La primera selección en un Draft implica mucha presión para el equipo que la tiene. Mucha gente se juega su puesto y el jugador elegido tiene una presión enorme, porque cada franquicia tiene la esperanza de construir un legado alrededor de ese basquetbolista.
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En la historia del Draft han habido muchas decepciones, pero otros se han convertido en súper estrellas en la Liga. Desde 1947 hasta la fecha, 18 jugadores de elegidos en la primera selección han llegado al Salón de la Fama.
Aquí recordamos a todos los elegidos en el primer puesto en la historia del Draft:
| Año | Jugador | Equipo | Universidad |
| 1947 | Clifton McNeely | Pittsburgh Ironmen | Texas Wesleyan |
| 1948 | Andy Tonkovic | Providence Streamrollers | Marshall |
| 1949 | Howie Shannon | Providence Streamrollers | Kansas State |
| 1950 | Charlie Share | Boston Celtics | Bowling Green |
| 1951 | Gene Melchiorre | Baltimore Bullets | Bradley |
| 1952 | Mark Workman | Milwaukee Hawks | West Virginia |
| 1953 | Ray Fellix | Baltimore Bullets | Long Island |
| 1954 | Frank Selvy | Baltimore Bullets | Furman |
| 1955 | Dick Ricketts | Milwaukee Hawks | Duquesne |
| 1956 | Sihugo Green | Rochester Royals | Duquesne |
| 1957 | Rod Hundley | Cincinnati Royals | West Virginia |
| 1958 | Elgin Baylor | Minneapolis Lakers | Seattle |
| 1959 | Bob Boozer | Cincinnati Royals | Kansas State |
| 1960 | Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals | Cincinnati |
| 1961 | Walt Bellamy | Chicago Packers | Indiana |
| 1962 | Bill McGill | Chicago Zephyrs | Utah |
| 1963 | Art Heyman | New York Knicks | Duke |
| 1964 | Jim Barnes | New York Knicks | Texas Western |
| 1965 | Fred Hetzel | San Francisco Warriors | Davidson |
| 1966 | Cazzie Russell | New York Knicks | Michigan |
| 1967 | Jimmy Walker | Detroit Pistons | Providence |
| 1968 | Elvin Hayes | San Diego Rockets | Houston |
| 1969 | Lew Alcindor | Milwaukee Bucks | UCLA |
| 1970 | Bob Lanier | Detroit Pistons | St. Bonaventure |
| 1971 | Austin Carr | Cleveland Cavaliers | Notre Dame |
| 1972 | LaRue Martin | Portland Trail Blazers | Loyola |
| 1973 | Doug Collins | Philadelphia 76ers | Illinois State |
| 1974 | Bill Walton | Portland Trail Blazers | UCLA |
| 1975 | David Thompson | Atlanta Hawks | NC State |
| 1976 | John Lucas | Houston Rockets | Maryland |
| 1977 | Kent Benson | Milwaukee Bucks | Indiana |
| 1978 | Mychal Thompson | Portland Trail Blazers | Minnesota |
| 1979 | Magic Johnson | Los Angeles Lakers | Michigan State |
| 1980 | Joe Barry Carroll | Golden State Warriors | Purdue |
| 1981 | Mark Aguirre | Dallas Mavericks | DePaul |
| 1982 | James Worthy | Los Angeles Lakers | Virginia |
| 1983 | Ralph Sampson | Houston Rockets | Virginia |
| 1984 | Hakeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets | Houston |
| 1985 | Patrick Ewing | New York Knicks | Georgetown |
| 1986 | Brad Daugherty | Cleveland Cavaliers | North Carolina |
| 1987 | David Robinson | San Antonio Spurs | Navy |
| 1988 | Danny Manning | Los Angeles Clippers | Kansas |
| 1989 | Pervis Ellison | Sacramento Kings | Louisville |
| 1990 | Derrick Coleman | New Jersey Nets | Syracuse |
| 1991 | Larry Johnson | Charlotte Hornets | UNLV |
| 1992 | Shaquille O'Neal | Orlando Magic | LSU |
| 1993 | Chris Webber | Orlando Magic | Michigan |
| 1994 | Glenn Robinson | Milwaukee Bucks | Purdue |
| 1995 | Joe Smith | Golden State Warriors | Maryland |
| 1996 | Allen Iverson | Philadelphia 76ers | Georgetown |
| 1997 | Tim Duncan | San Antonio Spurs | Wake Forest |
| 1998 | Michael Olowokandi | Los Angeles Clippers | Pacific |
| 1999 | Elton Brand | Chicago Bulls | Duke |
| 2000 | Kenyon Martin | New Jersey Nets | Cincinnati |
| 2001 | Kwame Brown | Washington Wizards | Glynn Academy HS* |
| 2002 | Yao Ming | Houston Rockets | Shanghai Sharks** |
| 2003 | LeBron James | Cleveland Cavaliers | St. Vincent-St. Mary HS* |
| 2004 | Dwight Howard | Orlando Magic | SACA |
| 2005 | Andrew Bogut | Milwaukee Bucks | Utah |
| 2006 | Andrea Bargnani | Toronto Raptors | Benetton Treviso** |
| 2007 | Greg Oden | Portland Trail Blazers | Ohio State |
| 2008 | Derrick Rose | Chicago Bulls | Memphis |
| 2009 | Blake Griffin | Los Angeles Clippers | Oklahoma |
| 2010 | John Wall | Washington Wizards | Kentucky |
| 2011 | Kyrie Irving | Cleveland Cavaliers | Duke |
| 2012 | Anthony Davis | New Orleans Hornets | Kentucky |
| 2013 | Anthony Bennett | Cleveland Cavaliers | UNLV |
| 2014 | Andrew Wiggins | Cleveland Cavaliers | Kansas |
| 2015 | Karl-Anthony Towns | Minnesota Timberwolves | Kentucky |
| 2016 | Ben Simmons | Philadelphia 76ers | LSU |
| 2017 | Markelle Fultz | Philadelphia 76ers | Washington |
| 2018 | DeAndre Ayton | Phoenix Suns | Arizona |
| 2019 | Zion Williamson | New Orleans Pelicans | Duke |
*Preparatoria
**Equipos fuera de Estados Unidos