Lets talk phenoms. On pre draft hype only....who is the all time #1 pick?

[Ben Simmons 25]

But to be fair did every team in the league feel that strongly or was it just Buss?

Read the entire OP... some teams did, but did they all?

[Kblaze8855]

Hard to say. But the Blazers did offer Drexler and the number 2 pick knowing they would take Michael Jordan there and a bunch of cash. Safe to say if they opened it to bidding it would have become a

[Kblaze8855]

I feel like they have to be somebody in Houston trying to talk them into taking that deal though. You can bring Drexler home to Houston to pair with the other university of Houston superstar in Hakeem and taking Michael Jordan on top of it? Two hometown hero athletic freak lottery picks with Jordan along for the ride?

That’s the best deal anyone has ever passed on in hindsight right?

[elementally morale]

[QUOTE=Kblaze8855]Hard to say. But the Blazers did offer Drexler and the number 2 pick knowing they would take Michael Jordan there and a bunch of cash. Safe to say if they opened it to bidding it would have become a

[SpaceJam2]

I was like 8-9 years old at the time and in Europe so I obviously can't remember. But was the actual hype greater than what LeBron got? I mean... regular newspapers were writing columns about LeBron when he was in high school. Not sports outlets. Ordinary websites had articles on how LeBron James will be the greatest player of all time... and he was like 17 years old.

Well at least they were right

[Ben Simmons 25]

I was like 8-9 years old at the time and in Europe so I obviously can't remember. But was the actual hype greater than what LeBron got? I mean... regular newspapers were writing columns about LeBron when he was in high school. Not sports outlets. Ordinary websites had articles on how LeBron James will be the greatest player of all time... and he was like 17 years old.

There was all kinds of debate surrounding that draft as to who deserved to go #1. You throw Shaq in there and there probably isn't a debate.

[Ben Simmons 25]

I feel like they have to be somebody in Houston trying to talk them into taking that deal though. You can bring Drexler home to Houston to pair with the other university of Houston superstar in Hakeem and taking Michael Jordan on top of it? Two hometown hero athletic freak lottery picks with Jordan along for the ride?

That’s the best deal anyone has ever passed on in hindsight right?

Would have to be. That's beyond insane. I didn't even know such a thing existed. Hindsight is a bitch.

[StrongLurk]

Wait...is Kblaze actually 3ball? Someone was telling me that like a week ago and I thought that was crazy.

But now thinking about it while reading the OP's style along with gifs...idk Kblaze and 3ball really could be the same person...but that would just be too crazy.

[Ben Simmons 25]

Wait...is Kblaze actually 3ball? Someone was telling me that like a week ago and I thought that was crazy.

But now thinking about it while reading the OP's style along with gifs...idk Kblaze and 3ball really could be the same person...but that would just be too crazy.

Nah, they've debated far too much. Kblaze has publicly shamed him multiple times.

If they're the same person, it would take a special kind of schizo... in other words... they're not the same person.

[Duncan21formvp]

Kareem, not sure how it is even close.

[eliteballer]

If we're talking purely pre-draft hype it's obviously LeBron because of the expectations and precedent Jordan/Magic/Bird set as perimeter players.

If we're talking who's the biggest freak/phenom:

[SpaceJam2]

Kareem, not sure how it is even close.

Literally everyone has mentioned a different person and you're dumb enough to ask how it's even close?

We've had Ralph Samson, Shaq, Ewing, LeBron James, apparently Kareem now, and yet you wonder how it's close?

[SpaceJam2]

For comparisons sake...the highest paid teams and players 4 years later....not when the offer was made....after salaries started to rise:


1. Los Angeles Lakers $8,579,750
2. New Jersey Nets $6,840,500
3. Philadelphia 76ers $6,825,500
4. New York Knicks $6,691,500
5. Boston Celtics $6,560,000
6. Seattle Supersonics $5,683,333
7. Los Angeles Clippers $4,745,000
8. Detroit Pistons $4,603,666
9. Chicago Bulls $4,486,000
10. Washington Bullets $4,381,383
11. Golden State Warriors $4,365,833
12. Houston Rockets $4,259,000
13. Phoenix Suns $4,189,500
14. San Antonio Spurs $4,052,846
15. Dallas Mavericks $4,052,346
16. Sacramento Kings $4,052,000
17. Cleveland Cavaliers $3,920,666
18. Portland Trailblazers $3,831,000
19. Indiana Pacers $3,758,200
20. Atlanta Hawks $3,671,250
21. Milwaukee Bucks $3,661,332
22. Denver Nuggets $3,425,500
23. Utah Jazz $2,914,500


Top 25 players
1. Magic Johnson (LAL) $2,500,000
2. Moses Malone (Phi) $2,145,000
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (LAL) $2,030,000
4. Larry Bird (Bos) $1,800,000
5. Jack Sikma (Sea) $1,600,000
6. Julius Erving (Phi) $1,485,000
7. Patrick Ewing (NY) $1,250,000
8. Ralph Sampson (Hou) $1,165,500
9. Mitch Kupchak (LAL) $1,150,000
10. Otis Birdsong (NJ) $1,100,000
10. Marques Johnson (LAC) $1,100,000
12. Albert King (NJ) $1,035,000
13. Kevin McHale (Bos) $1,000,000
14. Wayman Tisdale (Ind) $987,000
15. Adrian Dantley (Uta) $950,000
16. Bill Cartwright (NY) $925,000
17. Buck Williams (NJ) $915,000
18. Sidney Moncrief (Mil) $884,000
19. Akeem Olajuwon (Hou) $882,500
20. Bernard King (NY) $874,000
21. Alex English (Den) $825,000
22. Darryl Dawkins (NJ) $808,000
23. George Gervin (Chi) $806,000
24. Joe Barry Carroll (GS) $800,000
24. Tom Chambers (Sea) $800,000






And Buss offered 6 million plus picks and players for Sampson 4 years before that. He offered Magic, Kareem, and Birds combined salary just as the cash bonus on top of a great basketball offer for a prospect.

That is effin insane. I heard about him being hyped but not to this degree. This is on another level. Was it injuries that got the best of him or was he just not NBA level dominant? I saw that his peak numbers were okay but nothing amazing.

[Kblaze8855]

He was never NBA dominant he was just a unicorn. Nobody had seen anything like that. He was essentially a 7'4''(ish) small forward and he was supposed to do for bigs what Magic did for guards. Too big for forwards or guards....too quick for centers....he really was an impossible matchup. He had games with like 28/12/13 blocks and some assists. He was just unusual. The type every coach thinks they could rule the universe with.

[Kblaze8855]

After some thought my rankings are something like....

1.Kareem
2.Ralph Sampson
3.Ewing(he was supposed to be Bill Russell)
4.Lebron
5.Bill Walton(tough one....arguably over Lebron)
6.Shaq(another tough one but a lot of people expected him to be a defensive standout who wouldnt be able to score)
7.Hakeem
8.Magic Johnson
9.Zion
10.Duncan
11.Larry Johnson
12.Derrick Coleman
13. Anthony Davis
14.Danny Manning
15. Glenn robinson(another guy you would have to have been there to understand the hype)


Im not sure where to put Wilt. Hed clearly have gone #1 no matter who had the pick but it was the territory days where Philly got him because he was from there.

That isnt my for sure final list....im sure I forgot someone....but those guys were all pretty outrageously hyped.