By Dimitris Minarentzis/ info@eurohoops.net
Andrea Bargnani returns to Europe after ten years in the NBA, with Laboral Kutxa making the surprise by bringing a player from the best championship in the world, which took so many of “our own” from the Euroleague this year.
The Italian center-forward was a No1 draft pick in 2006 by the Raptors, though without justifying this pick in his career in the NBA. Because when you select the No1 you often expect the sky and the stars, but this turns out to be panacea for some teams and their selections.
However, it’s still a badge of honor, one that signifies a career for every player who carries his draft selection like a rock or a feather, depending on who he is. Every year we wait for the pick, every year the teams devise plans on the No1 pick.
But which No1 picks of the NBA draft, aside from Bargnani, have played in Europe? Is the journey to our side of the Atlantic so frequent?
The answer is no, since not even 10% of the 70 first picks in the history of the NBA since 1947 have played in Europe and some of those that made that decision, did so for just a handful of games. But this story makes absolute sense. We could even say that… many came to Europe to play exclusively in the championships of Spain or Italy (mostly this). Besides, most did so in the 80s and the early 90s, when the “doors” were slowly starting to open on both basketball sides and we could never have seen first draft pick players any sooner here in Europe, in the 70s or earlier, since the Americans might not have even… known how basketball is played in these parts.
Six No1 picks – seven with Bargnani (he played in Europe, was selected with the No1 pick and now he returns) – have ventured out, with only two of them playing for an entire season and three playing for just a few games. We think, though, that the best are the ones who played here the most…
We’re talking about Joe Barry Carroll and Mychal Thompson (Klay’s father) who played for entire seasons in Italy, while Michael Olowokandi, Ralph Sampson, and Kent Benson came for only a few games before departing. And of course, there’s the greatest of them all, Alen Iverson. Let’s take a look at what they did in Europe in order of appearance…
Joe Barry Carroll (1984-85)
Joe Barry Carroll (1958, 2.16m.) was selected with the No1 pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 1980 draft, the best player – in terms of numbers – that came to Europe after such a draft pick. In fact, he was the first who decided to do this. Ralph Sampson however, (his background follows further down) was the best among the players of this list.
He immediately established himself in the NBA with excellent numbers for three years (24 points in the third season), but in the 1985-86 season he decided to play in Italy and specifically in the historic Simac (Olimpia) Milano!
How did this happen? Carroll assigned an agent named Howard Slusher to negotiate his new contract. This manager was ruthless and wouldn’t even exclude the possibility of losing a year if they didn’t get the contract they deserved.
The Warriors didn’t make their best player an offer but Carroll didn’t want to “get fat”, as he put it. So he signed with Olimpia, one of the best teams in Europe at the time, perhaps the best. In Italy, of course, Carroll was devastating. With 24,9 points and 11,1 rebounds on average, Simac won the Italian championship as well as the Korac Cup (1984-85) against the major competitors at that time, Varese (they knocked Aris out in the semifinal) who they defeated 91-78!
Carroll returned to the NBA to play for the Warriors again, but also with the Rockets, the Nets, the Nuggets, and the Suns, closing out his illustrious career in 1991 with 17,7 points, 7,7 rebounds and 1,6 blocks on average. He was the No1 pick with the best stats in the NBA who also played in Europe…