| 1989 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date | June 27, 1989 |
| Location | Felt Forum,Madison Square Garden (New York City,New York)[1] |
| Network | TBS |
| Overview | |
| 54 total selections in2 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Pervis Ellison (Sacramento Kings) |
| Hall of Famers | |
The1989NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picksPervis Ellison andDanny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such asShawn Kemp,Glen Rice,Sean Elliott,Nick Anderson,Dana Barros,Tim Hardaway,Vlade Divac,Clifford Robinson,B. J. Armstrong andMookie Blaylock.[2][3]
The draft was reduced from three rounds in the previous year to the two-round format that is still in use to the present day.[4][3] As a result, NBA drafts from this season until1995 produced the lowest number of total draft picks selected at 54 overall selections.
This was the first draft for theMinnesota Timberwolves andOrlando Magic, prior to their inaugural season. This was also the first draft televised prime time on U.S. national television.[5]
.jpg)
.JPG)
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for at least oneAll-Star Game andAll-NBA Team |
| + | Denotes player who has been selected for at least oneAll-Star Game |
| x | Denotes player who has been selected for at least oneAll-NBA Team |
| # | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular-season or playoff game |
These players were not selected in the 1989 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
For the seventh year in a row and the eleventh time in twelve years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would be the fourth year in a row where a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, with the French-born Rudy Bourgarel playing for theBoulogne-Levallois inFrance after leavingMarist College. In addition to that, this would also be the first year where an international player would be considered a direct underclassman to participate in an NBA draft, withVlade Divac from theKK Partizan Belgrade of theEastern Bloc nation known asSFR Yugoslavia (now since separated, with Divac representingSerbia) being the first ever international underclassman to be taken directly from an overseas team without previously going to an American college or playing for any prior American institution. Including those two players andAndrew Gaze, who had previously played in Australia for multiple years before playing only one season atSeton Hall University while being over the age of 22 by that time, the number of underclassmen would officially be considered a grand total of fourteen players instead of eleven (or twelve including Gaze). Regardless, the followingcollege basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[7]
Nick Anderson – G,Illinois (junior)
Martin Den Hengst – C,Sheridan (freshman)Jay Edwards – G,Indiana (sophomore)
Andrew Gaze –Seton Hall (freshman) Benny Green – G,Tennessee–Chattanooga (junior)Shawn Kemp – F,Trinity Valley CC (freshman)Toney Mack – G,Georgia (junior)J. R. Reid – F,North Carolina (junior) Maurice Selvin – G,Puget Sound (sophomore)
Alex Soyebo – C,Northland Pioneer (freshman) Johnny Steptoe – F,Southern (sophomore) Richard Whitmore – G,Brown (junior)This would be the first time in NBA history where an international born and raised player would be considered an underclassman in an NBA draft. The following international player successfully applied for early draft entrance.[7]
Vlade Divac – C,KK Partizan (Yugoslavia)This would be the fourth year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman. It was also the second year in a row where a player would qualify as an eligible underclassman for the NBA draft while previously playing for a French-based team in order to do so.
| Player | Team | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
 Rudy Bourgarel | Boulogne-Levallois (France) | LeftMarist in 1988; playing professionally since the 1988–89 season | [8] |
The 1989 NBA draft is considered to be the twelfth NBA draft to have utilized what's properly considered the "green room" experience for NBA prospects. The NBA's green room is a staging area where anticipated draftees often sit with their families and representatives, waiting for their names to be called on draft night. Often being positioned either in front of or to the side of the podium (in this case, being positioned in the Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum for the eighth year in a row[9]), once a player heard his name, he would walk to the podium to shake hands and take promotional photos with the NBA commissioner. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. However, once the NBA draft started to air nationally on TV starting with the1980 NBA draft, the green room evolved from players waiting to hear their name called and then shaking hands with these select players who were often called to the hotel to take promotional pictures with the NBA commissioner a day or two after the draft concluded to having players in real-time waiting to hear their names called up and then shaking hands withDavid Stern, the NBA's newest commissioner at the time.[10] The NBA compiled its list of green room invites through collective voting by the NBA's team presidents and general managers alike, which in this year's case belonged to only what they believed were the top 16 prospects at the time.[11] Despite the large amount of invites that held some very successful players (including the first truly international born, raised, and developed prospect inVlade Divac), some notable absences from this group outside of future Hall of FamerDino Rada includeDana Barros fromBoston College and power forwardShawn Kemp, withGary Leonard andClifford Robinson both waiting into the second round themselves. Even so, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.[9]
Nick Anderson – SG/SF,IllinoisB. J. Armstrong – PG,IowaMookie Blaylock – PG,Oklahoma/
Vlade Divac – C,KK Partizan (Yugoslavia)Sean Elliott – SG/SF,ArizonaPervis Ellison – PF,LouisvilleDanny Ferry – PF,DukeTom Hammonds – PF/C,Georgia TechTim Hardaway – PG,UTEPStacey King – C,OklahomaGary Leonard – C,MissouriGeorge McCloud – SG/SF,Florida StateJohn Morton – PG,Seton HallGlen Rice – SF,MichiganClifford Robinson – PF/C,ConnecticutRandy White – PF,Louisiana Tech
