| 1982 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | June 29, 1982 |
| Location | Felt Forum,Madison Square Garden (New York City,New York)[1] |
| Network(s) | USA Network |
| Overview | |
| 225 total selections in10 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | James Worthy (Los Angeles Lakers) |
The1982 NBA draft took place on June 29, 1982, at theFelt Forum atMadison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
The #1 selection from this year's draft,James Worthy, was drafted by theLos Angeles Lakers despite them being one of the best teams in the NBA the previous season. Their selection at #1 this year related to a previous trade that the Lakers made with theCleveland Cavaliers, which had them trading their first round pick forDon Ford back in 1979. Worthy would help the Lakers turn theShowtime Lakers into a dynasty for the 1980s decade. Meanwhile, continued first round trade considerations that the Cavaliers' owner at the time,Ted Stepien, led to the NBA stopping any further trades with him and the team's draft picks before he traded selections throughout the entire decade, as well as led to the creation of the Ted Stepien Rule forbidding teams of trading first round draft picks in back-to-back years unless a team had a different first round pick that they kept during that time.
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| ^ | Denotesplayer who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotesplayer who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game andAll-NBA Team |
| + | Denotesplayer who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| # | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
For the first time since1978, a player that had previously qualified for entry in the NBA draft as a college underclassman (in this case, aNigerian born player fromSam Houston State University named Yommy Sangodeyi) would later withdraw his entry into the draft pool. He would become the only underclassman player to officially withdraw his name from an NBA draft during the 1980s decade, though he would return in another drafta couple of years later. The following twelvecollege basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance otherwise.[2]
John Bagley – G,Boston College (junior)Terry Cummings – F,DePaul (junior)Quintin Dailey – G,San Francisco (junior) Ollie Johnson – F,Washington State (junior)Clark Kellogg – F,Ohio State (junior)Cliff Levingston – F,Wichita State (junior) Michael McDuffen – G,Murray State (junior)LaSalle Thompson – F/C,Texas (junior)Dominique Wilkins – F,Georgia (junior)Rob Williams – G,Houston (junior)James Worthy – F,North Carolina (junior) Victor Mitchell – C,Kansas (junior)
