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NBA Draft: 30 greatest No. 1 overall picks in league history

By Josh Cornelissen

25 Jun 1997: Center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs speaks with a reporter during the NBA Draft at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport
25 Jun 1997: Center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs speaks with a reporter during the NBA Draft at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport /
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Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor (Photo by Robert Riger/Getty Images) /

NBA Draft: 30 greatest No. 1 overall picks in league history: 9. Elgin Baylor

One of the greatest players in NBA history never to win a title, Elgin Baylor was one of the very first to elevate basketball off of the court and into the air. His ability to hang in the air and glide to the rim was special and revolutionary for the 1950s and ’60s NBA, and defenders were largely unable to stop him.

Baylor’s career got off to a late start, as academic issues prevented him from playing in college for a few seasons. In 1958 the Minneapolis Lakers drafted Elgin Baylor first overall, and at the age of 24, joined a team that had already won five titles in its ten-year history. Baylor would play 14 seasons for the Lakers, and they would not win a title until after he retired.

It is hard to lay the blame at Baylor’s feet. He was one of the league’s best scorers, and the best in the non-Wilt Chamberlain division for much of his career. In the 1961-62 season, he averaged 38.3 points and 18.6 rebounds per game. The Lakers certainly weren’t floundering with Baylor and 2-guard Jerry West at the helm, making the playoffs all fourteen years of his career and making the NBA Finals eight times in thirteen before he retired midseason in 1971-72.

The blame should go to Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics, who won eleven titles in thirteen seasons that neatly covers Baylor’s career. By the time Russell had retired, knee injuries and aging (remember, Baylor didn’t enter the league until he was 24) had turned the longtime Laker into a shell of his former self. Despite the lack of a title, Baylor retired as an 11-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA selection and with a career 27.4 points-per-game average, third-most all time.