NBA Draft: Biggest Busts of All-Time
By Josh Hill
Michael Olowokandi – 1st Overall (L.A. Clippers)/1998 Draft
When we rewind to 1998, we were all wondering when it came to the draft who would become the next Michael Jordan to carry the league after his retirement. Who, oh who can revive the NBA? The Kandi-Man can. Well at least we thought he could. Michael Olowokandi is arguably one of the top 5 All-Time draft busts because his only parallel to Jordan is that he will be best remembered for who the lowly Clippers could have gotten instead of him. Could you imagine what Vin-Sanity would have looked like had the Clippers selected Vince Carter who went 5th overall? Olowokandi arguably set the Clippers back so far that they are only now recovering. Who can keep the Clippers from flourishing in the 2000’s? The Kandi-Man did.
Revised Selection: Dirk Nowitzki (9th overall)
Kwame Brown – 1st Overall (Washington Wizards)/2001 Draft
The first of Michael Jordan’s horrible draft mistakes. Riding the success of one of the most legendary and iconic basketball careers in the history of the game, Jordan decided to take his talents to the front office and basketball karma made up for the Sam Bowie debacle the Blazers endured. Unfortunately the Wizards had to take the punch as Jordan selected Kwame Brown. The rest as they say is draft history and a lesson in being cautious of what you draft. Not like teams weren’t cautious before but they saw if MJ could bomb anyone could. Then of course we found out MJ is front office illiterate.
Revised Selection: Pau Gasol (3rd Overall)
Adam Morrison – 3rd Overall (Charlotte Bobcats)/2006 Draft
Otherwise titled “Michael Jordan SHows You How Not To Draft Part 2”. We all gave Jordan a semi-mulligan for the Kwame Brown fiasco but his selecting Morrison in 2006 confirmed our fears the Michael Jordan was an awful, awful, AWFUL NBA owner. Morrison was a seller sharp shooter at Gonzaga but he was hardly athletic enough to be the player the Bobcats wanted him to be. He didn’t even average 5.0 ppg and was promptly traded to the Lakers in 2009 along with Shannon Brown for Vladimir Radmanovic (another Brilliant move).
Revised Selection: Rajon Rondo (21st Overall)