The standard basket is fixed at 305CM, it can be said that height is the most important talent in basketball, including the NBA, CBA, European Basketball League and other well-known basketball leagues, the average height of professional players registered in these leagues is about 195CM.
The NBA Draft has been held since 1947, nearly 80 years ago, and the rookie players who were selected as the NBA No. 1 pick were naturally the best in talent and potential in that year's draft, and were highly expected by fans and the media. Relatively speaking, point guard is the shortest position with height requirements, and looking at the long list of draft year champions, only a very small number of point guard players can become draft champions, which is the most difficult basketball position to produce annual draft champions, so there is a saying that point guard champions are often not parallel goods.
In this article, the author will start with this, and make a brief review and analysis of the NBA draft point guard champions in the past years according to the timeline, and review their path to the top picks before entering the NBA. Due to space limitations, if there are any missing pearls or additions, please leave a message in the comment area to share.
1. Oscar Robertson (1960 draft winner)
Oscar Robertson, 196CM tall, known as "Big O", is an epoch-making point guard in NBA history, and an all-round warrior on [point guard].
Back before participating in the draft, the big O, who mainly plays point guard, has a very tall physique for players in the same position, and can be regarded as the originator of high point guards. In high school, he led the varsity team to an exaggerated 62-1 record in Indiana. In college, Robertson won the national scoring title, the All-American Player of the Year, and was the most unbeatable rookie of the time, and was undoubtedly won by the Cincinnati Royals under the "geographical designation" rule at the draft night (when the team could forgo the first-round draft in exchange for a college star player who locked in the team's location).
As the first superstar to blast out a triple-double season ('61-62) in his sophomore year, the emergence of the Big O completely changed the definition of the point guard in basketball, and it was 55 years before Wei Shao once again completed the feat of replicating the triple-double season. In his NBA career from 1960 to 1974, he averaged 25.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game, playing for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks, winning 1 MVP, 1 championship, 9 first-team and 6 assists titles.
2. John Lucas II (1976 draft)
John Lucas II, 191CM tall, his father Lucas I & son Lucas III, are both NBA players, the Lucas family can be said to be a typical basketball family, with three generations of NBA players. Before entering the NBA, John Lucas II was an amphibious young talent in basketball and tennis, and finally chose basketball.
During his NBA career from 1976 to 1990, Lucas II played for the Rockets, Warriors, Bullets, Bucks, SuperSonics and other teams, averaging 10.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game in his career, and 16 points, 9 assists and 2 steals in his peak season. Overall, Lucas II is a high-quality traditional point guard above the average starting level, with solid skills, individual organization priority, and the ability to score 10 points steadily but not very autonomous, but limited by physical fitness, he has not grown into a star-level player, which is about a discounted version of Paul.
After retiring as a player, Lucas II began coaching in the 90s and had a mediocre 174-258 record with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers. After 2016, Lucas served as an assistant coach and player development consultant for the Rockets for a long time. In the present, modern fans feel that his familiar face comes from this.
3. Elvin Johnson (1979 Draft)
Even before high school, Johnson earned a reputation as "Magic" for his flashy passing and style of play. As a point guard, with a height of 206CM, he can make cameo appearances in the forward line and even the interior position physically, and has all-roundability.
After entering the NBA as a champion, Magic quickly became the top star in the league, and under his leadership, the Los Angeles Lakers became a gorgeous powerhouse, opening the SHOW TIME era, and suddenly making the Lakers team attention and game temperament up.
In his career, he won 3 MVPs, 3 FMVPs, 5 championships, and averaged 19.5 points, 11.2 assists, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game in his career, and is widely recognized as the No. 1 guard in NBA history. At the top pick, he could also be the best draft pick in NBA history.
4. Allen Iverson (1996 draft pick)
Before entering the NBA draft, Allen Iverson averaged 23 points, 4.6 assists and 3.2 steals per game at Georgetown University. In fact, he was already quite famous in high school, and playing basketball well was one thing, and his fight and injury lawsuit back then, as well as leading the high school varsity team to win the football championship as a quarterback, made him pay attention early.
Iverson, who is officially 183CM tall, was able to reach the top of the 96 golden generation in the 96 golden generation that is full of strong players and can be called a historic draft, which is enough to prove that his athletic talent in addition to height is basically top-notch, and he is unique in terms of game temperament, and he is a player with a strong personal label in NBA history. At the same time, he is also the shortest draft pick and MVP winner in NBA history.
5. Derrick Rose (2008 Draft)
After Iverson, fans waited 12 years to welcome the next top defender in Chicago, Derrick Rose. In high school, Rose was named the last point guard of his age, and in college, Rose did not choose to join the most popular top universities, but chose the University of Memphis, which has relatively average basketball strength.
In the 07-08 NCAA season, Rose averaged 14.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game, leading the University of Memphis to the finals that year.
The rest of the story is familiar to everyone, Rose became the youngest MVP winner, and also became one of the most regrettable guard stars due to injury, his iconic breakthrough has the industrial aesthetic of modern sports car sports, his indomitable fighting spirit is admirable, no one has ever seen the peak Rose, only the healthy Rose. At present, the 35-year-old Rose plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, and everyone hopes that Rose can play as long as possible, which is undoubtedly a reunion of emotions and memories between local fans and Rose.
6. John Wall (2010 Draft)
John Wall, the top pick in the 2010 NBA draft, played for the Wizards, Rockets, and Clippers after entering the league, and the Wizards career from 2010 to 2020 was his peak and representative years.
Why did he become the well-deserved No. 1 pick of the year, looking at the scouting draft report of that year, these few sentences are enough to be the essence: the speed of the first step is jaw-dropping, the Blue Star is strong against the finish, there is no dead end in the layup, and you can still find your opponent when you dribble quickly, Rose and Wei Shao are the two most athletic young point guards in recent years, and Wall has their own characteristics that they are good at, and the speed and explosiveness are coveted.
By the way, the scouting report of the year wrote a few sentences about shortcomings, which basically predicted the shortcomings of Wall's career at his peak: like Rose back then, Wall's shooting ability is still improving, and the shooting jump is slow, but at least the shooting action is not bad, but it requires effort; it is more comfortable to attack full-court than in the half-court, and it needs to polish shooting skills and half-court blocking skills, and it is used to holding the ball for a long time to find rhythm.
As the leader of the Wizards in the post-Arenas era, Wall was selected as an All-Star 5 times, 1 time as a three-team, and led the team to play four playoff games, and the Wizards averaged 19 points, 9.2 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in their careers. Later, due to the impact of continuous injuries, Wall became a well-known star disease, and by the age of 30 after the Rockets returned, he was already unknown, but his achievements are worthy of the top point guard's expectations.
7. Kyrie Irving (2011 Draft)
After Rose and Wall played well in their rookie days, fans and the media had new expectations and confidence in the top guard, and in a short period of time, another rookie player point guard became the top pick in the NBA draft.
Unlike the previous two champions with explosive athletic talent, Irving from Duke was relatively not so good in terms of physical talent, and his physical fitness belonged to the lower ranks among the top rookies, but his soft talent in ball sense was quite amazing, and his excellent dribbling ability was unforgettable, and the shooting posture and mechanism in the early years were well developed, but the team organization and leadership temperament were lacking, and the positioning was closer to the assassin at the No. 1 position.
After entering the league, Irving has been to the Cavaliers, Celtics, Nets, Mavericks and other teams, averaging 23.5 points, 4.7 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in his career, and has been selected as an All-Star 8 times, 1 time 2 times, and 2 times 3 times.
8. Markelle Fultz (2017 Draft No. 1 pick)
Since entering the NBA draft in 2017, Fultz, as the top pick, has played for the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic, averaging 11.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game in his career. Fultz, who was in college, showed early comprehensiveness and smooth and stable jump shooting and dribbling breakthrough ability, basically playing his first season, averaging 23.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game in the NCAA season at the University of Washington, announced that he would participate in the draft, and basically locked the top spot.
However, it is quite regrettable that the neurological disease of thoracic exit syndrome, which is relatively rare among NBA players, directly reduced Fultz's projection offense to a substandard level, and a series of injuries such as cruciate ligaments and fractures caused him to lose some of his athleticism and the team's trust in him to cultivate the value of core players.
At the prime age of 25, Fultz can only play an average of 20 minutes per game rotation player for the Magic, and considering his physical condition, it is basically difficult to play again, bucking the trend and going to the star. Compared with John Lucas II, the worst point guard champion in the past, Fultz is also a performance and performance, obviously lagging behind, although it is said that [point guard champions are often not parallel goods], but Fultz may have to become an exception.