1984 NBA draft
General information
SportBasketball
DateJune 19, 1984
LocationFelt Forum, Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)[1]
NetworkUSA Network
Overview
228 total selections in 10 rounds
LeagueNBA
First selectionAkeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
Hall of Famers 5

The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 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 pick Akeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network.[6] This draft would be the last NBA draft to be aired nationally on the USA Network; starting with the 1985 NBA draft year, the NBA would have increased national coverage by first airing the event on TBS and then on TNT before airing the event on ESPN as of 2003.

In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The Houston Rockets won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Portland Trail Blazers, who obtained the Indiana 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 the previous season. The Cleveland 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 automatically eligible for selection. Before the draft, five college underclassmen announced that they would leave college early and would be eligible for selection.[9] Prior to the draft, the San Diego Clippers relocated to Los Angeles and became the Los 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 the draft lottery in 1985.[11] It was the first NBA draft to be overseen by David 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 the All-Star Game, with Jordan and Olajuwon both selected in the 1985 game.

Draft selections

G Guard F 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 has never appeared in an NBA regular-season or playoff game
Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality[n 1] Team School/club team
1 1 Akeem Olajuwon^
[1]
C  Nigeria[2] Houston Rockets Houston (Jr.)
1 2 Sam Bowie C  United States Portland Trail Blazers (from Indiana)[d] Kentucky (Sr.)
1 3 Michael Jordan^ G/F  United States Chicago Bulls North Carolina (Jr.)
1 4 Sam Perkins F/C  United States Dallas Mavericks (from Cleveland)[e] North Carolina (Sr.)
1 5 Charles Barkley^ F  United States Philadelphia 76ers (from L.A. Clippers)[f] Auburn (Jr.)
1 6 Melvin Turpin C  United States Washington Bullets (traded to Cleveland)[a] Kentucky (Sr.)
1 7 Alvin Robertson* G  United States San Antonio Spurs Arkansas (Sr.)
1 8 Lancaster Gordon G  United States Los Angeles Clippers (from Golden State)[g] Louisville (Sr.)
1 9 Otis Thorpe+ F/C  United States Kansas City Kings Providence (Sr.)
1 10 Leon Wood G  United States Philadelphia 76ers (from Denver)[h] Cal State Fullerton (Sr.)
1 11 Kevin Willis* F/C  United States Atlanta Hawks Michigan State (Sr.)
1 12 Tim McCormick C  United States Cleveland Cavaliers[3] (traded to Seattle)[a] Michigan (Sr.)[4]
1 13 Jay Humphries G  United States Phoenix Suns Colorado (Sr.)
1 14 Michael Cage F/C  United States Los Angeles Clippers (from Seattle)[i] San Diego State (Sr.)
1 15 Terence Stansbury G  United States Dallas Mavericks Temple (Sr.)
1 16 John Stockton^ G  United States Utah Jazz Gonzaga (Sr.)
1 17 Jeff Turner F/C  United States New Jersey Nets Vanderbilt (Sr.)
1 18 Vern Fleming G  United States Indiana Pacers (from New York)[j] Georgia (Sr.)
1 19 Bernard Thompson G/F  United States Portland Trail Blazers Fresno State (Sr.)
1 20 Tony Campbell G/F  United States Detroit Pistons Ohio State (Sr.)
1 21 Kenny Fields G/F  United States Milwaukee Bucks UCLA (Sr.)
1 22 Tom Sewell G  United States Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Washington)[b] Lamar (Sr.)
1 23 Earl Jones C  United States Los Angeles Lakers UDC (Sr.)
1 24 Michael Young G/F  United States Boston Celtics Houston (Sr.)
2 25 Devin Durrant F  United States Indiana Pacers Brigham Young (Sr.)
2 26 Victor Fleming# G  United States Portland Trail Blazers (from Chicago via Indiana)[k] Xavier (Sr.)
2 27 Ron Anderson G/F  United States Cleveland Cavaliers Fresno State (Sr.)
2 28 Cory Blackwell F  United States Seattle SuperSonics (from Houston)[l] Wisconsin (Jr.)
2 29 Stuart Gray F/C  Panama[5] Indiana Pacers (from L.A. Clippers via Philadelphia)[m] UCLA (Jr.)
2 30 Steve Burtt G  United States Golden State Warriors (from Washington)[n] Iona (Sr.)
2 31 Jay Murphy F  United States Golden State Warriors (traded to L.A. Clippers)[c] Boston College (Sr.)
2 32 Eric Turner# G  United States Detroit Pistons (from San Antonio)[o] Michigan (Jr.)
2 33 Steve Colter G  United States Portland Trail Blazers (from Denver)[p] New Mexico State (Sr.)
2 34 Tony Costner# C  United States Washington Bullets (from Kansas City via Detroit and Atlanta)[q] Saint Joseph's (Sr.)
2 35 Othell Wilson G  United States Golden State Warriors (from Atlanta)[r] Virginia (Sr.)
2 36 Charles Jones F  United States Phoenix Suns Louisville (Sr.)
2 37 Ben Coleman F  United States Chicago Bulls (from Seattle via Atlanta and Kansas City)[s] Maryland (Sr.)
2 38 Charlie Sitton F  United States Dallas Mavericks Oregon State (Sr.)
2 39 Danny Young G  United States Seattle SuperSonics (from New Jersey)[t] Wake Forest (Sr.)
2 40 Anthony Teachey# F  United States Dallas Mavericks (from Utah)[u] Wake Forest (Sr.)
2 41 Tom Sluby G  United States Dallas Mavericks (from New York via New Jersey)[v] Notre Dame (Sr.)
2 42 Willie White G  United States Denver Nuggets (from Portland)[w] Chattanooga (Sr.)
2 43 Greg Wiltjer# C  Canada Chicago Bulls (from Detroit via Indiana and Kansas City)[x] Victoria (Canada) (Sr.)
2 44 Fred Reynolds# F  United States Washington Bullets (from Milwaukee)[y] UTEP (Sr.)
2 45 Gary Plummer F/C  United States Golden State Warriors (from Philadelphia 76ers)[z] Boston University (Sr.)
2 46 Jerome Kersey F  United States Portland Trail Blazers (from L.A. Lakers)[aa] Longwood (Sr.)
2 47 Ronnie Williams# F  United States Boston Celtics Florida (Sr.)
3 48 James Banks# F  United States Philadelphia 76ers Georgia (Sr.)
3 49 Tim Dillon# F  United States Chicago Bulls Northern Illinois (Sr.)
3 50 Ben McDonald F  United States Cleveland Cavaliers UC Irvine (Sr.)
3 51 Jim Petersen F/C  United States Houston Rockets Minnesota (Sr.)
3 52 Terry Williams# G  United States Seattle SuperSonics Alabama (Sr.)
3 53 Ricky Ross# F  United States Washington Bullets Tulsa (Sr.)
3 54 Roosevelt Chapman# G  United States Kansas City Kings Dayton (Sr.)
3 55 Lewis Jackson# G  United States Golden State Warriors Alabama State (Sr.)
3 56 Jeff Allen# F  United States Kansas City Kings St. John's (Sr.)
3 57 Joe Binion F  United States San Antonio Spurs (from Denver)[ab] North Carolina A&T (Sr.)
3 58 Bobby Parks# F  United States Atlanta Hawks Memphis (Sr.)
3 59 Murray Jarman# C  United States Phoenix Suns Clemson (Sr.)
3 60 Leonard Mitchell# F  United States Cleveland Cavaliers LSU (Sr.)
3 61 Jeff Cross F  United States Dallas Mavericks Maine (Sr.)
3 62 David Pope F  United States Utah Jazz Norfolk State (Sr.)
3 63 Yommy Sangodeyi# F  Nigeria New Jersey Nets Sam Houston (Jr.)
3 64 Curtis Green# G  United States New York Knicks Southern Miss (Sr.)
3 65 Tim Kearney# C  United States Portland Trail Blazers West Virginia (Sr.)
3 66 Kevin Springman# F  United States Detroit Pistons Saint Joseph's (Sr.)
3 67 Vernon Delancy# F  United States Milwaukee Bucks Florida (Sr.)
3 68 Butch Graves G  United States Philadelphia 76ers Yale (Sr.)
3 69 George Singleton# F  United States Los Angeles Lakers Furman (Sr.)
3 70 Rick Carlisle G  United States Boston Celtics Virginia (Sr.)
4 71 Ralph Jackson G  United States Indiana Pacers UCLA (Sr.)
4 72 Melvin Johnson# F  United States Chicago Bulls Charlotte (Sr.)
4 73 Art Aaron# F  United States Cleveland Cavaliers Northwestern (Sr.)
4 74 Willie Jackson# F  United States Houston Rockets Centenary (Sr.)
4 75 Marc Glass# G  United States Los Angeles Clippers Montana (Sr.)
4 76 Jim Grandholm F  United States Washington Bullets South Florida (Sr.)
4 77 Mark Halsel# F  United States Chicago Bulls Northeastern (Sr.)
4 78 John Devereaux# C  United States San Antonio Spurs Ohio (Sr.)
4 79 Karl Tilleman# G  Canada Denver Nuggets Calgary (Sr.)
4 80 Carl Henry G  United States Kansas City Kings Kansas (Sr.)
4 81 Dicky Beal# G  United States Atlanta Hawks Kentucky (Sr.)
4 82 Jeff Collins# G  United States Phoenix Suns UNLV (Sr.)
4 83 Jeff Jenkins# F  United States Seattle SuperSonics Xavier (Sr.)
4 84 John Horrocks# C  United States Dallas Mavericks North Texas (Sr.)
4 85 Hank Cornley# F  United States New Jersey Nets Illinois State (Sr.)
4 86 Jim Rowinski F  United States Utah Jazz Purdue (Sr.)
4 87 Bob Thornton F/C  United States New York Knicks UC Irvine (Sr.)
4 88 Brett Applegate# F  United States Portland Trail Blazers BYU (Sr.)
4 89 Phillip Smith# G  United States Detroit Pistons New Mexico (Sr.)
4 90 Ozell Jones F/C  United States San Antonio Spurs (from Milwaukee)[ac] Cal State Fullerton (Sr.)
4 91 Earl Harrison# F  United States Philadelphia 76ers Morehead State (Sr.)
4 92 John Revelli# F  United States Los Angeles Lakers Stanford (Sr.)
4 93 Kevin Mullin# F  United States Boston Celtics Princeton (Sr.)
5 94 Gene Smith# G  United States Indiana Pacers Georgetown (Sr.)
5 95 Lamont Robinson# G  United States Chicago Bulls Lamar (Sr.)
5 96 Vince Hinchen# G  United States Cleveland Cavaliers Boise State (Sr.)
5 97 Al McClain# G  United States Houston Rockets New Hampshire (Sr.)
5 98 Alonza Allen# F  United States Los Angeles Clippers Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.)
5 99 Colin Irish# F  United Kingdom Washington Bullets Bowling Green (Sr.)
5 100 Eric Richardson# G  United States San Antonio Spurs Alabama (Sr.)
5 101 Steve Bartek# F  United States Golden State Warriors Doane (Sr.)
5 102 Jim Foster# F  United States Kansas City Kings South Carolina (Sr.)
5 103 Prince Bridges# G  United States Denver Nuggets Missouri (Sr.)
5 104 Terry Martin# F  United States Atlanta Hawks Louisiana–Monroe (Sr.)
5 105 Bill Flye# C  United States Phoenix Suns Richmond (Sr.)
5 106 Eli Pasquale# G  Canada Seattle SuperSonics Victoria (Sr.)
5 107 Dave Williams# C  United States Dallas Mavericks UIC (Sr.)
5 108 Marcus Gaither# G  United States
 France
Utah Jazz Fairleigh Dickinson (Sr.)
5 109 Michael Gerren# G  United States New Jersey Nets South Alabama (Sr.)
5 110 Scott McCollum# F  United States Golden State Warriors Pepperdine (Sr.)
5 111 Mike Whitmarsh# F  United States Portland Trail Blazers San Diego (Sr.)
5 112 Rick Doyle# F  United States Detroit Pistons UTSA (Sr.)
5 113 Ernie Floyd# C  United States Milwaukee Bucks Holy Cross (Sr.)
5 114 Dan Federman# C  United States Philadelphia 76ers Tennessee (Sr.)
5 115 Lance Berwald# C  United States Los Angeles Lakers North Dakota State (Sr.)
5 116 Todd Orlando# F  United States Boston Celtics Bentley (Sr.)
6 117 Clyde Vaughan# F  United States Indiana Pacers Pittsburgh (Sr.)
6 118 Jeff Tipton# C  United States Chicago Bulls Morehead State (Sr.)
6 119 Matt Doherty# F  United States Cleveland Cavaliers North Carolina (Sr.)
6 120 McKinley Singleton G  United States Milwaukee Bucks (from Houston)[ad] UAB (Sr.)
6 121 Phillip Haynes# F  United States Los Angeles Clippers Memphis (Sr.)
6 122 Blaise Bugajski# G  United States Washington Bullets Illinois Wesleyan (Sr.)
6 123 Tony Martin# G  United States Golden State Warriors Wyoming (Sr.)
6 124 Dion Brown# F  United States San Antonio Spurs Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.)
6 125 Willie Burton# F  United States Denver Nuggets Tennessee (Sr.)
6 126 Bruce Vanley# C  United States Kansas City Kings Tulsa (Sr.)
6 127 Jim Master# G  United States Atlanta Hawks Kentucky (Sr.)
6 128 Herman Veal# F  United States Phoenix Suns Maryland (Sr.)
6 129 Graylin Warner# F  United States Seattle SuperSonics Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.)
6 130 LaVerne Evans# G  United States Dallas Mavericks Marshall (Sr.)
6 131 Oscar Schmidt^# G/F  Brazil New Jersey Nets S.E. Palmeiras (Brazil)
6 132 Chris Harrison# F  United States Utah Jazz West Virginia Wesleyan (Sr.)
6 133 Eddie Lee Wilkins F/C  United States New York Knicks Gardner–Webb (Sr.)
6 134 Lance Ball# C  United States Portland Trail Blazers Western Oregon (Sr.)
6 135 Rennie Bailey# G  United States Detroit Pistons Louisiana Tech (Sr.)
6 136 Mike Reddick# F  United States Milwaukee Bucks Stetson (Sr.)
6 137 Gary Springer# F  United States Philadelphia 76ers Iona (Sr.)
6 138 Keith Jones# G  United States Los Angeles Lakers Stanford (Sr.)
6 139 Steve Carfino# G  United States Boston Celtics Iowa (Sr.)
7 140 Kenton Edelin F  United States Indiana Pacers Virginia (Sr.)
7 141 Butch Hays# G  United States Chicago Bulls California (Sr.)
7 142 Joe Jakubick# G  United States Cleveland Cavaliers Akron (Sr.)
7 143 Joedy Gardner# G  United States Houston Rockets Long Beach State (Sr.)
7 144 David Brantley# F  United States Los Angeles Clippers Oregon (Sr.)
7 145 Tim Garrett# F  United States Washington Bullets New Mexico (Sr.)
7 146 Michael Pitts# C  United States San Antonio Spurs California (Sr.)
7 147 Cliff Higgins# F  United States Golden State Warriors Cal State Northridge (Sr.)
7 148 Chipper Harris# G  United States Kansas City Kings Robert Morris (Sr.)
7 149 Mark Simpson# F  United States Denver Nuggets Catawba (Sr.)
7 150 Vince Martello# F  United States Atlanta Hawks Florida State (Sr.)
7 151 Raymond Crenshaw# F  United States Phoenix Suns Oklahoma State (Sr.)
7 152 Gary Gatewood# G  United States Seattle SuperSonics Oregon (Sr.)
7 153 George Turner# G  United States Dallas Mavericks UC Irvine (Sr.)
7 154 Bob Evans# C  United States Utah Jazz Southern Utah (Sr.)
7 155 Sean Kerins# F  United States New Jersey Nets Syracuse (Sr.)
7 156 Ken Bannister F/C  United States New York Knicks St. Augustine's (Sr.)
7 157 Victor Anger# F  United States Portland Trail Blazers Pepperdine (Sr.)
7 158 Barry Francisco# G  United States Detroit Pistons Bloomsburg (Sr.)
7 159 Tony William# G  United States Milwaukee Bucks Florida State (Sr.)
7 160 Richard Congo# F  United States Philadelphia 76ers Drexel (Sr.)
7 161 Richard Haenisch# F  United States Los Angeles Lakers Chaminade (Sr.)
7 162 Mark Van Valkenburg# F  United States Boston Celtics Framingham State (Sr.)
8 163 Tom Heitz# F  United States Indiana Pacers Kentucky (Sr.)
8 164 Brett Crawford# F  United States Chicago Bulls US International (Sr.)
8 165 Elliot Beard# G  United States Cleveland Cavaliers Oberlin (Sr.)
8 166 Greg Wolff# F  United States Houston Rockets Angelo State (Sr.)
8 167 Jim McLoughlin# G  United States Los Angeles Clippers Temple (Sr.)
8 168 Darryl Odom# G  United States Washington Bullets West Virginia Wesleyan (Sr.)
8 169 Paul Brozovich# C  United States Golden State Warriors UNLV (Sr.)
8 170 Dan Tarkanian# G  United States San Antonio Spurs UNLV (Sr.)
8 171 Bill Wendlandt# F  United States Denver Nuggets Texas (Sr.)
8 172 Nate Rollins# F  United States Kansas City Kings Fort Hays State (Sr.)
8 173 Robert Brown# G  United States Atlanta Hawks LIU Brooklyn (Sr.)
8 174 Mark Fothergill# F  United States Phoenix Suns Maryland (Sr.)
8 175 Jerry McMillan# G  United States Seattle SuperSonics DePaul (Sr.)
8 176 Leroy Sutton# F  United States Dallas Mavericks Arkansas (Sr.)
8 177 Chris Winans# C  United States New Jersey Nets Utah (Sr.)
8 178 Eric Booker# G  United States Utah Jazz UNLV (Sr.)
8 179 Ricky Tunstall# C  United States New York Knicks Youngstown State (Sr.)
8 180 Steve Flint# F  United States Portland Trail Blazers UC San Diego (Sr.)
8 181 Dale Roberts# C  United States Detroit Pistons Appalachian State (Sr.)
8 182 Brad Jergenson# F  United States Milwaukee Bucks South Carolina (Sr.)
8 183 Frank Dobbs# G  United States Philadelphia 76ers Villanova (Sr.)
8 184 Champ Godbolt# G  United States Boston Celtics Holy Cross (Sr.)
9 185 Brian Martin F  United States Indiana Pacers Kansas (Sr.)
9 186 Calvin Pierce# F  United States Chicago Bulls Oklahoma (Sr.)
9 187 John Shimko# G  United States Cleveland Cavaliers Xavier (Sr.)
9 188 Bill Coon# F  United States Houston Rockets Presbyterian (Sr.)
9 189 Dave Schultz# G  United States Los Angeles Clippers Westmont (Sr.)
9 190 Mike Emanuel# G  United States Washington Bullets UNC Pembroke (Sr.)
9 191 Melvin Roseboro# G  United States San Antonio Spurs Saint Mary's (Sr.)
9 192 Mitch Arnold# G  United States Golden State Warriors Fresno State (Sr.)
9 193 Greg Turner# F  United States Kansas City Kings Auburn (Sr.)
9 194 Cecil Exum# F  United States
 Australia
Denver Nuggets North Carolina (Sr.)
9 195 Fred Brown# G  United States Atlanta Hawks Georgetown (Sr.)
9 196 Buddy Cox# F  United States Phoenix Suns Bellarmine (Sr.)
9 197 Mike Williams# C  United States Seattle SuperSonics Idaho State (Sr.)
9 198 John Tudor# G  United States Dallas Mavericks LSU (Sr.)
9 199 Kelly Knight# F  United States Utah Jazz Kansas (Sr.)
9 200 Bill Ryan# G  United States New Jersey Nets Princeton (Sr.)
9 201 Marc Marotta# F  United States New York Knicks Marquette (Sr.)
9 202 Dennis Black# F  United States Portland Trail Blazers Portland (Sr.)
9 203 Ben Tower# F  United States Detroit Pistons Michigan State (Sr.)
9 204 Edwin Green# C  United States Milwaukee Bucks UMass (Sr.)
9 205 Michael Mitchell# C  United States Philadelphia 76ers Drexel (Sr.)
9 206 Joe Dickson# F  United States Boston Celtics Merrimack (Sr.)
10 207 Gary Carver# F  United States Indiana Pacers Western Kentucky (Sr.)
10 208 Carl Lewis#  United States Chicago Bulls Houston (Sr.)
10 209 Darrell Space# F  United States Cleveland Cavaliers Northeastern Illinois (Sr.)
10 210 Robert Turner# G  United States Houston Rockets Canisius (Sr.)
10 211 Dick Mumma# C  United States Los Angeles Clippers Penn State (Sr.)
10 212 Glynn Myrick# G  United States Washington Bullets Stetson (Sr.)
10 213 Tim Bell# F  United States Golden State Warriors UC Riverside (Sr.)
10 214 Frank Rodriguez# F  United States San Antonio Spurs New Mexico State (Sr.)
10 215 Dexter Bailey# F  United States Denver Nuggets Xavier (Sr.)
10 216 Victor Coleman# G  United States Kansas City Kings Northwest Missouri State (Sr.)
10 217 Doug Mills# G  United States Atlanta Hawks Hofstra (Sr.)
10 218 Ezra Hill# G  United States Phoenix Suns Liberty (Sr.)
10 219 Greg Brandon# F  United States Seattle SuperSonics Creighton (Sr.)
10 220 Napoleon Johnson# F  United States Dallas Mavericks Grambling State (Sr.)
10 221 Phil Jamison# G  United States New Jersey Nets Saint Peter's (Sr.)
10 222 Mike Curran# G  United States Utah Jazz Niagara (Sr.)
10 223 Mike Henderson# F  Jamaica New York Knicks LIU Post (Sr.)
10 224 Randy Dunn# F  United States Portland Trail Blazers George Fox (Sr.)
10 225 Dan Pelekoudas# G  United States Detroit Pistons Michigan (Sr.)
10 226 Mike Toomer# C  United States Milwaukee Bucks Florida A&M (Sr.)
10 227 Martin Clark# F  United Kingdom Philadelphia 76ers Boston College (Sr.)
10 228 Dan Trant# G  Ireland Boston Celtics Clark (Sr.)
  1. 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 to FIBA rules.

Trades involving draft picks

Draft day trades

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.[2]

Predraft trades

Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of picks between the teams.

Legacy

The Houston Rockets used their first pick to draft Akeem Olajuwon,[49] a junior center from the University of Houston. The Nigerian-born Olajuwon became the second foreign-born player to be drafted first overall, after Mychal Thompson from the Bahamas in 1978.[50] The Portland Trail Blazers used the second overall pick to draft Sam Bowie from the University of Kentucky. The Chicago Bulls used the third pick to draft Naismith and Wooden College Player of the Year Michael Jordan from the University of North Carolina.[2][51] Jordan went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award and was also selected to the All-NBA Second Team in his rookie season.[52] Jordan's teammate at North Carolina, Sam Perkins, was drafted fourth by the Dallas Mavericks. Charles Barkley, a junior forward from Auburn University, was drafted fifth by the Philadelphia 76ers. Olajuwon, Jordan and Barkley, along with the 16th pick John Stockton and the 131st pick Oscar Schmidt, have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[53] The first four mentioned players were also named in the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996.[54]

Olajuwon's achievements include two NBA championships, two Finals Most Valuable Player Awards, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Defensive Player of the Year Awards, twelve All-NBA Team selections, twelve All-Star Game selections and nine All-Defensive Team selections. Olajuwon retired as the all–time league leader in total blocked shots with 3,830 blocks.[55]

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, three NBA 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 in 1993 and was selected to eleven All-NBA Teams, eleven All-Star Games, and was the MVP of the 1991 All Star Game.[56] Stockton was selected to eleven All-NBA Teams, ten All-Star Games and five All-Defensive Teams before retiring as the all–time league leader in assists and steals and was co-MVP of the 1993 All Star Game along with his Utah Jazz teammate Karl 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 the Most Improved Player Award in 1986. 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 a quadruple double.

Two other players from this draft, ninth pick Otis Thorpe and eleventh pick Kevin Willis, were also selected to one All-Star Game each.[59] Thorpe won a championship in 1994 with the Rockets, while Willis won a championship in 2003 with the Spurs and also had one selection to the All-NBA Team.[60] Rick Carlisle, the 70th pick, became a coach after ending his playing career and won the Coach of the Year Award in 2002 while coaching the Detroit Pistons. In 2011, he coached the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA Championship.[61]

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 biggest draft busts in NBA history.[65][66][67][68][69] It is believed that the Blazers picked Bowie over Michael Jordan because they already had an All Star shooting guard in Jim Paxson and a young shooting guard in Clyde Drexler, whom they drafted in the 1983 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]

Other notable selections

Brazilian Oscar Schmidt was drafted with the 131st pick in the sixth round by the New Jersey Nets. However, Schmidt turned down the offers to play in the NBA and stayed to play in Italy and later in Brazil, in order to continue representing his country in international competitions, which was not allowed until NBA's agreement with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in 1990 allowing their players to represent their countries on a national level. He played in five Olympics and was the top scorer in three of them. He finished his career with 49,703 points with various clubs and the Brazilian national team, more than the NBA'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 leader LeBron James' 42,184 points.[73] In 2010, FIBA honored Schmidt with an induction to the FIBA Hall of Fame,[74] and Schmidt was inducted by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.[75]

University of Houston track and field Olympic Champion Carl 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 the same year by the Dallas Cowboys, stayed with his athletics career and went on to win nine Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships gold medals.[77]

In the fifth round, the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Mike Whitmarsh, who starred for the University of San Diego in both basketball and volleyball, with the 111th pick. Whitmarsh played professional basketball in Germany for three years, but never played in the NBA. He then left basketball to play beach volleyball, where he achieved greater success, including a silver medal in the Olympics.[78]

The final pick in the 1984 Draft, number 228 by the Boston Celtics, was Dan Trant of Clark 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.

Early entrants

College underclassmen

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 two Nigerian born players (including Akeem Olajuwon) and one Panamanian born player doing so. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[80]

Invited attendees

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 the 1980 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 with David 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 in Devin 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 were Michael Jordan and John Stockton. With that in mind, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.[81]

Notes

^ 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 the United 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 the 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 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 the Panama Canal Zone which was controlled by the United States. He has represented Panama national team.[85]

See also

References

General
Specific
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