Where Are the Most Notorious Draft Busts in NBA History Now?
What happened to the most infamous NBA draft busts?
Compared to NFL draft busts, high-profile NBA draft selections who don’t pan out at least tend to stick around for a while. That has a lot to do with the physical requirements to play in the NBA. Seven-footers who can run without tripping over their size 98 billion shoes don’t just grow on trees. It also, probably, has a lot to do with the violent nature of football; not nearly as many NBA draft busts flame out due to intentional destruction, to themselves or others. Of course, that doesn’t mean projected NBA stars don’t play or injure their ways out of the league — it just makes the failure all the more spectacular when they do. Here’s where 10 of the most infamous NBA draft busts in history are in 2018.Hasheem Thabeet, Then
The 7’3″ center recorded an insane 417 blocks and made 61.1 percent of his field goals in his 100-game career at UConn. In his third and final season, he led the Huskies to the Final Four and was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
Hasheem Thabeet, Now
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id=”RTK_K67O” mobile_id=”RTK_5yk0″]
Thabeet was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the second pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, one spot ahead of James Harden and five ahead of Stephen Curry. Brutal, I know.
Over the next five seasons, he spent time with four NBA teams and two D-League (now the G League) teams, before one year just in the minors. Since 2017, he’s played for the Yokohama B-Corsairs in Japan’s top league.
LaRue Martin, Then
The 6’11” center put up gaudy rebounding numbers for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, pulling down 15.9 per game across three seasons. Though he averaged 18.2 points per game, he wasn’t the most efficient scorer, shooting just 44.
9 percent from the field and 69.2 percent from the free-throw line.
LaRue Martin, Now
The Portland Trail Blazers took Martin first overall in the 1972 NBA Draft, one spot ahead of future Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo. Martin played four seasons, shooting just 41.6 percent from the field. After calling it a career, he worked for Nike.
He’s worked for UPS since the mid-1980s, and has been their community services manager since 2005.