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.
As we make our march to the top we wrapped our analysis of the greatest 7th overall pick and we now focus on the greatest 6th overall. In retrospect we had to do some digging to find our greatest 7th overall pick as we had to go back to 1977. There we found the New Jersey Nets drafting Bernard King. King turned into a 14-year NBA veteran who earned four NBA All-Star nominations and an earned himself a NBA scoring title in 1985. Despite being somewhat derailed by a torn ACL injury, King persevered and strung together a Hall of Fame career that earned him entrance into the Naismith Hall.
The sixth overall draft slot offered surprisingly few decent draftees. For such a high draft slot many of the selections failed to live up to their lofty draft status. Throughout the years a mere eight players merit mention here. We will kick off the list with the Association’s most recent Rookie of the Year winner as Portland’s Damian Lillard cracks the list as a 2012 draftee.
Going back a few more years we find the current Denver Nugget and former New York Knick draft pick Danilo Gallinari. Gallinari has shown his consistency over the past four seasons and he parlayed that into a nice eight-figure per annum contract.
Three more players drafted in the 2000’s bear mention here as Brandon Roy, Chris Kaman and Shane Battier all turned out to be productive NBA ballers. Roy had to cut his career short due to multiple knee injuries while Kaman continues to battle his way back from injuries of his own. Battier has earned his stay in the league and made his mark as a clutch performer and defensive stalwart.
Going back to the talent-rich draft of 1996 we find the former Boston Celtic and the former employee #8, Antoine Walker. Walker struck it rich in the NBA with a lucrative long-term contract. Unfortunately Walker’s off-court life derailed his basketball career and instead of a potential Hall of Fame Career, Walker is a story of tragedy and despair.
Thankfully after a considerable amount of digging we found a Celtic success story of epic proportions. Back in 1978 the Celtics drafted the ‘Hick from French Lick’ who would later simply be known as ‘Larry the Legend’. Of course the selection of Larry Bird set up the Celtic franchise for another run of success through the eighties.
With Bird in the fold, the Celtics went on to win three NBA titles. Bird took home Finals MVP honours in two of those championships. In addition to the three titles, Bird won an Olympic Gold Medal with the original USA Dream Team, three league MVP’s and was named to 12 NBA All-Star teams.
For all of Bird’s playing day successes, he has been successful in each of his sideline jobs as well. Bird was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1998 and Executive of the Year in 2012. For all of Bird’s contributions to the NBA he had his #33 jersey retired by the Celtics. Bird’s acceptance into the Naismith Hall of Fame was a foregone conclusion upon his retirement and his enshrinement came to fruition in 1998.
Larry Bird was a phenomenal player who dominated the 1980’s and along with Magic Johnson drove the popularity of the league to new found heights. Bird is not only the greatest 6th overall draft pick in NBA history, he is one of the greatest forwards to ever lace them up in the NBA.