NBA 1k970 Draft Class: 90 Potential (1990s)

Welcome to NBA 1k970 – a recreation of the last 50 years of basketball history.

Using NBA 2k20 on the PS4, we’re doing the last 50 NBA seasons over again — new champions, new drafts, new friends along the way. As part of this project, we will be making an accurate NBA/ABA Draft Class for each of the the last 50 years (1970-2019) with 60 players in each class, available for use in NBA 2k20’s MyLeague or MyGM modes. 60 players per draft x 50 drafts = 3000 create-a-players = a proper use of our precious few moments on this planet, we can all agree.

Thankfully this is a massive waste of time that can be enjoyed by everyone, like a model car that actually is street-legal. Use these rosters and drafts to create your own version of basketball history! Save careers or teams, rewrite the record books, and never leave the house or speak to your loved ones again.

This is also an excuse for us to rank the top 250 NBA prospects over the past 50 years. We’re going to give you (hopefully) entertaining summaries/blurbs about ALL of the top 250 prospects players from 1970-2019, which admittedly will sometimes just be their wiki copied and pasted. The following is the list of players from the 1990’s (Draft Classes 1990-99) with a 90 potential rating. 

The Rules aka The Nerdery

• A Player’s Potential Rating can be thought of as the best possible version a player // that hypothetical player’s 2k rating. EX – LeBron James’ potential is 99, because the best version of LeBron is a superhero unlike anything we’ve seen on a basketball court before. Rafael Arujao’s potential is 50, because even the best version of Hoffa Arujao played like a puddle of muddy water.
• Only 10% (or 250 total) of players in the 50 drafts have a potential rating of 90 or above. 100 of those players have a 90 Potential. 150 players have 91 Potential or above. 50 players have 95 Potential or above, and only 10 players have 99 Potential.
• Any 3-time NBA All-Star (post-NBA/ABA merger) is at least a 90 potential. Any player in the top-25 for All-time NBA points, or top-15 for rebounds or NBA assists is at least a 90 potential.
• Special consideration is given to players who had careers/runs outside of the NBA that could be described as “prodigious”.  Basically if there’s a 30 for 30 about you, you’re probably getting a 90.

Are you passionate about a particular player? Is someone way too high or low? Want to help make players, courts or jerseys? Let us know! This is a work in progress. But keep in mind that if you don’t see a superstar player you like here, there’s a good chance he’s rated higher than a 90 potential.

90 Potential (1970s)

90 Potential (1980s)

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Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, PG – 1990 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

One of the very best shooters who has ever picked up a basketball, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was both the original Steph Curry (in that he shot from distance with historic volume and accuracy) and the original Colin Kaepernick (in that he refused to stand for the American national anthem and was kicked out of his league for it). Let wiki tell you:

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Wayne Jackson on March 9, 1969) is a former American professional basketball player. His nine-year NBA career, spent with the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings and Vancouver Grizzlies, was marked by an appearance in the Slam Dunk Contest as well as by one of the most accurate free-throw shooting records ever. After his NBA career, he played in multiple leagues around the world.

Abdul-Rauf is perhaps best known for the controversy created when he refused to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games, stating that the flag was a symbol of oppression and that the United States had a long history of tyranny. On March 12, 1996, the NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf for his refusal to stand, costing Abdul-Rauf $31,707 per missed game. Two days later, he worked out a compromise with the league, whereby he would stand during the playing of the national anthem but could close his eyes and look downward. He usually silently recited Islamic prayer during this time for those who are suffering from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds

In his senior season in high school he averaged 29.9 points and 5.7 assists per game and was called up to the McDonald’s All-American Game. He was also named Mississippi Mr. Basketball twice, in 1987 and 1988. Having never played an organized game, Abdul-Rauf was discovered by a middle-school girls coach in Gulfport, MS during lunch period on the playground. Recognizing his skill, she convinced his mother to allow him to play organized basketball. In his first game, despite not knowing the rules of the game, Abdul-Rauf scored 24 points in a middle school game.

Abdul-Rauf was a standout freshman for LSU, scoring 48 points against Louisiana Tech in just his third game for the school. He set the scoring record for a freshman, with 53 points against Florida. On March 4, 1989, he scored 55 points against Ole Miss to top his personal best, while also setting a career-high for three-pointers made, with 10. He was named SEC Player of the Year and First-team All-American. In his sophomore season, he produced similar numbers with his scoring average slightly falling to 27.8 per game. On February 10, 1990, he tied his career-high for three-pointers made, while finishing the game with 49 points. He was named SEC Player of the Year and First-team All-American for a second year in a row. After a remarkable two-year stint at LSU, Abdul-Rauf declared for the NBA draft.

Abdul-Rauf was selected with the third pick in the 1990 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets. In his first season in the NBA he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Despite the fact that he never dunked in an actual game, he participated in the 1993 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, after Nuggets president and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff sent NBA league officials a tape of Abdul-Rauf showcasing his dunking ability. Abdul-Rauf led the league in free throw percentage in the 1993–94 and 1995–96 seasons. His free throw percentage of .956 in 1993-94 is the third highest seasonal percentage in NBA history, behind Calvin Murphy (.958, 1980-81) and José Calderón (.981, 2008-09). He played with Denver until 1996, and was a key player on that team, winning the NBA Most Improved Player Award in 1993. In November 1995 he scored 30 points and a career-high 20 assists against the Phoenix Suns. On December 8, 1995 Abdul-Rauf posted a career-high 51 points against the Utah Jazz. In June 1996, he was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Sarunas Marciulionis and a second-round pick.

In 1998 Abdul-Rauf signed a two-year, $3.4 million contract with Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Basketball League. He left the club without finishing the season, stating he would retire from basketball due to loss of interest in the game. After not playing for the entire 1999–00 season, he signed with the Vancouver Grizzlies in August 2000.

He is currently playing in the BIG3 basketball league for the Three Headed Monsters. In 2018 he placed 5th in 3 point fg percentage hitting them at a 45.5% clip

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abdul-Rauf

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Toni Kukoc, SF/PF – 1990 Draft Class (Rating – 74)

Another player who was ahead of his time, Toni Kukoc was a 6’11 small forward who could play all five spots on the court (on offense), while shooting well from range and showcasing some playmaking ability. Wikipedia knows about Toni K

After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of the first established European stars to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1996.

Kukoč was renowned for his versatility and passing ability; although his natural position was small forward, he played all five positions on the court with prowess and demonstrated court vision and an outside shooting touch that were found seldom in players of his height. Together with Vassilis Spanoulis, they are the only players in history to achieve the EuroLeague Final Four MVP honor on three occasions. He was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Kuko%C4%8D

Impressive. Kukoc was a real player. But to be 100% fair to Kukoc / the world, you can’t tell the story of Toni Kukoc without mentioning the time Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen absolutely torched and destroyed Toni Kukoc and his entire nation :

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Latrell Sprewell, SG/SF- 1992 Draft Class (Rating – 79)

Primarily remembered for the coach-choking incident, Spree was a legitimate star player in his day. The 4x All-Star and former All-defense SG’s best season was 1996-97, where he put up a 24.2 pts / 4.6 r / 6.4 a in 78 games for the Golden State Warriors. Then he fucking strangled PJ Carlesimo.

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Vin Baker, C/PF – 1993 Draft Class (Rating – 78)

Dubbed both “America’s Best-Kept Secret” by Sports Illustrated after averaging a gargantuan 28.3 ppg in the NCAA for Hartford, and “The Baker’s Man” by white people, Vin Baker was a bruising two-way power forward who wracked up blocks and rebounds in the NBA. Issues with alcohol plagued Baker’s NBA career, but he was still a bonafide star in his prime: 4x All-star, 2nd Team All-NBA in 1998.

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Allan Houston, SG – 1993 Draft Class (Rating – 71)

A high school and college star (graduated as the University of Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer in 1993) who hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history ^^, Allen Houston’s greatest contribution to basketball history might be the “Allen Houston rule”. Wiki explains:

During his career, Houston was known for his three-point shooting prowess. Houston also made the All-Star team twice. Despite the on-court accolades, though, Houston’s lasting legacy may be something that happened off the court: In 2001, Houston signed a six-year, $100.4 million contract extension with the Knicks. Houston’s yearly salary of over $20 million made him virtually untradeable, and his injury problems would burden the Knicks.

In 2005, the NBA agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA included an amnesty clause provision allowing NBA teams to release one player without his contract counting against the NBA’s luxury tax threshold. The clause did not negate a player’s contract, a team’s obligation to pay a player, or a contract’s impact on the salary cap; it merely made it possible to remove a released player’s salary from luxury tax calculations on a one-time basis.The clause benefited teams that were in danger of facing the luxury tax, which was a penalty paid by teams with payrolls exceeding a certain threshold. Because the Knicks were expected to use the amnesty clause to waive Houston due to his expensive contract and injury woes (as of the 2005 offseason, two years and $40 million remained on his contract), the amnesty clause was dubbed the “Allan Houston Rule.” After Houston assured his team that he would retire if his knee problems recurred in training camp that fall, the Knicks chose not to use the amnesty clause to release him; instead, they released forward Jerome Williams.

Houston missed 32 games in 2003-04 due to a knee injury, and despite claims in the summer of 2004 that he would be ready to play the next season (he even refused to have surgery on his knee that summer), he played in only 20 games that season because his injury had not completely healed. Knee injuries would eventually force Houston to announce his retirement on October 17, 2005. Houston attempted to return to the NBA in 2007, and again in 2008. Houston was signed by the Knicks to play in 2008, but was cut before the end of the preseason without appearing in a game.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Houston

Naw, the shot was more important. But history will note that the New York Knicks were gifted a free pass to get out of one contract — a rule amendment literally named after a guy they employed because his contract was so horrific — and they used it on someone else. Classic Knickerbocking.

You could talk me into AH being lower, but I feel like if 2K existed in the 1990s, he would have gotten at least one 90 rating. Houston has become underrated by vitrue of the squad of brick layers he was surrounded with.

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Jamal Mashburn, SF – 1993 Draft Class (Rating – 81)

All anybody remembers about Jamal “Monster” Mashburn in 2019 is the alleged Jason Kidd- Mashburn – Jim Jackson – Toni Braxton Love Traingle ..(Love Square? Love Rhombus? I dunno) but Mashburn was a highly-regarded college star with Kentucky, and a productive scorer at the NBA level who was routinely ravaged by injuries. We’ll turn his durability down, hopefully you hire a good trainer.

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Isaiah Rider, SG – 1993 NBA Draft (Rating – 80)

A man who was brash enough to declare that he would win the dunk seconds after he was drafted (and did so by busting out the first ever through-the-legs in the dunk contest, known then (apparently) as the East Bay Funk Dunk), Isaiah Rider is a classic “whatever happened to…”. He’s technically the Babe Ruth of the dunk contest. Hard to hate on that guy.

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Juwan Howard, PF/C – 1994 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

Jalen Rose, SF/SG – 1994 Draft Class (Rating – 73)

Juwan Howard and his Draft Classmate / actual classmate Jalen Rose get the Fab Five Boost here. Though their NBA careers maybe didn’t quite match the level of hype they received in the NCAA, Rose and Howard were key ingredients of the Michigan Wolverines’ Fab Five, possibly the most famous, important and transcendent NCAA team that ever existed. They are definitely part of the most famous team of my lifetime, and thus are individually two of the single most famous 5-10 NCAA players that I ever “saw”. I really feel like if there were an NBA 2k game in 1994, these guys would have gotten at least a 90 potential. I think 90 is fair for both players. Having said that, I was 6 years old when they were drafted. Space Jam was 2 years away and thus, I was 2 years away from knowing what a basketball was. It’s possible that I have no idea what the absolute fuck I am talking about and this entire project is stupid. Moving on!

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Eddie Jones, SG/SF – 1994 Draft Class (Rating – 74)

Eddie Jones was a 3-Time All-Star and 3-time All-Defensive player who led the entire NBA in Assist/Turnover ratio as a rookie. A responsible and productive two-way player, Jones was the Lakers’ starting SG when Kobe first came in and was shipped as far out of town as possible at the first hint of Kobe’s ascension. Still, Eddie Jones was an underrated star who peaked in a world where nobody other than MJ mattered.

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Glenn Robinson II, SF – 1994 Draft Class (Rating – 82)

The highest-paid rookie in NBA history, Glenn Robinson The Second remains an underrated basketball player whose career was (probably) stalled by the fact that he got got too much, too soon. It can be hard to give a shit when you’ve already been given the spoils of victory (in this case, millions of dollars). WIKIPEDIA —>

Robinson was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the first overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, the first Purdue Boilermaker to be selected as the first pick since Joe Barry Carroll in 1980. Before he could take the court, he and the Bucks became involved in a contract holdout that lasted until the beginning of training camp after it was rumored that he desired a 13-year, $100 million contract. Robinson eventually signed a rookie-record 10-year, $68 million deal that still stands as the richest NBA rookie contract, as a salary cap for rookies was implemented the following season. During his first year in the NBA, Robinson was twice named the Schick NBA Rookie of the Month and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team after leading all rookies with an average of 21.9 points per game.

Wiki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Robinson

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Michael Finley, SF/SG – 1995 Draft Class (Rating – 77)

A highly 2k-ish player, Michael Finley led his Dallas Mavericks team in scoring, assists and steals as an NBA sophomore, while hitting his fair share of dunks n’ threes, the only official 2k currency there has ever been. Along with point guard Steve Nash and forward Dirk Nowitzki, Finley became an integral part of the loveable Mavericks 90s / 00s teams.

NBA 2k3 Finley may have been the first person I ever hit shots with and started to like solely because of an-NBA 2k game, and therefore I will irrationally love Michael Finely until the day I die. Everybody has their 2k boies.

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Felipe Lopez, SG/PG – 1995 Draft Class *** (Rating – 70)

If Felipe Lopez was playing in the social media era, his mixtape would have been ?

"The Dominican Dream" premieres tonight at 9 ET on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/yzusSJuxBX

— 30 for 30 (@30for30) April 30, 2019

(**Actually drafted in 1998)

Felipe Lopez is a truly fascinating case; an amazing HS player, a great NCAA player who became merely a good NCAA player, and then a disappointing pro who may have fallen under the weight of an entire country’s expectations. Lopez was prone to depression and self doubt, and as the wonderful ESPN 30 for 30 doc The Dominican Dream explains, Lopez had trouble adjusting more to the culture and the expectations of his school than the game itself. Here’s wiki with the nuts and bolts of his career. It goes so far beyond this, though:

Known as the “Dominican Michael Jordan”, López played high school basketball at Rice High School in New York City, where he followed New York high school players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) and Dean Meminger in becoming one of the most highly touted recruits in U.S. high school history. The 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) guard made many All-American lists in 1994, earning Player of the Year honors from Gatorade, USA Today, Parade, and many others. López appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated before he had played his first college game.

López finished his freshman season for the St. John’s Red Storm with an 17.8 points per game scoring average. He earned a spot on the All-Big East Rookie Team and All-Big East Third Team. His numbers dipped slightly the next two years, bottoming out at 15.9 ppg as a junior. As a senior he averaged 17.6 ppg and garnered All-Big East First Team honors. He finished his career with 1,927 points, placing him fourth all-time in St. John’s history behind former players Chris Mullin, Malik Sealy, and D’Angelo Harrison and sixth in Big East history with 1,222 conference points, while also ranking seventh all time in steals, 14th in assists, and 20th in rebounds. He also holds the St. John’s record for most three-pointers made in a single season (60) and in a career (148).

López was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 24th pick in the 1998 NBA draft. He was immediately traded, along with Carl Herrera, to the Vancouver Grizzlies for point guard Antonio Daniels. López’s drafting into the NBA was cause for great celebration in the heavily Dominican community of Washington Heights in New York City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felipe_L%C3%B3pez_(basketball)

I could probably write 1000 words about Felipe Lopez, and none of them would be as good as The Domincan Dream, so just trust me when I ask you to please watch that film. Two questions do spring to my mind though: why is he being moved to the ’95 draft rather than the ’98 draft? And why didn’t he pan out?

Well a) Lopez was a high school phenom who was ranked ahead of even Allen Iverson in the 1994 NCAA recruiting class. Draft experts agree (in the doc at least) that theoretically, had he come straight out of NYC high school, Lopez would have been minimum a top 5 pick in 1994. Unfortunately (or fortunately, because as his mother says in the movie “those lions [in the NBA] would have eaten my baby alive“) that transition wasn’t really happening yet; Kevin Garnett’s declaration for the NBA draft in 1995 was seen as the groundbreaker (even though players had done it before in the 70s and 80s).

Lopez had a really great year as a freshman at St. John’s. Even his coaches at St. John’s seem deeply regretful that Lopez didn’t leave school after his freshman season, and his friends, family and he himself seem to agree that, though Lopez had more hype in 1994, he was more physically mature and ready for the NBA after a year in college. This was the sweet spot. So hey eff it, it’s my universe and I’m making a strong stand here. He’s reporting after his freshman year.

Of course there is also the elephant in the room, aka B) Why did a kid with such enormous talent end up busting? The short answer to that is, massively unfair expectations and general loneliness. Lopez was never going to be Michael Jordan, ever. He was not made up that way mentally. Having said that, I do think there’s a world where Lopez is a multi-time NBA All-star. He’s one of the few players who started off hot in the NCAA and got a little worse each season (until a bounce back as a Sr.). It’s possible he just was mis-cast as the “Michael Jordan” of an offense, much in the way that DeMar Derozan always was. The talent was there but the “killer instinct” maybe wasn’t. And that’s not an insult. Not everybody is Kobe, a man so batshit crazy that he gave himself the nickname “Black Mamba” and we were all like “y’know what, you’re right Kobe, you are the Black Mamba”.

Some people are so focused (another word one might use is “insane”) that they have the blinders on and are able to power through any social, physical or emotional situation. Some people are more sensitive to the situations that are occurring around them. Lopez is a caring, empathetic, sympathetic guy who had a lot of trouble dealing with the sick environment that is college basketball. As expectations mounted, as opposing fans starting yelling racist shit at him, as entire teams game-planned for him as the only one human player on St. John’s…Lopez started to fall out of love with the game. At least, that is my read on it. Watch the doc yourself. One thing you can never tell me in 100,000 years is that Felipe Lopez wasn’t fucking talented.

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Antonio McDyess, PF – 1995 Draft Class (Rating – 76)