As we head further into the 2000’s, the NBA is becoming a much more diverse league, with a record number of international players entering the NBA every single year, and it’s only going to keep rising as the popularity of basketball increases in Europe, Asia and Australia.
That diversity has translated to the NBA draft as well, with more and more international players — Luka Doncic, Ben Simmons, and Andrew Wiggins, just to name a few — being taken higher in the lottery every year.
But over the past 15 years or so, players taken first overall in the NBA draft have shared something eerily in common.
As discovered by Reddit user BayonettaBasher, out of the past 14 NBA drafts, 8 of the 14 first overall picks have either “Anthony” or “Andre” in their names.
- 2005: Andrew Bogut (contains “Andre”)
- 2006: Andrea Bargnani (contains “Andre”)
- 2011: Kyrie Andrew Irving (contains “Andre”)
- 2012: Anthony Davis (contains “Anthony”)
- 2013: Anthony Bennett (contains “Anthony”)
- 2014: Andrew Wiggins (contains “Andre”)
- 2015: Karl-Anthony Towns (contains “Anthony”)
- 2018: Deandre Ayton (contains “Andre”)
Who would’ve thought that over the course of 14 years, the best player coming out of college — maybe apart from Anthony Bennett — would have some form of Andre or Anthony in their name.
So top tip parents of perspective NBA prodigies, if you want them to have a better chance of being drafted number one, name them either Anthony or Andre!
