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 searched for our greatest 8th overall pick, the search took us all the way back to 1976. There we found Robert Parish who made his career mark when he teamed with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale to form the original ‘big three’ in Beantown. Parish went on to win four NBA Championships and was named to nine NBA All-Star teams. He was honoured by the NBA as a member of the 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and in 2003 he was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. ‘The Chief’ Robert Parish was a dominating center for the Celtics and he certainly dominated the competition here enroute to being named eDraft’s greatest 8th overall draft pick ever.
With the 8th pick out of the way, let’s move onwards and upwards; next up is of course the 7th overall slot. In review of this slot not only did we find a slew of NBA All-Stars but for the first time we came across two Hall of Famers who are already enshrined. These two Hallers must go head to head to determine the champ.
Before we get to our top-two let’s take a quick look at the best of the rest. The past ten years have been very fortunate for teams drafting seventh overall. The likes of Harrison Barnes, Greg Monroe, Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon and Luol Deng were all taken in the seven spot.
A few more players who merit some mention here are Richard Hamilton who was drafted in 1999, Damon Stoudamire was taken in 1995, Luc Longley went in 1991, Kevin Johnson was nabbed in 1987, Alvin Robertson in 1984 and Vinnie Johnson went to Seattle in 1979.
All those picks were nice and they turned out just fine; however, they don’t compare to the illustrious careers of our top two talents. In 1985 the Golden State Warriors drafted Chris Mullin
with their pick and what a pick it turned out to be. Mullin went on to be a five time All-Star, a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and an eventual Hall of Famer. As good as Mullin was he comes up just a bit short when compared to our eventual champ.
To find our greatest 7th overall pick we must go back to 1977 where the New Jersey Nets nabbed Bernard King with their pick. King was a 14-year NBA veteran who earned four NBA All-Star nominations and an NBa scoring title in 1985. King’s career was somewhat derailed by a torn ACL injury and despite being able to return from the injury his explosiveness was never the same.
King still parlayed his time in the Association into a great career as he maintained a solid scoring average of 20 ppg even after his injury. 25 years ago torn ACL injuries marked the end of careers, King persevered and strung together a Hall of Fame type career that finally earned him entrance into the Naismith Hall. King just edged out Mullin here for eDraft’s honour as the greatest 7th overall draft pick. Both players were deserving in their own right; however, the King has been crowned.