| 1994 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date | June 29, 1994 |
| Location | Hoosier Dome (Indianapolis, Indiana) |
| Network | TNT |
| Overview | |
| 54 total selections in2 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Glenn Robinson,Milwaukee Bucks |
| Hall of Famers | 2 |
The1994NBA draft took place on June 29, 1994, atHoosier Dome inIndianapolis. Two NBA rookies of the year were picked in the first round, asJason Kidd andGrant Hill were co-winners of the award for the1994–95 NBA season. Kidd and Hill would end up as perennial All-Stars (10 and 7-time selections, respectively), though Hill's career was marred by severe injuries.
The first overall pickGlenn Robinson was involved in a contract holdout shortly after being selected, reportedly seeking a 13-year, $100 million contract. Both Robinson and theMilwaukee Bucks eventually agreed on a 10-year, $68 million contract, which once stood as the richest contract ever signed by a rookie in professional sports.[1] A fixed salary cap for rookies was implemented by the NBA the following season. Robinson himself had a productive NBA career, becoming a two-time NBA All-Star and winning an NBA Championship in 2005 in his final year with theSan Antonio Spurs.[2]
This is the final draft to date to see all of the first three picks make All-Star rosters with the teams that originally drafted them.[3]
| 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 went undrafted in 1994 but played in the NBA.
| Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melvin Booker | PG |  United States | Missouri(Sr.) |
| Lazaro Borrell | SF |  Cuba | Lobos de Villa Clara(Cuba) |
| Jimmy Carruth | PF | United States | Virginia Tech(Sr.) |
| Robert Churchwell | SG | United States | Georgetown(Sr.) |
| Thomas Hamilton | C | United States | King College Prep(Chicago, Illinois) |
| Askia Jones | SG | United States | Kansas State(Sr.) |
| Ryan Lorthridge | SG | United States | Jackson State(Sr.) |
| Ivano Newbill | F | United States | Georgia Tech(Sr.) |
| Derrick Phelps | PG | United States | North Carolina(Sr.) |
| Trevor Ruffin | PG | United States | Hawaii(Sr.) |
| Kevin Salvadori | C | United States | North Carolina(Sr.) |
| Stevin Smith | SG | United States | Arizona State(Sr.) |
| Aaron Swinson | SF | United States | Auburn(Sr.) |
| Logan Vander Velden | SF | United States | Green Bay(Sr.) |
| Fred Vinson | SG | United States | Georgia Tech(Sr.) |
For the twelfth year in a row and the sixteenth time in seventeen years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. However, it would be the eighth time in nine years that players that left college early to play professionally overseas would declare entry into the NBA draft as an underclassman of sorts, with theUniversity of Kansas'Darrin Hancock playing for theAix Maurienne Savoie Basket inFrance and theUniversity of Alabama's Cedric Moore playing for theGSSV Donar out inThe Netherlands. With their inclusions, the official number of underclassmen would increase from eighteen to twenty total players. Regardless, the followingcollege basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[5]
Maurice Barnett – C,Elizabeth City State (junior) Jamie Brandon – G,LSU (junior)Charles Claxton – C,Georgia (junior) Rennie Clemons – G,Illinois (junior) Sedric Curry – F,North Dakota (junior)
Yinka Dare – C,George Washington (sophomore)Thomas Hamilton – C,Wabash Valley (freshman) Lemon Haynes – F,Augusta (junior)Juwan Howard – F,Michigan (junior)Jason Kidd – G,California (sophomore)Voshon Lenard – G,Minnesota (junior)Donyell Marshall – F,Connecticut (junior)Lamond Murray – F,California (junior)Glenn Robinson – F,Purdue (junior)Jalen Rose – G/F,Michigan (junior)Clifford Rozier – F,Louisville (junior) Johnny Tyson – C,Central Oklahoma (junior)Dontonio Wingfield – F,Cincinnati (freshman)| Player | Team | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darrin Hancock | Aix Maurienne Savoie Basket (France) | LeftKansas in 1993; playing professionally since the 1993–94 season | [6] |
| Cedric Moore | GSSV Donar (The Netherlands) | LeftAlabama in 1993; playing professionally since the 1993–94 season | [7] |
The 1994 NBA draft is considered to be the seventeenth 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 somewhere within the Hoosier Dome[8]), 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.[9] 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 15 prospects at the time.[10] Surprisingly, this year's draft would not have any notable prospects who weren't invited nor fell out of the first round this time around. As such, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.[8]
Yinka Dare – C,George WashingtonGrant Hill – SF,DukeJuwon Howard – PF,MichiganEddie Jones – SG,TempleJason Kidd – PG,CaliforniaDonyell Marshall – SF,ConnecticutAaron McKie – SG,TempleEric Mobley – PF,PittsburghLamond Murray – SF,CaliforniaWesley Person – SG,AuburnKhalid Reeves – PG,ArizonaGlenn Robinson – SF,PurdueJalen Rose – SG/SF,MichiganClifford Rozier – PF,LouisvilleSharone Wright – PF/C,Clemson
