NBA Draft: Ranking the 10 Greatest No. 1 Picks of All-Time

#1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Lewis Alcindor

Despite what other people might have to say, and they say it in recency bias, LeBron James' career accomplishments have not yet surpassed those of the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the first overall pick of the 1969 NBA draft, Kareem is the most accomplished basketball player in the history of the game, if we count their accolades at every level.

It was apparent that he stepped onto an NBA court as the best player in the league, and he won the MVP award in only his sophomore season before adding a Larry O'Brien trophy and Finals MVP to that haul. For all that people say about the 70s and how players in that era were weaker than the eras thereafter, the Harlem-born Kareem won 6 MVP trophies, had 2 Finals MVPs and 6 championship rings.

In 20 years playing in the NBA, Abdul-Jabbar has 18 All-Star game appearances, 15 All-NBA selections, 11 All-Defensive Team selections and kept up a high scoring rate up until his age-38 season, after which he came off the bench in 2 championship runs for the Lakers. His is a legacy that has been burned into the annals of sports history forever, and he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2016.