The 2012 NBA Draft was the biggest sting ever dealt to Charlotte basketball

Plenty of conversations have been had about the infamous 2012 NBA Draft and what it ultimately meant for the city of Charlotte. It has proven to be much worse than just missing out on the first overall pick.

I could go into a long, drawn-out diatribe about the now Charlotte Hornets missing out on the number one overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, but I’ll take mercy on that particular dead horse for now.

What I will discuss, though, is the sheer amount of stardom that came after Charlotte picked forward, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, second overall behind his teammate from Kentucky, Anthony Davis.

Michael Kidd Gilchrist, or MKG, as fans called him, was a fine player and gave a lot to the Bobcats and Hornets during his time with the organization. He never quite lived up to the expectations of a second overall pick, though, especially one in what many would consider one of the deepest draft classes of the decade.

He’s far from what I would consider a bust and even farther from the worst draft pick in Charlotte history. Yet, when compared to the names that were taken behind him, he simply could not measure up.

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It’s almost too much to ask to have to follow up a generational talent like Anthony Davis in any draft but in an affair that would feature many of today’s superstars, it’s nigh impossible. In a way, it’s borderline tragic how it all turned out.

To miss out on players like Bradley Beal, who was taken just one pick behind him, is saddening. Then, you have other names, such as Damian Lillard, Terrence Ross, Andre Drummond, all picked just a few picks afterward, twisting the proverbial knife deeper into the wound.

Even further back, you have players like Khris Middleton, Evan Fournier, and Draymond Green; all guys who would go on to be household names or even All-Stars in just a few years. In fact, four of the top ten picks that year would go on to be named to All-NBA teams at some point since that draft.

Sure, there are bigger busts and head-scratchers in Charlotte draft history, but those years weren’t absolutely loaded like this year’s class was, even more so in the first round. And yes, hindsight is always 20/20, and to most experts, MKG felt like a sure thing at the time.

He wasn’t as dominant at Kentucky as Davis, but his contributions were certainly felt and the university has a national championship to show for it. It’s not as though he was some ineffectual player in college, but the sad fact is that perhaps the Bobcats reached or hoped that the talent Kentucky had that year would trickle down with little depreciation.

Unfortunately, it seems as though it hadn’t, at least in that draft, anyway. Out of the six former Wildcats drafted in 2012, only Davis has been selected to an All-Star team. The others haven’t even sniffed that opportunity.

Then again, it’s rarely ever easy to ascertain who can make the monumental leap from college to the pros. Very few have “it” and when they do, you just know it. Anthony Davis was one such player.

When writing pieces like this, I feel somewhat terrible as I never want to disparage a player. By all accounts, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a great human being and a very talented basketball player. There are just circumstances that lead to undesired results, regardless of ability, and MKG is the unfortunate recipient of said circumstances.

There will always be drafts with which Hornets fans wish they could have a mulligan, but 2012 haunts them in so many ways and will for years. Nearly every professional team has their “what if” tales. The summer of 2012 will always be Charlotte’s biggest.