We continue our eDraft exclusive look at the top NBA draft choices over the past 40 years. Our continued look back through history will determine who was the best draft selection through each slot in the draft. We don’t stop with the first overalls, we will go pick by pick, year by year to to identify the very best selections of all-time.

Our quest to reach the top makes a stop now at the 27th draft slot. We have thus far encountered a Hall of Famer in Dennis Johnson and a future Hall of Famer in Tony Parker; with Parker’s selection we saw the first mention of an active player in our countdown. Three draft slots down and we are already proving that your team needn’t have a lottery pick to draft greatness.

The selection process is actually proving to be slightly easier than anticipated as each eventual winner has been head and shoulders above his competition. I expect the matchups to get increasingly harder as we move through the draft as the higher drafted players must go toe-to-toe. With this in mind, what will the 27th overall selection bring us?

Teams drafting 27th overall are still in that realm of those hoping to find a gem come draft day. There are very few sure-fire top-tier prospects who slide so far down the board. Teams rely mostly on their scouting departments to scour the leagues in search of potential draft day riches. Often these quests take scouts to small unheralded colleges and away from the limelight of NCAA Division One powerhouses. We will see that in this installment of eDraft’s NBA Draft Rewind the quest for one team was well worth the journey. Here we go with eDraft’s greatest player ever drafted 27th overall.

In review of the players drafted 27th overall in the previous 40 years of NBA drafts, I came to realize that the pickings were slim and the success stories were few and far between. When the most successful player in this group for the last 20 years is Arron Afflalo; one knows the talent pool is fairly shallow.

Aside from Afflalo a few others have made their mark in the Association over the years. Kendrick Perkins was drafted out of high school in 2003, Jamaal Tinsley came out in 2001, the now Head Coach for the Orlando Magic, Jacque Vaughn was drafted in 1997 and the Los Angeles Lakers selected Eldon Campbell in 1990 with their 27th overall pick.

Ironically enough we went back 27 years to find our best 27th overall draft pick. While these five players all contributed and had or are having NBA careers, one man trumps them all in terms of career success, notoriety, celebrity and International peace keeping missions. That’s right, our selection for best player drafted 27th overall is the enigmatic Dennis Rodman.

The Detroit Pistons selected Rodman in the 1986 NBA Entry Draft from the little known NAIA Southeastern Oklahoma State. Prior to hearing his name called on draft day, Rodman spent one year at a County College before transferring to the little known Southeastern Oklahoma State; where he averaged 25.7 ppg and 15.7 rpg through his three years there.

Rodman’s flamboyant antics both on and off the basketball court are well documented. From dating Madonna to wearing a wedding dress, from junk-kicking a camera man to head-butting a referee to being Commissioner for the Lingerie Football League; Rodman made headlines both on and off the court. Despite his somewhat controversial behaviour, Rodman was a force on the basketball court and throughout his career he asserted himself as a premier defender and rebounder in the Association.

Rodman’s NBA career goes largely underappreciated due to his off-court antics; however, critics blinded by the publicity and personna forget that ‘The Worm’ won five NBA championships, was twice named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and made seven NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams. Rodman was twice named to the NBA All-Star Team, he made two All-NBA Third Teams and he led the league in rebounding for an astonishing seven straight seasons. To cap off the tumultuous career that was, Rodman was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Many would argue that Rodman was the best rebounding forward to ever play the game. What cannot be disputed however is that he is the greatest player to ever be drafted 27th overall into the NBA. Stay tuned for eDrafts continuing look at the history of the NBA Draft as next up we take on the 26th draft slot.