Pretty cool-looking chart. Oden will be one of the greatest busts of all-time if he never puts together healthy seasons. It's far too early, at age 24, to conclude that he never will, IMO. Unlike everyone else on that chart, Oden's talent justified the selection...so their label of "Mr. Unlucky" seems appropriate.
Adam Morrison won two rings. This chart is pretty stupid. You can't measure winning in stats. (Rings isn't a stat, right? Anyone?)
With what? The chart being stupid? Jordan, at least, would probably not disagree as he select Morrison.
Oden #1? Puh-lease. If his career was over NOW, it'd still be a bit of a stretch. If we think of a bust in terms of unfulfilled potential and missed opportunity (in terms of other guys drafted) then he'd be heavy on the former and less so on the latter. Yes, Durant. But Durant is no Jordan, and probably won't end up at the level of Barkley and Stockton. If we look at unfulfilled potential, then Bias is higher on the list, given he didn't play a single NBA game. Ed O.
He's already at their level in terms of statistics and winning, and he's only 22 years-old. Stockton wasn't even the Jazz' full-time starter his first three years in the league, and only started 47 out of the 246 games he played at ages 22, 23, and 24.
Bullshit. He hasn't made an NBA finals and he has only played two seasons in the NBA. Stockton is the all-time assists leader. By quite a bit (the difference between him and Kidd at #2 is about the same as the difference between Kidd and #11 Lenny Wilkens). Longevity matters a lot, and while Durant might go injury-free his entire career and play for the better part of two decades, or he might end up a Dominique-level player: very very good, but not great like Stockton and Barkley... or Jordan. Ed O.
You posted that Durant "probably won't" end up at the level of a Barkley or Stockton. I just wonder why you think that, because at age 22, Durant has accomplished much more than Stockton or Barkley (or even Jordan) had achieved at a similar age. Seems like you're just bagging on Durant to try and make the Oden pick seem less of a mistake (with the benefit of hindsight, or course). Durant led Team USA to a world championship, has taken a 20-win team to a 54-win season and conference finals appearance as its franchise player, and he'll only be 23 next season. I find it silly to think that Durant "probably won't" end up being a top 25 player in NBA history, given the incredible start to his career, and his work ethic. EDIT - because I missed the bolded portion. Durant has played 4 seasons, not 2. In terms of all-time scoring, Durant is in the Top 5 after his first four seasons for most points, and is a two-time scoring champ at ages 21 and 22. Stockton was still playing at Gonzaga when he was 21.
I mistyped 2 instead of 4 for some reason. The simple fact is that Barkley and Stockton and Jordan ended up being incredible, HoF-level all-time greats. Durant is off to an awesome start to his career, but the odds are long that he'll end up as good as any one of those three--and the Blazers passed on ALL THREE of those guys to take Bowie. There's no way that Oden should be #1 on that list, even if he never plays another minute in the NBA. Ed O.
One major difference between Durant's career so far, and those of Stockton, Jordan, or Barkley is that Durant is in the current NBA with a different rule set and a significant advantage from the refs.
I'll add that if Durant averages only 23 ppg next year (26 ppg if he misses 10 games), he'll beat LeBron James' record for youngest to reach 10k points. Barring catastrophic injury, we may be looking at a top 5 all-time scorer who is already learning how to win.
