Predicting a player’s success in the NBA is arduous for team executives. It's even more difficult when the player hasn’t had a chance to prove himself at the college level.
There have been a handful of game-changing superstars that have come straight out of high school. Phenoms such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett have gone on to have tremendous success in the NBA. These prep-to-pro stars have become global icons, winning MVP awards and NBA championships.
Yet, there are others who were top recruits out of high school but just didn’t pan out in the league. Some players don’t meet the high expectations the basketball community has for them on draft night. Years down the road they become labeled as busts, especially when players drafted after them go on to have Hall of Fame careers.
10 Ndudi Ebi
The Minnesota Timberwolves picked Ebi with their 26th overall pick in 2003. Four of the top picks of this draft were LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade. The 6’9” UK-born forward from Nigeria appeared in 19 games over two seasons in Minnesota and was released after two seasons.
He averaged 0.8 PPG and 0.2 RPG in his rookie campaign and played five pre-season games for the Mavericks in 2006. He averaged 5.2 PPG during the five games and was subsequently waived before the start of the 2006 season. He played the rest of his career overseas.
9 Korleone Young
Korleone Young was taken by the Detroit Pistons in the second round as the 40th pick in 1998. Although a late pick, his draft selection is sandwiched between Rafer Alston at #39 and Cuttino Mobley at #41.
Young was a 6’7” forward who demonstrated guard-like skill and athleticism in high school. He was a top college recruit that played only three NBA games and scored a total of 13 points. When David Stern discussed implementing a new age limit for entry into the NBA, many cited Young's lackluster career as an example.
8 Leon Smith
Smith was selected with the 29th pick in the 1999 draft by the San Antonio Spurs and was immediately traded to the Mavericks. Unfortunately, he suffered from mental health issues that derailed his NBA career.
Smith received psychiatric treatment for throwing a rock through a car window and swallowing approximately 250 aspirin tablets in early 2000. He had a short stint with Atlanta in 2002 where he played 14 games averaging 2.2 PPG and 2.2 RPG. He would play one game for Seattle before he was out of the league.
7 Martell Webster
Though Webster played 10 seasons in the NBA, he never met the expectations of a sixth draft pick. He was considered a five-star recruit out of high school, but in his best season, he averaged 11.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. He demonstrated his abilities in a handful of games throughout his career but lacked the consistency of a star.
He missed a significant amount of time due to foot injury and back surgeries that forced him to play his last game in the NBA at age 29. Webster retired with career averages of 8.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG.
6 Eddy Curry
Curry was taken fourth overall by the Bulls in the 2001 NBA draft. He was an imposing 7-footer who was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Illinois in 2001. He wasn’t all that bad for the Bulls and led the NBA in field goal percentage in his second season. Likewise, when he played with the Knicks, he averaged 19.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG in the 2006-2007 season.
However, Curry would balloon to over 300 pounds and was never able to put up those numbers again. He settled for career averages of 12.9 PPG and 5.2 RPG and never made an All-Star team. Although he won an NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2012, he didn’t play during that playoff run.
5 Darius Miles
Miles was selected by the Clippers as the third pick in the 2000 NBA draft, as the highest-drafted high schooler at the time. Miles had high energy, athleticism, and height which allowed him to get to the basket and finish at the rim. But without a jump shot and defensive skill, his game had limitations.
Six seasons into the league, Miles suffered a serious injury to his right knee and missed two seasons as a result. He made a brief comeback with the Grizzlies 2008-2009, but never demonstrated his former quickness. In his seven seasons in the league, Miles averaged a mediocre 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He would never make it to the playoffs.
4 DeSagana Diop
The infamous 2001 draft that saw Kwame Brown and Eddy Curry picked directly out of high school, produced Diop who was selected eighth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Senegalese 7-footer averaged 14.6 points and 13.2 rebounds to go along with 8.1 blocks per game during his final year in high school at the prestigious Oak Hill Academy.
During his NBA career, his numbers did not compare. His best years were a three-year span in Dallas in which he peaked at 3 PPG and 5.4 RPG. As a hyped shot blocker, he averaged just one block per game over his career. He currently works for the Utah Jazz as a coaching associate.
3 Jonathan Bender
Jonathan Bender was selected fifth overall in the 1999 draft class that saw Ron Artest, Manu Ginobili, and Shawn Marion picked after him. Standing almost 7 feet tall, this lanky power forward had the athleticism and skill to be successful. In his NBA debut, he scored in double digits. Unfortunately, his career was hampered with persistent injuries to his right knee.
He sporadically played 8 seasons in the NBA and retired with horrendous career averages of 5.5 PPG and 2.2 RPG. Luckily for the Raptors, they were able to swap him to Indiana for Antonio Davis. Though Bender showed spurts of his talent in select games, he was never reliable and certainly never an All-Star.
2 Robert Swift
Swift was drafted twelfth overall in 2004 by the Seattle Supersonics. At 7'1", he played poorly in his first two seasons in the league and tore his right ACL after playing one minute in a preseason game. After missing his third season to this injury, he returned, only to injure the same knee, forcing his exit from the NBA after 97 career games over 4 seasons averaging 4.3 PPG and 4 RPG.
It's disappointing that other prep-to-pro players that were selected after the seven-footer went on to have better careers. Al Jefferson was taken #15 in the same draft and went on to be an All-Star.
1 Kwame Brown
Michael Jordan selected Kwame Brown as the first overall pick for the Wizards in the 2001 NBA draft. He was the first player out of high school to ever be picked number one.
As a senior, Brown earned high school player of the year, but miserably under-achieved in the NBA with career averages of 6.6 PPG and 5.5 RPG. He was traded with a number of players and two first-round draft picks for Pau Gasol. Brown bounced around the NBA playing with seven teams over his 12-year career, never performing to the level Jordan expected.