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About this Board
NBA Deep Cut #13, Tuesday, October 6: “Name a No. 1 overall NBA draft pick who played in the NBA.” The prompt had 76 valid answers, and nobody played it that day. Correct answers score more the fewer people name them, so the deepest cuts are the ones worth the most.
Answers and recap (spoilers)
Nobody named
- LeBron James: Drafted 2003, round 1, pick 1
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Drafted 1969, round 1, pick 1
- Tim Duncan: Drafted 1997, round 1, pick 1
- Shaquille O'Neal: Drafted 1992, round 1, pick 1
- Hakeem Olajuwon: Drafted 1984, round 1, pick 1
- Dwight Howard: Drafted 2004, round 1, pick 1
- Patrick Ewing: Drafted 1985, round 1, pick 1
- Elvin Hayes: Drafted 1968, round 1, pick 1
- Magic Johnson: Drafted 1979, round 1, pick 1
- David Robinson: Drafted 1987, round 1, pick 1
- James Worthy: Drafted 1982, round 1, pick 1
- Oscar Robertson: Drafted 1960, round 1, pick 1
- Elgin Baylor: Drafted 1958, round 1, pick 1
- Mychal Thompson: Drafted 1978, round 1, pick 1
- Mark Aguirre: Drafted 1981, round 1, pick 1
- Joe Smith: Drafted 1995, round 1, pick 1
- Walt Bellamy: Drafted 1961, round 1, pick 1
- Elton Brand: Drafted 1999, round 1, pick 1
- Bob Lanier: Drafted 1970, round 1, pick 1
- Allen Iverson: Drafted 1996, round 1, pick 1
- Kenyon Martin: Drafted 2000, round 1, pick 1
- Chris Webber: Drafted 1993, round 1, pick 1
- John Lucas: Drafted 1976, round 1, pick 1
- Kyrie Irving: Drafted 2011, round 1, pick 1
- Cazzie Russell: Drafted 1966, round 1, pick 1
- Bob Boozer: Drafted 1959, round 1, pick 1
- Danny Manning: Drafted 1988, round 1, pick 1
- Anthony Davis: Drafted 2012, round 1, pick 1
- Andrew Wiggins: Drafted 2014, round 1, pick 1
- Blake Griffin: Drafted 2009, round 1, pick 1
- Andrew Bogut: Drafted 2005, round 1, pick 1
- Karl-Anthony Towns: Drafted 2015, round 1, pick 1
- Larry Johnson: Drafted 1991, round 1, pick 1
- Derrick Coleman: Drafted 1990, round 1, pick 1
- Derrick Rose: Drafted 2008, round 1, pick 1
- Glenn Robinson: Drafted 1994, round 1, pick 1
- Kent Benson: Drafted 1977, round 1, pick 1
- Joe Barry Carroll: Drafted 1980, round 1, pick 1
- John Wall: Drafted 2010, round 1, pick 1
- Austin Carr: Drafted 1971, round 1, pick 1
- Jimmy Walker: Drafted 1967, round 1, pick 1
- Charlie Share: Drafted 1950, round 1, pick 1
- Frank Selvy: Drafted 1954, round 1, pick 1
- Ray Felix: Drafted 1953, round 1, pick 1
- Brad Daugherty: Drafted 1986, round 1, pick 1
- Kwame Brown: Drafted 2001, round 1, pick 1
- Deandre Ayton: Drafted 2018, round 1, pick 1
- Si Green: Drafted 1956, round 1, pick 1
- Bill Walton: Drafted 1974, round 1, pick 1
- Anthony Edwards: Drafted 2020, round 1, pick 1
- David Thompson: Drafted 1975, round 1, pick 1
- Andrea Bargnani: Drafted 2006, round 1, pick 1
- Rod Hundley: Drafted 1957, round 1, pick 1
- Yao Ming: Drafted 2002, round 1, pick 1
- Ralph Sampson: Drafted 1983, round 1, pick 1
- Michael Olowokandi: Drafted 1998, round 1, pick 1
- Fred Hetzel: Drafted 1965, round 1, pick 1
- Doug Collins: Drafted 1973, round 1, pick 1
- Ben Simmons: Drafted 2016, round 1, pick 1
- Jim Barnes: Drafted 1964, round 1, pick 1
- Pervis Ellison: Drafted 1989, round 1, pick 1
- Cade Cunningham: Drafted 2021, round 1, pick 1
- Paolo Banchero: Drafted 2022, round 1, pick 1
- Markelle Fultz: Drafted 2017, round 1, pick 1
- Zion Williamson: Drafted 2019, round 1, pick 1
- Larue Martin: Drafted 1972, round 1, pick 1
- Victor Wembanyama: Drafted 2023, round 1, pick 1
- Dick Ricketts: Drafted 1955, round 1, pick 1
- Bill McGill: Drafted 1962, round 1, pick 1
- Zaccharie Risacher: Drafted 2024, round 1, pick 1
- Anthony Bennett: Drafted 2013, round 1, pick 1
- Art Heyman: Drafted 1963, round 1, pick 1
- Greg Oden: Drafted 2007, round 1, pick 1
- Cooper Flagg: Drafted 2025, round 1, pick 1
- Mark Workman: Drafted 1952, round 1, pick 1
- Howie Shannon: Drafted 1949, round 1, pick 1
Missed it? Every past day is in the NBA archive, ready to play blind. Here’s how scoring works.