He is in good company

Nique - Hawks won 43 games that year and Nique finished with a 17.5 PPG for the year, second on the team to Roundfield's 19.0. Nique career 24.1 PPG


The other 3 teams did not fair too well.

Mash - Dallas finished 19 - 63 in Mash's rookie year and he wound up averaging 19.2 PPG tied with J. Jackson for the team lead. Career 19.1 PPG

Kellogg - Indiana finished 20 - 62. Kellog lead the team in scoring 20.1 PPG. Career 18.9 in a very short 4 + year career.

Ewing - Knicks finished 23 - 59. Ewing only played 50 games in his rookie year and led the Knicks in PPG with a 20.0 average. Career 21.0 PPG


Durant - Sonics 0 - 5. Durant is leading them in scoring 22.6 PPG

Comment: Nique was clearly the best career scorer of the group before Durant. Nique was the only one whose career PPG was substantially higher, if at all, above his PPG as a rookie. 24.1 vs 17.5. What might be worth noting here is that Nique was the only one to play on a team with a winning record in his rookie year and averaged the least ppg of the group in his rookie year. So maybe here we see an inverse relationship between points scored as a rookie and the record of team. Does this mean that as the Sonics get better in the future that Durant's ppg will be lower or maybe just not higher than in his rookie year? Stay tuned.

It is too early to compare Durant to The Human Highlight Film, however it appears to me that Durant's game comes closer to being like Nique's than the other 3.

ESPN - Daily Dime: Shaq older and slower, but still quick with a quip - NBA

Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics, Analysis, and History

Durrant already has more NBA minutes in 5 games than Darko got in his first 150 games!

It is a true blessing to be drafted by a crappy team if you are planning on becoming a star player.

Also, think how much luckier it would be to be the 31st pick of the draft vs. the 30th pick. On one hand, you will probably come off the bench every game all year and on the other, you will either go to the D-League or sit the bench for the Spurs, Mavs, Pistons, etc.

I wonder if that effect can be seen by looking back through draft history.

Agree on your point.

However, it appears to me to be a question of Objectivism vs Ubuntu.

Objectivism (Ayn Rand) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ubuntu (philosophy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was thinking the exact same thing.