NBA Draft: 30 greatest draft picks in league history
Tim Duncan. 2. player. 29. . Power Forward. Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 1997 (No. 1)
Greatest NBA Draft picks in league history: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
Deciding between the top two players in a discussion of “greatest draft pick” ever is a difficult one, ultimately coming down to what one values the most. Is peak and absolute dominance better than longevity, consistency and organizational culture and leadership? In the end, this list acknowledged that six is greater than five, although that’s something of a cop-out and the question is worth further discussion in another time and place.
Tim Duncan, therefore, places second on this list, just behind “His Airness”. A native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Duncan lost his mother to breast cancer as a teenager. His promise to her to finish college led him to stay all four years at Wake Forest University, cementing his place as the greatest college basketball player in the nation and one of the all-time best.
After “Flunkin’ for Duncan” (catchphrase completely fabricated by the author), the San Antonio Spurs owned the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft and took Duncan. He was an immediate star, winning NBA Rookie of the Year, making both an All-NBA team and an All-Defensive team.
No player in NBA history totaled as many All-Defensive selections as his 15, and he is the only player to make both the All-Defense and All-NBA teams for 13 consecutive seasons.
Twice Duncan was named the league’s Most Valuable Player, although it’s debatable that he should have won two or three more. Five times Duncan led his team to an NBA title (three-time NBA Finals MVP), the only player to win titles for a team so far apart (15 years).
What Duncan did for San Antonio was not simply win titles, score points or block shots. What he did was provide leadership in a way that did not elevate himself but rather the entire team.
Only a handful of players in league history have reached that level of humble leadership backed up by elite play on the court, and it has resulted in unprecedented success for two decades and more. The Spurs in 1997 made the second-best draft selection in NBA history.