The1984 NBA draft was the 37th annualdraft of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at theFelt Forum atMadison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the1984–85 season.[2] The draft is generally considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in NBA history,[3][4][5] with four players who would go on to be Hall of Famers being drafted in the first sixteen picks and five overall. It included first pickAkeem Olajuwon,Michael Jordan,Charles Barkley, andJohn Stockton. The draft was broadcast in the United States on theUSA Network.[6] This draft would be the last NBA draft to be aired nationally on the USA Network; starting with the1985 NBA draft year, the NBA would have increased national coverage by first airing the event onTBS and then onTNT before airing the event onESPN as of2003.
In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S.college basketball players and othereligible players, including international players. TheHouston Rockets won the coin flip and were awarded thefirst overall pick, while thePortland Trail Blazers, who obtained theIndiana Pacers' first-round pick in a trade, were awarded the second pick.[7] The remaining first round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in theprevious season. TheCleveland Cavaliers were awarded an extra first-round draft pick as compensation for the draft picks traded away by their previous owner,Ted Stepien.[8]
A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was automaticallyeligible for selection. Before the draft, five collegeunderclassmen announced that they would leave college early and would be eligible for selection.[9] Prior to the draft, theSan Diego Clippers relocated to Los Angeles and became theLos Angeles Clippers.[10] The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 228 players. This draft was the last to be held before the creation of thedraft lottery in1985.[11] It was the first NBA draft to be overseen byDavid Stern, who continued as the commissioner of the league for the following 30 years.
This is the most recent draft to feature two rookies to play in theAll-Star Game, with Jordan and Olajuwon both selected in the1985 game.
^Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according toFIBA rules.
Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of picks between the teams.
d On June 5, 1981,Portland acquired a first-round pick fromIndiana in exchange forTom Owens.[12] Portland used the pick to draft Sam Bowie.
e On September 16, 1980,Dallas acquired a first-round pick fromCleveland in exchange forMike Bratz.[13] Dallas used the pick to draft Sam Perkins.
f On October 12, 1978,Philadelphia acquired a first-round pick from theL.A. Clippers (as San Diego) in exchange forWorld B. Free.[14][15] Philadelphia used the pick to draft Charles Barkley.
g On August 28, 1980, the L.A. Clippers (as San Diego) acquiredPhil Smith and a first-round pick fromGolden State in exchange for World B. Free.[14][15] The L.A. Clippers used the pick to draft Lancaster Gordon.
h On August 16, 1978, Philadelphia acquiredBobby Jones,Ralph Simpson and a first-round pick fromDenver in exchange forGeorge McGinnis and a 1978 first-round pick.[16] Philadelphia used the pick to draft Leon Wood.
i On August 18, 1983, the L.A. Clippers (as San Diego) acquiredJames Donaldson,Greg Kelser,Mark Radford, a first-round pick and a 1985 second-round pick fromSeattle in exchange forTom Chambers,Al Wood, a third-round pick and a 1987 second-round pick.[14][17] The L.A. Clippers used the pick to draft Michael Cage.
j On September 17, 1983,Indiana acquiredVince Taylor and a first-round pick fromNew York in a three-team trade with New York andKansas City.[18] Indiana used the pick to draft Vern Fleming.
k On August 18, 1983,Portland acquired a second-round pick from Indiana in exchange forGranville Waiters.[19] Previously, Indiana acquired the draft rights toSidney Lowe and the pick on June 28, 1983, fromChicago in exchange for the draft rights toMitchell Wiggins.[20] Portland used the pick to draft Victor Fleming.
l On October 5, 1982, Seattle acquired a second-round pick fromHouston in exchange forWally Walker.[21] Seattle used the pick to draft Cory Blackwell.
m On February 15, 1983, Indiana acquiredRuss Schoene a second-round pick and a 1983 first-round pick fromPhiladelphia in exchange forClemon Johnson and a third-round pick.[22] Previously, Philadelphia acquired the pick and a 1983 fourth-round pick on October 27, 1982, from the L.A. Clippers (as San Diego) in exchange forLionel Hollins.[14][23] Indiana used the pick to draft Stuart Gray.
n On October 19, 1981, Golden State acquired 1982 and 1984 second-round picks fromWashington in exchange forJohn Lucas.[24] Golden State used the pick to draft Steve Burtt.
o On February 10, 1983,Detroit a second-round pick and a 1985 third-round pick fromSan Antonio in exchange forEdgar Jones.[25][26] Detroit used the pick to draft Eric Turner.
p On August 15, 1980, Portland acquired a second-round pick and a 1983 first-round pick from Denver in exchange forT. R. Dunn and a 1983 first-round pick.[27] Portland used the pick to draft Steve Colter.
q On July 5, 1983, Washington acquiredTom McMillen and a second-round pick fromAtlanta in exchange forRandy Wittman.[28] Previously, Atlanta acquired the pick and a 1985 second-round pick on February 13, 1983, from Detroit in a three-team trade with Detroit and Seattle.[25][29] Previously, Detroit acquired the pick and a 1982 second-round pick on August 26, 1981, fromKansas City in exchange forLarry Drew.[25][30] Washington used the pick to draft Tony Costner.
r On February 15, 1983, Golden State acquired a second-round pick from Atlanta in exchange forRickey Brown.[31] Golden State used the pick to draft Othell Wilson.
s On June 28, 1983, Chicago acquired the draft rights toEnnis Whatley, the draft rights toChris McNealy and a second-round pick from Kansas City in exchange forMark Olberding and the draft rights toLarry Micheaux.[32] Previously, Kansas City acquired the pick on June 30, 1982, from Atlanta in exchange for the draft rights toJim Johnstone.[33] Previously, Atlanta acquired the pick and a 1983 second-round pick on December 2, 1980, from Seattle in exchange forArmond Hill.[34] Chicago used the pick to draft Ben Coleman.
t On November 25, 1981, Seattle acquiredRay Tolbert and a second-round pick fromNew Jersey in exchange forJames Bailey.[35] Seattle used the pick to draft Danny Young.
u On September 11, 1980, Dallas acquired a second-round pick and a 1983 second-round pick fromUtah in exchange forBilly McKinney.[36] Dallas used the pick to draft Anthony Teachey.
v On August 12, 1983, Dallas acquiredFoots Walker, a second-round pick and a 1985 first-round pick from New Jersey in exchange forKelvin Ransey.[37] Previously, New Jersey acquired the second-round pick on June 22, 1983, from New York in exchange forLen Elmore.[38] Dallas used the pick to draft Tom Sluby.
x On February 15, 1984, Chicago acquiredSteve Johnson, a second-round pick and two 1985 second-round picks from Kansas City in exchange forReggie Theus.[40] Previously, Kansas City acquiredBilly Knight and the pick on September 17, 1983, from Indiana in a three-team trade with Indiana and New York.[41][42] Previously, Indiana acquired the pick on September 22, 1982, from Detroit in exchange forTom Owens.[12] Chicago used the pick to draft Greg Wiltjer.
y On September 30, 1983, Washington acquired a second-round pick fromMilwaukee in exchange forKevin Grevey.[43] Washington used the pick to draft Fred Reynolds.
z On November 12, 1983, Golden State acquired a second-round pick from Philadelphia in exchange forSam Williams.[44] Golden State used the pick to draft Gary Plummer.
aa On October 8, 1980, Portland acquired a second-round pick from theL.A. Lakers in exchange forJim Brewer.[45] Portland used the pick to draft Jerome Kersey.
ab On January 21, 1984, San Antonio acquired a third-round pick from Denver in exchange forKeith Edmonson.[46] San Antonio used the pick to draft Joe Binion.
ac On March 8, 1984, San Antonio acquired a fourth-round pick from Milwaukee as compensation for the signing ofMike Dunleavy as a free agent.[47] San Antonio used the pick to draft Ozell Jones.
ad On October 5, 1983, Milwaukee acquired a sixth-round pick from Houston as compensation for the signing ofPhil Ford as a free agent.[48] Milwaukee used the pick to draft McKinley Singleton.
The third pick, Jordan, achieved even greater success than Olajuwon. He won six NBA championships, six Finals Most Valuable Player Awards, five Most Valuable Player Awards, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, eleven All-NBA Team selections, fourteen All-Star Game selections, threeNBA All Star Game MVP Awards, and nine All-Defensive Team selections.[52]
Barkley and Stockton never won an NBA championship, but both players received numerous awards and honors. Barkley won the Most Valuable Player in1993 and was selected to eleven All-NBA Teams, eleven All-Star Games, and was the MVP of the1991 All Star Game.[56] Stockton was selected to eleven All-NBA Teams, ten All-Star Games and five All-Defensive Teams before retiring as theall–time league leader in assists andsteals and was co-MVP of the1993 All Star Game along with his Utah Jazz teammateKarl Malone.[57] Jordan, Barkley and Stockton would later play as teammates for the 1992 "Dream Team".
Alvin Robertson, the seventh pick, is the only other player from this draft who has won annual NBA awards as a player; he won both the Defensive Player of the Year Award and theMost Improved Player Award in1986. He was also selected to one All-NBA Team, four All-Star Games, six consecutive All-Defensive Teams.[58] Both Robertson and Olajuwon are among only four players in NBA history who have ever achieved the extremely rare feat of recording aquadruple double.
The Trail Blazers selection of Sam Bowie (left) over future Hall of Famer Michael Jordan (right) would become a noteworthy moment in NBA draft history.
The 1984 draft class is considered to be one of the best in NBA history as it produced five Hall of Famers and seven All-Stars.[62][63][64] However, it was also marked by the Blazers' selection of Sam Bowie, considered one of the biggestdraft busts in NBA history.[65][66][67][68][69] It is believed that the Blazers picked Bowie over Michael Jordan because they already had anAll Star shooting guard inJim Paxson and a young shooting guard inClyde Drexler, whom they drafted in the1983 draft.[52][70] Although Drexler went on to have a successful career, Bowie's career was cut short by injuries; he had missed two of the past three seasons in his college career as well.[51] Despite having a 10-year career in the NBA and averaging 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, Bowie's career was interrupted by five leg surgeries, which limited him to 139 games in five years with the Blazers.[71][72]
BrazilianOscar Schmidt was drafted with the 131st pick in the sixth round by theNew Jersey Nets. However, Schmidt turned down the offers to play in the NBA and stayed to play inItaly and later inBrazil, in order to continue representing his country in international competitions, which was not allowed until NBA's agreement with theInternational Basketball Federation (FIBA) in 1990 allowing their players to represent their countries on a national level. He played in fiveOlympics and was the top scorer in three of them. He finished his career with 49,703 points with various clubs and theBrazilian national team, more than theNBA's career scoring leader at the time,Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points in his NBA career, and yet to be surpassed by current leaderLeBron James' 42,184 points.[73] In 2010, FIBA honored Schmidt with an induction to theFIBA Hall of Fame,[74] and Schmidt was inducted by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.[75]
University of Houstontrack and field Olympic ChampionCarl Lewis, who had never played college basketball, was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 208th pick in the 10th round. Lewis would dominate the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in the summer of 1984.[2][76] Lewis, who had also been drafted in the NFL draft of thesame year by the Dallas Cowboys, stayed with his athletics career and went on to win nine Olympicgold medals and eightWorld Championships gold medals.[77]
In the fifth round, the Portland Trail Blazers draftedMike Whitmarsh, who starred for theUniversity of San Diego in bothbasketball andvolleyball, with the 111th pick. Whitmarsh played professional basketball in Germany for three years, but never played in the NBA. He then left basketball to playbeach volleyball, where he achieved greater success, including asilver medal in the Olympics.[78]
The final pick in the 1984 Draft, number 228 by theBoston Celtics, wasDan Trant ofClark University. Trant never played in a regular season game for the Celtics. Trant was working in his office at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and was killed in the terrorist attacks that day.[79]
This draft would be the last of the NBA that would be without any undrafted players entering the NBA. Starting from 1985 onward, multiple undrafted players from each year would enter the NBA, with more of them coming after the league decreased the number of rounds from the draft from 10 to the current two.
For the sixth time in seven years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft, with nine total players qualifying for this year's event. However, this draft would be the first NBA draft to showcase that college underclassmen like Akeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, and Charles Barkley could succeed just as well as players that had four years of collegiate experience. Not only that, but it would also be the first NBA draft to showcase more than one foreign-born entities qualifying as college underclassmen with twoNigerian born players (including Akeem Olajuwon) and onePanamanian born player doing so. The followingcollege basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[80]
The 1984 NBA draft is considered to be the seventh 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 third year in a row[81]), 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. 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.[82] 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 nine prospects at the time.[83] However, for the third year in a row, one invite inDevin Durrant would end up staying in the green room by the start of the second round. Not only that, but two notable absentees for green room invites by the NBA wereMichael Jordan andJohn Stockton. With that in mind, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.[81]
^1: When Hakeem Olajuwon first arrived to the United States in 1981, his first name was incorrectly spelled as "Akeem". He used that spelling until March 9, 1991, when he announced that he would add an H and changed it to "Hakeem", the original Arabic spelling of his name.[49] ^2: Hakeem Olajuwon was born in Nigeria, but became a naturalized United States citizen in 1993. He has represented theUnited States national team.[55] ^3: As compensation for the first-round draft picks traded away by the previous owner,Ted Stepien, the Cleveland Cavaliers were awarded extra first-round draft picks in the1983, 1984,1985 and1986 drafts in exchange for cash.[8][84] ^4: Even though Tim McCormick was a senior, he had one year of college eligibility remaining and thus had to apply for early entry.[9] ^5: Stuart Gray was born in thePanama Canal Zone which was controlled by the United States. He has representedPanama national team.[85]
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"1982–1986 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research.Archived from the original on November 16, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 22, 2010.
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^Bradley, Robert D. (2013).The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press.ISBN9780810890695.
^"Clippers move into LA Sports Arena".Times Daily. Florence, Alabama: Tennessee Valley Printing Co., Inc. May 16, 1984.Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. RetrievedOctober 28, 2010.
^"With A Little Luck..."NBA.com/Bulls. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. June 25, 2006.Archived from the original on March 21, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2010.
^Fox, Jeff (December 11, 2009)."1984 NBA Draft Remix".Slam Online. Source Interlink Magazines, LLC. Archived fromthe original on February 4, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2010.
^Kim, Randy (June 19, 2003)."Draft Oddities".NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived fromthe original on March 24, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 22, 2010.
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Charles Barkley – F,Auburn (junior)
Stuart Gray – C,UCLA (junior)
Akeem Olajuwon – C,Houston (junior)
