1983 NBA draft
| 1983 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Date(s) | June 28, 1983 |
| Location | Felt Forum, New York City, New York |
| Network(s) (US) | USA Network and ESPN |
| First selection | Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets |
|
← 1982 1984 → | |
The 1983 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1983, in New York City. A total of 226 players were selected over 10 rounds by the league's 23 teams. At least four players from the 1983 draft later served or now serve as coaches. One served at a major-college program—Craig Robinson (who never played in the NBA) at Oregon State—and two in the NBA—Doc Rivers for the Los Angeles Clippers and Randy Wittman for the Washington Wizards. Another player, Byron Scott, coached for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2014 to 2016. While Scott won the Coach of the Year award in 2008, Rivers won an NBA Championship with the Celtics in that same year (it could be also noted that Rivers won that award prior to Scott, in 2000, while he was still coaching the Orlando Magic). Robinson, who led the Beavers to the 2009 College Basketball Invitational title, has an additional claim to fame as the older brother of former First Lady Michelle Obama. Sidney Lowe coached at North Carolina State from 2006 to 2011.
Manute Bol was selected in the 5th round by the Clippers, but the NBA rejected the pick on technicalities. Manute had never filed draft paperwork, and his passport listed him at 19 (at the time, 19 years was too young to be drafted).[1]
Florida State star Mitchell Wiggins, father of future No. 1 overall draft pick and Canadian Andrew Wiggins, was drafted 23rd by the Indiana Pacers. Leo Rautins, current colour man for Toronto Raptors broadcasts, made history as the first Canadian drafted in the first round of an NBA draft. Rautins, one of the greatest players to ever come out of Syracuse University, had his career cut short by injury. He would later go on to coach Canada's senior men's national basketball team.
Despite there being only 23 teams at the time of the draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers were awarded the 24th pick out of courtesy. Then-owner Ted Stepien was infamous for repeatedly trading first-round picks in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which, considering Cleveland's morose records in that time period, eventually culminated in the NBA creating a rule banning teams from dealing first-round picks in consecutive years.
Draft
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team |
| + | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| # | Denotes player who never played in the NBA regular season or playoffs |
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Sampson, RalphRalph Sampson^ | C |  United States |
Houston Rockets | Virginia (Sr.) |
| 1 | 2 | Stipanovich, SteveSteve Stipanovich | C | United States |
Indiana Pacers | Missouri (Sr.) |
| 1 | 3 | McCray, RodneyRodney McCray | SF | United States |
Houston Rockets (from Cleveland via Philadelphia) | Louisville (Sr.) |
| 1 | 4 | Scott, ByronByron Scott | SG | United States |
San Diego Clippers | Arizona State (Jr.) |
| 1 | 5 | Green, SidneySidney Green | PF | United States |
Chicago Bulls | UNLV (Sr.) |
| 1 | 6 | Cross, RussellRussell Cross | C | United States |
Golden State Warriors | Purdue (Jr.) |
| 1 | 7 | Bailey, ThurlThurl Bailey | PF | United States |
Utah Jazz | NC State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 8 | Carr, AntoineAntoine Carr | PF | United States |
Detroit Pistons | Wichita State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 9 | Ellis, DaleDale Ellis* | SG | United States |
Dallas Mavericks | Tennessee (Sr.) |
| 1 | 10 | Malone, JeffJeff Malone+ | SG | United States |
Washington Bullets | Mississippi State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 11 | Harper, DerekDerek Harper | PG/SG | United States |
Dallas Mavericks (from Atlanta via Cleveland) | Illinois (Jr.) |
| 1 | 12 | Walker, DarrellDarrell Walker | SG | United States |
New York Knicks | Arkansas (Sr.) |
| 1 | 13 | Whatley, EnnisEnnis Whatley | PG | United States |
Kansas City Kings | Alabama (So.) |
| 1 | 14 | Drexler, ClydeClyde Drexler^ | SG | United States |
Portland Trail Blazers | Houston (Jr.) |
| 1 | 15 | Carter, HowardHoward Carter | SG | United States |
Denver Nuggets | LSU (Sr.) |
| 1 | 16 | Sundvold, JonJon Sundvold | PG | United States |
Seattle SuperSonics | Missouri (Sr.) |
| 1 | 17 | Rautins, LeoLeo Rautins | SF |  Canada |
Philadelphia 76ers (from New Jersey) | Syracuse (Sr.) |
| 1 | 18 | Breuer, RandyRandy Breuer | C | United States |
Milwaukee Bucks | Minnesota (Sr.) |
| 1 | 19 | Paxson, JohnJohn Paxson | PG | United States |
San Antonio Spurs | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| 1 | 20 | Hinson, RoyRoy Hinson | C | United States |
Cleveland Cavaliers (from Phoenix) | Rutgers (Sr.) |
| 1 | 21 | Kite, GregGreg Kite | C | United States |
Boston Celtics | BYU (Sr.) |
| 1 | 22 | Wittman, RandyRandy Wittman | SG | United States |
Washington Bullets (from Los Angeles) | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 1 | 23 | Wiggins, MitchellMitchell Wiggins | SG | United States |
Indiana Pacers (from Philadelphia) | Florida State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 24 | Granger, StewartStewart Granger | PG | Canada |
Cleveland Cavaliers * | Villanova (Sr.) |
| 2 | 25 | Lowe, SidneySidney Lowe | PG | United States |
Chicago Bulls | NC State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 26 | Combs, LeroyLeroy Combs | SF | United States |
Indiana Pacers | Oklahoma State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 27 | Garris, JohnJohn Garris | PF | United States |
Cleveland Cavaliers | Boston College (Sr.) |
| 2 | 28 | Foster, RodRod Foster | PG | United States |
Phoenix Suns | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 2 | 29 | Micheaux, LarryLarry Micheaux | PF | United States |
Chicago Bulls | Houston (Sr.) |
| 2 | 30 | West, MarkMark West | C | United States |
Dallas Mavericks | Old Dominion (Sr.) |
| 2 | 31 | Rivers, DocDoc Rivers+ | PG | United States |
Atlanta Hawks | Marquette (Jr.) |
| 2 | 32 | Britt, MichaelMichael Britt# | SF | United States |
Washington Bullets | UDC (Sr.) |
| 2 | 33 | Minniefield, DirkDirk Minniefield | PG | United States |
Dallas Mavericks | Kentucky (Sr.) |
| 2 | 34 | Williams, GuyGuy Williams | F | United States |
Washington Bullets | Washington State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 35 | Lockhart, DarrellDarrell Lockhart | C | United States |
San Antonio Spurs | Auburn (Sr.) |
| 2 | 36 | McCray, ScooterScooter McCray | PF | United States |
Seattle SuperSonics | Louisville (Sr.) |
| 2 | 37 | Russell, DavidDavid Russell# | SF | United States |
Denver Nuggets | St. John's (Sr.) |
| 2 | 38 | McNealy, ChrisChris McNealy | PF | United States |
Kansas City Kings | San Jose State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 39 | Waiters, GranvilleGranville Waiters | C | United States |
Portland Trail Blazers | Ohio State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 40 | Thomas, JimJim Thomas | SG | United States |
Indiana Pacers | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 2 | 41 | Kitchel, TedTed Kitchel# | SF | United States |
Milwaukee Bucks | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 2 | 42 | Davis, MikeMike Davis# | SG | United States |
Milwaukee Bucks | Alabama (Sr.) |
| 2 | 43 | Mannion, PacePace Mannion | SF | United States |
Golden State Warriors | Utah (Sr.) |
| 2 | 44 | Owens, HoraceHorace Owens# | SG | United States |
New Jersey Nets | Rhode Island (Sr.) |
| 2 | 45 | Williams, PaulPaul Williams# | SF | United States |
Phoenix Suns | Arizona State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 46 | Williams, KevinKevin Williams | PG | United States |
San Antonio Spurs | St. John's (Sr.) |
| 2 | 47 | Lyons, KennethKenneth Lyons# | PF | United States |
Philadelphia 76ers | North Texas State (Sr.) |
* compensation for draft choices traded away by Ted Stepien
Notable post-second round picks
These picks have played at least one game in the NBA but were not selected in the first or second rounds.
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 48 | Ehlo, CraigCraig Ehlo | SG | United States |
Houston Rockets | Washington State (Sr.) |
| 3 | 50 | Thompson, PaulPaul Thompson | SF | United States |
Cleveland Cavaliers | Tulane (Sr.) |
| 3 | 53 | Holton, MikeMike Holton | SG | United States |
Golden State Warriors | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 3 | 54 | Hansen, BobBob Hansen | SG | United States |
Utah Jazz | Iowa (Sr.) |
| 3 | 57 | Daye, DarrenDarren Daye | SF | United States |
Washington Bullets | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 3 | 58 | Pinone, JohnJohn Pinone | SF | United States |
Atlanta Hawks | Villanova (Sr.) |
| 3 | 59 | Kuczenski, BruceBruce Kuczenski | PF | United States |
New Jersey Nets | Connecticut (Sr.) |
| 3 | 62 | Piotrowski, TomTom Piotrowski | C | United States |
Portland Trail Blazers | La Salle (Sr.) |
| 4 | 75 | Crevier, RonRon Crevier | C | Canada |
Chicago Bulls | Boston College (Sr.) |
| 4 | 77 | Thibeaux, PeterPeter Thibeaux | SF | United States |
Golden State Warriors | Saint Mary's (Sr.) |
| 4 | 82 | Jones, MarkMark Jones | PG | United States |
New York Knicks | St. Bonaventure (Sr.) |
| 4 | 90 | Weidner, BrantBrant Weidner | PF | United States |
San Antonio Spurs | William & Mary (Sr.) |
| 4 | 91 | Clark, CarlosCarlos Clark | SG | United States |
Boston Celtics | Ole Miss (Sr.) |
| 5 | 97 | Bol, ManuteManute Bol | C |  Sudan |
San Diego Clippers (Pick voided on technicalities)[1] | Bridgeport (Sr.) |
| 5 | 101 | Austin, KenKen Austin | PF | United States |
Detroit Pistons | Rice (Sr.) |
| 5 | 102 | Lampley, JimJim Lampley | C | United States |
Dallas Mavericks | Arkansas–Little Rock (Sr.) |
| 6 | 139 | Threatt, SedaleSedale Threatt | SG | United States |
Philadelphia 76ers | West Virginia Tech (Sr.) |
| 7 | 152 | Suttle, DaneDane Suttle | SG | United States |
Kansas City Kings | Pepperdine (Sr.) |
References
- General
- "Complete First Round Results 1980-89". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- "1983 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- "1982–1986 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Archived from the original on 16 November 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- Specific
- 1 2 "A Gift From On High". CNN. June 28, 2010.