It seems unfair to single out any professional player who made it past the dreaded draft and into the intimidating gladiator pit of the big leagues. The NBA is without a doubt the most competitive basketball league in the world. Still, not all players who make it to this league remain at the top as the best, so we decided to take a look at the worst NBA players in history.
In the interest of making a fair list, we took it upon ourselves to include players who were a mix of players who struggled to adapt to the college ranks, NBA draft busts, and players who had bad luck on and off the court.
Most basketball fans will immediately name who they think is their worst player, but their decisions may stem from failed basketball bets or players who failed to live up to media expectations.
For this reason, we will be as neutral as possible in this list to avoid making the same mistakes. This is why we take into consideration all the numbers and statistics before tarnishing his entire career.
For the sake of balance, we will cite our reasons, back them up with statistics, and give a small opinion on why these names deserve the unfortunate title of being among the ten worst NBA players to ever grace the league.
You may not agree with some of the names on our list, and we also know there are several notable absences, such as the worst player in the NBA right now, New York Knicks guard Ryan Arcidiacono, who set a new league record with a “no” scoring milestone.
Now, find out which historical names earned a pitiful place on our list:
10. Mark Madsen
After playing nine seasons and winning two titles throughout his NBA playing career, it may seem a little unfair that he has a place among the worst NBA players, especially when we’ve kept Greg Kite off the list for the same reason.
Madsen was part of a sensational LA Lakers team in the late 90s and early 2000s, a team that was ranked fourth among the best NBA teams in our league table. However, this time it’s not about the team, but about a specific player.
Owners, coaches and players will often say that no player is more important than the franchise, but Shaq and Kobe were. Likewise, coaches will say that no player is reliable, but some are, and Madsen was one of them.
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The Lakers are one of the most recognizable teams in the history of the NBA , the top American basketball league and the most prestigious in the world. Their influence extends far beyond basketball. The team Madsen was a part of played a pivotal role in cementing their legacy among a whole new generation of basketball fans.
In Madsen’s defense, Shaq said that he was the only player who controlled him defensively and would often hit him in practice. However, this is not what happened in court and we are not convinced until video evidence emerges.
While Madsen was a respectable 29th overall pick in the draft, he became better known for his entertaining post-win dance routines. To many, he was more of a comedic player who kept the mood in the locker room high rather than living up to the expectations he had when he played college basketball.
At 6’2″ tall, the former power forward had a stellar college career, but didn’t accomplish much in the NBA. Here are his average numbers:
- 2.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 11.8 minutes played per game.
9. Hasheem Thabeet
Just as the worst baseball players in history do not go unnoticed, the worst NBA players of all time do not either, as they define a before and after in the sport, but not necessarily for something good. The 2.21-meter-tall Tanzanian center, who now plays for Pazi BC in Tanzania, also earned a place on this list.
Today, the NBA is filled with incredible international talent and when Tanzanian Hasheem Thabeet came on the scene, it was a different picture, still very much US-centric. He was selected over Stephen Curry, one of the best NBA players in history, a player who completely changed the history of the league and of the sport in the world.
Hasheem was an unknown when he was drafted, plus, domestic talent was still the mainstay of the NBA and Hasheem and the Memphis Grizzlies hoped to buck this trend with a clear goal: to turn him into what Giannis Antetokounmpo later became.
This basketball player began his career at the age of 15 and developed his college career with the Huskies of the University of Connecticut, being the tallest player to have played for that university team. He had a unique performance in college, so three seasons later he was eligible for the draft.
After two seasons, Hasheem was in the NBA Development League, a place where no one wants to be after the draft. During his time in the league, he played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Dakota Wizards, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder. After that, no franchise was interested in signing him.
Hasheem Thabeet left the NBA with no comeback plan with the following average numbers:
- 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
After leaving the NBA, he had an uninspiring stint in Taiwan and had no choice but to return to his homeland. That cost him a spot on this list.
8. Brian Scalabrine
In eighth place on the list of the worst NBA players we have Brian Scalabrine, a name that causes some intrigue for some, since he won the championship ring with the Celtics in 2008, one of the most successful teams in the NBA .
Scalabrine played for over a decade in the NBA, during which time the former Celtics, Bulls and Nets power forward adopted the nickname “The White Mamba” in response to “The Black Mamba,” the nickname that belonged to one of the greatest NBA players of all time, Kobe Bryant. However, the nickname was the only thing Scalabrine and Kobe had in common.
Brian won the hearts of fans thanks to his positive attitude and good vibes, and he also created a good atmosphere in the locker room. Unfortunately, that’s where the good things end.
His basketball and court skills did not have the same level of positivity as his friendly presence. Six points per game and 39% shooting from the field are not statistics that an NBA player aspires to. Once you add the statistic of 2 rebounds and a brief stint in Italian basketball, it was foreseeable that his career would be over, as his numbers were not looking very good.
We want to emphasize that Brian, like all the names of the players on our list, are not bad basketball players, because any player who reaches the NBA is a great player and in the eyes of a simple fan, he is a top-level player.
In fact, in an interview, Brian said that he is “closer to LeBron than you are to me” in response to fans pointing at him for being a constant feature on the bench. While it’s hard to make a case for Brian being left off this list, there are more deserving names ahead of him and his stats aren’t the best.
7. Rashad Vaughn
For many NBA fans, Rashad Vaughn’s name could easily be on the list of the worst NBA players of all time and today, the most curious thing being that he didn’t earn a spot for his performance, but rather for the long list of injuries that didn’t allow him to grow into the potential player that was expected.
His skills led him to be the 17th pick in the 2015 draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.
This 27-year-old guard has had a great professional career, because despite being marginalized from the NBA, he had a good time in Europe that somehow made up for the past. Therefore, he still has time to get off this list, but it does not seem promising.
His professional numbers were not what was expected, shooting less than 31% from the field and averaging 3 points per game in his rookie season, statistics that will draw our attention to this coveted list.
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Rashad made headlines in his rookie season, as it was one of the worst rookie seasons in NBA history, something you don’t want associated with your name as a professional basketball player, but not by his choice.
Standing at 1.98 meters tall, this shooting guard played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Canton Charge, Westchester Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, this being his last team in the NBA. After that, he went to the NBA G, to play for the Delaware Blue Coats and then made the jump to Europe, where he played in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Greece.
He currently plays in the NBA Development League, with the Cleveland Charge.
6. Anthony Bennett
As part of the 2013 NBA Draft, Anthony Bennett was touted as one of the key players to watch in his rookie season. As things stand, Bennett remains the only Canadian to be selected number one. However, the Canadian power forward leads the charts as the worst player in the NBA currently as the worst number 1 overall pick in the league.
We don’t know what happened during the 2013 season, but what is clear is that Bennet was not the only failed decision, as there were some failures that do not even deserve a place among the worst.
However, the fact that Bennett arrived with such high expectations and ended up plying his trade in the Turkish basketball league just four years later highlights just how flawed that decision was on the part of the Cavaliers, because while they fired the Canadian as part of a deal that led to a chain of events that saw LeBron return and a title come to the Cavs, it was a costly decision.
But what is more interesting about this fact is that, at that time, Giannis Antetokounmpo was selected 15th.
Bennett is the best example of how having a first-round pick can backfire. Of course, this isn’t something that happens every season, and there are always exceptions to this rule that end up very low on the list and become huge stars.
Anthony had the distinction of being the first Canadian to be selected first overall in the NBA Draft and being a player who started out as a great prospect and became arguably the NBA’s biggest failure. Here’s how his numbers ended up:
- He averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds in his major league career and shot 26% from 3-point range.
5. Darko Milicic
The 2.13 meter tall Serbian also earned a place among the worst NBA players of all time, despite having been part of the NBA for 10 seasons, and was also champion in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons, the worst team in the NBA today .
However, in his glory days he can boast the fact that he was selected ahead of Dwayne Wade and at number two behind LeBron James. But few players can boast such low stats after being so promising at their draft selection. Along with Bennett they are the two biggest doubters in the NBA draft of all time.
Darko Miličić averaged 1.2 rebounds and 1.6 points per game in three seasons with the Detroit Pistons. His 34% shooting success rate is also among the lowest for any player the Pistons have ever had on their roster, not to mention a No. 2 pick in the draft.
His time in the top American basketball league ended soon after Darko announced his surprising retirement from the NBA at the age of 28. This is when talk began that many Boston Celtics fans were eagerly awaiting the announcement.
Just like Bennett, Darko is an example of a player who was very skilled in college, but who doesn’t know how to exploit that talent in the big leagues, and to be successful in the NBA you need to be a high-level player.
Probably the process of adapting to a new culture or perhaps injuries did not help him find his place in the NBA.
4. Adam Morrison
The Los Angeles Lakers team of the late 2000s was arguably one of the greatest in terms of skill disparity, as no other team can boast a combination of some of the best players in NBA history playing alongside some of the worst players in the NBA.
In the past, Kobe Bryant has defended Morrison, claiming he was an unselfish person who kept team morale high and it is no secret that all elite teams require players who can act as middlemen and create harmony, especially if big egos clash with each other in a high-stakes environment.
Adam also had challenges with his health and made it to the NBA despite being diagnosed with diabetes at a young age. We’re not thrilled to have him on the list, given that he was drafted third overall in 2006, even with his weaknesses. However, if we boil it down to numbers, the only fair measuring stick, Morrison deserves his spot on this list.
This former basketball player played 4 seasons in the NBA and one more in Europe and, at 2.03 metres tall, played as a small forward.
During his rookie season, he shot 37 percent. In his second season, he tore his ACL. Morrison’s third season was with the Lakers, where he would never be a starter. While some fans are jealous of any player who can sit on the bench and collect a big paycheck, that doesn’t make him a better player.
3. Rafael Araújo
This former center is not an exception to our list of the worst NBA players. Standing at 2.11 meters tall, Rafael Araújo made history in his country by being one of the few Brazilians to reach the NBA, so he sought to leave his mark on the most important league in the world.
He did, however, leave a mark, but not the one he expected or the one the Toronto Raptors would have liked.
He joined the Toronto Raptors as the eighth overall pick in the 2004 draft, where he stayed for two seasons. Here Araújo averaged 2.9 points per game for the Raptors and his 41% shooting conversion rate was weak.
In his college years he impressed scouts and was expected to be a top player, but that was not to be. While there are worse players in the sport, Araújo left the NBA after three seasons. In his defense, he suffered serious knee injuries, but played slightly better after that.
After leaving the NBA, he was part of little-known leagues until he went to Brazil, his native country. In Brazil he won a championship and was part of the roster of several teams. Even so, his performance in the NBA left much to be thought about.
2. Michael Ruffin
Another power forward who earned a spot on this list is Michael Ruffin, who surprisingly played nine seasons in the NBA. However, he had plenty of reasons to become the second worst NBA player of all time.
The action that landed Ruffin in this unapologetic spot was during a 2007 game, when the then Washington Wizards Center was part of a team protecting a precious three-point lead against the Toronto Raptors with just seconds left.
Instead of sending the ball down the court, he put it in the opponent’s hands. Although Mo Peterson made an incredible shot to send the game into overtime, it is widely regarded as one of the worst plays of that decade and it cost them dearly, as they lost the game in overtime.
Ruffin’s career seemed to be heading toward a tailspin, and while even talented players decline in their twilight years, his 0.5 percent points per game average and 29 percent shooting success rate in Portland in the 2008-09 season were among the lowest in league history.
1. Sun Yue
The Lakers selected Sun 40th overall in the draft, and some were optimistic that he would be a great addition to the team. Unfortunately, that optimism was dashed almost immediately. The Chinese player caught the attention of scouts because he could play point guard, shooting guard and small forward, but that didn’t stop him from being the first of the worst players in the NBA.
He had a promising future, but his numbers in the NBA give him away, as he averaged 0.6% points with a shooting success rate of 27%.
When he was on the court, his lack of skills was evident, especially since he was playing with legends like Kobe Bryant. In addition, during his time with the Lakers, he was a player who accumulated more fouls than points, so his departure from the team was more than certain and he was assigned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders team of the NBA D-League, but a series of injuries sidelined him.
Despite his slump in the NBA, he has had a decorated career in Chinese basketball.
With our list of the 10 worst NBA players in history settled, do you think we missed any other players? If so, let us know!
