There is no doubt that the competition for the NBA championship is fierce, but the last position is also badly beaten. Failure is the best way for a team to rebuild. The worse the record, the higher the probability of getting the No. 1 pick in next year's draft. Therefore, some teams deliberately mess up in order to get the No. 1 pick. So far, there have been 63 No. 1 picks in the league. Among these 63 No. 1 picks, one This year is the craziest draft year.
That year, nearly half of the teams in the league joined the bad team. Nine teams in the league had no more than 30 wins. The pursuit of each team on the road to bad performance could be said to be the worst. , only worse, it can be called the biggest mess in the history of the league, and this is the 1997 draft.
The fastest way for a team to rise is not to trade, but to acquire the core of the team through the draft. After all, a good rookie may directly change the future of the team. This was the case in 1997. He was known as the Devil of the Witkey Forest. When he first entered college, he was too nervous to adapt, so he spent a season on high-intensity self-training. After entering the second year, he was a favorite for the No. 1 pick for three consecutive years. His scoring continued to improve, and his rebounds remained basically stable. He became the first basketball player in the NBA to reach 1,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 assists at the same time. This is so outstanding. His strength has also attracted the attention of a large number of teams in the league.
In 1996, when he announced his participation in the draft, many teams in the league were fully prepared to get him. However, when the draft was about to begin in the summer of 1996, Duncan suddenly announced his withdrawal. He hoped to be able to practice in college for another year. The official reason was that Duncan promised his mother to finish college, so he continued to study at Wake Forest University. This caused many teams to pounce to acquire Duncan, including the Cardinals.
After it was confirmed in 1996 that Duncan would embark on a journey to the NBA in 1997, a bad game for Duncan began. Many teams chose to mess up in order to get this big man. It was the Grizzlies and Celtics who planned to mess up at the beginning of the season. At that time, the Vancouver Grizzlies were a new team that had just entered the league two years ago. He is showing off, it is better to say that his strength is like this. The team members all rely on picking up holes. Without an excellent leader and insufficient team strength, there is no difference between playing well and playing poorly in a highly competitive league. In the end, they only achieved 14 wins in the 1996-97 season, ranking last.
The Celtics ended their glory days in the 1980s and were in urgent need of a new leader to help the Celtics rise again, and Duncan was that candidate. Therefore, the Cardinals also chose to mess up. To what extent, the Bostonians only won 15 games that year. You can even say that this was the most disgraceful victory in the history of the long and glorious Celtics. . However, everything is to get Duncan. Boston fans know it well. They will even cheer after the Celtics lose because they believe that these choices of the team will eventually bring glory to the Celtics again and let the Celtics win. The championship flag was once again raised at the North Shore Garden Arena. But even so, the Celtics still only ranked second from last. Of course, the well-thought-out Celtics team couldn't just rely on hard work. They also prepared Plan B and spent a lot of money to acquire a first-round pick from the Mavericks. In this way, he will have two chances to get the No. 1 pick, which can be called double insurance.
The 76ers were also added to the mess. The Sixers were actually quite lucky. They got the No. 3 pick in 1995 and the No. 1 pick in 1996 to select Iverson. But what people didn't expect was that the two people had internal strife in the 9697 season, which made the team's record worse than the previous two years. In addition, they also wanted to get an inside partner, so the Sixers also began to make plans. It sucked, only 22 wins in the end. As a team that has been struggling at the bottom all year round, the Nuggets have acquired a dual-core through drafts and trades, but the combination of the two can no longer lead them forward. This has led the Nuggets to start looking for a new core to build the team, so the Nuggets have also begun It was so bad that they only won 21 games in the end.
The four teams are all telling how miserable they are, but there is only one happy ending to the story, and everything else is later buried with them.
Originally, if there were only these few teams, the Celtics could be said to be sure of victory if they took down Duncan, but if you can't resist the right man who comes halfway, no matter how good your operations and skills are, it will be useless, and this right man is useless. It's the Spurs. The Spurs' failure in the 1996-97 season was actually quite unexpected, because before the 9697 season, the Spurs had made the playoffs for seven consecutive years. In 1995, the Spurs created a history-best 62 wins under the leadership of Admiral David Robinson. In 1996, they also ranked second in the Western Conference with 59 wins. At the end of the 1996 season, the Spurs even introduced Wilkins to strengthen the bench lineup, making them a clear favorite to win the championship. However, things are unpredictable.
The Spurs experienced a polar reversal in the 1997 season. Two core members of the Spurs suffered sudden injuries at the beginning of the season. Robinson suffered a fractured foot bone and only played six games before being reimbursed for the season. The team started with a record of 3 wins and 15 losses, the worst start in history. After that, Rock Hill was forced to dismiss get out of class, and Popovich took over to restore the decline. However, the dominoes of injuries to the Spurs' players continued, which made Popovich simply give up the season. They simply let the bad season last, only achieving 20 wins, while hoping to get outstanding young players in the draft.
A blessing in disguise, the Spurs have experienced all the bad things they can go through this season, but they were lucky enough to get the No. 1 pick who changed the Spurs in the past 20 years. In the final draft, the Nuggets picked the fifth pick, the Grizzlies picked the fourth pick, the third pick went to the Celtics, and the Sixers picked the second pick. The Spurs were the luckiest, with a 21.4% probability of picking the pick. Won the top prize. It is worth mentioning that this draft also directly affected the pattern of the next 20 years, and this was also the beginning of the Spurs dynasty.
After the Spurs signed Duncan with the No. 1 pick, the Cardinal still didn't give up because he knew that Duncan would be the hope for the Celtics' revival and called Popovich after the draft. , said he wanted to give Duncan to him, and was willing to exchange Anthony Walker and Leonard Merson, the sixth overall pick, with the Spurs. However, Popovich was not tempted by the temptation he offered, and in the end the Spurs refused. Indirectly, the Celtics coach quit the NBA and ended his coaching career. It has to be said that in this year, the teams in the league worked hard to get Duncan, and this year's draft year is also known as the craziest draft year in NBA history.
However, it turns out that there is nothing wrong with the league being so crazy. In the first season after Duncan joined the Spurs, he was able to hand over crazy data of 21.9 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. Helped the Spurs win the championship in just one season. Although the core of the Spurs in 1999 was Robinson. But in the 1999 Finals, Duncan contributed a super double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds. In the 19 years between Duncan joining the Spurs in 1997 and retiring on that day in 2016, he has become a symbol of the Spurs, a hero of the city, and one of the few consistent superstars in the NBA.
Three FMVPs, two MVPs, 15 All-Stars, 10 first-team appearances, 8 first-team defenses and countless classic moments, and in the 19 years of Duncan's Spurs career, he brought great success to the Spurs. Five championships, leading the Spurs to dominate the league for nearly 20 years. There is no shortage of statistical honors. Although he seems silent and taciturn, he is impeccable in leading the team. He has a low-key and humble character, superb and solid skills, and impeccable leadership skills. These few points alone are enough. Let the whole league decide for him, which is why fans like him. Will there be another Duncan in the days to come?