The 1998 NBA draft is headlined by two all-time great players, both of whom were taken with the final two picks of the Top 10.
Those players, of course, were Dirk Nowitzki, who went ninth overall to the Dallas Mavericks, and Paul Pierce, who went 10th to the Boston Celtics. Both players wound up winning one championship with their respective clubs, becoming legends in Dallas and Boston thanks to their high peaks as players and impressive longevities,
Outside of Pierce and Nowitzki, the 1998 NBA draft had one other player taken who would go on to become a superstar, Vince Carter (fifth overall pick) and various other borderline stars/solid long-term starters in Mike Bibby, Jason Williams, Rashard Lewis and Antawn Jamison.
Besides being the class that featured Nowitzki and Pierce, however, the 1998 draft is most remembered for its notorious top overall selection, who is now widely considered one of the biggest busts in NBA history: Michael Olowokandi, taken No. 1 by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Olowokandi’s NBA career would last nine seasons, five of which he spent with the Clippers. He would average just 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds over 500 career NBA games.
Below, check out our version of the 1998 NBA re-draft, with players taken in the order we believe they should have been taken with the use of hindsight.
Spoiler alert: We won’t make the same mistake the Clippers made.
