I got 30, happy with that

Only 20 from me. Got those within the first few minutes, then had a mental blank and started guessing popular surnames which of course got me nowhere!

the worst No 1 pick was Allen Iverson - great great player - but the fools could've had the greatest, Kobe that year - and didn't !!

so far Kobe = 3 championship AI = 0

well when you have the chance to pick the greatest ever and don't - then it's a bad #1

You have to remember Kobe had a slow first year and only averaged something like 8 ppg, off the top of my head.

sorry for the double post, but they also picked up Stackhouse the year before so they weren't going to pick another sg.

I doubt many would agree with you there Playtime. First of all, Kobe has half the championships of Jordan.

Just to expand on that, Kobe has played 13 seasons. The great Bill Russell played 13 seasons and won 11 rings! He only had to contend with a monster called Wilt Chamberlain and some incredible Lakers and St Louis teams.

Moving right along there was a bloke called Magic who won 5, Kobe's ex team mate Shaq has 4 and hell even Bird had 3 championships in less time in the league than Kobe has had!

My final two points: How many rings has Kobe won without Shaq? And if Kobe is so good, how did Paul Pierce so easily outplay him in the finals last year when he had a chance to get no. 4?

I will agree with you that Iverson is a flawed player, but he was also a damn good player who was clearly a much surer bet when he was drafted than some highschool kid called Kobe Bryant!

Kobe is not in Jordan's league least of all Bird, Magic, Chamberlain, Julius to name but a few. Heck i'd even take Charles over him. He is a selfish player who does not make anybody better on his team.

The worst number 1 pick in history was Sam Bowie who went number one ahead of Akeem #2 and Jordan #3.

Bowie was picked second, not first.

IMO, of the recent picks, Kwame Brown is probably the worst #1.

Whoops my bad it was the other way around. It is a friday

Either Kwame or the Kandiman for me! Pervis Ellison was a complete bust back in the early 90s as well!

35 for me, can name from 79 through till 2008, and a few earlier, but missed out on 6.

what an idiot talking about kobes draft spot

kobe, garnett, jordan etc,so many players dont go number 1 for one reason or another, for every kobe out of highschool there was a kwame so its stupid to criticise it

i got 31

got 36

Bowie had an unfortunate run with injuries but when healthy showed he was a decent player. I don't know if that makes him a bust.

To call Pervis Ellison a bust might be pretty unfair - when he was healthy he was a pretty dominant player (look at his 91-92 season)... Clearly Sac picked the right guy on talent (he could play - just had rubbish knees)... Brown, Smith, and Kandi on the other hand really had no business being no 1 picks...

But i guess the question what do we mean by bust - crappy player picked with a too high high pick (Kandi, Brown, Smith, etc), or bust - good player with bad luck (Ellison, Daugherty, etc)...

33 for me

Why do so many of you call Kobe selfish?

The blokes this season lowered his points production and avg'd almost 5 assists

How many other 2 guards avg'd that?

Jordan as great as he was only avg'd for his career from memory around 4-5 assists

Beantown dont even start on Paul Pierce...dont think his wheelchair antics will get the Celts far this season

No Garnett.....NO Boston

36.

Good work Moses and Vanexel - top scores with 36 apiece!

Johnny Sack fair point - my knowledge of him really began on the Celtics when he was past it. Just checked his stats and 91-92 really was a hell of a year for him! So I'll look on Pervis with a bit more sympathy now.

Fez, I was just stirring. In all honesty, I don't place a lot of value on who is the 'best' player. I think both Kobe and Pierce are exceptional players, but now that teams are allowed to play a quasi-zone, the ability of one player to dominate a playoff series is reduced a lot. As the Celtics showed, if you work hard on defence, you can make it almost impossible for a Lebron or Kobe to beat you by themselves. Which is good for the game in my view -I much prefer the way NBA basketball is being played these days to how it was through most of the 90s with too much isolation and one on one play.

I got 37.

The only ones I couldn't get were 1970, 1971, 1973 and 1977.

Actually, I challenge anyone to legitimately (that is, without cheating) get more than 37.

36. Damn.

Missed 1968, 70, 73(cannot believe I forgot that one), 77, and 81.

One self populated for me as I was typing another name, score!