For those wondering, there has been an unconnected series of various draft busts/unfortunate events that have occurred to the 2nd overall pick's chosen player that have created this perception that the 2nd overall pick is "cursed". As a point of reference, let's take a look at the last 10 years of 2nd overall picks in the 1st round of the NBA Draft:

2022: Chet Holmgrem - TBD but getting injured in the Summer League and missing out on an entire season? Coming into the league with Wembanyama who will be playing the same year as you and will be trying to win ROTY? That is isn't "The Flash" levels of cursed but it's pretty unfortunate despite being paid the millions Chet did during said inaugural non-season.

2021: Jalen Green - TBD, Jalen Green's inefficiency has been well noted and often joked about but he's still one of the youngest players of this class and the Rockets in general haven't been great at developing their talent of late anyway. He probably deserves to be cursed to be inefficient after the cringe-worthy Dunk Contest performance where he was more interested in promoting NFTs than actually dunking, however.

2020: James Wiseman - Chosen over LaMelo Ball despite injury ending his college career and only playing 3 games in college though this one is somewhat excusable given the CV-19 pandemic kind of screwed up scouting in general for this draft class. Doesn't make his lack of success any less fortunate though like fellow 2nd overall pick Darko, which is weird to say about an NBA champion because he does technically have a championship ring. He's young enough to where it's tempting to say TBD but with the context of who came after him coupled with the general battle with injuries and poor play when healthy, it's hard to see Wiseman having a major bounceback.

2019: Ja Morant - A bonafide superstar whose off-court antics are threatening to derail an otherwise promising career. Ja needs help, i'm just going to leave it at that.

2018: Marvin Bagley III - Picked before Luka (who the Hawks traded for Trae Young) and is barely in the rotation in a frontcourt-filled roster in Detroit. Not that they were the only team to screw up by not taking Luka but this was the Kings highest draft pick since 1991 where they picked Billy Owens 3rd in 1991 and Bagley is a Certified Bust™.

2017: Lonzo Ball - A promising 2-way guard whose career has been plagued by injuries. He's currently expected to miss his 2nd full season in a row after getting a 3rd surgery on his knee. Poor kid. At this point you just hope he'll be able to walk and run without issue after his time with the Bulls is done and over with. Injuries derailing careers is going to become a pattern, as you'll soon see.

2016: Brandon Ingram - Did someone say injuries? Zion might get most of the attention for absences on the Pelicans but Brandon has missed his fair share of time in New Orleans as well as his time with the Lakers. That said, when healthy he has and continues to play at an All-Star level and his last hurrah to will the Pelicans into the postseason saw him drop an efficient 42 points on OKC. One of the best players amongst this group; i'd say only Morant clear Ingram.

2015: D'Angelo Russell - When "He went 2nd?!" is one's immediate reaction to their name popping up, you know things haven't gone well for you. There was a time where D-Lo was next up, a promising young guard who even made the All-Star team once but since then, Russell has stagnated, becoming one of the least efficient starting PGs in the league and a consistent disappointment. He was borderline unplayable in the most recent playoffs with the Lakers (who traded him then traded for him a few seasons later, amusingly enough) and it's up in the air if he's going to be brought back. Somehow the Warriors managed to get Johnathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins for him.

2014: Jabari Parker - High upside swing that ultimately became a journeyman after a few decent seasons with the Bucks. Not much to say, he wasn't bad but you expect more from such a high lottery pick...I think?

2013: Victor Oladipo - Injuries, man. Injuries suck. Oladipo once looked like a franchise centerpiece for the Magic (later the Pacers) when he came into the league. A 2x All-Star for consecutive years...until the injuries piled up. If you name it, Victor has probably (and very unfortunately) had it. His most recent injury took him out of the rotation during Miami's Finals run. Victor had a decent career but he's a perfect case of what could have been being derailed by things you can't control in the league.