| 1986 NBA Draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date | June 17, 1986 |
| Location | Felt Forum,Madison Square Garden (New York City,New York)[1] |
| Network | TBS Superstation |
| Overview | |
| 162 total selections in7 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Brad Daugherty (Cleveland Cavaliers) |
| Hall of Famers | |
The1986NBA draft was held on June 17, 1986.
This draft holds the record for the most players (out of prospects chosen) who later debuted in the NBA, with 66.
There were various drug-related problems that plagued players in the 1986 NBA draft. Most notable was the death of highly toutedLen Bias. Bias died less than two days after being selected second overall by the defending championBoston Celtics. His death was ruled anoverdose that resulted from taking the drugcocaine. Other problems involving drugs hampered the careers ofChris Washburn,Roy Tarpley, andWilliam Bedford.
While a number of first-round selections were unable to make an impact in the league, this draft did feature a number of talented second-round selections.Dennis Rodman, who became one of the leading defenders and rebounders in NBA history, was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2011.Mark Price,Kevin Duckworth, andJeff Hornacek also went on to have successful careers, and each made theNBA All-Star Game. Three others –Johnny Newman,Nate McMillan, andDavid Wingate – had long, productive careers as role players.
This draft contained two exceptional international players, both of whom had shortened careers for unusual reasons. Third-round selectionDražen Petrović was coming off an All-Star caliber fourth season when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1993. He has since been elected to both the Naismith Hall of Fame and theFIBA Hall of Fame. The other,Arvydas Sabonis, was not permitted to play in the United States because of the dangerous political climate in the Soviet Union. He won twoOlympic medals before his arrival in the NBA—a gold in 1988 with theUSSR, and a bronze in 1992 withLithuania.
After thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Sabonis had a very successful career in Europe before finally joining thePortland Trail Blazers in 1995. Sabonis had lost much of his mobility by the time he joined the team because of a string of knee andAchilles tendon injuries. He finished second in both theSixth Man Award andRookie of the Year voting; after the 1995–96 season, he won a second Olympic bronze medal with Lithuania. He played seven seasons with Portland before returning to his homeland of Lithuania where he finished his career. Sabonis entered the FIBA Hall in 2010 and the Naismith Hall in 2011.
This draft is also known for the number of players who made important contributions to the sport of basketball outside of the court. For example,Nate McMillan had a highly successful run with theSeattle SuperSonics as a player and then as head coach, and then spent seven seasons as head coach of thePortland Trail Blazers.Scott Skiles was the former coach of theMilwaukee Bucks and also the first coach to lead theChicago Bulls to the playoffs in the post-Jordan era.
Larry Krystkowiak, a former Bucks head coach, was hired in April 2011 as the new head coach at theUniversity of Utah.John Salley won four championship rings with three different NBA teams (Detroit Pistons,Chicago Bulls andLos Angeles Lakers) before becoming one of the hosts ofThe Best Damn Sports Show Period onFox Sports Network.Mark Price served as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, a shooting consultant with Memphis (one season) and Atlanta (two seasons), a shooting coach for Golden State (one season), and in December 2011 was named Player Development Coach for the Orlando Magic.[2]
Jeff Hornacek would also be a full-time assistant head coach for theUtah Jazz for two seasons before accepting a job as the head coach for thePhoenix Suns in the2013–14 NBA season. In 2016, Jeff Hornacek became the head coach for the New York Knicks, and coached them until 2018.Pete Myers, selected in the sixth round as the 120th overall pick, was an assistant coach for theChicago Bulls from 2001 to 2010 andGolden State Warriors since 2011.Jim Les, the 70th overall pick, was an assistant coach for theWNBA'sSacramento Monarchs from 1999 to 2001 then was head coach atBradley University from 2002 to 2011 andUC Davis since 2011.
Jay Bilas, who was selected in the fifth round as the 108th overall pick but never played in the NBA, is an ESPN college basketball analyst.
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| 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 |
* compensation for draft choices traded away byTed Stepien
These players who declared or were automatically eligible for the 1986 draft were not selected but played in the NBA.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Rose | SG |  United States Australia | George Mason(Sr.) |
| Andre Spencer | SF | United States | Northern Arizona(Sr.) |
| Kelvin Upshaw | SG | United States | Utah(Sr.) |
| Stojko Vranković | C |  Yugoslavia | KK Zadar(Croatia) |
For the fourth year in a row and the eighth time in nine years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. However, it would be the first time in NBA history that a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, asCedric Henderson (who had previously played for theUniversity of Georgia for a year before travelling toItaly to play for theSimac Olimpia Milano) would qualify as an official entry there, expanding the list of official players there from eight to nine. Excluding him, however, the followingcollege basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[4]
William Bedford – C,Memphis (junior)Walter Berry – F,St. John's (junior)Michael Graham – F,Georgetown (freshman) Jerald Hyatt – G,Lincoln Memorial (junior) Andre Morgan – G,Hawaii (junior)Chris Washburn – F/C,NC State (sophomore)Dwayne Washington –Syracuse (junior)John Williams – F,LSU (sophomore)This year marked the first official year that a player that would not be considered a typical, proper "college underclassman" would qualify for entry in an NBA draft as an underclassman of sorts.
| Player | Team | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedric Henderson | Olimpia Milano (Italy) | LeftGeorgia in 1985; playing professionally since the 1985–86 season | [5] |
The 1986 NBA draft is considered to be the ninth 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 fifth year in a row[6]), 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.[7] 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 11 prospects at the time.[8] However, while the NBA avoided having a play wait in the green room beyond the first round for a fifth straight year in a row, one of the players invited inLen Bias would tragically lose his life two days after this draft concluded due to a drug overdose. Nevertheless, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.[6]
William Bedford – C,Memphis StateLen Bias – SF,MarylandBrad Daugherty – C,North CarolinaJohnny Dawkins – PG,DukeChuck Person – SF,AuburnJohn Salley – PF,Georgia TechRoy Tarpley – C,MichiganKenny Walker – SF,KentuckyChris Washburn – C,North Carolina StateDwayne Washington – PG,SyracuseJohn Williams – PF,LSU
