Being selected as the first overall pick in any sport is a tremendous honour and an indisputable nod to your talent as an athlete.
Sometimes the first overall pick is a foregone conclusion in the case of generational talents such as Connor McDavid, Peyton Manning, or LeBron James. Other times it isn’t so clear.
Having the first overall draft pick can be seen as an opportunity to instantly improve a franchise, but it certainly doesn’t come with any guarantees. Even if that improvement is found, the journey to a championship is a much larger climb.
This notion makes the ongoing careers of Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, and Marc-Andre Fleury all the more impressive.
Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury, former first-overall picks in the NHL draft, have each won three Stanley Cups as members of their drafting team, the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017).
Patrick Kane, the 2007 first-overall pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, has also won three Stanley Cups (2010, 2013, 2015). Between these three players, their nine rings are more than all other active first-overall picks combined (of the major four North American sports).
Here are the other active first-overalls to win championships:
NBA
LeBron James (3): This number would be a lot more skewed if it weren’t for LeBron James and his three NBA titles. He is currently competing in his 8th NBA finals, so at this pace he is likely to keep racking up this number in coming years.
Kyrie Irving (1): Irving’s 2016 NBA championship ring could be seen as a by-product of LeBron James’ dominance, but Kyrie’s talent is deserving of a championship nonetheless.
Andrew Bogut (1): Speaking of by-products, Andrew Bogut! That may be a little unfair; Bogut was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team during the 2015 season that the Golden State Warriors won after all.
Still, playing on a team with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green takes a load off of the 2005 first-overall pick’s shoulders.
MLB
Luke Hochevar (1): With first overall picks such as Bryce Harper, David Price, and Joe Mauer still playing, the MLB’s lone representative on the active first-overall picks to win championships comes from a more unlikely source – Luke Hochevar.
Hochevar was a member of the Kansas City Royals bullpen during their underdog run to becoming 2015 World Series Champions. Hochevar was actually credited with the win during Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Mets, the game that decided the World Series.
NFL
Eli Manning (2): When Eli Manning’s brother Peyton retired in 2016, Eli became the lone active NFL first-overall pick to win a championship.
On top of that, he has actually won two (along with two Superbowl MVPs). We’ll see if Manning is able to return to the Superbowl with a new star wide receiver joining the Giants corps in Brandon Marshall.
NHL
Other than Crosby, Kane, and Fleury, no other active first-overall pick has won a Stanley Cup since Vincent Lecavalier retired last year.
Add up all the other first-overall picks' rings and you end up with eight, one shy of the nine accumulated by Crosby, Kane, and Fleury.
One thing to keep in mind is that first-overall picks are often drafted to teams that are in a rebuild, and that they may win one in the future when the rebuild is complete (see Auston Matthews). For now, we appreciate the careers of three veteran NHL players that simply know how to get the job done.
