Video: Top NBA Draft pick producing states California leads in overall numbers, but Texas has three No. 1 selections.
Quick. Pick a squad. Choose an NBA All-Star starting five with a sixth man.
That's what we did using a pool of first-round NBA draft picks from 1990 to 2018. Further, we broke the teams down by the states they starred in high school.
From that criteria, here is the Top 10 states based on those players we selected.
Note that many of the states had some pretty fair perennial All-Stars not even make the top six. The criteria is based on their body of work as a high school, college and NBA players, with an extra emphasis their pro careers.
This is how we broke them down in order. What do you think?
1. Illinois (39 total first-round picks to choose from)Starting 5: Kevin Garnett, Dwayne Wade,
Anthony Davis,
Derrick Rose, Andre Iguodala.
Sixth man: Juwan Howard.
Skinny: Garnett and Wade are first-year eligible Hall of Fame locks. Add in three current All-Stars makes for loaded squad.
2. California (79)Starting 5: Jason Kidd,
James Harden,
Russell Westbrook,
Kawhi Leonard, Gary Payton.
Sixth man: Klay Thompson.
Skinny: Anchored by two Hall of Fame guards from Oakland, Kidd and Payton, team also boasts three of the top five current players, including recent NBA finals MVP Leonard. Guard heavy for sure, but would be fun to watch.
Russell Westbrook at Leuzinger in Lawndale.
File photo by Dirk Dewachter
Tracy McGrady,
Stephen Curry, Chris Paul,
John Wall, Antawn Jamison.
Sixth man: JJ Redick.
Skinny: McGrady is a Hall of Famer and seven-time All-Star, but it is the trio of current guards — Curry, Paul and Wall — that make this group go. Scoring supreme.
4. Virginia (26)Starting 5: Allen Iverson, Carmello Anthony, Grant Hill, Alonzo Mourning, Jerry Stackhouse.
Sixth man: Joe Smith.
Skinny: Only state with three Hall of Famers — Iverson, Hill and Mourning.
5. Texas (50)Starting 5: Shaquille O'Neal, Larry Johnson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh, Jimmy Butler.
Sixth man: Deron Williams.
Skinny: Loaded with dominant big men.
6. Pennsylvania (27)Starting 5: Kobe Bryant, Rasheed Wallace,
Tyreke Evans, Richard Hamilton,
Kyle Lowry.
Sixth man: Jameer Nelson.
Skinny: Kobe would have plenty of opportunity to shoot on this squad.
7. Florida (29)
Starting 5: Amar'e Stoudemire,
Joel Embiid,
Ben Simmons, Vince Carter,
D'Angelo Russell.
Sixth man: Eddie Jones.
Skinny: Nice blend of old and new.
8. New York (34) Starting 5: Elton Brand, Stephon Marbury, Joakim Noah,
Kemba Walker, Christian Laettner.
Sixth man: Lamar Odom.
Skinny: Tough call on sixth man between Odom, Metta World Peace and Kenny Anderson.
9. Maryland (27)Starting 5: Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Steve Francis, Sam Cassell,
Victor Oladipo.
Sixth man: Roy Hibbert.
Skinny: Like Kobe in Pennsylvania, Durant is the dominant player on this squad. But good place to start.
10. Indiana (29)Starting 5: Glenn Robinson, Zach Randolph,
Gordon Hayward, Eric Gordon, Mike Conley.
Sixth man: Greg Oden.
Skinny: Lot of different pieces here.
Two other states that just missed the list were Michigan, which features Chris Webber and Derrick Coleman but lacks current NBA standouts, and New Jersey, which boasts the potent current inside-outside tandem of
Kyrie Irving and
Karl-Anthony Towns.
A foreign-born squad, with no real boundaries and 118 selections during that span, features a potent starting five of Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tony Parker, along with sixth man Dikembe Mutombo.
