Fansided

Most Shocking NBA Lottery shakeups of all-time

By Cody Williams

Basketball: NBA Draft Lottery: NBA Commissioner David Stern holding up the envelope with the number one pick in the draft at Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Number one pick goes to the New York Knicks.New York, NY 5/12/1985CREDIT: George Tiedemann (Photo by George Tiedemann /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)(Set Number: X31488 TK1 R1 F8 )
Basketball: NBA Draft Lottery: NBA Commissioner David Stern holding up the envelope with the number one pick in the draft at Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Number one pick goes to the New York Knicks.New York, NY 5/12/1985CREDIT: George Tiedemann (Photo by George Tiedemann /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)(Set Number: X31488 TK1 R1 F8 ) /
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27 Jun 2001: NBA Commissioner David Stern congratulates Kwame Brown of Glynn Acadamy in Brunswick, Georgia, after being the first pick in the NBA Draft by the Washington Wizard at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Mandatory Credit: Al Bello/ALLSPORT NOTE TO USER: It is expressly understood that the only rights Allsport are offering to license in thisPhotograph are one-time, non-exclusive editorial rights. No advertising or commercial uses of any kind may be made of Allsport photos. User acknowledges that it is aware that Allsport is an editorial sports agency and that NO RELEASES OF ANY TYPE ARE OBTAINED from the subjects contained in the photographs.
27 Jun 2001: NBA Commissioner David Stern congratulates Kwame Brown of Glynn Acadamy in Brunswick, Georgia, after being the first pick in the NBA Draft by the Washington Wizard at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Mandatory Credit: Al Bello/ALLSPORT NOTE TO USER: It is expressly understood that the only rights Allsport are offering to license in thisPhotograph are one-time, non-exclusive editorial rights. No advertising or commercial uses of any kind may be made of Allsport photos. User acknowledges that it is aware that Allsport is an editorial sports agency and that NO RELEASES OF ANY TYPE ARE OBTAINED from the subjects contained in the photographs. /

14. Kwame Brown Goes No. 1 (2001)

There had been plenty of high school players taken in the NBA Lottery leading up to the 2001 NBA Draft and many of them had obviously had success. Guys like Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, and of course Kobe Bryant had risen to stardom as stars out of high school. However, no team had ever selected a high schooler with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft coming into 2001. Michael Jordan’s Washington Wizards were willing to change that, though.

Granted, the 2001 NBA Draft was incredibly weird in a number of ways. However that didn’t make the fact that the Wizards broke the trend and took a high school player with the first overall pick for the first time ever when they selected center Kwame Brown. Yes, three out of the first four picks were high schoolers in that draft, but the Wizards started that run and it was insane at the time—and even more insane looking back at it.

Obviously how terrible Kwame Brown was makes the pick look even more curious, but it was a shocking pick because of the history it made right from the very start. If nothing else, you can never take that from Kwame.

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