Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton is ready to declare his draft class the best in NBA history.
Appeared in Underdog Fantasy that's reality During the show, Sexton said the 2018 class was the “most talented group” in draft history, ranking the 2003 class second.Contains NSFW language.
Sexton emphasized his comments by saying “anyone you ask” would agree that the 2018 draft class was the best of all time.
Perhaps the best indication of Sexton's lack of thorough research on the subject was his response when asked about the 1996 draft.
There's certainly an argument to be made that the 2018 draft will be one of the best in history, with the top two picks, Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III, not performing particularly well at the moment but carving out solid roles in the NBA.
The next three picks were Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Trae Young, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being the other key lottery pick selected at No. 11. Jalen Brunson was selected with the third pick in the second round (33rd overall).
Those five players have combined for 12 All-Star selections and nine All-NBA selections. Other players who were notable in the draft were Mikal Bridges, Miles Bridges, Michael Porter Jr., Anfernee Simons, Mitchell Robinson and Bruce Brown.
While certainly deep, the historical significance of that class is nothing compared to classes like 2003, 1996, or 1984.
The 2003 draft was led by four current or future Hall of Famers: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. It also had five other players who made at least one All-Star appearance (Chris Kaman, David West, Josh Howard, Mo Williams and Kyle Korver).
The class of 1996 was headlined by Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. Other notable players that year included Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Antoine Walker, Peja Stojakovic, Jermaine O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Even if the 1984 draft had only produced Michael Jordan, it would probably have been the most historically significant draft due to his key role in raising the NBA's mainstream popularity. If you also add Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton, you have the greatest group of all time.
The 1984 class also produced a Hall of Fame player in sixth-round draft pick Oscar Schmidt, but he never played in the United States and spent his entire career playing in Brazil and overseas.
Of all the draft classes of the past decade, 2018 is arguably the best or close to it, but historically, we can’t compare them to the best classes of all time yet because we haven’t looked at their entire careers.
