Last Doesn't Really Mean Worst

I guess that each of us learn something everyday. Something that we didn't know before.

For me, it's about Gilbert Arenas. If you don't happen to know who that is, Gilbert is rated as one of the top players in the NBA. He plays for the Washington Wizards and during the '06-'07 season, ranked 4th overall in leading scorers in the NBA. He has made the NBA All Star team multiple times. That's pretty impressive right?

The thing is, that if you just saw Gilbert and the way that he plays, some people would assume that he was drafted. Well, your right. He was drafted. However, the way that I have seen it in the past, if your not in the first 10 or 12 to get drafted, your really not anybody...or at least they don't expect you to be. For some reason, that's just the way that it has seemed to work. For Gilbert Arenas, that's what some people thought of him. Gilbert wasn't even drafted in the first round. That's right. Gilbert was drafted 1st in the second round of the NBA Draft. That means that he was the 31st pick of the NBA Draft. Not really what most people pay attention to. Over the years he has picked up his game and proven that he is one of the best players in the NBA. His stats show it and everybody loves him.

That reminds me of one other player in the NBA who was drafted way down the line and is now considered one of the best in the league.

Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks was almost like Gilbert. Lucky for Josh, he was drafted in the first round. Think that's good? Not really. Howard and Arenas were drafted 1 spot from each other. Howard was drafted the last pick in the first round of the NBA Draft. Once again, probably someone who wasn't really looked at that closely. However, Howard has proven that he is one of the best players in the NBA. Improving in every area of the NBA every season, last season Howard became an NBA All Star as well.

I guess that this just proves that the draft really doesn't matter as long as you can prove that you are worth it. Now if I could only figure out how many players that were drafted in the top 10 or 12 and who never made an impact in the NBA. Now that would be cool.