1998 NBA draft
| 1998 NBA draft | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General information | |||||
| Date(s) | June 24, 1998 | ||||
| Time | 7:30 pm (EDT) | ||||
| Location | General Motors Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | ||||
| First selection | Michael Olowokandi, Los Angeles Clippers | ||||
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The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998 at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around three struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, and the Toronto Raptors.
The Mavericks, despite having a talented nucleus of Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson in the mid-1990s, had not had a winning season since 1989–1990. By the end of the 1997 season, all three players were traded and it was time to rebuild. With the sixth selection in 1998, they drafted Robert Traylor and quickly traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity. They then traded Garrity in a package to the Phoenix Suns for Steve Nash. With Nash and Nowitzki, the Mavericks quickly went from a lottery team in the late 1990s to a perennial playoff contender throughout the 2000s. Nowitzki went on to win the 2011 NBA Finals with Dallas without Nash, but with Kidd.
Meanwhile, the Raptors were a recent expansion team that had failed to win more than 30 games in its first three seasons. With the fourth pick they selected Antawn Jamison, whom they quickly dealt to the Golden State Warriors for Vince Carter.
The Kings, having been a perennial lottery bound franchise, skyrocketed in popularity with the addition of Chris Webber and 7th pick Jason Williams. The Kings went to the playoffs that year and took the defending Western Conference Champions to the final game of their 1st round Playoff series.
First overall pick Michael Olowokandi is regarded by Sports Illustrated as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.[1]
Five players from the 1998 draft class have played in the NBA All-Star Game at least once in their careers: Nowitzki, Carter, Jamison, Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis. All of them have reached the 20,000 points plateau except for Lewis during their careers.
Only Nowitzki currently plays for his original team.
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s) and (an) All-NBA Team(s) |
| + | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s) |
| x | Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-NBA Team(s) |
| − | Denotes player who never played in the NBA |
Draft
 Michael Olowokandi, the 1st pick  Mike Bibby, the 2nd pick  Antawn Jamison, the 4th pick  Vince Carter, the 5th pick  Jason Williams, the 7th pick  Dirk Nowitzki, the 9th pick  Paul Pierce, the 10th pick  Pat Garrity, the 19th pick  Rashard Lewis, the 32nd pick  Rafer Alston, the 39th pick |
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Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 1998 NBA Draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boykins, EarlEarl Boykins | PG |  United States |
Eastern Michigan (Sr.) |
| Brown, GeraldGerald Brown | SG | United States |
Pepperdine (Sr.) |
| Carter, AnthonyAnthony Carter | PG | United States |
Hawaii (Sr.) |
| Goodrich, SteveSteve Goodrich | PF/C | United States |
Princeton (Sr.) |
| James, MikeMike James | PG | United States |
Duquesne (Sr.) |
| Jasikevičius, ŠarūnasŠarūnas Jasikevičius | PG |  Lithuania |
Maryland (Sr.) |
| Jones, CharlesCharles Jones | SG | United States |
LIU Brooklyn (Sr.) |
| Jones, MarkMark Jones | SF | United States |
UCF (Sr.) |
| McCarty, KellyKelly McCarty | SG | United States |
Southern Miss (Sr.) |
| Medvedenko, SlavaSlava Medvedenko[2] | PF |  Ukraine |
Budivelnyk Kiev (Ukraine) (born 1979) |
| Miller, BradBrad Miller+ | C | United States |
Purdue (Sr.) |
| Nesby, TyroneTyrone Nesby | SF | United States |
UNLV (Sr.) |
| Santiago, DanielDaniel Santiago | C | United States/ Puerto Rico |
Saint Vincent (Sr.) |
References
- ↑ Sports Illustrated photo gallery
- ↑ Early entry candidate, per 2013 NBA Draft Media Guide, p. 213.
External links
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived February 14, 2001)
- 1998 NBA Draft at Basketball-Reference.com
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