A retired NBA player shares his thoughts on the class of 2003 being considered the best in league history.
More often than not, there is a consensus best player headlining the NBA Draft. For instance, Victor Wembanyama in 2023 or Cooper Flagg in 2025.
Usually, most draft classes have a single prospect headlining the class. However, there have been a few classes that have produced multiple superstars and Hall of Fame players.
Evidently, those classes are viewed as some of the best in the history of the NBA. But what about the best class ever? Well, many have given that title to the class of 2003, headlined by LA Lakers star LeBron James.
6x NBA All-Star Jermaine O’Neal recently made an appearance on ‘Out the Mud’ podcast with Zach Randolph.
During the episode, Randolph asked for O’Neal’s opinion on the best draft class ever in league history, while pointing out the 2003 class is often given that honor.
However, O’Neal shared a different opinion, stating: “I think my draft class is the best draft class from top to bottom.
He added: “We had [Stephon] Marbury, Antoine Walker, Kobe [Bryant], Ray Allen, [Peja] Stojakovic, Steve Nash, AI [Allen Iverson], [Marcus] Camby. It was deep, bro.”
There is no doubt that the class of 1996 had insane depth and a solid case can be made for them to be better than the 2003 prospects.
The easiest way to determine which is a better class is to do a quick comparison between them. Even before that, there’s no doubt that the class of 1996 had insane depth as NBA legend Kobe Bryant was picked 13th overall.
Coming to the comparison, the 1996 draft produced 10 NBA All-Stars. It featured legends such as Kobe, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Ray Allen.
On the other hand, the 2003 draft produced nine NBA All-Stars. This class gave the league stars such as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
But how about winning NBA titles? Well, the 1996 class had nine players win at least a single NBA championship as compared to the 2003’s 15.
Lastly, four members of the 1996 NBA draft have been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
While only two have received this honor from the class of 2003, the likes of James and Melo are yet to officially get an induction so they will equal the 1996 class’ tally in this regard as well.
