10 Best Basketball Players to Never Play in the NBA

01/20/2023 02:16 PM

The NBA is a dream destination for many basketball players, given that it’s arguably the best basketball league in the world. While some basketball players chase the NBA dream, others get chased by NBA teams. Furthermore, some are talented enough to play in the NBA. Unfortunately, some of them simply made personal choices that resulted in their absence from the NBA. For this piece, let’s take a look at the 10 best basketball players to never play in the NBA. Sergio Llull Unlike the other players in this list, Sergio Llull still has a chance to make the NBA jump. However at age 35, the window is closing fast. The Spanish national team mainstay was actually drafted into the league in 2009. He was selected by the Nuggets with the 34th overall pick before the Rockets bought his draft rights for a record-breaking $2.25 million. Guard Sergio Llull has decided against joining the Rockets in the NBA and will stay with Real Madrid, league source tells Yahoo Sports. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2015 Unfortunately, despite the Rockets’ persistence, Llull decided to stay put in Spain in order to win more titles. Llull already has two Euroleague titles, seven Liga ACB championships, and Euroleague MVP. Dimitris Diamantidis Like Llull, Dimitris Diamantidis carved out a decorated basketball career in Europe. Unfortunately, no one drafted him in the 2002 NBA Draft. Although NBA teams tried to sign Diamantidis later on, his then-head coach Kostas Pilafidis bared that the European sensation chose to stay put in Europe. With Diamantidis’ unselfish all-around play, he has won almost every hardware in European basketball including three Euroleague championships, MVP, six time Best Defender, nine Greek League titles, and many more. Len Bias Some basketball legends would argue that Len Bias was better than Michael Jordan. In four years with Maryland, Bias averaged 16.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. Unfortunately, Bias was found dead just a day after he was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the second overall pick. Based on reports, Bias died from cocaine intoxication. Lenny Cooke Although LeBron James came out of high school as the next big thing, he wasn’t always the top prospect of his class. In fact, Lenny Cooke was ranked ahead of LBJ and Carmelo Anthony. However things took a turn for the worse after he entered the NBA Draft a year earlier. Despite hearing agents and NBA teams promising to draft him, Cooke went undrafted in the 2002 NBA Draft. The promising prospect had to make do by playing in minor basketball leagues. Although he got invited to play in the NBA Summer League by the Boston Celtics, that never resulted in a NBA contract. Afterwards, he took his talents overseas by playing in China and the Philippines. Earl Manigault Standing at 6’1, Earl Manigualt’s athleticism was off the charts for his time. In fact, he was even turning heads as early as high school by scoring 57 points that set the high school record in New York. Moreover, NBA’s top all-time scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would even go as far as claiming Manigault to be the toughest opponent he has ever faced. But despite his early success, Manigault found himself addicted to drugs. With a heroin addiction, Manigault eventually landed in prison on several occasions. Benji Wilson As early as high school, Benji Wilson was already making noise as a potential blue-chip basketball prospect. With a height of 6 ‘8, equipped with polished guard skills, Wilson was dubbed as the next Magic Johnson and was the top high school prospect of the nation. Unfortunately, despite being just a kid from high school, Wilson was murdered by Billy Moore in a case of attempted robbery. Ramunas Siskauskas One can argue that Ramunas Siskauskas was the greatest basketball player to never suit up in the NBA. According to DraftExpress, Siskauskas was dubbed as the most complete player outside of the NBA. Although he didn’t showcase his versatility in the NBA, Siskauskas dominated Europe with two Euroleague championships, five Russian League championships, and Euroleague MVP. The closest we saw Siskauskas in the NBA scene was in the 2010 Preseason Games. Siskauskas led the visiting CSKA Moscow to a 90-87 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and scored 22 points. Nikos Galis While Giannis Antetokounmpo is dominating the league, there was a Greek Freak before him that never set foot in the NBA. Although he was close to playing the league after the Boston Celtics drafted him with the 68th pick of the 1979 NBA Draft, Nikos Galis injured his ankle and was never able to showcase his wares in the best basketball league in the world. Galis would go on to win eight titles in the Greek basketball league and was named MVP five times. Word has it that he also allegedly scored 50 points over Michael Jordan in an exhibition game between the Greek national team and University of North Carolina. Drazen Dalipagic Playing for Yugoslavia, Drazen Dalipagic was a national team standout. Because of his athletic abilities, people of Belgrade called him The Sky Jumper. Dalipagic was part of the Yugoslavia national team that took home silver at the 1976 Montreal Olympic games. After the gold medal showdown against Team USA, Dalipagic earned calls from NBA teams such as the Celtics. Unfortunately, Dalipagic turning professional would mean ending his national team career. As a result, Dalipagic refused to play in the NBA. While Dalipagic would have been the first European NBA player, he did carve out a historic career in Europe. Oscar Schmidt Like Dalipagic, Oscar Schmidt preferred to play for his country over taking his talents to the NBA. Although he got drafted during the 1984 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets, Schmidt never saw minutes in the NBA. Unfortunately for NBA fans, he was arguably the best basketball player not to appear in the brightest basketball stage. Nevertheless, Schmidt dominated the Olympic basketball games in scoring. Appearing in the Olympics five times, Schmidt tallied 1,093 career points and averaged 28.8 points per outing. His best outing was in the 1988 Games in Seoul where he averaged a record-breaking 42.3 points per game. The post 10 Best Basketball Players to Never Play in the NBA appeared first on ClutchPoints.