiggins would have been considered to have a great career if he was drafted anywhere but 1st overall.
Yeah. Kind of similar career as Aaron Gordon except he was picked fourth in the draft.
Both couldnt cut it as a number one option but played hugely impacful roles on championship teams.
IMO where they differ is I think Andrew Wiggins left a lot of meat on the bone of the player he could’ve been. Parts of his game seemed to come and go depending on his effort level/motivation. Look at the way he became an elite rebounder for the Warriors during their championship run and never really bothered to utilize his athleticism in that way before or after. I think Wiggins could’ve been a consistent All-NBA guy if he had the same crazy competitiveness that most of the best players in the league have. In various points of his career he flashed top .1% athleticism, elite rebounding for his position, lockdown defense, solid perimeter shooting, and good scoring ability. He could’ve done more.
At the same time that level of crazy competitiveness has to be paired with reliability and some luck in terms of not getting injured. Playing at that 100% level is not only tiring mentally but physically as well, and could very well shorten his career in the long run. Still, if he did put more effort in and maintained his current level of availability then I do agree, he would be considered a lot more quality than he is now.
Wiggs has been pretty healthy in his career.
It’s indeed effort wise that he’s been lackluster
I remember when the Wolves got Wiggins. I was so hyped. And then we got KAT and I thought those two would turn everything around. It was so demoralizing watching a kid with so much talent just completely not care 50% of the time. I’m glad he had success elsewhere
Man in the playoffs, I don’t remember a single time Luka or Tatum felt comfortable. I’m pretty sure he held them both to 17 ppg on sub 40% shooting, most of their points coming on switches or when we did zone. man and that poster was crazy. Look if Curry doesn’t have Game 4, I might’ve wanted Wiggins for FMVP. He was that elite.
It could also be mentality vs effort. Wiggins is one of the best basketball players in the world (ie in the top 50-100) which means he’s doing a lot of things right. But he’s never been a killer and no matter how hard you work at the gym, if you don’t have that, you likely won’t be a top 20 player or live up to the potential of a #1 pick.
idk what Wiggs did in 2020-2022 but that version was absolutely fantastic. 2022 was especially great in the killer department. He was aggressive and imposed himself on a lot of occasions.
I believe Wiggs would’ve been at least a perenial all defensive player had he kept that form from like 2018 onwards.
I watched most of the Heat games last season and I could say that he was our best player, offensively and defensively, 60% of the time. Bam would get a defensive rebound and Wiggins would catch an outlet pass against 2 fucking players and finish over them like Johnny Sins. And if I could go back in time, I’d still choose him at #1.
And if I could go back in time, I’d still choose him at #1.
Wiggins over Embiid and Jokic? Huh??
I remember watching Wiggins high school highlights when I was in high school thinking he was gonna be the next face of the NBA
And the last 9 champions have shown the renaissance of “get guys in roles. Enough hero ball that leads to nothing”.
True but its not like wiggins went first overall cuz of draft talent around him like some #1s. He was supposed to be like straight up HOFer type hype leading up to the draft
I remember how hyped i was about getting wiggins till bron came
Yeah I remember when we won the lottery, it meant we were getting Wiggins. There wasn’t much discussion that it would be anyone else like in some other drafts.
Yup, he had been hyped up for years at that point, and it was indeed a no-brainer choice for them.
Wiggins had that crazy level of hype earlier, but question marks around his effort and motor came up after his year in college and once it got close to the draft. Embiid actually was a riser that possibly could have gone first overall if not for the significant injury concerns.
His hype was already downhill during the draft, but got a boost because of Embiid’s injuries and Parker not being a 2 way potential like he was. If Embiid didn’t get injured leading to the draft, he wouldn’t go 3rd
Fun fact about Andrew Wiggins:
Only 2 players in NBA history have higher single-game career highs than Andrew Wiggins in all five statistical categories (Points > 47, Rebounds > 13, Assists > 11, Steals > 6, Blocks > 5).
Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. Lebron, David Robinson, and Kareem tie him in one category.
I wonder how much better he would have been had Cleveland not been able to trade him. If he had spent the first 3-4 years with LeBron learning how to be great.
Or if he had picked dinner with Jay Z
They don’t get K-Love without trading wiggs. I highly doubt the wolves draft KAT either cause they probably don’t get the pick that high.
Honestly for first overall he’s still had a perfectly decent career. If you look at the other 9 guys drafted in the same decade (Wall, Irving, Davis, Bennett, Towns, Simmons, Fultz, Ayton, Williamson) he’s pretty much middle of the pack. Not sure if you’d say John Wall had a better career than him (better player, but shorter career and no championship)
And even if you do a hindsight draft, Wiggins would still go as high as 2nd, as low as 5th.
Within his draft class, Wiggins ranks
Depending on how a front office feels about analytics he could go way lower than that.
He’s 10th in winshares, 14th in VORP and 24th in BPM, his EPM has been bad most of his career.
Yeah he could definitely end up mid/late lotto behind guys like:
Jokic
Embiid
Capela
Randle
Aaron Gordon
Dwight Powell
Lavine
Marcus Smart
Kyle Anderson
Jerami Grant
Jusuf Nurkic
Obviously most of those wouldn’t be a “you obviously take them over Wiggins” (and I wouldn’t take a lot of them over Wiggins), but it’s far from obvious that he even goes top 5. He’s the wing equivalent of a rubber-armed, innings-eating 4th starter in an MLB rotation. There’s value in putting in solid work consistently, but there are other needs you might optimize for first.
Jokic Embiid Capela Randle Aaron Gordon
I think all of these 5 would pretty easily go ahead of Wiggins in a re-draft.
Aaron Gordon is arguably the best role player in the league and Randle is a 2x All-NBA guy.
Capela was an elite pick n roll diving big for several years.
I’m a big Wiggins skeptic I think he’s more Laviney than people want to admit. EPM has Lavine clearing Wiggins fairly handily for most of their careers.
Even #1 overall tbh world have been fine, but the account of hype her and Parker (and Embiid pre injury) were getting was pretty crazy
Kyrie has been crazy for almost a decade now lol.
He might go off the deepend.
pretty crazy on a flat earth
Fine. Might go off land’s end
He’ll find an even deeper hole to go into
The Land’s End at the edge of land’s end is so disorganized and understaffed it could make anyone go nuts.
Risacher should certainly be on this list of KAT’s on it
I don’t think Kat is going to take that sharp of a downturn he’ll only be 32 by then.
Kyrie has earned his terrible reputation but he’s been quite tame since coming to Dallas.
Maybe this comment is gonna be the “fuckery” comment
Ayton likes money too much to retire at 27
Even with how much hate he gets (pretty justifiably) hes still good enough in the current league environment to warrent his $8m deal. But if more good big men become available on the market its gonna be interesting to see how he can play as a rotation guy
Its not too early to put rischacher on the watch list
Kyrie’s averaged 39 games per season for the past 7 years.
Wouldn’t be shocked if he’s out of the league soon. He’s still an elite talent but his body is failing him.
Don’t forget Risacher lol. He might only be in year 3 but he’ll be out of the league before some of those guys
He doesn’t want to hoop anymore?
Yeah all of those guys will be in the league for at least 2-3 more years and Lebron will be retired by then
That Zach Richer guy
Probably none this is his last season.
nobody’s said it’s his last season yet
This fuckery won’t go on much longer
AD -> Wiggins/Ayton -> Zion
Kyrie or AD, purely because of age/injury.
Risacher
Rissachie
Kyrie. He’s not that old yet but I feel like he’s already bored of basketball and ready to move onto other things.
Ben Simmons is coming back dude. He was inspired by the playoffs and he’s back in the gym shooting 3s
But is he making them?
Have you not seen the video!?!?
Can’t wait for the skinny Zion vids too.
Luka’s ready to have his MVP season, he’s finally in shape and healed from injuries
Zion is ripped right now. Dude actually looks in the best shape he has been in since high school.
We’re not doing this again lmao.
oh but we are!
Yep its July, thats what we do
Paraphrased cliches around players that never hit their potential:
“Best shape of his life…”
“First one to get to the gym, last one to leave…”
“He’s going to be a dark horse MVP candidate…”
Hell nawl can’t do dis
NSFW
https://streamable.com/h6miq
Hey, it’s like everyone at my neighborhood basketball court.
I said, he’s shooting 3s
Ben Simmons is legit a great practice shooter. When there’s no pressure and nobody is guarding him, and the camera is rolling, he can knock them down.
He had a dream. It was 100-99 with 2 seconds on the clock, game 7 of the finals. He has the ball in his hands, drives to the basket and then passes the ball as time expires, securing the loss.
Just checked his Basketball Reference and he turned 30 yesterday.
Happy birthday Young Socialite!
LeLongevity
LeLoveYouLongTime
LeMeLoveYuhLonger lol
LeBrongevity
LeThuselah
LeLe
LeLol
… Surely this fuckery just can’t go on much longer right?
I’m calling BS on this list. You can’t count “busts” as a longevity achievement. The only fair way to do this is to ONLY count players that played out their NBA careers normally. A bust can be out of the league in 2 years.
LePEDs
Might outlast Risacher too at this rate
imagine outlasting a 1st ovr pick drafted 21 years after you
Imagine outlasting a 1st overall pick that was born on the day you put up 37/17/7.
5 steals in that game too sheesh
The same draft where ur son also got drafted
This honestly makes me wonder what teams offered the Cavs for the 1st overall back then. I’m sure they didn’t even entertain offers but I wouldn’t be surprised if some team tried to trade a decade of 1st round picks lol
How ever great people thought he was going to be, not one person though the kid would be playing into his 40s at an All Star level.
That’s kind of the thing about Bron, yeah the longevity is absurd but he was quite literally projected to be a top 5 player all time as a high schooler. The Bron hype was very real
No, absolutely. I remember the covers and everything.
That being said there was still some debate at the time of whether or not he’d live up to expectations. In hindsight, because of how hyped it was, I think it’s very easy to say everyone was sure he’d be this good but that’s really not true because a) there was a real belief that he could fall short (and it was arguably true for the first third of his career) and b) he’s actually somehow exceeded expectations.
It’s kinda crazy to think his FLOOR was magic johnson, his floor…
That’s crazy to think about. His FLOOR was the greatest PG of all time at the time and one of the 10 greatest players ever, crazy that he blew all expectations out of the water despite how high they were.
Not only did he blow expectations, but he did so scandal free.
No drugs or alcohol issues.
No problem with women.
Just doing what he is good at and making a ton of money.
I remember back when LeBron was in high school, my parents wouldn’t let me watch sportscenter before school. So every morning I’d open WAPO sports section, first check NBA box scores and second check was any news on HS LeBron. Unfortunately it was mostly about hummers and authentic jersey gifts, but he was that important to basketball discourse.
I doubt any teams made offers because they’d only be embarrassing themselves if the news leaked.
I’m not sure the Cavs even entertained offers on that pick to get real offers.
The only big trade offer I can remember from that draft was the Bulls were pretty well set to trade Jay Williams and the 7th pick to move up to take Wade or Melo with the 3rd or 4th pick, but then Jay Williams drove a motorcycle into a telephone pole and took the offers off the table.
A pretty bad span of #1s outside of Dwight, drose, and Blake…injuries really got to this decade
I’m obligated by Australian law to object to any online slander of NBA champion and 2011 blocks leader Andrew Bogut.
It’s not that I don’t agree with you but the law’s the law.
I will vote against any and every Australian law which does not allow me to point out that Andrew Bogut is a dumbarse who believed in Pizzagate, has to delete his tweets constantly because he keeps on saying racist, homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic bullshit, and is just an all-around unpleasant cunt who regularly sprukes the dumbest political opinions possible.
He also never achieved anything for the Boomers, so there’s no reason to pump up his achievements as an Australian basketball icon.
Controversial opinion : onions ruin sausages and burgers. Fight me.
Well, that depends. Raw onions? Lovely fresh crunch. Golden brown onions? Delicious sweetness with a slight tang. Anything in between, though, is pure trash.
Dude had awful injury luck, would have been a helluva player otherwise
His injuries were the result of a curse placed on him as a child by the milkbar lady when he underpaid her for a packet of Samboy chips. He did amazing for himself despite the curse and as a national hero he deserves free extra onions on his snags for life.
When he fractured his leg literally 1 minute into the season after signing with the Cavs I knew he was cursed.
Bird law will stand
Filibuster
Wall was electric, but injuries kill his game and he never had much of a shot.
Insert Derrick Rose and post this again, it still makes sense.
Fultz probably would have been great if not for his injury. Ben Simmons had a brain injury.
Milwaukee Bogut would like to have a word.
Fuck off cunt Bogut was good.
Good yes. Objectively not for a #1 pick
You’re now banned from Australia.
Bro we’re on the same side, Bogut is my favorite Cavalier OAT
Better not catch you lacking in Nar Nar Goon or its curtains.
Nah he was absolutely #1 pick-worthy
For real… this is a testament to LeBron’s longevity, but it’s a much stronger testament to how absolutely trash the first overall selection was for the ten years after his draft, whether it be genuine bad luck (like Rose, and Wall with their injuries), or genuinely just dudes that flopped (like Bennet or Fultz). It seems like for ten years straight, your first overall either wound up being ass, or having a career altering injury, with zero in-between.
Ten years before LeBron at least has some genuine superstars in the list:
Outlasting a no1 overall pick from 14 years after his own draft is wild. It’s like if Shawn Kemp had outlasted LeBron.
Ok this is fucking wild.
Fultz retired?
Probably not but it’s hard to tell
I think he’s still sticking around. Was with the Raptors 905 G-League team last year.
He didn’t have to.
Dwight is the one that blows my mind.. he’s filed in a “firmly before the Warriors-Cavs finals” period for me.. like more of “from Kobe’s time” than from the second half of Lebron’s career. Even on the 2020 Lakers title team he felt a bit like “90 year-old Robert Parish on the MJ Bulls”..
Wasn’t he drafted in 06?
2004, looks like - I guess my perception is because he was past his prime with injuries pretty early, so he seemed “old” while Lebron was still in or near his prime..
What’s crazy is he’s lasted longer that the entire 2004, 2005 and 2006 NBA Draft Classes
Not really. 20 years is a long damn time in NBA years. Only 12 players have done 20 or more.
it’s crazy that anyone outlasted the next three years worth of players, yes.
and then you throw in the cumulative minutes across regular season, playoffs, team USA and its an absolute miracle of science.
Man I remember it was huge when KG Kobe VC then Dirk all clipped 20. End of an era. Now Lebron going T800 from 2029 on the league.
that’s what makes it crazy.
Fair. I was looking at it as, “well yeah, those draft classes are all gone because thats normal, 99.9% wont make it to 20 years”. On the flip side, it is indeed crazy that Bron alone has outlasted them.
I think it’s even crazier that the number one pick before him has already been in the hall of fame for ten years!
Wait- is this accurate? That is a crazy stat if it is correct.
He might outlast ZR if he plays 2 years and Zach looks completely unplayable
Shoot you’re right LeBron just might outlast Zion Rilliamson
aw man…
He’s not unplayable, he just never got a chance to develop. I think he’s gonna fit much better in Dallas. I’m not saying he’s gonna be good, but I think they can give him space to learn and get better. I think he ends up a quality role player
The sky is blue too.
Kyrie thinks otherwise
has*
Oh, he have, have he?
There are 2 Lerbon James though. Remember he has a little mini me which makes this not as impressive.
I’m not aware of even one Lerbon James.
James is plural…
besides his family
If lebron really wanted to, given his current age and his playoff performance
i have a hard time believing anything but injury can actually stop him from being a solid #2 option especially in a scenario he doesn’t have to try hard on defense so he can save it for the playoffs for the next several years
the biggest dropoffs he’d really have have probably already happened, historically we’ve seen most players lose stamina and a step around 30, then at 35 the body will start to break down more
lebron is still a top 10% athlete in the NBA at 40+ and i’m not really sure how much more it’ll drop off outside of injuries for at least the next few years
and i mean this is a few years as a potential 2nd option, we saw him as the first in the playoffs and third option for chunks of the regular season
if lebron REALLY wanted to, he could play for a long ass fucking time if he was content as a bench guy
he retires for family or injury imo, he’s got a couple years as a 2nd/3rd option and a crazy amount of time as a bench guy if he wanted
So… BRON 6TH MAN IS POSSIBLE?
The 6MOTY will definitely establish him as my 🐐.
honestly that’s one of his all time craziest, incredible stats…Simmons and Flutz should still be playing in theory but stilll…damn
Has*
What’s crazy is almost all of those other guys had their bodies give out on them way early. LeBron beat the odds just by having a functioning back and knees in his late 20s.
TIL Markelle Fultz is out of the NBA.
He have?
Using World Cup singular / plural logic.
Wow. Have he really?
Kareem outlasted seven after him
That’s crazy. Also crazy most of these 1’s were a bust.
Man, what a terrible run on number one picks
LeMJ
I wish Greg Oden had been able to be healthy and injury free. Blazers haven’t had luck with their high picks.
U can add risacher to that list soon
Lebrons actually a vampire and his longevity is sustained by sucking the life force from other #1 picks
Some all-time whiffs on this list, holy smokes.
And you can keep Maple Jordan’s name out of your mouth .
no. he HAS outlasted…
I’m so done with the world cup announcers treating teams as plural nouns. we will NOT DO THIS TO OUR INDIVIDUALS IN THIS COUNTRY!
I thought I was the only one who hated this lol
Dang I thought Fultz was a backup or something. Such a bizarre story
LeAttrition
Fun Fact: Anthony Bennett played 4 seasons for 4 different teams, only started 4 games, and averaged 4.4 points per game while playing the 4.
Tbf, we all outlasted Anthony Bennett
Fuckery
I heard his secret for longevity is being a furry. As well as being a loyal loving husband and father.
Wait, bogut was the first pick?
Yeah. And was headed towards a really solid career until injury ruined him. He got all-NBA the year he broke his arm, and was still really good defensively after it but that injury nuked his offensive game.
He permanently fucked up his elbow iirc
first pick in 05
would his career be more legendary had he stayed only with the cavs?
No, he’d only have 1 maybe 2 rings. Loyalty is a bonus, not a ring
now do the list of 2nd overall picks drafted after him!
That’s nice dear.
Lebron 6MOTY incoming
Sounds like a good time to retire.
Doubting the Ben Simmons comeback 😤
Blazers should’ve drafted KD in 2007 and thus making this thread moot after getting Oden’s injury report. it’s decisions like these why Portland will soon not have a NBA team.
thats seriously crazy
God damn, this has some ugly first overall players. Andrew Bennett…oof
Damn, that’s a terrible decade of no 1 picks.
Iv never even heard of Andrea Bargnani before wtf
Zoomer self-report
I’m 31 lol sorry I haven’t been jerking off to basketball my entire life