The 1971 NBA Draft was the 25th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 29, 1971 before the 1971–72 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip.^[1] The Cleveland Cavaliers won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Portland Trail Blazers were awarded the second pick. 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. Prior to the start of the season, the San Diego Rockets and the San Francisco Warriors relocated to Houston, Texas and Oakland, California, and became the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors respectively.^[2][3] The draft consisted of 19 rounds comprising the selection of 237 players. The league also hosted a supplemental hardship draft on September 20, 1971 for college underclassmen who wish to join the league.

Draft selections and draftee career notes[link]

Austin Carr from the University of Notre Dame was selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sidney Wicks from the University of California, Los Angeles, who went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season, was selected second by the Portland Trail Blazers.^[4] Spencer Haywood, the 30th pick, and Randy Smith, the 104th pick, were selected to both the All-NBA Team and the All-Star Game. Haywood was selected to four All-NBA Teams and five All-Star Games. He also won the NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980.^[5] During his first and only season in the American Basketball Association (ABA), he won the ABA Most Valuable Player Award, and was selected to the ABA All-Star Game and All-ABA Team.^[6] Smith was selected to one All-NBA Team and two All-Star Games.^[7] Artis Gilmore, the 117th pick, initially opted to play in the ABA. He spent five seasons with the Kentucky Colonels before finally joined the NBA in 1976 after both leagues merged. His achievements include ABA Most Valuable Player Award in 1972, five All-ABA Team selections, five ABA All-Star Game selections and six NBA All-Star Game selections.^[8] For his achievements, he will be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.^[9] Fred Brown, the 6th pick, spent all of his 13-year playing career with the Sonics and was selected to one All-Star Game.^[10] Carr, Wicks, and 11th pick Curtis Rowe are the only other players from this draft who were selected to an All-Star Game.^[11][12][13] Phil Chenier, a college underclassman selected in the supplemental hardship draft, was also selected to both All-NBA Team and All-Star Game.^[14] Two players drafted went on to have coaching careers in the NBA: 13th pick Jim Cleamons and 46th pick Dave Wohl.^[15][16]

Spencer Haywood was selected in the second round by the Buffalo Braves although he already played in the NBA with the Seattle SuperSonics in the previous season.^[17] He left college basketball in 1969 with two years remaining in his college eligibility. At that time, the NBA prohibited the drafting or signing of a player before his college class had graduated. He then played in the ABA with the Denver Rockets for a season before controversially signed by the Sonics. The league and the other NBA teams opposed the move and argued Haywood should be prohibited to join and play with the Sonics. This led to a court case between the NBA against the Sonics and Haywood. He argued that he should be allowed to play because he was a "hardship case", due to his position as the sole wage earner in his family. He then won the case and was allowed to play late in the 1970–71 season. This led to the NBA allowing college underclassmen to enter the draft provided they could give evidence of "hardship". With the existing rules, Haywood was eligible for this year's draft, when his college class graduated. The Braves used one of their three second-round picks to select him, hoping that they would win the rights to sign him. However, he remained with the Sonics and never played for the Braves.^[5][18]

Key[link]

Draft[link]

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	1	Carr, AustinAustin Carr+	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Notre Dame
1	2	Wicks, SidneySidney Wicks+	F/C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	UCLA
1	3	Smith, ElmoreElmore Smith	C	United States	Buffalo Braves	Kentucky State
1	4	Durrett, KenKen Durrett	F	United States	Cincinnati Royals	La Salle
1	5	Trapp, GeorgeGeorge Trapp	F/C	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Long Beach State
1	6	Brown, FredFred Brown+	G	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Iowa
1	7	Meely, CliffCliff Meely	F/C	United States	San Diego Rockets	Colorado
1	8	Hillman, DarnellDarnell Hillman	F/C	United States	San Francisco Warriors	U.S. Armed Forces (AAU)[19][20]
1	9	Love, StanStan Love	F	United States	Baltimore Bullets	Oregon
1	10	Glover, ClarenceClarence Glover	F	United States	Boston Celtics	Western Kentucky
1	11	Rowe, CurtisCurtis Rowe+	F	United States	Detroit Pistons	UCLA
1	12	Lewis, DanaDana Lewis#	C	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Tulsa
1	13	Cleamons, JimJim Cleamons	G	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Ohio State
1	14	Roche, JohnJohn Roche	G	United States	Phoenix Suns	South Carolina
1	15	McIntosh, KennedyKennedy McIntosh	F	United States	Chicago Bulls	Eastern Michigan
1	16	Meminger, DeanDean Meminger	G	United States	New York Knicks	Marquette
1	17	Jones, CollisCollis Jones#	F	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Notre Dame
2	18	Patterson, SteveSteve Patterson	C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	UCLA
2	19	Hilton, FredFred Hilton	G/F	United States	Buffalo Braves	Grambling
2	20	Sojourner, WillieWillie Sojourner#	F/C	United States	Chicago Bulls (from Portland)[a]	Weber State
2	21	Mengelt, JohnJohn Mengelt	G	United States	Cincinnati Royals	Auburn
2	22	McClain, TedTed McClain	G	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Tennessee State
2	23	McDaniels, JimJim McDaniels	F/C	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Western Kentucky
2	24	Newlin, MikeMike Newlin	G/F	United States	San Diego Rockets	Utah
2	25	Yelverton, CharlieCharlie Yelverton	G/F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers (from San Francisco)[b]	Fordham
2	26	Thomas, AmosAmos Thomas#	F	United States	Buffalo Braves	Southwestern State
2	27	Fisher, RickRick Fisher#	F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers (from Baltimore)[c]	Colorado State
2	28	Rose, JimJim Rose#	G	United States	Boston Celtics	Western Kentucky
2	29	Wilson, IsaiahIsaiah Wilson	G	United States	Detroit Pistons	Baltimore
2	30	Haywood, SpencerSpencer Haywood*	F/C	United States	Buffalo Braves (from Philadelphia)[d]	Seattle SuperSonics (NBA)[5]
2	31	Bergman, JoeJoe Bergman#	F	United States	Cincinnati Royals (from Los Angeles)[e]	Creighton
2	32	Porter, HowardHoward Porter	F/C	United States	Chicago Bulls (from Phoenix)[f]	Villanova
2	33	Stewart, MarvinMarvin Stewart#	G	United States	Philadelphia 76ers (from Chicago)[g]	Nebraska
2	34	Northington, GreggGregg Northington#	C	United States	New York Knicks	Alabama State
2	35	Long, WillieWillie Long#	F/C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers (from Milwaukee)[h]	New Mexico

Other picks[link]

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.

Clifford Ray was selected in 40th overall by the Chicago Bulls.

Artis Gilmore was selected in 117th overall by the Chicago Bulls.

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
3	37	Steele, LarryLarry Steele	G/F	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Kentucky
3	39	Halliburton, JeffJeff Halliburton	G	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Drake
3	40	Ray, CliffordClifford Ray	C	United States	Chicago Bulls (from Seattle)[i]	Oklahoma
3	41	Ridgle, JackieJackie Ridgle	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers (from San Diego)[j]	California
3	42	Smith, WilliamWilliam Smith	C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers (from San Francisco)[b]	Syracuse
3	43	Rinaldi, RichRich Rinaldi	G	United States	Baltimore Bullets	Saint Peter's
3	44	Robisch, DaveDave Robisch	F/C	United States	Boston Celtics	Kansas
3	45	Roberts, MarvMarv Roberts	F/C	United States	Detroit Pistons	Utah State
3	46	Wohl, DaveDave Wohl	G	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Pennsylvania
3	47	Gale, MikeMike Gale	G	United States	Chicago Bulls (from Los Angeles)[k]	Elizabeth City State
3	48	Layton, DennisDennis Layton	G	United States	Phoenix Suns	USC
3	49	Gibbs, DickDick Gibbs	G/F	United States	Chicago Bulls	Texas-El Paso
3	50	Mayfield, KennyKenny Mayfield	G	United States	New York Knicks	Tuskegee
4	55	Catlett, SidSid Catlett	F	United States	Cincinnati Royals	Notre Dame
4	58	Owens, TomTom Owens	F/C	United States	San Diego Rockets	South Carolina
4	61	Denton, RandyRandy Denton	C	United States	Boston Celtics	Duke
4	64	Brown, RogerRoger Brown	C	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Kansas
5	76	Allison, OdisOdis Allison	F	United States	San Francisco Warriors	Nevada-Las Vegas
5	85	Nelson, BarryBarry Nelson	C	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Duquesne
6	89	McGregor, GilGil McGregor	F	United States	Cincinnati Royals	Wake Forest
6	93	Johnson, CharlesCharles Johnson	G	United States	San Francisco Warriors	California
6	97	Jones, JakeJake Jones	G	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Assumption
7	104	Smith, RandyRandy Smith*	G/F	United States	Buffalo Braves	Buffalo State
7	117	Gilmore, ArtisArtis Gilmore^	C	United States	Chicago Bulls	Jacksonville
8	120	Davis, CharlieCharlie Davis	G	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	Wake Forest
8	125	Lowery, CharlieCharlie Lowery	G	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Puget Sound
8	131	Yates, BarryBarry Yates	F	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Maryland
9	139	Kennedy, GooGoo Kennedy	F/C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	Texas Christian
9	150	Dinkins, JackieJackie Dinkins	F	United States	Chicago Bulls	Voorhees

Trades[link]

• ^a On October 20, 1970, the Chicago Bulls acquired a second-round pick from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Shaler Halimon.^[21][22] The Bulls used the pick to draft Willie Sojourner.

• ^{b 1 2} On March 23, 1971, the Portland Trail Blazers acquired 1971 and 1972 second-round picks and a 1971 third-round pick from the San Francisco Warriors in exchange for Jim Barnett.^[23][24] The Blazers used the picks to draft Charlie Yelverton and William Smith.

• ^c On October 22, 1970, the Portland Trail Blazers acquired a second-round pick from the Baltimore Bullets in exchange for Dorie Murrey.^[25] The Blazers used the pick to draft Rick Fisher.

• ^d On May 11, 1970, the Buffalo Braves acquired Bob Kauffman and a second-round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Bailey Howell.^[26][27] The Braves used the pick to draft Spencer Haywood.

• ^e On the draft-day, the Cincinnati Royals acquired a second-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Flynn Robinson.^[28] The Royals used the pick to draft Joe Bergman.

• ^f On April 23, 1970, the Chicago Bulls acquired Jim Fox and a second-round pick from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Clem Haskins.^[29][22] The Bulls used the pick to draft Howard Porte.

• ^g On October 16, 1970, the Philadelphia 76ers acquired a second-round pick from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Matt Guokas.^[30][22] The 76ers used the pick to draft Marvin Stewart.

• ^h On February 1, 1971, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Gary Freeman and a second-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for McCoy McLemore.^[31] The Cavaliers used the pick to draft Willie Long.

• ⁱ On September 5, 1969, the Chicago Bulls acquired Bob Kauffman and a third-round pick from the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Bob Boozer and Barry Clemens.^[32][22] The Bulls used the pick to draft Clifford Ray.

• ^j On December 9, 1970, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired a third-round pick from the San Diego Rockets in exchange for Johnny Egan.^[33] The Cavaliers used the pick to draft Jackie Ridgle.

• ^k On September 9, 1969, the Chicago Bulls acquired a third-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Mike Lynn.^[34][22] The Bulls used the pick to draft Mike Gale.

Hardship draft[link]

Phil Chenier was selected by the Baltimore Bullets with the fourth pick.

On September 10, 1971, the NBA hosted a supplemental hardship draft for college underclassmen who wish to join the league. Prior to the 1971 Draft, college underclassmen were not eligible to be drafted until their college class graduated. These underclassmen fulfilled the "hardship" criteria and were allowed to enter the draft early. This new rule came as a result of Spencer Haywood winning the court case against the NBA which allowed him to play in the NBA before his college class graduated.^[5][35] The teams selected in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. The team that made a selection must withdraw their equivalent selection in the 1972 Draft.^[36] The teams were allowed to not exercise their rights on this hardship draft and thus retained their full selection in the 1972 Draft.

Three teams that were supposed to have the first three selections, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Buffalo Braves and Portland Trail Blazers, declined to exercise their rights. Therefore, the Cincinnati Royals had the first selection, which they used to select Nate Williams from Utah State University. Phil Chenier, a junior guard from the University of California, was selected by the Baltimore Bullets.^[37] He is the only player from the hardship draft who was selected to All-NBA Team and All-Star Game.^[14] Joe Hammond, who had not played high school and college basketball, was selected in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Lakers.^[38] Hammond, who had played for the Allentown Jets in the Eastern Basketball Association (EBA) prior to the draft, had to apply as the "hardship case" because his college class could not graduate until 1972 if he had gone to the college.^[39] From the six players that were available for selection, only Ed Owens from Weber State University that was not selected by any NBA team.^[40]

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	1	Williams, NateNate Williams	G/F	United States	Cincinnati Royals	Utah State (Jr.)
1	2	Payne, TomTom Payne	C	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Kentucky (So.)
1	3	Baptiste, CyrilCyril Baptiste#	F/C	United States	Golden State Warriors	Creighton (Jr.)
1	4	Chenier, PhilPhil Chenier*	G	United States	Baltimore Bullets	California (Jr.)
4	5	Hammond, JoeJoe Hammond#	G	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Allentown Jets (EBA)

References[link]

General

Specific

External links[link]

• NBA.com
• NBA.com: NBA Draft History

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

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