The all-time best and worst of UK's NBA/ABA players

[J_Dee]

My picks for UK's ten best pros:

Spoiler

10. DeMarcus Cousins -- 5th overall draft pick
* 606 regular season games played, 15 playoffs games played
* 4 x NBA All-Star
* 3 x All-League teams (NBA All-Rookie, All-NBA Second x 2)
* 22.2 PER, 45.2 WS

9. Tayshaun Prince -- 23rd overall draft pick
* 1017 regular season games played, 140 playoffs games played
* 4 x All-League teams (All-NBA Defensive Second x 4)
* 5 consecutive 82-game seasons
* The block
* 13.7 PER, 63.1 WS
* 1 x NBA Champion (Detroit Pistons, 2004)

8. Karl Anthony-Towns -- 1st overall draft pick (the third in UK's history)
* 408 regular season games played, 5 playoffs games played
* NBA Rookie of the Year (UK's second pro Rookie of the Year)
* 2 x NBA All-Star
* 2 x All Teams (All-Rookie, All-NBA Third x 1)
* 24.9 PER, 55.8 WS

7. John Wall -- 1st overall draft pick (UK's first ever)
* 614 regular season games played, 37 playoffs games played
* 5 x NBA All-Star
* 3 x All-League teams (NBA All-Rookie, All-NBA Third x 1, All-NBA Defensive Second x 1)
* 1 x NBA Slam Dunk contest champion
* 19.2 PER, 44.1 WS

6. Cliff Hagan -- 20th overall draft pick
* 839 regular season games played, 97 playoffs games played
* 5 x NBA All-Star, 1 x ABA All-Star
* 2 All-League teams (All-NBA Second x 2)
* 19.8 PER, 85.3 WS
* 1 x NBA Champion (St. Louis Hawks, 1958)
* Naismith Hall of Fame

5. Frank Ramsey -- 6th overall pick
* 623 regular season games played, 97 playoffs games played
* Basketball's original sixth man, per Red Auerbach
* #23 retired by the Boston Celtics
* 15.5 PER, 49.2 WS
* 7 x NBA Champion (Boston Celtics, 1957, 1959-1964)
* Naismith Hall of Fame

4. Louie Dampier -- 38th overall pick
* 960 regular season games played, 110 playoffs games played
* 7 x ABA All-Star
* 5 All-League teams (All-Rookie, All-ABA Second x 4)
* The ABA and Kentucky Colonels' all-time leader in games played, minutes played, points, assists, three-pointers, playoffs assists, and playoffs three-pointers
* 15.2 PER, 74.1 WS
* 1 x ABA Champion (Kentucky Colonels, 1975)
* ABA All-Time team
* Naismith Hall of Fame

3. Rajon Rondo -- 21st overall pick
* 918 regular season games played, 134 playoffs games played
* 4 x NBA All-Star
* 6 All-League teams (NBA All-Rookie, All-NBA Third x 1, All-NBA Defensive First x 2, All-NBA Defensive Second x 2)
* 3 x NBA assists leader, 1 x NBA steals leader, 2 x NBA triple-doubles leader
* 14th all-time in total assists, 13th all-time in total triple-doubles
* 3 x NBA playoffs assists leader, 3 x NBA playoffs steals leader, 2 x NBA playoffs triple-doubles leader
* 6th all-time in total playoffs assists, 5th all-time in total playoffs triple-doubles
* Holds various Celtics and Pelicans team records
* 16.0 PER, 61.1 WS
* 2 x NBA Champion (Boston Celtics, 2008; Los Angeles Lakers, 2020)
* The first player ever to win a championship with both the Lakers and the Celtics

2. Dan Issel -- 6th overall draft pick
* 1218 regular season games played, 134 playoffs games played
* ABA Rookie of the Year (UK's first pro Rookie of the Year)
* 6 x ABA All-Star, 1 x NBA All-Star; 1 x ABA All-Star MVP
* 6 All-League teams (ABA All-Rookie, All-ABA First x 1, All-ABA Second x 4)
* 1 x ABA points leader; ABA record for the most points scored in a season
* 11th all-time in total NBA/ABA points (148th in the NBA, 2nd in the ABA)
* 1 x Walter J. Kennedy Award
* #44 retired by the Denver Nuggets
* 21.4 PER, 157.8 WS (23rd all-time overall, right between Jerry West and Magic, and 2nd all-time in the ABA)
* 1 x ABA Champion (Kentucky Colonels, 1975)
* ABA All-Time team
* Naismith Hall of Fame

1. Anthony Davis -- 1st overall draft pick (UK's second ever)
* 564 regular season games played, 39 playoffs games played
* 8 x NBA All-Star; 1 x NBA All-Star MVP
* 9 All-League teams (All-Rookie, All-NBA First x 4, All-NBA Defensive First x 2, All-NBA Defensive Second x 2)
* 3 x NBA blocks leader
* 27.1 PER (3rd all-time, behind only Jordan and LeBron), 86.8 WS
* 1 x NBA Champion (Los Angeles Lakers, 2020)

That's four of Coach Rupp's players, four of Coach Calipari's players, and two of Coach Smith's players. In a few more seasons, Coach Cal could add a few more, as Booker and/or Fox could very well displace Cousins and Prince.

And the biggest disappointments:

Spoiler

10. Nerlens Noel (6th)
9. Tony Delk (16th)
8. Jamaal Magloire (19th)
7. Ron Mercer (6th)
6. Melvin Turpin (6th)
5. Goose Givens (16th)
4. Kenny Walker (5th)
3. Terrence Jones (18th)
2. MKG (2nd)
1. Sam Bowie (2nd). I'm not as down on him as a lot of people are but all things considered he's still the undisputed #1.

I haven't thought about the disappointments nearly as much as the rest so I might be missing somebody significant.

This guy gets my vote as UK's most overrated pro.

Anyway, let's see your lists.

 

[dlh331]

Nice list. Thanks for the work.

 

[YardCat]

Biggest disappointment was Bill Spivey, got caught taking money in college and was banned by professional league. Had to play in minor pro leagues. Won 3 championships but never made it big time like he should have in the Pros.

 

[BlueBomb]

Bowies was a disappointment for sure. But his injuries were devastating. Without them, he might've been an all-time great.

 

[J_Dee]

Bowies was a disappointment for sure. But his injuries were devastating. Without them, he might've been an all-time great.

Agreed.

UK vs. Vandy, March 5, 1981

That UK/Vandy game altered the course of NBA history. If Bowie hadn't gotten hurt, he might've totally justified his pick; and then if he hadn't lied about the extent of his injury, the entire draft could've been altered.

 

[UK90]

I’d rank MKG above Bowie on the disappointment list. Bowie has the injury excuse, whereas MKG just plain stunk …even when perfectly healthy.