LeBron James was one of the most anticipated first overall draft picks in recent years.^[1]

The National Basketball Association's first overall pick is the player who is selected first among all eligible draftees by a team during the annual National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft. The first pick is awarded to the team that wins the NBA Draft Lottery; in most cases, that team had a losing record in the previous season. The team with the first pick attracts significant media attention,^[2] as does the player who is selected with that pick.

Ten first picks have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award: Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (record six-time winner), Bill Walton, Magic Johnson (three-time winner), Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan (two-time winner), LeBron James (three-time winner), and Derrick Rose.

China's Yao Ming (2002) and Italy's Andrea Bargnani (2006) are the only two players without competitive experience in the United States to be drafted first overall. Five other international players with U.S. college experience have been drafted first overall—Mychal Thompson (Bahamas) in 1978, Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria) in 1984, Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands) in 1997, Michael Olowokandi (Nigeria) in 1998, and Andrew Bogut (Australia) in 2005. Duncan is an American citizen, but is considered an "international" player by the NBA because he was not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C.^[3]

Note that the drafts between 1947 and 1949 were held by the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The Basketball Association of America became the National Basketball Association after absorbing teams from the National Basketball League in the fall of 1949. Official NBA publications include the BAA Drafts as part of the NBA's draft history.

Key[link]

List of first overall picks[link]

Draft	Selected by	Player	Nationality	Position	College/high school/former club	PPG[a]	RPG[a]	APG[a]	Ref.
1947	Pittsburgh Ironmen	McNeely, CliftonClifton McNeely[b]	USA	&10000000000000000000000—	Texas Wesleyan	&10000000000000000000000—	&10000000000000000000000—	&10000000000000000000000—	[b]
1948	Providence Steamrollers	Tonkovich, AndyAndy Tonkovich	USA	guaa !Guard/Forward	Marshall	&100000000000000026000002.6	&10000000000000000000000—	&100000000000000006000000.6	[6]
1949	Providence Steamrollers	Shannon, HowieHowie Shannon[c]	USA	Center	Kansas State	&1000000000000001340000013.4	&10000000000000000000000—	&100000000000000022999992.3	[8]
1950	Boston Celtics	Share, CharlieCharlie Share[d]	USA	Guard	Bowling Green	&100000000000000038999993.9	&100000000000000052999995.3	&100000000000000010000001.0	[9]
1951	Baltimore Bullets	Melchiorre, GeneGene Melchiorre[e]	USA	Center	Bradley	&10000000000000000000000—	&10000000000000000000000—	&10000000000000000000000—	[e]
1952	Milwaukee Hawks	Workman, MarkMark Workman[f]	USA	Center	West Virginia	&100000000000000050999995.1	&100000000000000030000003.0	&100000000000000006000000.6	[14]
1953	Baltimore Bullets	Felix, RayRay Felix^[g]	USA	guaa !Guard/Forward	Long Island	&1000000000000001760000017.6	&1000000000000001330000013.3	&100000000000000011000001.1	[16]
1954	Baltimore Bullets	Selvy, FrankFrank Selvy^	USA	foa !Forward/Center	Furman	&1000000000000001900000019.0	&100000000000000055000005.5	&100000000000000035000003.5	[17]
1955	Milwaukee Hawks	Ricketts, DickDick Ricketts[h]	USA	guaa !Guard/Forward	Duquesne	&100000000000000089000008.9	&100000000000000072000007.2	&100000000000000030000003.0	[19]
1956	Rochester Royals	Green, SihugoSihugo Green[i]	USA	guaa !Guard/Forward	Duquesne	&1000000000000001150000011.5	&100000000000000052000005.2	&100000000000000036000003.6	[21]
1957	Cincinnati Royals	Hundley, RodRod Hundley^	USA	Guard	West Virginia	&100000000000000070000007.0	&100000000000000028999992.9	&100000000000000018999991.9	[22]
1958	Minneapolis Lakers	Baylor, ElginElgin Baylor^*[j]	USA	Forward	Seattle	&1000000000000002489999924.9	&1000000000000001500000015.0	&100000000000000040999994.1	[24]
1959	Cincinnati Royals	Boozer, BobBob Boozer^[k]	USA	Forward	Kansas State	&100000000000000084000008.4	&100000000000000062000006.2	&100000000000000013999991.4	[26]
1960	Cincinnati Royals	Robertson, OscarOscar Robertson^*[l]	USA	guaa !Guard/Forward	Cincinnati	&1000000000000003050000030.5	&1000000000000001009999910.1	&100000000000000096999999.7	[29]
1961	Chicago Packers	Bellamy, WaltWalt Bellamy^*	USA	Center	Indiana	&1000000000000003160000031.6	&1000000000000001900000019.0	&100000000000000027000002.7	[30]
1962	Chicago Zephyrs	McGill, BillBill McGill[m]	USA	foa !Forward/Center	Utah	&100000000000000074000007.4	&100000000000000027000002.7	&100000000000000006000000.6	[32]
1963	New York Knicks	Heyman, ArtArt Heyman[n]	USA	Forward/Guard	Duke	&1000000000000001540000015.4	&100000000000000040000004.0	&100000000000000033999993.4	[34]
1964	New York Knicks	Barnes, JimJim Barnes[o]	USA	Center/Forward	Texas Western	&1000000000000001550000015.5	&100000000000000096999999.7	&100000000000000011999991.2	[36]
1965	San Francisco Warriors	Hetzel, FredFred Hetzel[p]	USA	foa !Forward/Center	Davidson	&100000000000000067999996.8	&100000000000000052000005.2	&100000000000000005000000.5	[38]
1966	New York Knicks	Russell, CazzieCazzie Russell^	USA	Forward/Guard	Michigan	&1000000000000001130000011.3	&100000000000000032999993.3	&100000000000000023999992.4	[39]
1967	Detroit Pistons	Walker, JimmyJimmy Walker^	USA	Guard	Providence	&100000000000000088000008.8	&100000000000000017000001.7	&100000000000000027999992.8	[40]
1968	San Diego Rockets	Hayes, ElvinElvin Hayes^*	USA	Center/Forward	Houston	&1000000000000002839999928.4	&1000000000000001710000017.1	&100000000000000013999991.4	[41]
1969	Milwaukee Bucks	Alcindor, LewLew Alcindor^*[q]	USA	Center	UCLA	&1000000000000002880000028.8	&1000000000000001450000014.5	&100000000000000040999994.1	[43]
1970	Detroit Pistons	Lanier, BobBob Lanier^*	USA	Center	St. Bonaventure	&1000000000000001559999915.6	&100000000000000080999998.1	&100000000000000018000001.8	[44]
1971	Cleveland Cavaliers	Carr, AustinAustin Carr^	USA	Guard	Notre Dame	&1000000000000002119999921.2	&100000000000000035000003.5	&100000000000000033999993.4	[45]
1972	Portland Trail Blazers	Martin, LaRueLaRue Martin	USA	Center	Loyola (Illinois)	&100000000000000044000004.4	&100000000000000045999994.6	&100000000000000005000000.5	[46]
1973	Philadelphia 76ers	Collins, DougDoug Collins^	USA	guaa !Guard/Forward	Illinois State	&100000000000000080000008.0	&100000000000000018000001.8	&100000000000000016000001.6	[47]
1974	Portland Trail Blazers	Walton, BillBill Walton^*	USA	Center	UCLA	&1000000000000001280000012.8	&1000000000000001259999912.6	&100000000000000047999994.8	[48]
1975	Atlanta Hawks	Thompson, DavidDavid Thompson^*[r]	USA	Forward/Guard	NC State	&1000000000000002600000026.0	&100000000000000062999996.3	&100000000000000037000003.7	[49]
1976	Houston Rockets	Lucas, JohnJohn Lucas	USA	Guard	Maryland	&1000000000000001109999911.1	&100000000000000027000002.7	&100000000000000055999995.6	[50]
1977	Milwaukee Bucks	Benson, KentKent Benson	USA	Center	Indiana	&100000000000000077000007.7	&100000000000000042999994.3	&100000000000000013999991.4	[51]
1978	Portland Trail Blazers	Thompson, MychalMychal Thompson	BHS	foa !Forward/Center	Minnesota	&1000000000000001469999914.7	&100000000000000083000008.3	&100000000000000023999992.4	[52]
1979	Los Angeles Lakers	Johnson, EarvinEarvin Johnson^*	USA	guaa !Guard/Forward	Michigan State	&1000000000000001800000018.0	&100000000000000077000007.7	&100000000000000072999997.3	[53]
1980	Golden State Warriors	Carroll, Joe BarryJoe Barry Carroll^	USA	Center	Purdue	&1000000000000001889999918.9	&100000000000000093000009.3	&100000000000000013999991.4	[54]
1981	Dallas Mavericks	Aguirre, MarkMark Aguirre^	USA	Forward	DePaul	&1000000000000001869999918.7	&100000000000000049000004.9	&100000000000000032000003.2	[55]
1982	Los Angeles Lakers	Worthy, JamesJames Worthy^*	USA	Forward	North Carolina	&1000000000000001340000013.4	&100000000000000052000005.2	&100000000000000017000001.7	[56]
1983	Houston Rockets	Sampson, RalphRalph Sampson^*	USA	Center	Virginia	&1000000000000002100000021.0	&1000000000000001109999911.1	&100000000000000020000002.0	[57]
1984	Houston Rockets	Olajuwon, AkeemAkeem Olajuwon^*[s]	NGA[s]	Center	Houston	&1000000000000002060000020.6	&1000000000000001190000011.9	&100000000000000013999991.4	[60]
1985	New York Knicks	Ewing, PatrickPatrick Ewing^*	USA[t]	Center	Georgetown	&1000000000000002000000020.0	&100000000000000090000009.0	&100000000000000020000002.0	[63]
1986	Cleveland Cavaliers	Daugherty, BradBrad Daugherty^	USA	Center	North Carolina	&1000000000000001569999915.7	&100000000000000080999998.1	&100000000000000037999993.8	[64]
1987	San Antonio Spurs	Robinson, DavidDavid Robinson^*[u]	USA	Center	Navy	&1000000000000002430000024.3	&1000000000000001200000012.0	&100000000000000020000002.0	[66]
1988	Los Angeles Clippers	Manning, DannyDanny Manning^	USA	Forward	Kansas	&1000000000000001669999916.7	&100000000000000065999996.6	&100000000000000031000003.1	[67]
1989	Sacramento Kings	Ellison, PervisPervis Ellison	USA	Center	Louisville	&100000000000000080000008.0	&100000000000000057999995.8	&100000000000000018999991.9	[68]
1990	New Jersey Nets	Coleman, DerrickDerrick Coleman^	USA	foa !Forward/Center	Syracuse	&1000000000000001839999918.4	&1000000000000001030000010.3	&100000000000000022000002.2	[69]
1991	Charlotte Hornets	Johnson, LarryLarry Johnson^	USA	Forward	UNLV	&1000000000000001919999919.2	&1000000000000001100000011.0	&100000000000000036000003.6	[70]
1992	Orlando Magic	Oneal, ShaquilleShaquille O'Neal^	USA	Center	LSU	&1000000000000002339999923.4	&1000000000000001390000013.9	&100000000000000018999991.9	[71]
1993	Orlando Magic	Webber, ChrisChris Webber^	USA	Forward	Michigan	&1000000000000001750000017.5	&100000000000000090999999.1	&100000000000000036000003.6	[72]
1994	Milwaukee Bucks	Robinson, GlennGlenn Robinson^	USA	Forward	Purdue	&1000000000000002189999921.9	&100000000000000064000006.4	&100000000000000025000002.5	[73]
1995	Golden State Warriors	Smith, JoeJoe Smith	USA	Forward	Maryland	&1000000000000001530000015.3	&100000000000000086999998.7	&100000000000000010000001.0	[74]
1996	Philadelphia 76ers	Iverson, AllenAllen Iverson^	USA	Guard	Georgetown	&1000000000000002350000023.5	&100000000000000040999994.1	&100000000000000075000007.5	[75]
1997	San Antonio Spurs	Duncan, TimTim Duncan^	USA[v]	foa !Forward/Center	Wake Forest	&1000000000000002110000021.1	&1000000000000001190000011.9	&100000000000000027000002.7	[77]
1998	Los Angeles Clippers	Olowokandi, MichaelMichael Olowokandi	NGA	Center	Pacific	&100000000000000089000008.9	&100000000000000079000007.9	&100000000000000006000000.6	[78]
1999	Chicago Bulls	Brand, EltonElton Brand^[w]	USA	Forward	Duke	&1000000000000002010000020.1	&1000000000000001000000010.0	&100000000000000018999991.9	[80]
2000	New Jersey Nets	Martin, KenyonKenyon Martin^	USA	Forward	Cincinnati	&1000000000000001200000012.0	&100000000000000074000007.4	&100000000000000018999991.9	[81]
2001	Washington Wizards	Brown, KwameKwame Brown	USA	Center	Glynn Academy HS (Brunswick, GA)	&100000000000000045000004.5	&100000000000000035000003.5	&100000000000000008000000.8	[82]
2002	Houston Rockets	Yao Ming, Yao Ming^	CHN	Center	Shanghai Sharks (China)	&1000000000000001350000013.5	&100000000000000081999998.2	&100000000000000017000001.7	[83]
2003	Cleveland Cavaliers	James, LeBronLeBron James^	USA	Forward	St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (Akron, OH)	&1000000000000002089999920.9	&100000000000000055000005.5	&100000000000000059000005.9	[84]
2004	Orlando Magic	Howard, DwightDwight Howard^	USA	Center	SACA (Atlanta, GA)	&1000000000000001200000012.0	&1000000000000001000000010.0	&100000000000000009000000.9	[85]
2005	Milwaukee Bucks	Bogut, AndrewAndrew Bogut	AUS	Center	Utah	&100000000000000094000009.4	&100000000000000070000007.0	&100000000000000022999992.3	[86]
2006	Toronto Raptors	Bargnani, AndreaAndrea Bargnani	ITA	foa !Forward/Center	Benetton Treviso (Italy)	&1000000000000001159999911.6	&100000000000000038999993.9	&100000000000000008000000.8	[87]
2007	Portland Trail Blazers	Oden, GregGreg Oden[x]	USA	Center	Ohio State	&100000000000000089000008.9	&100000000000000070000007.0	&100000000000000005000000.5	[89]
2008	Chicago Bulls	Rose, DerrickDerrick Rose^	USA	Guard	Memphis	&1000000000000001680000016.8	&100000000000000038999993.9	&100000000000000062999996.3	[90]
2009	Los Angeles Clippers	Griffin, BlakeBlake Griffin^[y]	USA	Forward	Oklahoma	&1000000000000002250000022.5	&1000000000000001209999912.1	&100000000000000037999993.8	[92]
2010	Washington Wizards	Wall, JohnJohn Wall	USA	Guard	Kentucky	&1000000000000001639999916.4	&100000000000000045999994.6	&100000000000000083000008.3	[93]
2011	Cleveland Cavaliers	Irving, KyrieKyrie Irving	USA[z]	Guard	Duke	&1000000000000001850000018.5	&100000000000000037000003.7	&100000000000000054000005.4	[95]
2012	New Orleans Hornets	TBA

See also[link]

• List of first overall NBA Development League draft picks
• List of first overall WNBA draft picks

Notes[link]

References[link]

General

Specific

A draft is a process used to allocate certain players to sports teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selects a player, the team receives exclusive rights to sign that player to a contract, and no other team in the league may sign the player.

The best-known type of draft is the entry draft, which is used to allocate players who have recently become eligible to play in a league. Depending on the sport, the players may come from college, high school or junior teams or teams in other countries.

An entry draft prevents expensive bidding wars for young talent and ensures that no one team can sign contracts with all of the best young players and make the league uncompetitive. To encourage parity, teams that do poorly in the previous season usually get to choose first in the postseason draft.

Other types of drafts include the expansion draft, in which a new team selects players from other teams in the league; and the dispersal draft, in which a league's surviving teams select players from the roster of a newly defunct franchise.

Drafts are usually permitted under anti-trust or restraint of trade laws because they are included in collective bargaining agreements between leagues and labor unions representing players. These agreements generally stipulate that after a certain number of seasons, a player whose contract has expired becomes a free agent and can sign with any team. They also require minimum and sometimes maximum salaries for newly drafted players.

National Football League President Joseph Carr instituted a draft in 1935 as a way to restrain teams' payrolls and reduce the dominance of the league's perennial contenders.^[1] It was adopted by the precursor of the National Basketball Association in 1947; by the National Hockey League in 1963; and by Major League Baseball in 1965, although draft systems had been used in baseball since the 19th century.^[2]

Drafts are uncommon in association football, where most professional clubs obtain young players through transfers from smaller clubs or by developing youth players through their own academies. The youth system is operated directly by the teams themselves, who develop their players from childhood.

North America[link]

NFL Draft[link]

Draft order in the NFL is determined in a reverse-record order (the previous season's worst team picking first, the Super Bowl winner picking last). There are 7 rounds of the draft, so each team can have 7 selections, plus whatever compensatory selections a team receives as a result of free agency (up to 32 compensatory selections are given each year). Teams are allowed to trade draft picks (but not compensatory selections) among each other in exchange for other draft picks or in exchange for players.

Because the NFL requires that players be three years removed from high school, players are chosen almost exclusively from National Collegiate Athletic Association college football programs.

The NFL Draft has become one of the key events on the American football calendar. It is held in April at New York's Radio City Music Hall and aired live on television.

NBA Draft[link]

The NBA Draft, held in a New York theater each summer, is only two rounds long. Instead of automatically granting the top pick to the worst team from the year before, the NBA holds a draft lottery to determine who chooses first. The top three picks are allocated by chance among the 14 teams that did not make the playoffs the year before. This discourages a team from losing on purpose to get a better draft pick, but also causes other controversy.

NBA teams choose players from the NCAA and from teams overseas. It was formerly common for players to be chosen directly from high school, but in 2006, the NBA required that players wait a year after high school before playing in the NBA. Almost all top U.S. players thus play at least one year in college.

NHL Draft[link]

The NHL operates a seven-round off-season draft. Like the NBA, the NHL uses a lottery system to determine which team gets the top pick. All 14 teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs take part in the weighted lottery with the winner moving up as much as four draft positions and no drop more than one draft position. Because the maximum a team may move up is four positions, only the bottom five teams in the standings have the potential to select first overall. Any North American player aged 18–20, and any overseas player aged 18–21 is eligible to be selected. Players are generally chosen from junior hockey teams, high schools, the NCAA and overseas clubs.

The NHL rotates the draft's location among cities with teams in the league. Like baseball, players drafted in the entry draft usually have to wait a few years in development, either in junior hockey or the minor leagues, before cracking an NHL roster; usually, only one or two draft picks, generally those that are widely predicted to be blue-chip superstars, jump directly from the draft to the NHL (e.g. Sidney Crosby or Jaromir Jagr).

The three major junior leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League also hold drafts of teenage players in their territories.

MLB Draft[link]

Major League Baseball holds two drafts each year. In June, the First-Year Player Draft, MLB's entry draft, takes place. Only players from Canada, the U.S. or a U.S. territory may be drafted; players from elsewhere are free agents and can be signed by any team. Draftees are high-school graduates who have opted not to go to college; college baseball players at four-year institutions who have played three years or turned 21; or junior college baseball players. The draft lasts up to 50 rounds. The MLB Draft generally receives less attention than the drafts in other American sports, since drafted players usually spend several years in the minor leagues before they crack the Major League team's roster. Also, unlike the NFL, NBA and the NHL Drafts, the MLB Draft takes place during the season instead of in the offseason.

In December, MLB holds the much shorter Rule 5 draft. If an organization keeps a player in the minor leagues for a certain number of years, other teams can draft him in the Rule 5 draft. The drafting team must keep the player on its major-league roster; it cannot put the player in its own minor-league system.

MLS Draft[link]

Major League Soccer have 3 types of draft each year. Types of drafts include the MLS SuperDraft, the MLS Supplemental Draft and the MLS Expansion Draft.

WWE Draft[link]

The WWE Draft (formerly known as the WWE Draft Lottery), is a process used by WWE to provide new brand competition and to refreshen its rosters. The Draft was first used during the brand extension of 2002, though it was officially incepted and used in 2004. Since the inception of the process, it has been referred to as the Draft Lottery (2004–2005) and the Draft (2007–present). Starting in 2005, the draft took place during the month of June; however, since 2009, the Draft has been held in April.

WNBA Draft[link]

Every spring, the WNBA Draft is held at league headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey. From 2005 to 2008, the Draft was held in the city that hosted the NCAA Women's Final Four. The draft is currently three rounds long with each of the 12 teams in the league (trades aside) getting three picks each. Draft order for teams that made the playoffs the previous year are based on team records. The team with the highest previous record will pick last. Since eight teams qualify for playoffs, the bottom eight picks are determined by this method. For the remaining top four picks, a selection process similar to the NBA Draft Lottery is conducted for the four teams that did not qualify for the playoffs.

CFL Draft[link]

The Canadian Football League holds its annual player draft before the start of the season, either in the last days of April or the start of May. It was formerly held as part of the annual league meetings in Hamilton, but is now typically held by conference call. Since 1997, the draft has consisted of six rounds, with teams drafting in inverse order of their records in the previous season. As with the NFL Draft, trading of picks is very common, meaning that a team will not necessarily have six picks in a given draft.

The draft is restricted to "non-imports"—players who were either born or trained (i.e., played high school or college football) in Canada. Eligible players can be drafted both from CIS football programs in Canada and U.S. college football programs (with the latter category containing one Canadian school, Simon Fraser).

Australia[link]

AFL Draft[link]

In Australian rules football's premier competition, a draft was introduced in 1986 (when the competition was then known as the VFL). This was in response to the increasing transfer fees and player salaries at the time, which in combination with declining attendances, threatened to derail the league. It was also a result of the failure of country zoning, introduced in the late 1960s, which had led to a systematic inequality whereby the clubs with the best zones, like Carlton and Hawthorn, could dominate over clubs with poorer zones like Melbourne.

In the AFL Draft, clubs receive picks based on the position in which they finish on the ladder. Therefore, the teams that finish at the bottom of the AFL ladder will get the first draft picks. Also, any team that finishes in a low ladder position for consecutive seasons will receive priority picks.

The AFL's National Draft is held in November, with a pre-season draft and a rookie draft held in December.

NSWRL draft[link]

The 1991 NSWRL season featured the introduction of rugby league football's first draft system. The draft allowed teams to recruit players on a roster system based on where the club finished the previous year. It ran in reverse order with the wooden spooners getting first choice and the premiers last. The draft lasted just the one season before being defeated in the courts by players and coaches opposed to its limitations.^[3]

Europe[link]

KHL Draft[link]

When the Russian Superleague became the Kontinental Hockey League, the collective bargaining agreement between the KHL and its players introduced a draft, starting from the very first season of the league. It also allows teams to use a first-round draft pick to select protected players from a team's farm system.

Disaster draft[link]

Major professional sports leagues (including the KHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL) have special contingency plans for rebuilding a team should an accident or other disaster kill or disable many players.

Other terminology[link]

A draft bust occurs when a highly touted or highly selected draftee does not meet expectations. An example of a draft bust occurred with the San Diego Chargers in the 1998 NFL Draft. The Chargers selected promising quarterback player Ryan Leaf with the second pick. However, Leaf only managed to play two years with the Chargers and started only 18 games (and winning only 4 games) for them before being released. Another example would be LaRue Martin, drafted 1st overall in the 1972 NBA Draft before Bob McAdoo and Julius Erving. McAdoo & Erving would go on to be elected to the Basketball Hall Of Fame and are both usually mentioned as all-time greats, whereas Martin only played 4 NBA seasons for career average of just over 5 points per game before retiring as arguably the biggest NBA draft bust ever.

Conversely, a lowly-drafted player going on to have a stellar career is a draft steal. Joe Montana, listed by Sports Illustrated as the third best player in history was drafted 82nd overall in 1979, the fourth quarterback to be chosen. Tom Brady, who has won three Super Bowls and appeared in two others, was selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, behind six quarterbacks, none of whom matched Brady's success; this fact was the subject of an ESPN documentary, The Brady 6, in 2011.

See also[link]

• List of MLS drafts
• Mock draft
• Salary cap

References[link]

External links[link]

• NRL revisits the draft - The Sun-Herald, 9 February 2003.
• ESPN.com: Page 2 : The 100 worst draft picks ever

Blake Griffin

Griffin with the Clippers
No. 32 – Los Angeles Clippers
Power Forward
Personal information
Born	(1989-03-16) March 16, 1989 (age 23) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Nationality	American
High school	Oklahoma Christian School (Edmond, Oklahoma)
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	251 lb (114 kg)
Career information
College	Oklahoma
NBA Draft	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Pro career	2009–present
Career history
2009–present	Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards
NBA Rookie of the Year (2011) 2× NBA All-Star (2011, 2012) All-NBA Second Team (2012) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2011) NBA Slam Dunk Champion (2011) Adolph Rupp Trophy (2009) AP National Player of the Year (2009) John R. Wooden Men's Player of the Year Award (2009) NABC Player of the Year (2009) Naismith College Player of the Year (2009) Oscar Robertson Trophy (2009) Big 12 Player of the Year (2009)
Stats at NBA.com

Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Griffin had a renowned high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father, Tommy Griffin, who was the head coach. He played college basketball for the University of Oklahoma Sooners and was awarded numerous accolades in his second year including the Naismith College Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy and the John Wooden Award.^[1]

Griffin left college after two seasons to enter the 2009 NBA Draft where he was selected first overall by the Clippers. In his first season, he broke his left kneecap, which he injured during the final pre-season game, and underwent surgery missing the entire 2009–10 season. He made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season and was selected as an All-Star, won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. In 2011, Sports Illustrated ranked him as one of the NBA's 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time.^[2]

Early years[link]

Childhood[link]

Blake Griffin was born on March 16, 1989, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tommy and Gail Griffin.^[3] His father was a basketball center and track standout at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State University.^[4] Griffin and his older brother, Taylor Griffin, were home-schooled by their mother from first grade until Taylor was in the tenth grade and Blake was in eighth.^[5][6][7][8] The Griffin brothers are bi-racial, their father being African-American and their mother White.^[9] Growing up, he was good friends with Sam Bradford, who currently plays for the St. Louis Rams and played on the same Athletes First AAU basketball team with Xavier Henry, now with the New Orleans Hornets.^[8][10] Griffin’s parents owned a trophy company that Bradford’s father would use and Bradford’s father owned a gym where Griffin and his brother Taylor played basketball.^[11] Apart from basketball, he also played baseball as a first baseman and football as a wide receiver, safety and a tight end.^[11][12]

High school[link]

After years of competing against his brother, Taylor, Griffin enrolled at Oklahoma Christian School in 2003, after Taylor. They played under their father, who was the head coach. They played together during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 high school seasons, winning two state high school basketball championships together.^[5] In his freshmen year, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a perfect 29–0 season and won the Class 3A boys state championship game held at the State Fair Arena against Riverside Indian School, 55–50.^[13] In his sophomore year, the Saints repeated as Class 3A state champions, defeating Sequoyah-Tahlequah 51–34, where he scored 12 points to go along with 9 rebounds.^[14] The team finished the season with a 24–2 record,^[15] with Griffin averaging 13.6 points per game. He was later named to the Little All-City All-State team in what was his final high school season with his brother.^[16] After his sophomore year, his brother accepted a scholarship to play college basketball for the University of Oklahoma Sooners. During the summer of 2005, he was a member of the Athletes First AAU team, where he played against Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson's AAU team, the DC Blue Devils.^[17][18]

During his junior season, the Oklahoma Christian basketball team was moved down to Class 2A from the Class 3A.^[19] As he began his third season with the Saints, he was quickly developing into a strong and athletic player,^[20] as he led the Saints to a third straight state championship, scoring 22 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks, defeating Washington High School 57–40.^[21] He was named the state tournament MVP,^[22] and the Saints finished the season 27–1, with Griffin averaging 21.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists. For his efforts, he was named The Oklahoman Player of the Year and to the Tulsa World Boys All-State First Team.^[23] His play attracted the attention of the new basketball head coach for Oklahoma, Jeff Capel, who first heard of him through his brother Taylor.^[4] That spring, Capel saw him play for the first time and was impressed with his combination of size, strength and athleticism.^[4] Capel liked the fact that Griffin had not yet become a household name among recruiters and recruited him because he felt he was the player he needed to rebuild his tenure with the Oklahoma men's basketball program.^[4] He had been considering Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Texas,^[4] but his brother eventually sold him on joining Oklahoma when he raved about the direction of the Sooners and the chance to play together again for his home state.^[24]

Griffin committed to Oklahoma before the start of his senior season^[24] and averaged 26.8 points, 15.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 blocks per game as a senior while leading the team to a 26–3 record.^[3] In a game against Oklahoma City Southeast, he finished with an eye-popping triple-double, 41 points, 28 rebounds, and 10 assists.^[25] The Saints advanced through the playoffs, defeating Crescent in the quarterfinals and Foyil in the semifinals to earned a berth in the Class 2A state championship.^[26] On March 10, 2007, he played his final high school game in the state title game against Pawnee High School.^[16] He registered 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, as the Saints defeated Pawnee 81–50, winning their fourth straight state title.^[5] He was named the Class 2A state tournament MVP for the second consecutive year after averaging 26.6 points per game in the tournament, winning its three games by an average of 30.3 points.^[3] During his four-year run, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a 106–6 overall record.^[27]

Griffin was named the Player of the Year by both the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman and named a Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team, EA Sports All-American Second Team and a Parade Third Team All-American.^[25][28] He was ranked as the nation's #13 high school senior by HoopScoop, #20 by scout.com and #23 by rivals.com,^[29] and as the country's third-best power forward by HoopScoop, sixth by rivals.com and the seventh by scout.com.^[3] Additionally, he was the Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year and was selected to the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand All-America teams.^[30][31] At the McDonald's All-American game in Louisville, Kentucky he won the Powerade Jam Fest slam dunk contest.^[32]

College career[link]

Griffin while playing at Oklahoma

Griffin was one of the highest rated and most decorated recruits ever at Oklahoma.^[3] As a freshman at Oklahoma, he averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds in 28.4 minutes per game and led the Sooners to a 23–12 record.^[33] He ranked ninth in scoring, fourth in rebounding and third in field goal percentage in the Big 12 Conference.^[3] In a game against the Kansas Jayhawks, he suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee five minutes into the Sooners game.^[34] Less than two months after injuring his left knee, he injured his right knee in a home victory against Texas A&M.^[35] The injury this time was torn cartilage, and he had arthroscopic surgery on March 2, 2008.^[35] He missed the following game, a victory over in-state rival Oklahoma State Cowboys,^[36] but was back on the court a week after the injury with 14 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes versus the Missouri Tigers, a win for the Sooners on their home floor.^[33] He was a first-team all-district pick by the USBWA and NABC, and was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team and to the first-team All-Big 12 selection by league coaches and Associated Press.^[3] He became the first Sooner to make the conference All-Rookie team since Wayman Tisdale in 1983 for the Big Eight Conference.^[37] He was expected to be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft but decided to return to college for a second season to give himself time to mature physically and make Oklahoma a contender for the NCAA championship.^[6]

In his sophomore season, the Sooners started out the season winning their first 12 games before falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks.^[38] In the third game of the season against the Davidson Wildcats, he scored 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds,^[39] after which he scored 35 points and 21 rebounds against Gardner–Webb,^[40] becoming the first player in Big 12 history to record back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds.^[3] This earned him three consecutive Big 12 player of the week honor and finished the season with a record-tying six player of the week honors.^[3] In a home victory against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, he set career bests for both points and rebounds with 40 points and 23 rebounds,^[33] becoming the only player in Big 12 history and the third player in the history of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball program to score 40 points and get 20 rebounds in the same game, joining Wayman Tisdale (61 points and 22 rebounds in 1983) and Alvan Adams (43 points and 25 rebounds in 1975).^[41][42]

On February 21, he received a concussion in a loss to the Texas Longhorns, when he caught an inadvertent shot to the face from the open hand of Texas center Dexter Pittman.^[43] He sat out the second half during the Sooners loss with a bloody nose.^[43] It was the Sooners' first loss of their conference schedule for the season.^[44] After sitting out the next game, a loss to Kansas Jayhawks, he was cleared by the medical staff and returned a week later to get 20 points and 19 rebounds in a victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.^[45] Oklahoma finished second in the conference with a 13–3 record but fell short in the first game of the Big 12 Tournament to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.^[46] In the "Big Dance", Oklahoma was seeded No. 2 in the South Region with a 27–5 record.^[47] In the second-round win over the Michigan Wolverines, he scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds,^[48] just the second player in the 2000s decade with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in the NCAA tournament.^[49] However, the Sooners lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the South Regional final.^[50]

Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the regular season and earned All-American First Team honors.^[51] He led the Big 12 in scoring and rebounds, and recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds 15 times, which is a Big 12 record.^[3] He also set school and Big 12 single-season records for most rebounds (504), rebounding average (14.4), and double-doubles (30), and his free throw attempts (324) were the most by a Sooner in a single-season.^[52][53] With 30 double-doubles during the season, he was one short of the NCAA record of 31 set by David Robinson in 1986–1987.^[54] His total of 504 rebounds were the most in a season by an NCAA Division I player since Indiana State's Larry Bird had 505 in 1978–79 and his rebounding average of 14.4 was the highest since Wake Forest's Tim Duncan averaged 14.7 in 1996–97.^[3][55]

For his sophomore year performance, Griffin swept all six of the national player of the year awards. He was a unanimous choice by voters in all nine geographical districts for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and was named Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, receiving 66 of the 71 national media panel members' votes.^[56][57] Griffin was announced as the winner of the prestigious Naismith College Player of the Year on April 5 in Detroit.^[58] Three days after announcing that he would turn pro, he won the John Wooden Award as college basketball's top player.^[1] He became the first Oklahoma player in school history to win the Naismith Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Adolph Rupp Trophy, John Wooden Award and the Associated Press player of the year.^[1][57] He was also named Player of the Year by the Big 12, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and FoxSports.com.^[11]