TOP 10 NBA Draft Busts of The 1990s 

Prayers for Shawn Bradley. For those that don't know, he was recently struck and paralyzed from either the waist or chest down. He is now confined to a wheelchair. I live in the DFW metroplex, remember watching Bradley play.

While Joe Smith certainly didn't live up to expectations, especially as a #1 overall pick, you can't really call him a bust. They guy was in the league for over 10 years and - you said it yourself - had decent off-the-bench contributions.

Being a star in college doesn't guarantee success in the NBA. Those are two entirely different levels and there will always be guys with great potential who just won't pan out...

Joe Smith was not a Bust. He played 16 years in the league. Minnesota wanted him so bad they broke league rules to get him. He attended the University of Maryland not "maryland universty". Nobody calls the University of North Carolina, North Carolina University.

So You Just Gon Mistake Antwan Jamison For Michael Olowokandi Huh🤨😭

Bradley averaged 12 and 8 for about 7 years in a row,hardly a bust. You have to remember that the NBA is a big step up, few players average better numbers than in their college days. Hurley got in a car accident that ruined his career,not fair to call him a bust either. Joe Smith pretty decent career and not a bust.

You forgot Yinka Dare. It took him years before he got his first NBA assist.

If Bradley was a bust, why did the Monstars want him? 🤔

Jonathon Bender was born in the wrong era. He would've been pretty good now, as a 6'10 small forward. Coaches in the 90s wanted him in the post, and that wasn't his game

Eric Montross makes this list for me. As a Dominique Wilkins fan who had just signed with the Celtics, Montross was their first round pick in '94. This was going to be Wilkin's final chance at a championship. Montross played 8 years, but sucked.

I feel like there should be a place for Harold Miner AKA Baby Jordan. Drafted in 92 by the Heat.

"Big Country" Bryant Reeves wasn't really a bust. Just had a mediocre career and a shorter than average one. But look at the size of the guy...I'm sure his knees and back took a serious battering in those 6-7 years he played in the NBA.

Bryant Reeves was the name on everyone’s lips around draft time. I remember the hype well.

Shawn Bradley would have greatly benefited on 3-4 years at a legitimate D1 college with a great coach. Kid probably just relied on being 7’6 his entire career up until the NBA. That’s not gonna cut it.

That isn’t even Michael olowakandi

I got to disagree wit the Johnathan Bender pick. His knees were just to bad. But he had mad potential to be a solid nba player.

Most of the guys you listed had injuries. A bust is someone who has zero excuses for not playing up to expectations so most of the guys on your list had disappointing careers but are not busts.

IMO The 90's are the GOLDEN Era of basketball.

Where's Adam Keefe and Harold "Baby Jordan" Miner - the two biggest busts of the 1992 NBA Draft? BOTH of them WAY bigger busts than Shawn B. or Joe Smith. Shawn Respert was a bigger bust than Joe Smith, when it comes down to the 1995 NBA Draft. The biggest busts of the entire 1994 NBA Draft would be Eric Montross, Carlos Rogers, Yinka Dare (R.I.P.,) Clifford Rozier (R.I.P.,) Tony Dumas and Bill Curley. You need to do better research on these players drafted.

Shawn Respert had cancer, people didn’t know.

Great videos thanks keep up the good work

When I first saw the title of the video, I thought Christian Laettner at #1. After winning two national championships with arguably the most iconic play/shot in NCAA basketball history, he was drafted 3rd overall and on the 1992 Dream Team. Although, he had a somewhat long NBA career and a good rookie season, he didn't live up to the dominance he had in college. How is he not even on the list?🤔

your initial photo of Olowakandi was actually Antawn Jamison lol

ur video has issues man.. thats not the Candyman.. thats Antawn Jamison. hahahahaha

The 90s were the worst generation for busts. Players took the fast money, stopped trying with very few exceptions. You could have easily put Derrick Coleman on this list because he was the poster boy for over hyped players who didn't give a crap.

Mark Macon was actually an over hyped college player. The NBA bought into the Dick Vitale hype. As a freshman, I think he was the leading scorer on a veteran team. After those players graduated he just shot a lot. He was a kind of a point shooting guard who really couldn't shoot.

Let’s define “bust”. Maybe he didn’t become a hall of famer but to call people a bust? Hey you play 10+ years you are a solid pro

I watched this for nostalgia, was more disappointed in this guy's lack of knowledge about 90's NBA. Not sure how much he actually watched the games or just did Google research.

These lists don't begin to name all the nuggets bad picks..Carl Nicks and Raef LA Frents are 2 more that come to mnd

Did not know that Bobby Hurley (my teenage crush, lol) got to play pro ball after his accident. That’s some consolation. I’ll bet Joe Smith has some stories to tell.

Bender, joe Smith, and Shawn Bradley weren't bust. Smith and bradley had good careers. Bender was talented just had too many injuries. Cant compare these guys to shaq and tim duncan. There were far worse players that were drafted high that were left off. A lot of them

Hurley was a victim of bad luck car accident. I thought he would be an All-Star

10+ years in the NBA is not a bust!! Just my opinion

While I may agree/disagree with this list, why isn’t anyone concerned for the woman holding a hammer, crying as she’s hovering over a Mercedes at the 1:55 mark?

I think it would've been interesting to see what might've become of Shawn Bradley if he hadn't taken those two years off before entering the NBA. That could've been some crucial adjustment and building time for him as a player. I don't think it was gonna change him into a generational talent or anything, but maybe with the right coaching a little earlier on, he could've shored up parts of his game that were lacking. Imagine if he'd learned how to put up Kareem's Sky Hook shot. Dude would've been impossible to block.

Candyman and Bradley weren't busts, they just didn't meet expectations. Side note, Olowakandi''s college coach at Pacific told his assistants to always answer the phone. You never know when a 7 footer will call. Sure enough, Kandi called a few schools when he decided to come to the US. He thought Pacific was by the beach (not), and they were the only basketball office who answered the phone. The rest is history.

Dude you dnt knw what u talking about. U cnt play 16 yrs in the league & be a bust. U reached with a few of these

3:53 that old Spurs floor was dope.

I know his knees got him, but I was and still am a huge Greg Oden fan.

Anyone remember of Felipe Lopez ? He was hyped as the "new Jordan" but finaly did nothing

Joe Smith definitely wasn't a bust!! Idk if this guy even watch basketball in the 90's or what but he was a solid role play as well as Big country..

at 14:45 thats jamison sir

I think Don Nelson tricked Philadelphia into taking Shawn Bradley. Don Nelson was quoted as saying that they would be just as happy with Bradley as Webber or Penny.

Bobby Hurley turned out to be a Pretty Good Coach at the University of Buffalo and led them to the NCAA tournament.

Always liked Bradley. He had an aura about him when I was a kid. Like, I knew of him, but didnt know exactly. Like old wrestling tapes back then lol. We didnt have cable,so I saw bradley on space jam.

Alot of your bust are east coast guys who my husband has seen or played against in high school camps or high school games, most all had early talent but for what ever reason didn't develop,true ,: great vid🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

Bobby wouldn’t have been a bust if he hadnt gotten thrown from a vehicle. So dumb to include him man

INJURIES PLAY A BIGGER ROLL IN THESE STORIES THEN THIS GUY WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE!! Hurly almost died in a car wreck but in this video it’s hardly mentioned!!?? HARDLY A BUST!!

Understand this list is probably geared towards the more casual fan, but not for serious fans, I could make a list to blow this one away

Shawn Bradley, we love you and may God bless you. All my support; life is unfair, one must do the best you can. That, after 31+ years of HIV/AIDS I can share with you. God bless and be good to people.

When giving the numbers, can you drop the points? Try rounding up or down. 2.1 is two rebounds.

Shawn Bradley would be a powerforward today he could shoot and get junk points to thin for center then he was Ralph Sampson they might be superstars in today's game

Could it be that instead of saying some of these guys are "busts," maybe there was just too much hype and the hype was wrong??

It's amazing some people think Bender wasn't a bust. Blame his knees or the fact he was built like a toothpick, if you don't play you're a bust.

For me it's hard to consider Bobby Hurley a bust when he lost most of his career because of an accident. I would replace him with Randolph Childress from Wake Forest

Under the Mark Macon draft pick footage there is a Chyron saying "Minnesota Timberwolves in trade talks to acquire Kevin Garnett"!😏😮🐶🐺🏀B.W.

Olowakandi had no work ethic . When Kareem Abdul Jabbar is giving you advice you open your ears n listen . They should've run Keith Closs over the Candy man

Bender, to be real, injuries messed him up. He was KD BEFORE KD, long, athletic, had a jumper.

Smith was not a bad player. He was deep

OK. I stopped watching after number 6 Bryant Reeves. I felt labeling Joe Smith a bust was abit of a stretch but to put Bryant Reeves on this list is totally off. His NBA career points of almost 13 a game and almost 7 rebounds average a game are not bust numbers. I was a huge fan of college ball in the 90's and could name you 10 players that were more qualified as being a bust then both Reeves and Smith. in fact the 94 draft alone had 4 bust in the top 10 if we're sticking with your apparent definition of a bust . Donyell Marshall the 4th pick 11 points a game. less rebounds over his career. Sharon Wright. the number 6 pick, career 9 points 5 rebounds a game. Number 7 Lamond Murray. career 11 points a game, number 9 Eric Montross 4 points and 4 rebounds average for his career and he was the same position as reeves. Let's continue. the same draft class as Reeves. 95. number 8 pick shawn respect. 5 point a game average for his career. number 9 pick Ed O'Bannon who averaged more points in college then Bryant. 5 point average a game for his career. 96 draft-number 7 pick Lorenzen Wright 8 points a game for his career. 97 draft-number 5 pick Tony Battle. 6 points a game average for his career. 14 year career in the league. number 8 pick Adonal Foyle 4 points 5 rebounds average a game for his career. 98 draft-number 3 pick Raef Lafrentz 10 points and 6 rebounds average a game for his career. Right there are 10 players who are closer to being a bust then Reeves. the only thing that stopped Reeves from being better was injury. my list of the 10 guys I named in most their cases had a longer career with less stats. So next time you want to do a list, do your homework before making out some bogus list where the numbers do not support your argument. where if you put Reeves numbers for a career against all 10 of the guys I named, it's clear black and white they should be on this list before Reeves.

Bradley would have been a decent pick had he been drafted late in the first round instead. Hurley was actually decent and had potential but he wasn’t the same after the car crash. Joe Smith was a decent player but a bust at number one considering he was drafted ahead of ‘KG and Rasheed Wallace,

GTFO with Joe Smith...he would have been more dominant if he had better franchise drafting him but he played 15-16 years with decent production....not a bust....Bobby Hurley was different n was probably the closest thing we got to see to the 2nd coming of Stockton n Cousy if not for his unfortunate off the court incident robbed him of playing long term same with Jay Williams

Mark Macon wasn't awful. He was what he was. Is college numbers were inflated because Chaney was such a great Coach. And as a Philly Fan .... I'm still not over Shawn Bradley. He had a long career as what he was . Just a backup defensive center. We could have drafted Chris Webber. We really drafted poorly in the early 90s We Also wasted a high pick on Sharone Wright.

Bradley wasn't a bust he was drafted to high. He had a good nba career

I contest that Bobby Hurley would have gone on to be a great point guard before his accident..... I always thought that

Damn, the number of Philly connections here (all of the first 3) are painful.

Nice footage of the lady in the parking lot. WTF?? 😄😄

Felipe Lopez

Wow, no Christian Laettner

can you do a hockey all time bust list

Bradley was traded to the New Jersey Nets first then Dallas.

Smith,Hurley,and Shawn were all good

I think you can only describe a bust when a player was healthy but was not playing up to the their potential, otherwise, injuries affected their abilities to play can not be a bust.

Bradley lost all his coordination when he was off for those 2 years for the mormon mission unfortunately

If I may, Bo Kimble would have been much better had he not of had to face the tragedy of his friend and teammate, Hank Gathers dying on the court. His mind was plagued with that before his NBA career even started.

Not Bo Kimble man give him a break

Why did they have Antawn Jamison’s face for Olowokandi?

You Play over 6 years you aren’t a bust 😂

What was with the odd auto shop footage in the middle of #10? 😑😑😑

People don’t understand that the Bucks didn’t choose to pick Dirk. They drafted dirk only because The Mavericks told them to.

These men lived out there dream and made and those guys calling them busts probly got cut from the highschool basketball team or probly wasn't good enough so they became a reporter or what ever they do these guys just did not wanna change there games is probly why they did not play long in the league or did not take care of there body just my opinion how I look at it

Yeah but didn't Antonio Daniels also play c3po

Fun fact Bryan reeves nickname was big country

This video a bust.....

Harold minor how can u 4get the supposed to be next jordan..from USC?

Antonio Daniels wasn’t a bust. He had a solid career. Same with Joe smith. And Bobby Hurley was injured that’s not the same. Where’s Shawn Respert?

Forgets to add that injuries didn’t help some guys too…

Thought u would have micheal dickerson but overall good video

fun fact: Bender is Tracy McGrady's cousin, not Vince's though

Joe smith and Minnesota was working on a deal and broke the rules Minnesota lost two first round picks and a fine for what they did with joe smith. He signed with Detroit for one season and came back.

You truly don't know what Bust is

I still say if bender went to Mississippi state for at best 2 years he would had been something

You idea of "busts" is vastly different what the comment section. Apparently making the NBA does not make you a bust.

Sean Bradly was a charity pick Bobby Hurley was a sympathy pick.

Dahntay Jones on the Knicks. Did son even play a game in the NBA?

Who thought Bradley will be a force on offense they had no idea of basketball, I don't see him as a bust he was a defensive force for too long to call him a bust

Yu kno dat was a picture of Antoine Jamison and NOT Michael Olowokandi lol!

Ed O'Bannon, he was awesome at UCLA but just couldn't find his game in the NBA. He hurt his knee before even playing college ball and if he had stayed healthy could have been a huge star. I don't think he had the quicks for the NBA with his bum knee.

Big Country went beyond his talent he played solid not a flop or bust not ever center can be Shaq there's been center worst and what supporting talent did he have it would be a great college team but pro ball not made for it

Thats the funny part Shawn B. bust in the 90s but if he was playing today might have been a all star.