The NBA draft is just around the corner, which is a good time to reminisce about some major draft blunders. In order from 5 to 1. Okay let’s do this.

5- 1998. Los Angeles Clippers. Round 1. Pick 1. Michael Olowokandi (Pacific)

      Usually, when you have the first pick in the BASKETBALL draft, you don’t choose a SOCCER player. The Kandi Man only played a handful of organized basketball when the Clipp-Show decided to put all of it’s eggs into the Kandi basket. Looks like those eggs were soft-boiled, as Olowokandi isn’t even playing anymore, while draft-mates Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Mike Bibby, and Dirk Nowitzki are supposedly playing O.K. So I hear.

4- 2001. Washington Wizards. Round 1. Pick 1. Kwame Brown (Glynn Academy)

     New GM Michael Jordan wanted to make a big splash by drafting a HS player first overall. And he did make a splash. Right into a pool of crap. Brown is lazy and soft, a deadly combination. He also sucks, which I understand is not good. Granted, looking at the talent pool that year, it’s tough to give a nod to anybody as a good 1st overall pick. Either way, Brown is an epic failure.

3- 2003. Detroit Pistons. Round 1. Pick 2. Darko Milicic (Yugoslavia)

     It’s understandable that the Pistons were already stock full of forwards, and were looking to develop a young center. Unfortunately, it’s tough to do that when your starting 5 average 40+ minutes per game, and Larry Brown isn’t exactly the rookie guru. Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade went right after. Soooooo………

2. 1984. Portland Trailblazers. Round 1. Pick 2. Sam Bowie (Kentucky)

     It’s tough to blame the Blazers here. They had a young star in Clyde Drexler at the 2 guard, and could have really used a big man. Bowie dominated in college, and is really only shunned because Air Greatness went right after. Bowie had a semi-productive NBA career, but most were too busy watching Michael jamming on people to track Bowie’s stats. Charles Barkley and John Stockton went 5 and 16 respectively.

1. 1999. New York Knickerbockers. Round 1. Pick 15. Frederic Weis (France)

     In the greatest draft blunder in the history of mankind, the New York Knicks, who never fail to amuse, select Frederic Weis, center from France. Weis is infamously remembered for being on the wrong end of the greatest poster of all time. Maybe the Knicks, in a sly, cunning business move, drafted Weis so they could obtain the rights to his famous poster and make millions. Ron Artest, a new york native from Queens who attended local St. Johns university, somehow managed to slip all the way to 15, yet the Knicks looked elsewhere, to the delight of angry fans everywhere. The draft served the Knicks a delicious slice of New York pizza, but all they wanted was a damn crepe. And that what they got. A big piece of crepe. Weis, who was still tramautized by the sight of Vince Carter’s manhood only inches from his ugly French face, was scared to even step foot in the country. The Knicks were left with nothing, and Jimmy Dolan was once again left doing the “Shake and Bake”. First he shows you left, then he shows you left again, and then he kicks you in the nuts. It’s a sad chapter that the Knicks will never be able to erase.