8 Notable No. 8 NBA Draft Picks

Whether you love the Celtics or hate them, you have to respect their success.

Sam Jones was a major part of the Celtics’ dynasty and a 10-time NBA champion, from 1959-1969. He won an incredible eight NBA titles in a row with fellow Basketball Hall of Famers Bill Russell and K.C. Jones from 1959-1966. Jones was regarded as one of the best shooters of his era.

Notably, Jones spent his entire career in Boston, averaging 17.7 points per game during the regular season while raising his performance in the postseason where he averaged 18.9 points per game.

Jones was a five-time All-Star, was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984 and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996.

Reed played 10 years in the NBA after being selected by the Knicks in the second round and eighth overall of the 1964 NBA Draft.

The heart and soul of the last two Knicks championship teams in 1970 and 1973, Reed went up against some of the greatest big men in NBA history including Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Reed excelled from the start, winning the 1964-65 Rookie of the Year Award after posting 19.5 points and 14.7 rebounds per game. He won the 1970 NBA MVP and was a seven-time All-Star.

However, the moment that immortalized Reed into the Pantheon of Knicks legends was during the 1970 NBA Finals. Hobbled with an injured leg before Game 7, Reed found a way to block out the pain and made a dramatic appearance on The Garden floor.

Reed made his first two field goals and gave an inspirational performance that Knicks fans will never forget.

A Hall of Famer and a member of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players, The Captain also had his No. 19 retired by the Knicks.

Originally drafted by the Warriors in the 1976 NBA Draft, “The Chief” became one of the best centers of his era when he was dealt to the Celtics in 1980 in a draft-day trade.

Along with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, Parish was part of the original “Big 3” in Boston and became a nine-time All-Star. In 14 seasons in with Celtics, Parish averaged a double-double – 16.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. He won three titles in Boston and four in total, winning his last championship with the 1997 Chicago Bulls.

Parish is also a member of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players and his immortal No. 00 is retired by the Celtics.

Drafted by the then-San Diego Clippers in 1981, Chambers became a solid NBA power forward and was a four-time All-Star.

His best years were with the Phoenix Suns, including the 1989-90 season where he averaged 27.2 points per game and 7.0 rebounds. Chambers was a part of the 1993 Suns team that fell short against Michael Jordan’s dynasty Bulls in the NBA Finals.

In 1,107 career games, Chambers averaged 18.1 points and  6.1 rebounds per game.

A sweet-shooting German power forward before Dirk Nowitzki, Schrempf was ironically taken by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1985 Draft, going eighth overall. A trade to the Pacers in 1989 sparked Schrempf’s career as he went on to win Sixth Man of the Year Award in back-to-back seasons (1990-91, 1991-92).

Schrempf was a three-time NBA All-Star and averaged 13.9 points per game and 6.2 rebounds in his 1,136-game career.

Baker was briefly a Knick in parts of two seasons, but the four-time NBA All-Star is most well-known for his time with the Bucks and SuperSonics.

He averaged a double-double during the 1996-97 season, with 21.0 points per game average and 10.3 rebounds. Baker was also a member of the 2000 US Men’s Basketball Team that captured Gold during the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Crawford was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2000 NBA Draft but was traded to the Chicago Bulls that very night.

He spent four seasons in Chicago before being sent to the Knicks in a deal on August 5, 2004. It was in New York where Crawford began to stand out as a viable scoring threat in the NBA, setting a career high in points with 52 on January 26, 2007 against the Miami Heat in a Knicks win. He averaged 17.6 points per game in five seasons in the Big Apple.

Crawford would go on to find his niche as an offensive spark off the bench, collecting three Sixth Man of the Year Awards as the NBA’s best bench player (2009-10, 2013-14, 2015-16).

The last two times the Knicks were slated to pick eighth in the NBA Draft, they selected a big man from the University of Arizona – Jordan Hill in 2009 and Channing Frye in 2005.

A smooth, skillful and slick-shooting big man, Frye had a solid rookie campaign in New York, averaging 12.3 points   and 5.8 rebounds a game.

Frye was traded to Portland on June 28, 2007 with Steve Francis in exchange for Zach Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau. He bounced around the league before finally landing with Cavaliers in 2016. That year, the Cavs came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals to stun the heavily favored Golden State Warriors.