Movie Milestones: 25 Years of A League of Their Own - Best Quotes

This first weekend in July marks the 25th anniversary of A League of Their Own, a film about the short-lived women's baseball league that was formed during World War II.  This is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It will make you laugh, make you cry, motivate you, and make you laugh some more, all while doing justice to America's pastime.  One of my favorite parts of this movie is it is endlessly quotable.  So to celebrate this movie milestone, I decided to count down the best A League of Their Own quotes.  So without further ado, let's play ball!

Honorable Mention

Doris: "That was some good peeing!"



Jimmy Dugan: "Anything worth doing is worth doing right."

Jimmy Dugan: "Good job ... tall girl ... what's her name?  Beverly?  Beverly!  Way to go ... tall girl ... what's her name again?  Beverly!"

Boy: (reading Jimmy's Dugan message when he signs his baseball) "Wow, 'Avoid the clap, Jimmy Dugan.'"
Jimmy Dugan: That's good advice!

Helen: Have any of you seen my new red hat?

Dottie: Piss on your red hat!

Helen: Well that seemed uncalled for...

10.

"Take me home momma and put me to bed.  I have seen enough to know I have seen too much."

(No clip available)  One of the unsung heroes of the cast of A League of Their Own that never gets recognized is the stadium announcer for the Rockford Peaches.  He has a perfect voice for the time period, as well as some great one-liners that you don't hear out of announcers these days (outside of maybe John Sterling and Hawk Harrelson).  As the dramatic championship game ends, he utters this beauty that is the perfect way to sum up the game that just concluded.  A close second in his quotes would be, after a line drive up the middle that almost hit the pitcher, "Well bite my butt and call me an apple!  She nearly took her head off!"

9.

"You're gonna lose!"

Oh Stillwell Angel ... constant entertainment for viewers, constant headache for the players.  The young son of outfielder Evelyn Gardner, Stillwell becomes almost a mascot of the team as he is a constant presence in the Peaches' clubhouse.  His constant teasing of manager Jimmy Dugan, chanting, "You're gonna lose," comes up several times throughout the movie.  What is even better is all the little things that take place with Stillwell, like when he eats a chocolate bar so fast he almost eats the wrapper, or when he eats the lineup card before a game, or when he makes Jimmy Dugan exclaim, "Hey, I don't know what that kid is doing, but someone get him away from that tape!  Stillwell!"  I think we all were cheering on Jimmy before the championship game, when Stillwell was proclaiming his familiar phrase, Jimmy pelts Stillwell in the face with a baseball glove.  "HA HA!!!  GOT HIM!!!"

8.

"I was going to send you a thank-you card, Mr. Harvey, but I wasn't allowed anything sharp to write with."

(For some reason, I can't find a clip of this scene anywhere...)  In a movie like A League of Their Own, there are sometimes entire scenes that deserve being considered a quote.  This is one of those instances.  This quote wraps up an exchange where we meet both Mr. Harvey, a millionaire starting the women's baseball league, and Jimmy Dugan, a broken-down drunk of a retired baseball player.  Mr. Harvey is offering Dugan a coaching job with the Rockford Peaches, but first they have to hash out some of their history, including Dugan managing a minor league team for Mr. Harvey where he sold off the team's equipment to pay for booze.  Throughout the scene, you see how Mr. Harvey has a soft spot for Jimmy Dugan, and how Dugan fights through his personal demons with wit and humor.  The full exchange goes like this...

Harvey: You're a young man, Jimmy.  You still could be playing, if you just would've laid off the booze.

Dugan: Well, it's not exactly like that ... I hurt my knee.

Harvey: You fell out of a hotel.  That's how you hurt it.

Dugan: Well, there was a fire.

Harvey: Which you started, which I had to pay for.

Dugan: Well now, I was going to send you a thank-you card, Mr. Harvey, but I wasn't allowed anything sharp to write with.

7.

"By the way, I loved you in the Wizard of Oz."

Miss Cuthbert seems to be one of most tortured characters of the whole movie.  Whether it be getting poisoned so the girls can sneak out to a bar ("In my 43 years I've been practicing medicine, I never saw a woman throw up so much!"  "I think it's how she entertains herself, Doc.") or getting dirt thrown in her face by disgruntled employees, she seems to be forced to be in a bad mood all the time.  On one road trip, Stillwell is causing mayhem on the team bus which eventually leads to the bus driver quitting (enter dirt thrown in the face).  Miss Cuthbert now is forced to wake up Jimmy Dugan from his alcohol-induced nap to inform him what has happened.  His first reaction when waking up from his drunken stupor is to plant a wet one on the woman standing over him.  When he realizes what he did, he quickly screams, rinses his mouth out with more booze, and asks what is going on ("Why did we stop?"  "Lou quit."  "WHO'S LOU?!?!?"  "The driver.").  When Dugan calms down, he looks at Miss Cuthbert, wearing her little hat with her face covered in dirt and says this line.  It's an observation you never would have noticed unless it was pointed out, but once it was, all you can see the rest of the movie when you see Miss Cuthbert is a flying monkey.  Poor Miss Cuthbert...

6.

Jimmy Dugan's prayer

Jimmy Dugan is not a religious man, however he has his moments where he figures it is worth a shot.  Before the championship game, he gets the team to kneel down for a prayer.  It is a moment that displays Jimmy Dugan's personality and transformation throughout the film.  Some of the girls are a little taken aback at the idea, and even more taken aback after they hear his prayer.  However, it shows just how much Dugan has come to care for his team of ballplayers, and also how he hasn't really changed at all.  Here it is:

"Uh, Lord, hallowed be Thy name.  May our feet be swift; may our bats be mighty; and may our balls  ... be plentiful.  Lord, I'd just like to thank You for that waitress in South Bend.  You know who she is - she kept calling Your name.  And God, these are good girls, and they work hard.  Just help them see it all the way through.  Okay, that's it."

5.

"You ever hear Dad introduce us to people?  'This is our daughter Dottie, and this is our other daughter, Dottie's sister.'  Should've just had you and bought a dog!"

No other quote so clearly sets up the primary relationship and conflict of the entire movie.  Although this is a baseball movie, at its core it is the story of two sisters: the older sister that does everything right and everyone loves, and the younger sister that is always trying to emerge out of older sister's shadow.  Younger sister Kit says this line near the beginning of the film, and it sets the tone for the rest of the movie.  Kit is defined by being Dottie's sister and, in her mind, nothing she does will ever change that.  It is a humorous way of showing a somewhat heartbreaking disposition that many people can relate to.

4.

"Batter up..."

For some reason, this song has always put a smile on my face.  Throughout the film, one of the characters (Evelyn) is writing a song about what it is like to play in the league.  At different times during the movie (most notably at the end during the Hall of Fame presentation), the song is sung by all the women present.  It's a song that shows their spirit, their love of the game, and their patriotism during a time of turmoil for our country.  The best part of this song?  It is the actual song the real girls sang during this league.  Here are the lyrics...

"Batter up, hear that call. The time has come for one and all... to play ball. We're the members of the All American League. We come from cities near and far. We've got Canadians, Irish ones, & Swedes. We're all for one, we're one for all, we're all American. Each girl stands, her head so proudly high. Her motto "Do or Die". She's not the one to use or need an alibi. Our chaperones are not too soft; they're not too tough. Our managers are on the ball. We've got a President who really knows his stuff. We're all for one, we're one for all, we're all American."

3.

"It's supposed to be hard.  If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it.  The hard is what makes it great."

It is quotes like this that make you love baseball.  Dottie is leaving to go home after her husband gets home after the war, leaving her team just before the championships.  Jimmy Dugan has something to say before she leaves though.  He tells her she will regret quitting for the rest of her life.  In another quote that could have made this list, Dugan says, "Baseball is what gets inside you.  It's what lights you up, you can't deny that."  Dottie's response?  "It just got too hard."  That is where the quote here comes in.  In one line, Jimmy Dugan gives one of the most quintessential and inspiring baseball quotes in film history.  It makes me want to go out and swing a bat right now!

2.

Anything Jon Lovitz says

In what might be one of the funniest roles of all time, rarely is an actor more perfectly suited to play a role than Jon Lovitz was to play talent scout Ernie Capadino.  Every line he says is quotable.  I could have just made a list of Jon Lovitz quotes from the film.  Seriously, he deserved an Oscar nomination for this performance.  Here are the highlights...

(watching cows being milked) Doesn't that hurt them?  It would bruise the hell out of me.

(after a cow moos during his line) Will you shut up!

(walking through a group of chickens) Haven't you heard of a leash?

You see, the way it works is the train moves, not the station.

(to a salesman) You know, if I had your job, I'd kill myself!  Wait here, I'll see if I can dig up a pistol.

(to the farmgirls) Did you promise the cows you'd write?

(to the farmgirls at the ballpark) Hey cowgirls, see that grass?  Don't eat it!

(as he leaves those he recruited) I hate when they get attached to me like that!

1.

"There's no crying in baseball!"

Yes, the most iconic quote that has stuck in pop culture the most over the last 25 years is the best quote in A League of Their Own.  However, I love this quote not because of its recognizability, but because of the entire rant Jimmy Dugan goes on to finally arrive at this quote.  Everything from asking Evelyn what team she plays for because of the stupid mistake she just made in the field makes him question if she knows what team she is supposed to be helping to him telling the umpire of his unfortunate phallic resemblance, this entire rant from start to finish is pure gold.  It is one of my favorite rants in all of film.  "I can't believe no one has every called you that before!"

There is my list!  Did I miss anything?  Let me know in the comments below.

Year in Review: Terry's Top Ten Films of 2016

It is that time of year once again.  Finally, I have found enough time to watch enough films to compile a top ten list from the year before.  My rule is I need to at least make it through the year's Best Picture nominees before I can say my top ten list is complete.

2016 was an interesting year in film.  The Oscars are no longer as white as everyone thought they were, with three Best Picture nominees featuring African-American leads as well as Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress going to African-Americans.  There were films that were throwbacks to past glory years of cinema (La La Land, Hell or High Water) while you had other films addressing very current and modern topics (Moonlight, Lion).  Comic book movies made bank at the box office, while Star Wars and Harry Potter resurfaced once again.  No matter which genre you were looking at, there was quality to be found if you looked hard enough.  This led to a compilation of films at the top of my list that are as varied as they are excellent.

Honorable Mentions

Finding Dory

(dir. by Andrew Stanton & Angus MacLane)

Swiss Army Man

(dir. by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)

Zootopia

(dir. by Jared Bush, Byron Howard, & Rich Moore)

Hell or High Water

(dir. by David Mackenzie)

10.  Hidden Figures

(dir. by Theodore Melfi)

The first film on my list is a film that deals with a subject I love.  The Space Race is one of my favorite parts of history, and Hidden Figures discusses an otherwise untold story of a group of African American women who were essential to the work NASA did in getting men in space and on the moon.  The film was made to appeal to a family audience and so was made a little more vanilla than it could have been, but the impact is still there.  Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae have inspired performances as the three leaders of this movement.  It is a great combination of all the aspects of American history during that time: Space Race and Civil Rights movement.  I loved this film and all it stood for.

9.  Nocturnal Animals

(dir. by Tom Ford)

This fascinating film is one of those experiences that gets stuck in your head in a way you can't shake.  Amy Adams plays an art gallery owner that seems to be distracted and haunted by several things.  She is haunted by her past, which soon gets combined with being haunted by a novel sent to her by her ex-husband.  As the parallel stories of present day, flashbacks, and narrative from the novel are told, you begin to lose track of what is actually real, but I think that's the point.  All the stories seem to complement each other in this twisted thriller unravels into a fascinating piece of art worthy of Tom Ford's reputation.  Michael Shannon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson also provide award-worthy performances in supporting roles as a killer and the man out to find justice.

8.  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

(dir. by David Yates)

I became a late fan of the Harry Potter series, but a very quick fan.  When I heard they were starting up a spin-off series, I was about as skeptical as I was when I first heard about Harry Potter.  Spin-offs almost never go well.  However, I was amazed at what they developed.  The Harry Potter universe is as rich and fascinating as any cinematic universe that has ever been developed.  Newt Scamander's trunk of fantastic beasts just continues to explore more aspects of this universe.  What I loved most about this film is it has everything you love about Harry Potter, but it is all adults.  This is not the little kid movie that started this whole magical ride.  This is a film that starts a new era of new stories and new characters for us all to fall in love with.  I hope they never stop expanding on what this universe can be.

7.  Lion

(dir. by Garth Davis)

Dev Patel became a breakout star in 2008 with Slumdog Millionaire playing the grown-up version of a boy that had a rough childhood in India.  I loved that movie.  Last year, Dev Petel received his first Oscar nomination for playing the grown-up version of a boy that had a rough childhood in India.  I loved this movie too!  There are definitely some similarities between Slumdog Millionaire and Lion, but they are different enough to make the two experiences vastly different.  Lion is a true story about Saroo, a young boy who finds himself separated from his family and thousands of miles from home.  Eventually, he finds himself in an orphanage and gets adopted by an Australian family.  As an adult, Saroo decides to use Google Earth to try and find his way back home.  This film breaks your heart and spends the whole movie putting it back together again.  You know how it is going to end, but it doesn't make the payoff any less powerful.  Dev Petel validates that he is a quality actor that we need to see on screen much more often than we do.

6.  Silence

(dir. by Martin Scorsese)

Two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan to look for their mentor in the 1600's.  Sounds like a terrible movie that would never get made.  Oh, Martin Scorsese made it?  Nevermind, this will be a masterpiece.  And that is exactly what it is.  Scorsese is one of the greatest storytellers of our time as he brings to life this world we had no clue would be so fascinating.  Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver solidify their place with some of the best young actors working today.  Liam Neeson resurrects his career in a beautiful performance as a tortured priest.  However, this film does not get made without Scorsese.  There are few directors that draw the attention of the entire industry simply for making a film.  Scorsese is one of those directors, and Silence will go down as just another masterpiece in a career filled with them.

5.  La La Land

(dir. by Damien Chazelle)

By the time I saw La La Land, the hype had been built up to monumental levels.  I wish I had seen it without any expectations or knowing as much as I knew.  If that had happened, I am sure I would have loved it even more than I did.  This throwback to classic original movie musicals of the 50's and 60's touches a sentimental nerve in a similar way 2011's The Artist did.  Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were perfect in their starring roles as the film dazzled through song and wonderful visual images.  It was probably the prettiest movie of the year, which is impressive considering there was a Scorsese film and a Tom Ford film.  It is one of those films that makes you happy from start to finish.  With our world where it is, having an escape like this is so needed from time to time.

4.  Deadpool

(dir. by Tim Miller)

From possibly the most innocent and feel-good movie of the year to a film that just punches you in the face.  Deadpool took advantage of the current craze of superhero movies and flipped it on its head to redefine the what the genre could be.  Ryan Reynolds is to Deadpool as Robert Downey, Jr. is to Iron Man.  He just is.  It is one of the most naturally played roles I have ever seen.  He is crass, self-deprecating, self-aware, and ridiculously entertaining.  It also redefined the genre in a similar way to Downey's first turn as Iron Man.  For someone who loves comic book movies to begin with, Deadpool is a deformed head and shoulders above the rest.

3.  Manchester by the Sea

(dir. by Kenneth Lonergan)

Like I said, this list has a wide variety of films.  With this installment, we have a film about grief, loss, and living with one's past.  Casey Affleck plays the lead, haunted by his past while trying to mourn his brother's death with his nephew.  I haven't seen many movies more real than this.  Every scene feels completely genuine as you forget you are watching actors and not people just living out their lives.  That is a testament to the performances by Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams, and Kyle Chandler.  It also shows the skill of Kenneth Lonergan, an accomplished screenwriter that picks his directed movies very carefully and sparingly (only his third directed film).  This film will have you crying one minute, laughing the next, and fascinated from start to finish.

2.  Arrival

(dir. by Denis Villeneuve)

This is a film that becomes an obsession much like the aliens become to Amy Adams.  In an era of big budget blockbusters, here you have a subtle and quiet sci-fi movie that could only be compared to the recent Christopher Nolan films.  Several spacecraft land on earth quietly and mysteriously.  The US military entrusts Louise Banks, a linguistics professor played by Adams, to find a way to communicate with the aliens and discover what they want.  The quiet intensity draws you in more and more every minute as it all builds to the ending that brings clarity to it all.  It is as shocking as it is quiet and understated.  I loved every minute of it and would have been perfectly content to name this my top film of the year.

1.  O.J.: Made in America

(dir. by Ezra Edelman)

To show just how much variety this year's top films have, my number one is an 8 hour documentary.  However, I rarely become so engrossed in something as I was in this twisted story that no one would believe unless it were true.  O.J.: Made in America tells of the meteoric rise and fall of football star and actor O.J. Simpson, including his very public trial for the murder of his wife.  However, it is so much more than just a story of one man.  It is the story of an entire race and an entire city.  Without knowing the whole story, you would never fully grasp everything that happened in this one man's life.  I watched this, like most did, as a miniseries that aired on ESPN.  It did get a limited cinematic release as one complete saga, which qualifies it as one film.  I somewhat feel like I'm cheating putting this as my top film of the year, but when it is considered as a complete 8 hour saga, nothing else even comes close to being as good as this.

Power Rankings: NBA Draft Classes - 2017 Edition

I have to admit something ... the 2016-2017 NBA season was the least interesting season of sports in any of the "Big 3" sports that I can remember.  It seemed predetermined before the season even started that it would come down to the Warriors and Cavs again for the third straight season, and no one else really had a shot.  I was completely disinterested from start to finish.  During the NBA Finals, I chose to watch Super Regional College Baseball and Track & Field National Championships over the showdown between Cleveland and Golden State.  I know I am in the minority on this since the NBA Finals were the highest rated since Jordan played.  However, in my opinion, super-teams are ruining the NBA and eliminate any sense of parody that may have existed before.  Unless they do something soon that makes more than two or three teams contenders, then the NBA will start losing fans quick.

With all that said, my interest immediately perked up again once the Finals ended.  I love the offseason of any sport.  One thing that makes the NBA unique is the fact that the NBA Draft comes up within a week or two of the end of the season.  As much as I loathed the NBA this season, I watched most of the NBA Draft.  This is because the Draft gives equal time to every team and not just the super-teams that dominate the regular season.

In 2014 and 2015, I put out rankings of NBA Draft classes in the recent incarnation of the draft that goes back to 1989 (lottery, 2 rounds).  I did not put out these rankings last year for several reasons.  I think it was partially due to the fact that I was leading into such an apathetic mood towards the NBA in general.  However, the biggest reason I shelved the idea was the subjectivity of it.  I created a complex formula that tried to make it as objective as possible, however there was a level of subjectivity, specifically in ranking the top picks and the best players in the draft, that I struggled with.  Honestly, I didn't feel qualified in my apathetic state to make those judgment calls.

Recently, I considered putting out the rankings this year, only if I could find a more objective way of evaluating.  I dug into some of the more analytic statistics and found the Win Shares stat, a calculation of the number of wins contributed by a player.  This is much like the WAR stat that has become so popular in baseball.  I decided to rank the top picks and best players in the drafts by Win Share per season for each player.  I also calculated top 10 busts as a player that had less than 2 WS per season and less than 20 WS for players drafted more than 10 years ago.  Likewise, a significant second round pick was determined as a player who contributed more than 2 WS per season and over 20 WS for players drafted more than 10 years ago.  The formula to determine the draft score is as follows...

Score = (All Stars) + (All NBA players) + (Hall of Famers) + (MVP Awards) + (MVP Players) + (Flipped Rank of #1 pick / 2) + (Flipped Rank of Best Player / 4) + (Notable 2nd Rounders / 2) - (Top 10 Flops) - (Players That Never Played / 2)

With that said, let's get into the rankings. The mean score for these drafts is 13.93.

28. 2016 Draft

'15: NR, '14: NR

Score: -17

1st Pick: Ben Simmons (28th, 0.0 WS/yr)

Best Player: 36th Pick - Malcolm Brogdon (28th, 4.1 WS/yr)

All Stars: 0

All-NBA: 0

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 15

Top 10 Flops: 10

Worst Top 10 Pick: 4th Pick - Dragan Bender (-0.3 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

Obviously, an evaluation process on a draft class just one year removed is still a work in progress.  It hurts that the top pick didn't even see the court, but none of the top 10 picks really played well this year.  For the first time ever, the Rookie of the Year came from outside the first round.  Once Simmons plays, and more international players make their debut, this draft has a potential to be much better.  Can't get much worse...

27. 2013 Draft
'15: 26, '14: 25

Score: -2.5

1st Pick: Anthony Bennett (27th, 0.13 WS/yr)

Best Player: 27th Pick - Rudy Gobert (20th, 7.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 1 (Giannis Antetokounmpo)

All-NBA: 2 (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 4

Worst Top 10 Pick: 1st Pick - Anthony Bennett (0.13 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

Once again, terrible production out of the top pick destroyed this draft.  Anthony Bennett might be the worst pick of all time.  There are some decent players starting to develop though.  Gobert and the Greek Freak have star potential.

26. 2014 Draft
'15: 25, '14: NR

Score: -0.75

1st Pick: Andrew Wiggins (20th, 3.4 WS/yr)

Best Player: 41st Pick - Nikola Jokic (17th, 8.2 WS/yr)

All Stars: 0

All-NBA: 0

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 5

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Dante Exum (0.6 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

This draft class brings about some interesting questions of perception vs. production.  Everyone says that Andrew Wiggins is a star in the making.  However, with only 3.4 WS per year, he hasn't played like it yet.  Instead, a guy like Nikola Jokic claims the spot as the most productive player in the class.  The success of this class all revolves around if Wiggins actually develops into what he is supposed to.

25. 2000 Draft
'15: 24, '14: 24

Score: 0.25

1st Pick: Kenyon Martin (21st, 3.2 WS/yr)

Best Player: 16th Pick - Hedo Turkoglu (27th, 4.2 WS/yr)

All Stars: 3 (Kenyon Martin, Jamaal Magloire, Michael Redd)

All-NBA: 1 (Michael Redd)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 5

Worst Top 10 Pick: 4th Pick - Marcus Fizer (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

When there are only two players (Mike Miller, Jamal Crawford) in the draft class that were still in the league this year, you can't really improve your score.  So the fact that this class barely has a positive score is not a good sign.  This is doomed to be considered one of the least talented drafts in recent memory.

24. 2015 Draft
'15: NR, '14: NR

Score: 4.75

1st Pick: Karl-Anthony Towns (3rd, 10.5 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Karl-Anthony Towns (7th, 10.5 WS/yr)

All Stars: 0

All-NBA: 0

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 18

Top 10 Flops: 6

Worst Top 10 Pick: 7th Pick - Emmanuel Mudiay (-1.0 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

This draft makes a decent debut after two seasons for one reason: Karl-Anthony Towns.  If he continues at this pace, he could be one of the best players of all time.  You have to think some more players will make debuts as well which will help this class out too.

23. 2006 Draft
'15: 22, '14: 21

Score: 5.5

1st Pick: Andrea Bargnani (24th, 1.9 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - LaMarcus Aldridge (18th, 7.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry, Paul Millsap)

All-NBA: 4 (LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 5

Worst Top 10 Pick: 3rd Pick - Adam Morrison (-0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

There were no real superstars to come out of this draft.  Aldridge is a good player that has hovered on the brink of being a superstar, but doesn't look like he will get there.  The best player of the draft was probably Brandon Roy, but his career ended way too early.  This draft instead will be remembered for guys like Bargnani and Morrison, two of the biggest busts of all time.

22. 1994 Draft
'15: 12, '14: 13

Score: 8.75

1st Pick: Glenn Robinson (19th, 3.6 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - Jason Kidd (21st, 7.3 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Juwan Howard, Eddie Jones)

All-NBA: 4 (Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Juwan Howard, Eddie Jones)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Sharone Wright (0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

The Win Share stat is not kind to this draft class.  The eye test tells you Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd, and Grant Hill had better careers than the numbers suggest, but that's what the numbers say.  This is what caused the sudden drop is rankings.

21. 2010 Draft
'15: 23, '14: 23

Score: 9.5

1st Pick: John Wall (13th, 5.8 WS/yr)

Best Player: 7th Pick - Greg Monroe (24th, 6.5 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward, Paul George)

All-NBA: 3 (John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Epke Udoh (1.1 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

Again, Win Shares is an interesting stat.  Superstars like John Wall and Paul George are in this draft.  An emerging star like Gordon Hayward is there too.  Yet, Greg Monroe is the most productive player of the draft class so far.  I have to think this won't last much longer as some of these players continue to dominate the league.

20. 1989 Draft
'15: 19, '14: 20

Score: 10.25

1st Pick: Pervis Ellison (23rd, 2.0 WS/yr)

Best Player: 26th Pick - Vlade Divac (25th, 6.0 WS/yr)

All Stars: 9 (Sean Elliott, Glen Rice, Mookie Blaylock, Tim Hardaway, Dana Barros, Shawn Kemp, B.J. Armstrong, Vlade Divac, Cliff Robinson)

All-NBA: 3 (Glen Rice, Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 6

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Randy White (0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

Pervis Ellison is said to be one of the biggest busts in NBA Draft history.  However, this draft is somewhat saved by the fact that there were so many good players that came out of this draft.  Nine All Stars is the second most of any draft class on this list.

19. 2007 Draft
'15: 18, '14: 16

Score: 12.25

1st Pick: Greg Oden (22nd, 2.4 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - Kevin Durant (3rd, 12.0 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol)

All-NBA: 4 (Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 1 (Kevin Durant)

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Yi Jianyian (0.6 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

For as disappointing as Greg Oden was as a top pick, Kevin Durant makes up for it as one of the best players of his generation.  However, thanks to Greg Oden, Durant's draft class is the lowest of all classes containing an MVP.

18. 1991 Draft
'15: 16, '14: 17

Score: 12.75

1st Pick: Larry Johnson (10th, 7.0 WS/yr)

Best Player: 4th Pick - Dikembe Mutombo (23rd, 6.5 WS/yr)

All Stars: 7 (Larry Johnson, Kenny Anderson, Dikembe Mutombo, Steve Smith, Terrell Brandon, Dale Davis, Chris Gatling)

All-NBA: 2 (Larry Johnson, Dikembe Mutombo)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Dikembe Mutombo)

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 10

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Mark Macon (0.0 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

The surprising part about this draft class is the low number of All-NBA players even though they have so many All Stars.  We also have our first Hall of Famer in Mutombo.  Larry Johnson is really a forgotten star of the NBA.

17. 1995 Draft
'15: 15, '14: 18

Score: 13

1st Pick: Joe Smith (18th, 3.8 WS/yr)

Best Player: 5th Pick - Kevin Garnett (12th, 9.1 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Antonio McDyess, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett, Theo Ratliff, Michael Finley)

All-NBA: 2 (Antonio McDyess, Kevin Garnett)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 1 (Kevin Garnett)

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Ed O'Bannon (0.6 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 2

There is no way Joe Smith should have been the top pick of any draft, but he was a servicable pro for 16 seasons which is a feat in itself.  The crown jewel of this draft is definitely Kevin Garnett, whose average WS/yr was hurt by a his last few years that were less than productive.

16. 2001 Draft
'15: 17, '14: 10

Score: 13.25

1st Pick: Kwame Brown (25th, 1.7 WS/yr)

Best Player: 3rd Pick - Pau Gasol (15th, 8.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 8 (Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, Mehmet Okur)

All-NBA: 6 (Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 8

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Rodney White (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

There were some pretty good players in this draft.  Tyson Chandler was one of the better defensive players for a good stretch, Tony Parker led the Spurs dynasty, and Pau Gasol was one of the quietest superstars of the last decade.  However, this draft will always be remembered for Kwame Brown.  What were they thinking?

15. 2002 Draft
'15: 10, '14: 14

Score: 14

1st Pick: Yao Ming (8th, 8.2 WS/yr)

Best Player: 9th Pick - Amar'e Stoudemire (22nd, 6.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (Yao Ming, Amar'e Stoudemire, Caron Butler, Carlos Boozer)

All-NBA: 3 (Yao Ming, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Yao Ming)

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Nikoloz Tskitishvili (-0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

An important note to make here as it applies to this and several other draft classes.  I decided the best player in the draft class would be the player with the highest total Win Shares.  Although Yao Ming has a higher WS/yr than Amar'e Stoudemire, Stoudemire had a higher total since Yao's career was cut short due to injury.  Yao may have been one of the most important draft picks of this era.  This is also the first draft class that is above the average mark.

14. 1990 Draft
'15: 11, '14: 9

Score: 15

1st Pick: Derrick Coleman (16th, 4.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 2nd Pick - Gary Payton (16th, 8.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Derrick Coleman, Gary Payton, Tyrone Hill, Jayson Williams, Antonio Davis, Cedric Ceballos)

All-NBA: 2 (Derrick Coleman, Gary Payton)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Gary Payton)

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 2

Top 10 Flops: 4

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Bo Kimble (0.0 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

Something that almost skews this draft class up a few notches is the fact that only two picks never appeared in the NBA, tied for the fewest of any draft class.  Derrick Coleman was a solid pro, but Gary Payton was the star of the group and now a Hall of Famer.

13. 1993 Draft
'15: 14, '14: 6

Score: 15

1st Pick: Chris Webber (14th, 5.6 WS/yr)

Best Player: 24th Pick - Sam Cassell (26th, 5.8 WS/yr)

All Stars: 7 (Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Vin Baker, Allan Houston, Sam Cassell, Nick Van Exel)

All-NBA: 5 (Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Vin Baker, Sam Cassell)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 7th Pick - Bobby Hurley (-0.2 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

What gives this draft class a boost is the fact that only one draft pick in the top ten was not a solid pro (and that one was possibly the best collegiate player).  The combination of C-Webb and Penny made for a very strong top of this draft class.

12. 2004 Draft
'15: 20, '14: 12

Score: 15.5

1st Pick: Dwight Howard (6th, 9.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Dwight Howard (10th, 9.3 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Dwight Howard, Devin Harris, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Jameer Nelson)

All-NBA: 2 (Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 13

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Rafael Araujo (-0.1 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

Dwight Howard, although he has greatly struggled over the last few seasons, is one of only eight number one picks to also be the top player in his draft class.  Even with his struggles, he makes the top ten out of the top picks and the best players lists.  He single-handedly lifts this draft almost to the top ten.

11. 1998 Draft
'15: 9, '14: 15

Score: 16

1st Pick: Michael Olowokandi (26th, 0.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 9th Pick - Dirk Nowitzki (6th, 10.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Rashard Lewis)

All-NBA: 3 (Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 1 (Dirk Nowitzki)

Never Played: 2

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 1st Pick - Michael Olowokandi (0.3 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 5

Michael Olowokandi is one of only two top picks (along with Anthony Bennett) to be the biggest bust from their class.  So why did 1998 almost reach the top ten while 2013 is one of the worst of the era?  The answer is everyone else.  Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, and Paul Pierce are future Hall of Famers.  Only two top ten picks didn't work out, and only two picks never played.  This was a great class, with the exception of numero uno.

10. 1999 Draft
'15: 7, '14: 4

Score: 17.75

1st Pick: Elton Brand (12th, 6.4 WS/yr)

Best Player: 9th Pick - Shawn Marion (19th, 7.8 WS/yr)

All Stars: 9 (Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Wally Szczerbiak, Richard Hamilton, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Andrei Kirilenko, Manu Ginobili)

All-NBA: 5 (Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Manu Ginobili)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 12

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Jonathan Bender (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 1

The first draft class in the top ten is an interesting one.  Neither the first pick nor the best player reached the top ten in their categories, and 12 players never played in the NBA.  With all that, they also had 9 All Stars, 5 All-NBA players, and only one flop.  A deep class can make you a good draft class, but great players are what make a great class.

9. 2011 Draft
'15: 21, '14: 22

Score: 19.75

1st Pick: Kyrie Irving (11th, 6.7 WS/yr)

Best Player: 15th Pick - Kawhi Leonard (11th, 9.2 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas)

All-NBA: 5 (Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 6

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 10th Pick - Jimmer Fredette (0.5 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

In the last two years, this draft class jumped from outside the top 20 to inside the top 10.  This is due to the emergence of some serious stars from this draft class.  Kyrie is the 11th best number one pick in the era, but can't even claim the best player in his class.  The five players that have made the All-NBA Team are some of the top superstars in the league today.  Few classes have produced this much firepower.

8. 2008 Draft
'15: 4, '14: 7

Score: 21.75

1st Pick: Derrick Rose (15th, 4.3 WS/yr)

Best Player: 4th Pick - Russell Westbrook (13th, 8.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan)

All-NBA: 5 (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, Goran Dragic)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 2 (Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook)

Never Played: 9

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Joe Alexander (0.3 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 6

Russell Westbrook's incredible 2016-2017 season has given this draft class a boost by improving their best player as well as providing a second MVP for the class.  The final standing of this class all depends on if Westbrook continues to produce since it seems most of the production out of guys like Rose, Love, Lopez, and Hibbert has all but stopped.

7. 2012 Draft
'15: 8, '14: 19

Score: 22

1st Pick: Anthony Davis (4th, 9.8 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Anthony Davis (8th, 9.8 WS/yr)

All Stars: 4 (Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Andre Drummond, Draymond Green)

All-NBA: 4 (Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Andre Drummond, Draymond Green)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 4

Top 10 Flops: 3

Worst Top 10 Pick: 5th Pick - Thomas Robinson (0.9 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

As Anthony Davis continues to turn himself into one of the best players in the league, this draft class will continue to move up this list.  There can easily be multiple MVP's that get added to this class from either Davis or Lillard.  Even Andre Drummond has a shot if he gets on a good team at some point.  This draft class will keep getting better.

6. 2005 Draft
'15: 13, '14: 5

Score: 22

1st Pick: Andrew Bogut (17th, 4.2 WS/yr)

Best Player: 4th Pick - Chris Paul (2nd, 12.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Andrew Bynum, Danny Granger, David Lee)

All-NBA: 5 (Andrew Bogut, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Andrew Bynum, David Lee)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 0

Never Played: 5

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Ike Diogu (1.1 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 7

The Win Shares stat loves Chris Paul!  He is an amazing player, but I don't think I would put him as the second best player drafted over the last 28 years.  Nevertheless, there he sits.  Also, on the surface, Bogut looks like a bust, but he is average compared with his other top picks and showed he had the skill if it weren't for injuries.  Also, only having one flop in the top ten is helpful too.

5. 1997 Draft
'15: 6, '14: 8

Score: 23.25

1st Pick: Tim Duncan (2nd, 10.9 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Tim Duncan (5th, 10.9 WS/yr)

All Stars: 3 (Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Tracy McGrady)

All-NBA: 3 (Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Tracy McGrady)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Tracy McGrady)

MVP's: 2 (Tim Duncan*)

Never Played: 10

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Ron Mercer (1.2 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

Every draft class has at least one MVP.  The 1997 boasts one of the greatest draft picks of all time in Tim Duncan.  The Great Fundamentalist won 2 MVP's and will soon join his draft classmate Tracy McGrady in the Hall of Fame.  So this draft class, although no one still plays, still has room to grow.

4. 1992 Draft
'15: 3, '14: 3

Score: 25.75

1st Pick: Shaquille O'Neal (5th, 9.6 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - Shaquille O'Neal (9th, 9.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 5 (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner, Tom Gugliotta, Latrell Sprewell)

All-NBA: 3 (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Latrell Sprewell)

Hall of Famers: 2 (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning)

MVP's: 1 (Shaquille O'Neal)

Never Played: 6

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 8th Pick - Todd Day (2.2 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 3

This draft features two of the greatest centers of their generation in Shaq and Zo.  However, on top of that, they also featured a very strong top 10, with only one flop (and the only thing making Todd Day a flop was he didn't play for 10+ years, but he averaged over 2 WS/yr).  This class was solidly in the top three, but it slips one slot more from the strength of the new number three than this class losing something.

3. 2009 Draft
'15: 5, '14: 11

Score: 26.5

1st Pick: Blake Griffin (7th, 8.9 WS/yr)

Best Player: 3rd Pick - James Harden (4th, 11.4 WS/yr)

All Stars: 6 (Blake Griffin, James Harden, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozen, Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague)

All-NBA: 4 (Blake Griffin, James Harden, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozen)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 2 (Stephen Curry*)

Never Played: 10

Top 10 Flops: 2

Worst Top 10 Pick: 6th Pick - Jonny Flynn (-0.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 8

Talk about a draft class on the rise!  Blake Griffin is a star that puts up high Win Shares.  Stephen Curry is one of the biggest stars in the NBA, winning two MVP's.  However, he isn't even the best player in his class according to WS.  James Harden, who almost won the MVP this season, shows just how dominant he has been over the last several seasons.  This class has a potential to keep moving up these rankings.

2. 2003 Draft
'15: 2, '14: 2

Score: 32.25

1st Pick: LeBron James (1st, 14.7 WS/yr)

Best Player: 1st Pick - LeBron James (1st, 14.7 WS/yr)

All Stars: 9 (LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Chris Kaman, David West, Josh Howard, Mo Williams, Kyle Korver)

All-NBA: 4 (LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade)

Hall of Famers: 0

MVP's: 4 (LeBron James***)

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 4

Worst Top 10 Pick: 3rd Pick - Darko Milicic (0.7 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 7

When I first did this list 3 years ago, I thought the 2003 Draft Class would run away with the title.  They have the best player drafted during this time period, as well as possibly the strongest top five or six in NBA Draft history.  There is only one exception to this: Darko.  Darko had the potential of being the next Dirk Nowitzki.  Now he is just a punchline for being one of the worst draft picks in NBA history.  If Darko had developed into the player he could have been, this draft class might be number one.  One thing that will be interesting to see is how the development of super-teams will affect the legacies of some of these classes.  This season proved that a player forced to carry their team is more likely to win the award than the best player on a super-team.  Will LeBron win another MVP?  It's possible he will always lose out to guys like Westbrook or Harden.  However, now with Paul George on the Thunder and Chris Paul on the Rockets, who knows...

1. 1996 Draft
'15: 1, '14: 1

Score: 33.5

1st Pick: Allen Iverson (9th, 7.1 WS/yr)

Best Player: 13th Pick - Kobe Bryant (14th, 8.6 WS/yr)

All Stars: 10 (Allen Iverson, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Antoine Walker, Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas)

All-NBA: 7 (Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal)

Hall of Famers: 1 (Allen Iverson)

MVP's: 4 (Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash*, Allen Iverson)

Never Played: 11

Top 10 Flops: 1

Worst Top 10 Pick: 9th Pick - Samaki Walker (1.4 WS/yr)

Notable 2nd Rounders: 4

This is once again the best and deepest draft class in the modern era.  Ten All Stars is the most by any class, and seven All-NBA players is also best out of any class.  This doesn't even include Ben Wallace, who was an All Star and All-NBA player that went undrafted that year.  They are one of only five draft classes with multiple MVP awards (tied for the lead with 4) and one of only two classes to produce more than one MVP winner (2008 just joined this club this season with Westbrook's win).  This is even taking into account the fact that the Win Shares stat is not very kind to Iverson and Kobe, as both have been listed in the top five of their lists in the past.  Even their one flop, Samaki Walker, had a 10 year career and one of the higher WS/yr out of all the worst picks.  This draft will only get better too as more of its members (Bryant, Nash, Allen for sure) join AI in the Hall of Fame.  It will take a lot for this class to be unseated in the future.


And with that, the rankings are completed.  I can go back to not caring about the NBA now.