NBA Draft: Every No. 1 picks since 1947

The NBA Draft is tonight, and one lucky player will join an illustrious — and sometimes cursed — list of players to be selected No. 1 overall.

It’s the goal of every amateur player in sports to be the top pick in a draft. Whether it’s football, baseball or basketball, being the No. 1 overall pick in a draft means you’re the standard that has been set for your generation of player. This often times leads to a superstar being born into the professional ranks, but that’s not always the case.

Draft busts happen all the time, as for every Kyrie Irving or Magic Johnson there’s a Michael Olowokandi or Greg Oden who never ends up panning out.

That’s the dichotomy of being the No. 1 pick, and the list of top draft picks in NBA history is varied and interesting.

Here’s a look at every single draft pick to be taken No. 1 overall since the first draft back in 1947:

Draft	Selected by	Player	Position	School/Club
1947	Pittsburgh Ironmen	Clifton McNeely	N/A	Texas Wesleyan
1948	Providence Steamrollers	Andy Tonkovich	Guard/Forward	Marshall
1949	Providence Steamrollers	Howie Shannon	Center	Kansas State
1950	Boston Celtics	Charlie Share	Center	Bowling Green
1951	Baltimore Bullets	Gene Melchiorre	Guard	Bradley
1952	Milwaukee Hawks	Mark Workman	Center	West Virginia
1953	Baltimore Bullets	Ray Felix	Guard/Forward	Long Island
1954	Baltimore Bullets	Frank Selvy	Forward/Center	Furman
1955	Milwaukee Hawks	Dick Ricketts	Guard/Forward	Duquesne
1956	Rochester Royals	Sihugo Green	Guard/Forward	Duquesne
1957	Cincinnati Royals	Rod Hundley	Guard	West Virginia
1958	Minneapolis Lakers	Elgin Baylor	Forward	Seattle
1959	Cincinnati Royals	Bob Boozer	Forward	Kansas State
1960	Cincinnati Royals	Oscar Robertson	Guard/Forward	Cincinnati
1961	Chicago Packers	Walt Bellamy	Center	Indiana
1962	Chicago Zephyrs	Bill McGill	Forward/Center	Utah
1963	New York Knicks	Art Heyman	Forward/Guard	Duke
1964	New York Knicks	Jim Barnes	Center/Forward	Texas Western
1965	San Francisco Warriors	Fred Hetzel	Forward/Center	Davidson
1966	New York Knicks	Cazzie Russell	Forward/Guard	Michigan
1967	Detroit Pistons	Jimmy Walker	Guard	Providence
1968	San Diego Rockets	Elvin Hayes	Center/Forward	Houston
1969	Milwaukee Bucks	Lew Alcindor	Center	UCLA
1970	Detroit Pistons	Bob Lanier	Center	St. Bonaventure
1971	Cleveland Cavaliers	Austin Carr	Guard	Notre Dame
1972	Portland Trail Blazers	LaRue Martin	Center	Loyola (Illinois)
1973	Philadelphia 76ers	Doug Collins	Guard/Forward	Illinois State
1974	Portland Trail Blazers	Bill Walton	Center	UCLA
1975	Atlanta Hawks	David Thompson	Forward/Guard	NC State
1976	Houston Rockets	John Lucas	Guard	Maryland
1977	Milwaukee Bucks	Kent Benson	Center	Indiana
1978	Portland Trail Blazers	Mychal Thompson	Forward/Center	Minnesota
1979	Los Angeles Lakers	Earvin “Magic” Johnson	Guard/Forward	Michigan State
1980	Golden State Warriors	Joe Barry Carroll	Center	Purdue
1981	Dallas Mavericks	Mark Aguirre	Forward	DePaul
1982	Los Angeles Lakers	James Worthy	Forward	North Carolina
1983	Houston Rockets	Ralph Sampson	Center	Virginia
1984	Houston Rockets	Hakeem Olajuwon	Center	Houston
1985	New York Knicks	Patrick Ewing	Center	Georgetown
1986	Cleveland Cavaliers	Brad Daugherty	Center	North Carolina
1987	San Antonio Spurs	David Robinson	Center	Navy
1988	Los Angeles Clippers	Danny Manning	Forward	Kansas
1989	Sacramento Kings	Pervis Ellison	Center	Louisville
1990	New Jersey Nets	Derrick Coleman	Forward/Center	Syracuse
1991	Charlotte Hornets	Larry Johnson	Forward	UNLV
1992	Orlando Magic	Shaquille O’Neal	Center	LSU
1993	Orlando Magic	Chris Webber	Forward	Michigan
1994	Milwaukee Bucks	Glenn Robinson	Forward	Purdue
1995	Golden State Warriors	Joe Smith	Forward	Maryland
1996	Philadelphia 76ers	Allen Iverson	Guard	Georgetown
1997	San Antonio Spurs	Tim Duncan	Forward/Center	Wake Forest
1998	Los Angeles Clippers	Michael Olowokandi	Center	Pacific
1999	Chicago Bulls	Elton Brand	Forward	Duke
2000	New Jersey Nets	Kenyon Martin	Forward	Cincinnati
2001	Washington Wizards	Kwame Brown	Center	Glynn Academy HS (Brunswick, GA)
2002	Houston Rockets	Yao Ming	Center	Shanghai Sharks (China)
2003	Cleveland Cavaliers	LeBron James	Forward	St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (Akron, OH)
2004	Orlando Magic	Dwight Howard	Center	SACA (Atlanta, GA)
2005	Milwaukee Bucks	Andrew Bogut	Center	Utah
2006	Toronto Raptors	Andrea Bargnani	Forward/Center	Benetton Treviso (Italy)
2007	Portland Trail Blazers	Greg Oden	Center	Ohio State
2008	Chicago Bulls	Derrick Rose	Guard	Memphis
2009	Los Angeles Clippers	Blake Griffin	Forward	Oklahoma
2010	Washington Wizards	John Wall	Guard	Kentucky
2011	Cleveland Cavaliers	Kyrie Irving	Guard	Duke
2012	New Orleans Hornets	Anthony Davis	Forward/Center	Kentucky
2013	Cleveland Cavaliers	Anthony Bennett	Forward	UNLV
2014	Cleveland Cavaliers	Andrew Wiggins	Guard/Forward	Kansas

Who will join the ranks of the No. 1 overall picks of the past and who will avoid the mark of being labeled a bust? Find out tonight when the NBA Draft welcomes in the next generation of stars.

Date: Thursday, June 25th
Start Time: 7pm ET
Venue: Barclays Center
Location: Brooklyn, NY
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: Watch ESPN App

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