No nepo babies: The best second-generation NBA players in history
With Bronny James making his NBA Summer League debut last weekend and all of the hoopla that came around his second-round selection by the Los Angeles Lakers, we thought it’d be a fun time to look back through league history to find the best second-generation NBA players ever, i.e. the best players ever who had fathers who also played in the NBA.
According to recent research done by Tom Haberstroh, draftees who had NBA fathers, which Haberstroh refers to as legacy players, have had better careers than those players without NBA dads:
The legacy draftees, based on where they were drafted, were on average expected to generate 1.65 annual win shares in their NBA careers, the equivalent caliber of the 16th pick. Instead, they yielded 2.15, a 30% bump, which was more indicative of a No. 10 pick. Said another way, players with NBA bloodlines have performed six slots better than their actual draft spot.
According to Haberstroh, legacy players also had – on average – longer careers than non-legacy players, too.
Very interesting stuff.
Anywho, below, check out the 15 best second-generation NBA players in league history, according to us.