The 2013 NBA Draft shocked everyone.
Mainly because Anthony Bennett was selected as the No.1 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers, while a future NBA champion didn’t even make the top 10.
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Anthony Bennett was the No.1 pick in the NBA draftCredit: GETTY
The high from snatching Bennett first in the draft quickly came crashing down for the Cavs front office.
The franchise thought they were selecting a force in the low post, but instead they picked one of the NBA’s biggest ever busts.
Bennett’s arrival in Cleveland shocked the NBA world, with Bill Simmons exclaiming ‘Woah!’ live on air when the announcement happened, a moment that soon went viral.
Simmons wasn’t the only person left stunned by the Cavs’ choice, as they left Bennett in the dark about his pending selection.
“I’m just as surprised as everybody else,” Bennett said at the time,
Some say Cleveland were due a poor No.1 pick after previously securing LeBron James and Kyrie Irving with the top selections.
However, in 2013, with a draft class that included Giannis Antetokounmpo, who would go as the 15th pick, and Victor Oladipo, there weren’t many excuses for choosing Bennett.
And it didn’t take long for the Cavs to realise their mistake.
Team officials began to question his work ethic, and it became clear he couldn’t play as a forward.
He started out in the pecking order behind Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, and free agent pickup Andrew Bynum, but despite being the No.1 pick, he never surpassed any of them.
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Anthony Bennett now plays in Taiwan for the Formosa DreamersCredit: GETTY
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Giannis Antetokounmpo was selected 15th in the NBA draft in 2013Credit: GETTY
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The Greek star went on to win his first NBA championship in 2021Credit: GETTY
Jayson Lloyd, a Cavs insider, revealed in his book, The Blueprint, that Bennett arrived 15 pounds out of shape for his first training camp.
And that he was gassed after only a couple of trips up and down the floor, which then prompted questions about his conditioning, which never went away.
Bennett then missed the first sixteen shots of his career and wouldn’t make a bucket until the Cavs’ fifth game.
His dismal tenure in Cleveland included fans booing him as he averaged 4.2 points and three rebounds in his lone season with the team.
Bennett didn’t even start a single game for the Cavs and never got off the bench in half of them.
David Griffin, former general manager of the Cavs, admitted making a mistake with Bennett.
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“The issue with Anthony was, and we had no way of knowing it at the time, the kid had no desire to overcome adversity whatsoever. As soon as it was hard, he was out,” Griffin said.
“His whole life, he rolled out of bed bigger, better, and more talented than everybody else. As soon as it was hard, it was over. And I was the one on campus at UNLV.
“I’m the one who got sold the bill of goods and I bought it hook, line, and sinker. You f*** up sometimes. But I feel bad Chris took it for that, because Chris (Grant) was the one guy who wasn’t sure.”
Bennett would later play for three teams in his next three seasons in the NBA, with his career in the league ending at the Brooklyn Nets in 2017.
After that spell, he was unable to find another NBA job and went to Turkey before playing for a further eight teams in the next eight years.
His most recent stint came with the Formosa Dreamers in Taiwan for the 2024-25 season.
Bennett certainly didn’t have the career he had hoped for, and will unfortunately go down in the history books as one of the worst No.1 picks in NBA history.