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)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S81nXwyh-KA&t=1s

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 :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j86xZvW5zJw

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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)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omX2ObQ19Fc

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)

McDyess was selected with the second overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers, and was traded to the Denver Nuggets before the season began, along with Randy Woods, for fellow power forward Rodney Rogers and a mid-first-round pick that turned out to be Brent Barry. McDyess’s explosive leaping and power dunking ability allowed him to average 17.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over his first six seasons. In 1997, before his third year, McDyess was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He helped the Suns to a 56–26 record during his lone season in Phoenix.

He became a free agent prior to the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, and returned to the Nuggets. The move was controversial however, because after he had verbally agreed to return to Denver, he reconsidered an offer to return to Phoenix. According to Sports Illustrated, Jason Kidd, Rex Chapman, and George McCloud flew through a blizzard to Denver in hopes of convincing him to re-sign with the Suns. McDyess was attending a Colorado Avalanche game with Nuggets President and General Manager Dan Issel, and Issel told security to not let the three Suns players into the building. Without any further consultation, he re-signed with the Nuggets.

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

Antonio McDyess was the original De’Andre Jordan!

The third Denver Nugget to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season (after Dan Issel in 1977–78 and George McGinnis in 1978–79), Antonio McDyess suffered a debilitating Patellar Tendon rupture early in the 2001-02 Season that essentially ruined his career. He was sidelined for the rest of 2001–02 as well as the entire 2002–03 NBA season with his ruptured knee, and he was traded (while injured) to the New York Knicks in exchange for Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and the draft rights to Nenê. Impressive Haul. McDyess sadly never got off the ground as a Knick, as in his first season, reinjured the knee with under 2 min left in an exhibition game against Phoenix. McDyess played only 18 games as a Knick, before being traded to the Phoenix Suns in an eight–player deal that brought Stephon Marbury to New York. If you never saw AMcD play a second and only saw the list of names he was traded for, it would be clear that Antonio McDyess was a basketball star in his day.

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Shareef Abdur-Rahim, SF/PF – 1996 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

The current president of the NBA G League, Reef was a massively underrated player in his prime who would be a darling of the basketball nerd community if he came around today. Unfortunately, from 1996-01 he was playing in a foreign country with literally zero help on the team. People have no fucking idea how good Reef was:

Abdur-Rahim started playing competitive basketball at Joseph Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia. At Wheeler, he was named “Mr. Basketball” in back-to-back seasons, and he led the school to a state title as a junior in 1994. Abdur-Rahim later attended college at the University of California, Berkeley, where he maintained a GPA of 3.5. At California, he averaged 21.1 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game in 28 games. He was the first freshman in Pac-10 history to win Conference Player of the Year honors, and was named Third Team All-America by the Associated Press. Also named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Abdur-Rahim set single-season freshman records for points, scoring average, field goals, and free throws. After a year at California, however, he decided to leave college to enter the 1996 NBA draft.

Abdur-Rahim was selected third overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1996 Draft, behind Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby. He made an immediate impact playing for the Grizzlies, becoming the team’s leading scorer while setting a franchise record of 18.7 ppg. He also averaged 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 35 minutes per game. He finished third in balloting for the Schick NBA Rookie of the Year behind Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson and Minnesota’s Stephon Marbury, and he was picked for the All-Rookie First Team. By the end of the 1996–97 season, Abdur-Rahim led the team in scoring on 33 occasions, rebounding on 23 occasions.

For the next few seasons, Abdur-Rahim remained the centerpiece of the Grizzlies team. In his sophomore season, he averaged 22.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 2.6 assists per game. The following season, he elevated his performance with 23.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, and 3.4 apg. Despite his best efforts, the Grizzlies remained grounded at the bottom two spots of the Midwest Division in his first four seasons. For the 2000–01 season, Abdur-Rahim finished with a 20 ppg-plus average for the fourth straight season and was ranked in the top 20 in 13 NBA statistical categories, once again leading the Grizzlies in both ppg and rpg. Abdur-Rahim’s importance to the team was highlighted in a game against the Indiana Pacers on December 1, 2000, when he earned all of the 20 points scored by the Grizzlies in the final quarter of the game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareef_Abdur-Rahim

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Stephon Marbury, PG – 1996 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

Heralded as the next great NYC point guard, Stephon Marbury was a shoot-first point from The Apple who played his NCAA ball at Georgia Tech with future NBA notables Drew Barry and Matt Harpring. Though he never quite hit his ceiling, Marbury was a prolific scorer and NBA superstar for like, six-months-to-two-years there.

Un-related Q: is it just me, or do the majority of all “NYC point guards” make massively disappointing NBA players? Larry Brown (never played in the NBA), Starbury, Sebastian Telfair, Kenny Smith, Kenny Anderson. I feel like a highly-touted NYC point guards hasn;t reached their potential since the 70s. Please, New York readers, @ me with your highly nuanced and well-considered opinions on this matter.

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Peja Stojakovic, SF – 1996 Draft Class (Rating – 65) * 2 Year Eurostash

A 3-Time All-star and contender for greatest Euro-Bomber of all time Peja Stojakovic didn’t break out until 2000-01, at which point he scored 20.1 PPG and never looked back.

On January 25 2006, Peja Stojakovic was traded one-for one to the Indiana Pacers for Ron Artest, a blockbuster trade that was a humongous deal at the time, and that nobody remembers today.

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Antoine Walker, PF/SF – 1996 Draft Class (Rating – 81)

A stretch-4 who shot the three at a rate that would embarrass most bigs in 2019, Antoine Walker was at once the most modern player of his era // the most 90’s player of his era. A no-defense stretch four who shot a thousand times while refusing to pass and rebound. Walker unfortunately retired at 31, right as the NBA was changing to fit his particular skill-set — the precipitous yacking of threes.

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Tim Thomas, SF/PF – 1997 Draft Class (Rating – 71)

On the subject of unique players, Tim Thomas was a 6 foot, 10 inch, position-less player who could shoot from anywhere and averaged 25.3 pts and 14.3 rbs a game as a high school SR in New Jersey, and 16.9 pts in his only season at Villanova. Thomas was typical of the early 00s, a supremely-talented guard/forward/something who somehow didn’t quite reach his potential. During his time with the Bucks, then-teammate Ray Allen was quoted as saying, “If he wanted to, Tim Thomas could be the best player in the league”.

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Antawn Jamison, PF/SF – 1998 Draft Class (Rating – 79)

Famously traded on Draft night 1998 for his UNC teammate Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison was a highly productive and underrated player (20,00 points!) who is likely headed to the Hall-of-fame one day. A 3-4-5 hybrid, Jamison was a 2-time All-star and former 6th man of the year and one of the men I will irrationally love forever because of NBA 2k3. Wiki:

Jamison played three seasons of college basketball for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, averaging 19.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. In his junior year, he was awarded both the Naismith and Wooden Awards as the most outstanding men’s college basketball player for the 1997–98 season. Jamison decided to forgo his senior year of eligibility and enter the NBA draft in 1998. He subsequently returned and earned a B.A. in Afro-American and African studies, graduating in August 1999. On March 1, 2000, Jamison’s #33 was retired at the Dean E. Smith Center, the seventh Tarheel so honored.

Jamison was selected with the fourth pick of the 1998 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors, who then dealt his rights to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for former North Carolina teammate and best friend Vince Carter. Jamison spent the first five years of his NBA career with the Warriors. He scored a career-high 51 points on two occasions, back-to-back against Seattle and the Lakers (the Warriors won that game). He averaged a career-high 24.9 points per game in 2000–01, his third season in the league

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

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Rashard Lewis, SF/PF – 1998 Draft Class (Rating – 67)

Many players in NBA history have become underrated solely because of a contract that can be described as “way too fucken fat”. Drafted out of high school, Rashard Lewis arguably became captain of the all-fatass-contract-team in 2007 when he inked a 6-year sign-and-trade worth $118M to move from the Magic to the Sonics.

I’m actually not sure how history will remember that contract. It was a move that the media panned wildly at the time, but Lewis was a key member of the Orlando Magic teams in the late 00’s and early 10’s, a truly modern team stylistically that was built around Dwight Howard getting rebounds for 11teen different 3-point gunners. The Magic didn’t win a title and that tends to be all that matters, but the deal ended up working out pretty well:

A forward who was ahead of his time in terms of his ability to absolutely stripe basketball shots, Rashard Lewis is a starter on the All-Time Underrated : Overpaid NBA All-Stars.

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Michael Olowokandi, C/PF – 1998 Draft Class (Rating – 69)

I’m actually shocked that this guy was drafted in ’98. The reputation that precedes him feels like it was selected in like, the 1989 Draft. Michael Olowokandi was a high-risk/medium-reward prospect who the Los Angeles Clippers risked the fucking farm on, selecting him 1st overall in 98 over Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Rashard Lewis and Antawn Jamison (Trade down, dudes. Or at least like, publicly fail to trade down the way they’d do it in 2019).

Here’s Wiki on how purely talented Olowokandi was:

Olowokandi was born in Lagos; his father was a diplomat. His family moved to London when he was 4. Olowokandi attended the Newlands Manor School in Seaford, East Sussex, where he set England’s age group records in long jump and triple jump and also played center midfield in football. Olowokandi had a height of 6’8 at age 16, growing six inches in two years, and first touched a basketball at age 17. He then entered Brunel University as a mechanical engineering major, where he was an athlete in track and field, cricket, and rugby union, and began playing basketball when he was 18

In 1995, on Olowokandi’s 20th birthday, he opened the Peterson’s Guide to American Colleges and Universities and found the school page of University of the Pacific. Olowokandi then called the UOP basketball office in hopes that he would be accepted to play basketball. After being informed that there were no more available basketball scholarships in UOP, Olowokandi offered to pay for his schooling (about $23,000 annually) for two years. He started out in a poor basketball condition but eventually became a star for the team, averaging a team high 12.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. During his junior year, he led his team to the 1997 NCAA Tournament and as a senior he led the Tigers to the 1998 National Invitation Tournament. He averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game his senior year and was the 1997–98 Big West Conference Player of the Year. He graduated from Pacific with a degree in economics in 1998 and his No. 55 jersey was retired by the university. After his senior year, he was drafted with the first overall pick of the 1998 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Olowokandi

And here’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, from an article he wrote about the 2011 NBA lockout, on what it was like to coach Olowokandi:

When I coached for the Clippers, I had to deal with Michael Olowokandi, a player who perfectly fit the description “talented but uncoachable.” At practice, I would attempt to point out Mr. Olowokandi’s faults to him, ones he constantly repeated and resulted in lost possessions for the team or personal fouls that sent him to the bench. His reaction to my attempts to correct his bad habits was to take my input as a personal insult and embarrassment. He told me point-blank that he would not be criticized in front of the team. He stuck to his word and, as a result, hated to play. He took his place on the list of athletically gifted washouts who have been in and out of the league in the past 10 years.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, ” NBA lockout: Too much at stake”. ESPN Jul 26 2011.

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Baron Davis, PG – 1999 Draft Class (Rating – 70)

Known as BOOM DIZZLE~!, B Davis was one of the most exciting players of his era and one of the greatest point-guard-dunkers who has ever lived. Baron Davis’ legacy will be forever-entwined with the 2007 Golden State Warriors. As an 8th seed, the 2007 Warriors upset MVP Dirk Nowitzki and the #1 overall Dallas Mavericks’ 1st seeded, 67-win team — numerically the largest upset in the history of the NBA playoffs, with the 67–15 Mavericks’ regular-season win-loss record being 25 games better than the 42–40 Warriors’. It was also the first 8 over 1 upset in a 7-game series, as the NBA’s 1st round was best-3-of-5 for a number of years. Davis averaged 25 points per game in the series.

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Steve Francis, PG/SG – 1999 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

Famous (in Canada anyway) for not reporting to the Vancouver Grizzlies on draft night, Steve Francis was a legitimate phenom in the state of Maryland who overcame some brutal conditions to make it to the NBA. Wiki explains:

Francis was born and raised in Takoma Park, Maryland. He was nicknamed “Wink” as a child. After his mother (Brenda) died of cancer in 1995, his grandmother became a parent figure to him. He stopped playing basketball after his mother died. His father served 20 years in federal prison for bank robbery. Francis later described his stepfather, a garbage collector, as his best friend. As a youth, Francis received food stamps and lived in an apartment with 18 people.

Francis began working for drug dealers at ten years old and began selling crack cocaine on the street as a teenager during the American crack epidemic. He attended six high schools and played in a total of two high school basketball games. He dropped out of school at 18 years old after his mother passed away. Francis completed his GED after receiving an offer to play college basketball for San Jacinto College, whose coaches had noticed him at an Amateur Athletic Union tournament. Francis attended San Jacinto College in 1996–97, and the Allegany College of Maryland in 1997–98. Francis became the first player to take two unbeaten teams into the National Junior College Tournament. In a game for Allegany, Francis recorded a quadruple double against Shawn Marion and Vincennes University.

Francis transferred to Maryland in 1998 for his junior season. The addition of Francis helped propel the Terrapins to a #5 preseason ranking. Francis made an instant impact as Maryland’s starting shooting guard, scoring 17 points in the season opener against Western Carolina.
Under Francis’s leadership, Maryland finished with a school record 28 wins and only 6 losses and were ranked #5 in the final Associated Press poll. Francis finished the season averaging 17 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, and 2.8 steals per game. He was a consensus second-team All-American and was named a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year Awards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Francis

If you have 45 minutes, check out the Steve Francis Beyond the Glory.

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Andre Miller, PG – 1999 Draft Class (Rating – 79)

Tough one to rank. Andre Miller maybe doesn’t come to mind when you think “90 overall in a video game”, he never received a 90 rating on an NBA 2k game to my knowledge. But, Andre Miller is currently ranked 11th all-time in assists in NBA history, and according to the arbitrary rules I created and can break at my own will, all players who are top 15 in assists or rebounds must get the 90 potential. A four-year NCAA star at Utah who led them to the 1998 NCAA Final, Miller is the only player in NBA history to have at least 16,000 career points, 8,000 assists and 1,500 steals without making an NBA All-Star Game. He also missed only seven games due to injury during his NBA career. History is already forgetting how solid Andre Miller was.

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If you made it to the end of this, thank you for reading! We’ll be back with about 7ish more of these things, detailing all 250 players with a 90+ potential.

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