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NBA: 30 best careers from players who skipped college

By Josh Cornelissen

LeBron James, Miami Heat and Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
LeBron James, Miami Heat and Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images /
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Kwame Brown
Kwame Brown. Al Bello/ALLSPORT /

30 best careers from players who skipped college – 30. Kwame Brown

At the other end of this list, we will look at players who vastly exceeded their draft position, who went from high school straight to the NBA and proved their doubters wrong. At this end, however, we start with the face of prep-to-pro failure, Kwame Brown.

Brown was the first high school player drafted first overall in 2001, taken by Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards. He had ridden a meteor his last couple of years in high school, going from lanky Florida recruit to potential draftee to the top pick in just a couple of years. He had the toolset to do it all, to defend the rim and play inside and outside on offense.

Most players drafted first overall join losing teams, with the minutes and outlook to focus on developing their shiny new rookie. With Michael Jordan unretiring and the team suddenly focusing on winning, Brown was marginalized, averaging just 14.3 minutes and 4.5 points per game as a rookie. The team wanted win-now players on the court, and a teenage Brown was not ready for that.

Neglected by the team’s direction and torn down by Jordan’s ferocious approach to being a teammate, Brown wilted in his development. Robbed of the freedom to grow on the court, he instead became paralyzed whenever he played, desperate not to mess up and draw the ire of Jordan.

Those speaking of the perils of drafting high school players had a prime frontman to point to, the first overall pick who flopped. It didn’t matter that the history of the NBA Draft is littered with players who didn’t live up to their draft slot, most of those players who went to college. Brown’s failure, and those drafted in the years before and after him, were the fuel on the fire of those questioning the entire movement.

The broken start to his career improved somewhat when he was out of the spotlight. Brown hung around the NBA, still blessed with the size and talent that made him the first overall pick. He never averaged more than 10.9 points per game but instead, became a low usage defensive big who played a role around the league. In the end, Brown played twelve seasons in the NBA for seven franchises, retiring in 2013.