Max Zaslofsky played for the Chicago Stags from their and the BAA's inception in 1946 until the Stags disbanded in 1950, which was a year after the BAA and NBL merged to form the NBA. He than went and played with the Knicks from 1950 until 1953. He split the 1954-54 season between the Baltimore Bullets, Milwaukee Hawks and Fort Wayne Pistons. He would play the final two full seasons of his career with the Pistons before retiring in 1956.

The season after Zaslofsky retired Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics. He would spend his entire 13 year NBA career with the Celtics where he'd win 11 NBA titles. Russell would retire at the end of the 1969 season.

As Russell left the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would join as a rookie. During his first few seasons in the NBA he went by his birthname Lew Alcindor, before converting to Islam and changing his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He would play from 1969 until 1975 with the Milwaukee Bucks before joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975. Kareem would play the rest of his career with the Lakers before retiring in 1989.

Karl Malone joined the NBA has a first round pick of the Utah Jazz in 1985. He would have a stellar career with the Jazz winning two MVP awards and leading them to two NBA finals. He would leave the Jazz after the 2003 season and play his last season with the Los Angeles Lakers before retiring in 2004.

The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted the 18-year-old local product LeBron James first overall in 2003. James would play for the Cavaliers until 2010 when he "took his talents to South Beach" and joined the Miami Heat. He would play for the Heat for four seasons and lead them to the NBA finals all four years with two NBA titles, before he would rejoin the Cavaliers in 2014. After leading the Cavs four straight NBA finals and their only NBA title, he would join the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2018-19 season. He remains on the Lakers as of the 2024-25 NBA season.