Each of the big four leagues can garner a good bit of excitement around its draft, but the NBA takes it to another level. It is a star-driven league and finding the right piece in the draft can change a franchise’s fortune for years to come.
The energy around the draft intensifies further when a prospect like Victor Wembanyama is leading the headlines. The French big man was a surefire lock to go number one overall, so the hype and speculation weren’t around who would be taken first, but rather which team would win the so-called Wemby sweepstakes.
If this sounds like a familiar trope—that’s because it is. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen this happen several other times in NBA history. Let’s check out 10 of the most hyped NBA prospects of all-time not named Victor Wembayana.
Yao Ming
Considering Yao stood 7’ 6”, it is no shocker that big man from Shanghai garnered a proportionally large amount of attention heading into the ’02 Draft. It wasn’t just his frame though, NBA scouts were also in awe of his skill set.
There is no denying he was a generational prospect.
Zion Williamson
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Zion Williamson was easily the most hyped collegiate and subsequently NBA prospect of his generation. He rose to prominence at a time when hoop mixtapes were all the rage—and his put the rest of the field’s to shame. He was believed to be a top prospect even coming out of school, but once he played the way he did at Duke—he really cemented his place in the NBA Draft hype hierarchy.
Allen Iverson
Despite being listed at just six feet, which, if we are being honest, may be generous—Allen Iverson going first overall in the 1996 draft was a foregone conclusion. AI looked that special during the two years that he played a Georgetown. Which is saying something considering some of the other prospects that headlined his draft class, like Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant.
To his credit, Iverson immediately validated the selection and the hype, averaging 23.5 points and 7.5 assists per game en route to winning Rookie of the Year honors. And, well, the rest of his career wasn’t too shabby either.
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain was one of those truly otherworldly athletes. His talent was so elite that it bordered on mythical. When he was a freshman at Kansas (at a time when freshmen were prohibited from playing varsity basketball) he was already drawing comparisons to the likes of Bob Cousy and Bill Russell.
At 7’ 1” he was freakishly tall for his time and had all of the fine motor skills you could possibly want. Once he stepped on an NBA court there was no doubt he had the game to back up the hype. The man averaged 37.6 ppg and 27.0 rpg as a rookie—enough said.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Long before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an NBA legend, his name was Lew Alcindor and he was the undisputable choice to go first overall in the 1969 NBA Draft. He played his college ball at UCLA under the legendary coach, John Wooden, and they ran up three straight National Championships—each of which he got Most Outstanding Player of the tournament in.
Shaquille O’Neal
Long before Victor was the biggest name on the block, Shaq—another absolute unit of a human being—was the guy dominating draft headlines. He wasn’t renowned for his skill in the same way that Victor is, but heading into the 1992 draft, people were astonished at what the 7-foot, 300-plus pounder could do athletically.
Patrick Ewing
The 1985 Draft, now known for the “frozen envelope” will go down as one of the most controversial nights in NBA history—and to think it all stemmed from the absolute fervor that NBA teams had worked themselves into over Patrick Ewing. An understandable response considering Ewing had one of the most decorated collegiate careers of all-time leading up to the draft.
LeBron James
Well… This was a rather obvious one. LeBron James was one of, if not the most highly anticipated prospects in NBA history.
He went from being known as “The Chosen One” with his high school playing nationally televised games on ESPN to arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. Hard to believe it, but somehow, he still managed to essentially outkick the coverage expectation-wise with how his career has gone.
