We get used to seeing guys like Cooper Flagg, Shaquille O’ Neal or Chris Webber, all of whom who we learned about as highly promising young players. Not everyone is on that sort of a glide path, however (and plenty of guys who start off highly rated eventually fall off as well).
There are always guys who come out of nowhere though and that’s what this video concentrates on. You’d be surprised how many NBA players were just off the radar in high school and, in some cases, college for a while too.
This video looks at guys like Ja Morant, Dennis Miller, Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard and even Steph Curry, who Duke thought was too small to succeed.
Like a lot of guys in this video, Curry grew late and became a great player when his body caught up.
It really underscores what Purdue’s Matt Painter said a while back: you can only be sure that a few players in each class are going to be good. The rest are a crapshoot and a lot of their success just comes down to character and, to some extent, luck.