The rookies I remember having immense hype, the kind where the draft is considered a sweepstakes for who will get them:
Shaquille O’Neal (1992) Tim Duncan (1997) LeBron James (2003) Zion Williamson (2019) Victor Wembanyama (2023)
Three out of four have had top 10-15 all time careers. I hope Zion gets it together to have at least a Hall of Fame career.
Who am I forgetting / who was there before 1992?
What about Blake wasn’t he immensely hyped as well?
Blake had hype, but if a GM could’ve and didn’t pick Shaq, Duncan, LeBron, Zion or Wemby they would’ve had the severance package in their inbox before Zo, Van Horn, Darko, Ja and Miller got to the stage.
Can you imagine the Spurs with Keith Van Horn?
Just because Darko went 2nd after Lebron does not mean he would’ve been the guy chosen 1st in this alternate universe. Melo was consensus #2, and taking Darko was an all-time screw-up by Dumars.
He was very hyped, not on the same level as these names though.
For sure, I remember all I could talk about in 2003 was Steve Blake.