What is the best NBA Draft class of time? Is it the 1984 Draft class featuring Michael Jordan or the 1996 one with Kobe Bryant or any other?
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The NBA is the epitome of basketball talent as players from all across the globe come to the United States to be a part of the National Basketball Association. To do so, a 60 player NBA Draft takes place each and every year with prospects from colleges within the USA and from leagues around the world are selected by any of the current 30 teams.
This concept has divided up a majority of players that have been in the NBA into draft classes, from 1947 to present day. This brings about the question of, ‘What is the greatest NBA Draft that has ever taken place?’
Is it the 1984 Draft that had the likes of Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton, and of course, Michael Jordan? Or is it a more recent one that featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh?
What is the greatest NBA Draft class of all time?
The aforementioned NBA Draft classes are ones that are always at the forefront of everyone’s mind when talking about the best of the best. However, there are a few more that deserve to be mentioned in this conversation.
For starters, the 1996 NBA Draft has Kobe Bryant who’s a 5x NBA champion, Ray Allen (10x All-Star, 2x champion), Steve Nash (2x MVP), Allen Iverson (2001 MVP), Pega Stojakovic, Marcus Camby, Jermaine O’Neal, Stephon Marbury, and Shareef Abdul-Rahim.
The 1985 NBA Draft was also filled to the brim with guys like Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Detlef Schrempf, Joe Dumars, Charles Oakley, and Chris Mullins. The 2009 class featured a 4-headed offensive squad of Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Blake Griffin, and James Harden.
A special shout-out needs to be given to the 2018 Draft class as well. Deandre Ayton said that it was the best class of all time and while this is certainly not true at this moment in history, it has the potential to ring true in the future. Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Deandre Ayton, and Michael Porter Jr are hard to bet against.
There is no definitive answer here really. But, if someone wanted to know what was the best NBA Draft class based solely of top tier star power, the 1984 class is second to absolutely no one. However, when discussing how deep a class went, the 1996 one most definitely takes the cake.
