The NBA draft is a player’s best opportunity to be drafted into the league. Since 1947, the NBA has drafted eligible players, typically from college to the league. Below, we are going to review the history of the number 1 draft pick in the NBA.
What is the NBA Draft?
The NBA draft is an annual ceremony, in which NBA teams, through a lottery system, select eligible players from college and the international stage to join their teams. College players who have completed all four years of their education are automatically eligible for the draft.
However, college players who have not completed all four years of their education, but are one-year removed from high school, must declare their eligibility for the draft. In declaring their eligibility, these underclassmen will effectively give up their remaining college eligibility.
For international players, any player older than 22 years old are automatically eligible for the draft. However, any international player younger than 22 years old must declare their eligibility.
How Does the Lottery System Work?
The NBA draft lottery system was revamped for the 2018 season. Looking at these new rules, the 14 NBA teams which did not make the playoffs will be eligible for the first 14 picks in the draft. Under the new system, the NBA Draft Lottery will ensure that the team with the worst overall record in the league will receive no worse than the fifth overall pick.
Similarly, in the new system, the three NBA teams with the worst regular-season records will each have a 14% chance of winning the lottery and the first overall pick. Once the first four teams with the worst records have been selected, the remaining ten teams will continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record.
How Does the NBA Draft Work?
Going a bit deeper, and speaking only of the new system, the NBA draft will be televised on ESPN, who will air the results live. Drawings will be conducted to determine the first four picks, with the remaining ten picks being doled out in inverse order of an NBA teams regular-season record.
The actual lottery procedure, however, takes place in a separate room before ESPN announces the results. In this room, a member of the media, an NBA official, and a representative of the accounting firm Ernst & Young are present to ensure no foul play or tampering with the machine.
In this separate room, fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1-14 will be placed in the lottery machine. The lottery machine used by the NBA is manufactured by Smart Play Company. This company also weighs, measures, and certifies the ping-pong balls before the drawing.
There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating NBA teams.
Once all 14 balls have been placed into the machine, they will be mixed for 20-seconds before the first ball is removed. Similarly, the balls will be mixed for another 10-seconds before the second ball is drawn. Again, the machine will be mixed for another 10-seconds for both the third and fourth picks.
1940’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 1947 – Clifton McNeely is selected by the Pittsburgh Ironmen from Texas Wesleyan
- 1948 – Andy Tonkovich is selected by the Providence Steamrollers from Marshall
- 1949 – Howie Shannon is selected by the Providence Steamrollers from Kansas State
1950’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 1950 – Charlie Share is selected by the Boston Celtics from Bowling Green
- 1951 – Gene Melchiorre is selected by the Baltimore Bullets from Bradley
- 1952 – Mark Workman is selected by the Milwaukee Hawks from West Virginia
- 1953 – Ray Felix is selected by the Baltimore Bullets from Long Island
- 1954 – Frank Selvy is selected by the Baltimore Bullets from Furman
- 1955 – Dick Ricketts is selected by the Milwaukee Hawks from Duquesne
- 1956 – Sihugo Green is selected by the Rochester Royals from Duquesne
- 1957 – Rod Hundley is selected by the Cincinnati Royals from West Virginia
- 1958 – Elgin Baylor is selected by the Minneapolis Lakers from Seattle
- 1959 – Bob Boozer is selected by the Cincinnati Royals from Kansas State
1960’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 1960 – Oscar Robertson is selected by the Cincinnati Royals from Cincinnati
- 1961 – Walt Bellamy is selected by the Chicago Packers from Indiana
- 1962 – Bill McGill is selected by the Chicago Zephyrs from Utah
- 1963 – Art Heyman is selected by the New York Knicks from Duke
- 1964 – Jim Barnes is selected by the New York Knicks from Texas Western
- 1965 – Fred Hetzel is selected by the San Francisco Warriors from Davidson
- 1966 – Cazzie Russell is selected by the New York Knicks from Michigan
- 1967 – Jimmy Walker is selected by the Detroit Pistons from Providence
- 1968 – Elvin Hayes is selected by the San Diego Rockets from Houston
- 1969 – Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) is selected by the Milwaukee Bucks from UCLA
1970’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 1970 – Bob Lanier is selected by the Detroit Pistons from St. Bonaventure
- 1971 – Austin Carr is selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers from Notre Dame
- 1972 – LaRue Martin is selected by the Portland Trail Blazers from Loyola
- 1973 – Doug Collins is selected by the Philadelphia 76ers from Illionois State
- 1974 – Bill Walton is selected by the Portland Trail Blazers from UCLA
- 1975 – David Thompson is selected by the Atlanta Hawks from NC State
- 1976 – John Lucas is selected by the Houston Rockets from Maryland
- 1977 – Kent Benson is selected by the Milwaukee Bucks from Indiana
- 1978 – Mychal Thompson is selected by the Portland Trail Blazers from Minnesota
- 1979 – Magic Johnson is selected by the Los Angeles Lakers from Michigan State
1980’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 1980 – Joe Barry Carrol is selected by the Golden State Warriors from Purdue
- 1981 – Mark Aguirre is selected by the Dallas Mavericks from DePaul
- 1982 – James Worthy is selected by the Los Angeles Lakers from North Carolina
- 1983 – Hakeem Olajuwon is selected by the Houston Rockets from Houston
- 1985 – Patrick Ewing is selected by the New York Knicks from Georgetown
- 1986 – Brad Daugherty is selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers from North Carolina
- 1987 – David Robinson is selected by the San Antonio Spurs from the Navy
- 1988 – Danny Manning is selected by the Los Angeles Clippers from Kansas
- 1989 – Pervis Ellison is selected by the Sacramento Kings from Louisville
1990’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 1990 – Derrick Coleman is selected by the New Jersey Nets from Syracuse
- 1991 – Larry Johnson is selected by the Charlotte Hornets from UNLV
- 1992 – Shaquille O’Neal is selected by the Orlando Magic from LSU
- 1993 – Chris Webber is selected by the Orlando Magic from Michigan
- 1994 – Glenn Robinson is selected by the Milwaukee Bucks from Purdue
- 1995 – Joe Smith is selected by the Golden State Warriors from Maryland
- 1996 – Allen Iverson is selected by the Philadelphia 76ers from Georgetown
- 1997 – Tim Duncan is selected by the San Antonio Spurs from Wake Forest
- 1998 – Michael Olowokandi is selected by the Los Angeles Clippers from Pacific
- 1999 – Elton Brand is selected by the Chicago Bulls from Duke
2000’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 2000 – Kenyon Martin is selected by the New Jersey Nets from Cincinnati
- 2001 – Kwame Brown is selected by the Washington Wizards from Glynn Academy HS
- 2002 – Yao Ming is selected by the Houston Rockets from the Shanghai Sharks (China)
- 2003 – LeBron James is selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers from St. Vincent – St. Mary HS
- 2004 – Dwight Howard is selected by the Orlando Magic from SACA (Atlanta)
- 2005 – Andrew Bogut is selected by the Milwaukee Bucks from Utah
- 2006 – Andrea Bargnani is selected by the Toronto Raptors from Benetton Treviso (Italy)
- 2007 – Greg Oden is selected by the Portland Trail Blazers from Ohio State
- 2008 – Derrick Rose is selected by the Chicago Bulls from Memphis
- 2009 – Blake Griffin is selected by the Los Angeles Clippers from Memphis
2010’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 2010 – John Wall is selected by the Washington Wizards from Kentucky
- 2011 – Kyrie Irving is selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers from Duke
- 2012 – Anthony Davis is selected by the New Orleans Hornets from Kentucky
- 2013 – Anthony Bennett is selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers from UNLV
- 2014 – Andrew Wiggins is selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers from Kansas
- 2015 – Karl-Anthony Towns is selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves from Kentucky
- 2016 – Ben Simmons is selected by the Philadelphia 76ers from LSU
- 2017 – Markelle Fultz is selected by the Philadelphia 76ers from Washington
- 2018 – Deandre Ayton is selected by the Phoenix Suns from Arizona
- 2019 – Zion Williamson is selected by the New Orleans Pelicans from Duke
2020’s Number 1 Overall Pick
- 2020 – Anthony Edwards is selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves from Georgia
- 2021 – Cade Cunningham is selected by the Detroit Pistons from Oklahoma State