The 2002 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2002 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from non-North American leagues.^[1] The draft was broadcast on TNT at 7:30 PM (EDT). The NBA announced that 42 college and high school players, and five international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the draft.^[2] The Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors both had a 22.5 percent probability of acquiring the first overall pick, but the Houston Rockets, with an 8.9 percent probability, won the NBA Draft Lottery on May 19.^[3][4] The Bulls and Warriors were second and third, respectively. As punishment for salary-cap violations during the 2000-01 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round draft pick.

The 2002 draft set a record with 17 international selections, with six coming in the first round alone.^[5]

#2 pick Jay Williams violated his contract by riding a motorcycle, and nearly lost his life in an accident that shattered his pelvis, severed a main nerve in his leg, and tore three ligaments in his left knee including his ACL. Although he underwent an intense rehabilitation program, Williams never played a game in the NBA again.

Yao Ming, the 1st pick

Key[link]

Draft[link]

Mike Dunleavy Jr., the 3rd pick

Drew Gooden, the 4th pick

Nenê, the 7th pick

Amar'e Stoudemire, the 9th pick

Caron Butler, the 10th pick

Tayshaun Prince, the 23rd pick

Roger Mason, the 31st pick

Carlos Boozer, the 35th pick

Matt Barnes, the 46th pick

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	1	Ming, YaoYao Ming*	C	China	Houston Rockets	Shanghai Sharks (China)
1	2	Williams, JayJay Williams	PG	United States	Chicago Bulls	Duke (Jr.)
1	3	Dunleavy, Jr., MikeMike Dunleavy, Jr.	SF	United States	Golden State Warriors	Duke (Jr.)
1	4	Gooden, DrewDrew Gooden	PF	United States	Memphis Grizzlies	Kansas (Jr.)
1	5	Tskitishvili, NikolozNikoloz Tskitishvili	F/C	Georgia	Denver Nuggets	Benetton Treviso (Italy)
1	6	Wagner, DajuanDajuan Wagner	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Memphis (Fr.)
1	7	Hilario, NenêNenê Hilario	PF	Brazil	New York Knicks (traded to Denver)[6]	Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
1	8	Wilcox, ChrisChris Wilcox	F/C	United States	Los Angeles Clippers (from Atlanta)	Maryland (So.)
1	9	Stoudemire, Amar'eAmar'e Stoudemire*	F/C	United States	Phoenix Suns	Cypress Creek HS (Orlando, Florida) HS Sr.
1	10	Butler, CaronCaron Butler*	SF	United States	Miami Heat	Connecticut (So.)
1	11	Jeffries, JaredJared Jeffries	F	United States	Washington Wizards	Indiana (So.)
1	12	Ely, MelvinMelvin Ely	PF	United States	Los Angeles Clippers	Fresno State (Sr.)
1	13	Haislip, MarcusMarcus Haislip	PF	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Tennessee (Jr.)
1	14	Jones, FredFred Jones	SG	United States	Indiana Pacers	Oregon (Sr.)
1	15	Nachbar, BoštjanBoštjan Nachbar	SF	Slovenia	Houston Rockets (from Toronto)	Benetton Treviso (Italy)
1	16	Welsch, JiriJiri Welsch	G/F	Czech Republic	Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Golden State)	Union Olimpija (Slovenia and Adriatic League) 1980
1	17	Dixon, JuanJuan Dixon	G	United States	Washington Wizards (from New Orleans)	Maryland (Sr.)
1	18	Borchardt, CurtisCurtis Borchardt	C	United States	Orlando Magic (traded to Utah)	Stanford (Jr.)
1	19	Humphrey, RyanRyan Humphrey	PF	United States	Utah Jazz (traded to Orlando)	Notre Dame (Sr.)
1	20	Rush, KareemKareem Rush	SG	United States	Toronto Raptors (from Seattle via New York, traded to Los Angeles Lakers)	Missouri (Jr.)
1	21	Woods, QyntelQyntel Woods	SF	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	NE Mississippi CC (So.)
1	22	Jacobsen, CaseyCasey Jacobsen	SG	United States	Phoenix Suns (from Boston)	Stanford (Jr.)
1	23	Prince, TayshaunTayshaun Prince	SF	United States	Detroit Pistons	Kentucky (Sr.)
1	24	Krstić, NenadNenad Krstić	F/C	Yugoslavia	New Jersey Nets	Partizan Belgrade (Sinalco Superleague and Adriatic League)
1	25	Williams, FrankFrank Williams	PG	United States	Denver Nuggets (from Dallas, traded to New York)[6]	Illinois (Jr.)
1	26	Salmons, JohnJohn Salmons	G/F	United States	San Antonio Spurs (traded to Philadelphia)	Miami (Sr.)
1	27	Jefferies, ChrisChris Jefferies	SF	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (traded to Toronto)	Fresno State (Jr.)
1	28	Dickau, DanDan Dickau	PG	United States	Sacramento Kings (traded to Atlanta)	Gonzaga (Sr.)
1	29	Forfeited pick			Minnesota Timberwolves (forfeited their first-round pick due to salary cap violations)[7]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	School/club team
2	30	Logan, SteveSteve Logan	PG	United States	Golden State Warriors	Cincinnati (Sr.)
2	31	Mason Jr., RogerRoger Mason Jr.	SG	United States	Chicago Bulls	Virginia (Jr.)
2	32	Archibald, RobertRobert Archibald	PF	Scotland	Memphis Grizzlies	Illinois (Sr.)
2	33	Yarbrough, VincentVincent Yarbrough	SF	United States	Denver Nuggets	Tennessee (Sr.)
2	34	Gadzuric, DanDan Gadzuric	C	Yugoslavia  Netherlands	Milwaukee Bucks (from Houston)	UCLA (Sr.)
2	35	Boozer, CarlosCarlos Boozer*	PF	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Duke (Jr.)
2	36	Vujanić, MilošMiloš Vujanić	PG	Yugoslavia	New York Knicks	Partizan Belgrade (Sinalco Superleague and Adriatic League) 1980
2	37	Andersen, DavidDavid Andersen	C	Australia	Atlanta Hawks	Virtus Bologna (Italy) 1980
2	38	Maddox, TitoTito Maddox	PG	United States	Houston Rockets (from Miami)	Fresno State (So.)
2	39	Grizzard, RodRod Grizzard	SG	United States	Washington Wizards (from Phoenix via Denver)	Alabama (Jr.)
2	40	Navarro, Juan CarlosJuan Carlos Navarro	PG	Spain	Washington Wizards	FC Barcelona (Spain) 1980
2	41	Kasun, MarioMario Kasun	C	Croatia	Los Angeles Clippers	Opel Skyliners (Germany) 1980
2	42	Murray, RonaldRonald Murray	SG	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Shaw (Sr.)
2	43	Jennings, JasonJason Jennings	C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers (from Toronto via Chicago)	Arkansas State (Sr.)
2	44	Baxter, LonnyLonny Baxter	PF	United States	Chicago Bulls (from Indiana)	Maryland (Sr.)
2	45	Clancy, SamSam Clancy	PF	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	USC (Sr.)
2	46	Barnes, MattMatt Barnes	SF	United States	Memphis Grizzlies (from Orlando)	UCLA (Sr.)
2	47	Sampson, JamalJamal Sampson	C	United States	Utah Jazz (traded to Orlando)	California (Fr.)
2	48	Owens, ChrisChris Owens	PF	United States	Milwaukee Bucks (from New Orleans, traded to Memphis)	Texas (Sr.)
2	49	Fehse, PeterPeter Fehse	PF	Germany	Seattle SuperSonics	Halle (Germany) 1983
2	50	Songaila, DariusDarius Songaila	PF	Lithuania	Boston Celtics	Wake Forest (Sr.)
2	51	Kammerichs, FedericoFederico Kammerichs	SF	Argentina	Portland Trail Blazers	Ourense (Spain) 1980
2	52	Taylor, MarcusMarcus Taylor	PG	United States	Minnesota Timberwolves	Michigan State (So.)
2	53	Butler, RasualRasual Butler	SF	United States	Miami Heat (from Detroit via Toronto and Houston)	La Salle (Sr.)
2	54	Slay, TamarTamar Slay	SG	United States	New Jersey Nets	Marshall (Sr.)
2	55	Šekularac, MladenMladen Šekularac	SG	Yugoslavia	Dallas Mavericks	FMP Železnik (Sinalco Superleague and Adriatic League) 1981
2	56	Scola, LuisLuis Scola	PF	Argentina	San Antonio Spurs (from L.A. Lakers)	TAU Cerámica (Spain) 1980
2	57	Holcomb, RandyRandy Holcomb	PF	United States	San Antonio Spurs (traded to Philadelphia)	San Diego State (Sr.)
2	58	Edwards, CorsleyCorsley Edwards	PF	United States	Sacramento Kings	Central Connecticut (Sr.)

External links[link]

• NBA.com: Draft 2002
• 2002 NBA Draft

References[link]

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The NBA Draft is an annual event in which the thirty teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) can draft players who are eligible and wish to join the league. These players are usually amateur U.S. college basketball players, but international players are also eligible to be drafted. College players who have finished their four-year college eligibility are automatically eligible for selection, while the underclassmen have to declare their eligibility and give up their remaining college eligibility. International players who are at least 22 years old are automatically eligible for selection, while the players younger than 22 have to declare their eligibility. Players who are not automatically eligible but have declared their eligibility are often called "early-entrants" or "early-entry candidates". The Draft usually takes place at the end of June, during the NBA off-season. The Draft consists of two rounds with a total of sixty players to be selected.

In the past, high school players were also eligible to be selected. However, starting in the 2006 Draft, high school players were not eligible to enter the draft directly after graduating high school. The rules now state that high school players will gain eligibility for draft selection one year after their high school graduation and they must also be at least 19 years old as of the end of the calendar year of the draft. Contrary to popular belief, they do not necessarily have to have at least one year of college basketball (as some players have chosen to use that year to play professionally in Europe for example).

NBA Draft Lottery[link]

The NBA Draft Lottery is an annual event held by the NBA to determine the draft order. The teams who missed the playoffs in the previous season participate in a lottery process to determine the draft order. The lottery winner would get the first selection in the draft. In the current rules, 14 non-playoff teams participate in the Draft Lottery. The lottery is weighted so that the team with the worst record has the best chance of obtaining higher draft picks. The lottery process determines the first three picks of the draft. The rest of the first-round order of picks is in reverse order of the teams' win-loss record. The lottery does not determine the draft order in the second round of the draft. The term "lottery pick" denotes a draft pick whose position is determined through the lottery, while the non-playoff teams involved in the process are often called "lottery teams". The Draft Lottery system was first used in the 1985 Draft.

Draft selection process[link]

All players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft, and a player who completed basketball eligibility at an American high school must also be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class. Restrictions exist on players signing with sports agents and on declaring for, then withdrawing, from drafts—although most of them are enforced by the NCAA rather than the NBA.

In the early years of the draft, teams would select players until they ran out of prospects. The 1960 draft went 21 rounds. By 1974, it had stabilized to 10 rounds, which held up until 1985, when the draft was shortened to seven rounds. By agreement with the National Basketball Players Association, the drafts from 1989 onward have been limited to two rounds, which gives undrafted players the chance to try out for any team.^[1]

Globalization of the draft[link]

The NBA draft has been dominated by collegiate players since the draft was put in place in 1950. In more recent years high school seniors have also had a large impact on the draft. These include players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, and Amar'e Stoudemire. However, because of the new age requirement put in place in 2005, high school seniors are no longer eligible for the draft. During the same stretch that high school players were making a large impact on the draft, another group of players started to make their presence felt in the draft.

Selecting foreign players[link]

Foreign players have made a large impact on how teams are now drafting. When the draft began, foreign players were not selected. As the years progressed, things began to change and a few international players were selected. The first foreign player, in the sense of being a national of a country other than the U.S., to be chosen first overall in the draft was Bahamian Mychal Thompson in 1978. However, Thompson's selection was not a true harbinger of the game's globalization, as he had spent much of his childhood in Florida, and had played college basketball at Minnesota. One of the first foreign players selected in the draft to play in the NBA was Manute Bol out of the Sudan in 1983 in the 5th round by the San Diego Clippers. Bol's selection was later deemed ineligible by the NBA. Two years later Bol was drafted again by the NBA this time out of Division II University of Bridgeport in 1985 as the 31st pick overall in the second round. Although Bol did not have a stellar career, he is known for being one of the tallest players ever to play the game at 7 feet and 7 inches. He holds the record for being the tallest player ever to hit a 3 point field goal. The following two years saw two players born outside the U.S. selected first overall—Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984 and Jamaica-born American Patrick Ewing in 1985. However, like Thompson before them, both had played U.S. college basketball—Olajuwon at Houston and Ewing at Georgetown—and Ewing had also played high school basketball in the U.S.

By the 1997 Draft, the number of foreign players being drafted dramatically increased. The top pick in that draft, Tim Duncan, became the third international player picked number 1 overall—although his designation as "international" is a matter of semantics, as he is a native of the United States Virgin Islands and, like all USVI natives, is a U.S. citizen by birth. He also had played U.S. college basketball at Wake Forest. Including Duncan, 12 international players were selected in the two rounds of the draft—although half of them, including Duncan and the next two such players picked, had played college basketball. The 1998 draft saw another foreign player picked first overall, Nigerian Michael Olowokandi, but like Duncan he had played college basketball, in his case at Pacific. In 2001 the highest drafted foreign player, Pau Gasol, was selected 3rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks. That would all change the following season when Yao Ming became the first foreign player without U.S. college experience to be selected number 1 overall. Not only was the first overall pick an international player, but five more picks in the first round alone were also from overseas. In total, the 2002 draft produced 17 international players, with only three of them (all second-round picks) having U.S. college experience.

International players selected number 1 overall[link]

As noted earlier, four international players had gone first overall before 2002, although all had played college basketball in the U.S., and one of them was in fact a U.S. citizen by birth. It was not until 2002 that an international player without college experience went first overall—Yao Ming. His selection was not only a watershed moment for the NBA, it also had a large impact in Yao's homeland of China. Hannah Beech (2003) writes "Yao has single-handedly transformed his countrymen from nameless, faceless millions into mighty men who can jam with the very best." ^[2] Yao has helped the NBA grow into a worldwide product. Beech (2003) goes on to write "Ratings for NBA games broadcast on Chinese TV have never been higher than this year as the nation keeps track of its new favorite team, Yao's Houston Rockets." ^[2] For his career Yao is averaging a solid 19.0 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, 1.89 blocks per game, and is shooting 82.6 percent from the free throw line.

2001 Draft[link]

From the 2001 draft to the 2006 Draft there were a total of 6 foreign players selected. This trend shows how NBA teams are expanding the way they are selecting players in the draft. Players like Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Tony Parker, Nenê and Luol Deng are changing the landscape of the NBA to include a wide array of players from all over the globe.

2002, 2005 and 2006 Drafts[link]

The 2002, 2005 and 2006 Drafts saw international players picked first overall. In 2002 the Houston Rockets selected Yao Ming from China first in the draft. Also in 2005, the Milwaukee Bucks picked Andrew Bogut, from Australia by way of the University of Utah, #1. The next year, the Toronto Raptors made Andrea Bargnani the second foreign player without U.S. college experience to be selected number 1 overall.

Other notable past NBA drafts[link]

Some of the most noted NBA draft years are 1984, 1996, and 2003. Each of those is often referred to as one of, if not the, best NBA Draft ever, though the 2003 Draft was too recent to accurately compare. The 2000 NBA Draft has been regarded as the worst in history, with Sports Illustrated calling its first round "a horrible group of players."^[3] The 1986 Draft was notable for the number of solid and even outstanding players selected in later rounds, partly because of drug problems that claimed the life of second overall pick Len Bias and affected the careers of several other first-round picks.^[4][5]

See also[link]

• Draft bust
• Expansion draft
• Haywood v. National Basketball Association
• Mock draft
• NBA Draft Lottery
• NBA first overall draft pick
• NBA territorial pick
• WNBA Draft

References[link]

General

Specific

External links[link]

• NBA.com: NBA Draft History
• Basketball-Reference.com: NBA Draft Index.
• TheDraftReview.com: NBA Draft Index