In the 2000 NBA draft, the Milwaukee Bucks got lucky when Ohio State’s Michael Redd fell all the way into the second round. Milwaukee took Redd with the 43rd overall pick and the former Buckeye would go on to play 11 years with the franchise.
Redd had led Ohio State to a Final Four as a sophomore and was known as a proven scorer averaging 21.9, 19.5, and 17.5 points per game in his three seasons in Columbus. He didn’t have the chance to display his scoring prowess during his first season in Milwaukee since he was playing behind the great Ray Allen.
By his fourth season with the Bucks, Allen was gone and Redd was a starter. He began a stretch of six straight seasons in which he averaged at least 21 points a game. He was named an NBA All-Star in 2004 after averaging 21.7 points and a career-best 5.0 rebounds a game.
Redd became an even more prolific scorer in the seasons that followed. He averaged a career-high of 26.7 points a game during the 2006-07 season.
The Bucks were dealt a huge blow during the 2008-09 season when Redd went down with a knee injury. He tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee after playing just 33 games. He averaged 21.2 points a game that season and would never be the same.
Redd returned the following season but re-injured the same knee tearing the ACL again. He played in just 18 games and then 10 more in 2010-11. He played one final season in Phoenix in 2011-12 before retiring.
Despite his demise over the latter course of his career, Redd still averaged 19.0 points per game for his career. He finished with 11,972 points and 2,411 rebounds (3.8 per game). Redd was also a member of the 2008 U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team that won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
