| 1992 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date | June 24, 1992 |
| Location | Memorial Coliseum (Portland, Oregon) |
| Network | TNT |
| Overview | |
| 54 total selections in2 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Shaquille O'Neal (Orlando Magic) |
| Hall of Famers | |
The1992NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, atMemorial Coliseum inPortland, Oregon.[citation needed] The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal,Alonzo Mourning,Christian Laettner) were considered can't-miss prospects. All three are Hall of Famers (Naismith &FIBA); O'Neal and Mourning are (individual) player-inducted, whereas Laettner is team-inducted. Laettner made one All-Star game in his career and was an Olympic Gold Medalist on the1992 Dream Team, but did not live up to the lofty expectations set for him. The trio would end up playing together on the2005 Miami Heat. Two other players went on to become All-Stars (Tom Gugliotta once,Latrell Sprewell four times) and several others had solid careers (Jimmy Jackson,Robert Horry,Doug Christie,P.J. Brown,LaPhonso Ellis,Jon Barry,Walt Williams,Anthony Peeler, andClarence Weatherspoon).Harold Miner, who was given the nickname "Baby Jordan" because of his similarities toMichael Jordan, slipped to number 12 and, other than winning twoslam dunk contests, only had a brief, uneventful, and injury prone four-year career.
This was the first time the NBA draft was held outside ofNew York.[1] It is the only draft where the first three picks werecenters.
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| G | Guard | PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | F | Forward | 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 1992 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.
For the tenth year in a row and the fourteenth time in fifteen years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would also be the first year since1985 where no underclassmen playing overseas would enter the NBA draft and would be the first draft since1986 with no foreign-born underclassmen as well. This year would see a total of sixteen college underclassmen entering the draft. The followingcollege basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[3]
Ameer Aziz – F,Saint Paul's (Virginia) (junior) John Beauford – C,Southern Poly (junior) Anthony Cade – F,Seminole JC (sophomore) Mark Chappell – G,Iowa State (junior) Dallas Lee Cothrum – G,Austin (junior)Jim Jackson – G,Ohio State (junior) Troy King – F,Beaver County CC (sophomore) Benny Maxwell – G,Western New Mexico (junior)Harold Miner – G,USC (junior)Tracy Murray – F,UCLA (junior)Shaquille O'Neal – C,LSU (junior)Melvin Robinson – C,Arizona State (junior) Tony Scott – F,Texas A&M (junior) Jeff Theiler – F,La Verne (junior) Mike Wawrzyniak – G,Cleveland State (junior)Marcus Webb – F,Alabama (junior)The 1992 NBA draft is considered to be the fifteenth 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 theVeterans Memorial Coliseum building inPortland,Oregon[4]), 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.[5] 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 14 prospects at the time.[6] Despite the large amount of invites and them successfully avoiding any inviting prospects waiting into the second round (to the point where four errors were in mind from getting a perfectly ordered invited attendees line-up this time around), the only notable absence from this group would be (the controversial)Latrell Sprewell from theUniversity of Alabama. With that in mind, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.[4]
Doug Christie – SG,PepperdineTodd Day – SG,ArkansasLaPhonso Ellis – PF,Notre DameTom Gugliotta – PF,North Carolina StateRobert Horry – SF,AlabamaJimmy Jackson – SG,Ohio StateHarold Miner – SG,USCAlonzo Mourning – C,GeorgetownTracy Murray – SF,UCLAShaquille O'Neal – C,LSUMalik Sealy – SF,St. John'sBryant Stith – SG,VirginiaClarence Weatherspoon – PF,Southern MississippiWalt Williams – SF,Maryland
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