Holding the No. i overall pick in the NBA draft is supposed to requite a franchise hope as nearly franchises that agree that coveted slot are going through a rough stretch. Only equally nosotros all know, not every No. ane pick works out.

Ask the Portland Trail Blazers if they could get back to 2007 and draft Kevin Durant over Greg Oden, and y'all'd unquestionably get a resounding yes. Mayhap Michael Jordan would still have a job with the Washington Wizards had he not fabricated Kwame Brown the beginning high school thespian to exist taken at No. ane in 2001. Trust me, I could go on going.

Now, there are obviously plenty of No. 1 overall picks that went on to take not bad careers. And there are some from the terminal few years that are certainly heading in that direction. However, having a bang-up career doesn't always issue in an NBA championship. Since the kickoff NBA draft was held in 1947, only 27% of No. 1 picks have won a title.

But merely 13.5% of No. 1 picks take won a title with the team that drafted them. To be exact, that's 10 players in three-quarters of a century, and hither's a quick look at those 10.

Cazzie Russell: New York Knicks

Later on averaging 27.1 points per game in 3 years with the Michigan Wolverines, small forrard Cazzie Russell was taken with the No. one choice in the 1966 NBA draft past the New York Knicks. Russell played v seasons in the Big Apple and in 1970 became the first tiptop pick to win a title with the team that drafted him as he helped the Knicks to an NBA Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Milwaukee Bucks

After winning iii consecutive NCAA titles and NCAA Tournament Nigh Outstanding Player awards with UCLA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, all the same known then as Lew Alcindor, was taken with the offset overall pick of the 1969 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. In simply his second season as a pro, Kareem won the first of ii consecutive scoring titles, the get-go of six NBA MVP awards, and led the Bucks to their showtime NBA title, also winning NBA Finals MVP. Abdul-Jabbar later on won v titles with the Lakers.

Neb Walton: Portland Trail Blazers

Similar Kareem, Bill Walton won multiple national titles and NCAA Tournament MOP awards at UCLA earlier being taken with the No. one overall selection of the 1974 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. In just his 3rd year in The Urban center of Roses, Walton led the Blazers to their first (and still only) championship, averaging xviii.5 points, 19.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 3.seven blocks per game against the Philadelphia 76ers on the way to winning NBA Finals MVP. Walton afterward won a second NBA championship in 1986 with the Boston Celtics.

Magic Johnson: Los Angeles Lakers

Later leading the Michigan Country Spartans to victory in the 1979 NCAA Title Game over Larry Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores, Magic Johnson was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. This was a rare example of a playoff team holding the top pick as the Lakers, who'd reached the Western Conference semis in '79, had caused the selection from the Jazz dorsum in 1976.

The selection of Magic immediately paid off for LA every bit he helped the Lakers to an NBA Finals victory over the Sixers in his showtime season. Johnson famously filled in for an injured Kareem at heart in the Game 6 clincher and recorded 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and 3 steals to become the youngest NBA Finals MVP in history at 20 years of historic period. Magic is all the same the just rookie to win the award and won four more than titles with the Lakers.

James Worthy: Los Angeles Lakers

Midway through Magic's rookie year in LA, the Lakers sent Don Ford and their first-round pick in 1980 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Butch Lee and the Cavs' first-round pick in 1982. And that latter selection turned out to be the top pick in the 1982 NBA draft, which the Lakers (who'd just won their 2nd NBA title in iii seasons) used to select James Worthy, who'd just won an NCAA title alongside Michael Hashemite kingdom of jordan at North Carolina. Worthy won three titles with the Lakers in the 1980s and was named 1988 NBA Finals MVP.

Hakeem Olajuwon: Houston Rockets

Post-obit an All-American flavor at the University of Houston, Hakeem Olajuwon was the top option by the Houston Rockets in the famed 1984 NBA draft class that included Michael Hashemite kingdom of jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. Olajuwon played 17 of his xviii NBA seasons in Houston and led the Rockets to back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995, winning NBA Finals MVP on both occasions.

David Robinson: San Antonio Spurs

While the San Antonio Spurs used the tiptop choice in the 1987 NBA draft to select David Robinson, "The Admiral" didn't join the squad until 1989 due to his obligations to the Navy. But he was clearly worth the wait every bit he became ane of the greatest centers in NBA history. Robinson, a ten-time NBA All-Star and the 1995 NBA MVP, played his entire fourteen-year career in San Antonio and won two titles with the Spurs with a lilliputian assist from the next player.

Tim Duncan: San Antonio Spurs

As Robinson missed all only six games of the 1996-97 season due to a back injury and a broken foot, San Antonio had the tertiary-worst record in the NBA and won the draft lottery to earn the No. 1 choice in the '97 NBA draft, which they used to select Tim Duncan. And information technology didn't take long for "The Big Fundamental" to join this club equally he helped the Spurs to their first-ever NBA title following the lockout-shortened 1999 flavour. Duncan played his unabridged nineteen-year career in San Antonio and won four more titles before retiring in 2016.

LeBron James: Cleveland Cavaliers

2003 NBA draft No. 1 overall pick LeBron James
(L-R) LeBron James circa 2003; LeBron James circa 2016 | Steve Grayson/WireImage; Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

LeBron James is a chip of an interesting case as it pertains to this detail club. Taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 1 choice in the 2003 NBA typhoon, LeBron played 7 seasons with the Cavs earlier famously taking his talents to South Beach in 2010 to sign with the Miami Heat, with whom he won 2 NBA titles.

James then returned to the Cavs in 2014 and led the squad to 4 consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all against the Golden State Warriors, winning a title in 2016. So while LeBron may not take won his commencement title with the squad that drafted him, he yet did bring a title to Cleveland and must be included here. Just had it not been for the next member of the group, James may have never made this list. LeBron won a fourth title in 2020 with the Lakers.

Kyrie Irving: Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers owned 2 of the top four picks in the 2011 NBA draft, including the No. 1 overall pick, which they used to select Duke's Kyrie Irving, who won Rookie of the Yr. He helped ameliorate the Cavs' tape in each of the next two seasons leading up to LeBron's return and hit the clutch 3-arrow in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals that clinched the series for Cleveland.

Stats courtesy of Sports Reference

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