| 1983 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | June 28, 1983 |
| Location | Felt Forum (New York City, New York) |
| Network(s) | |
| Overview | |
| 226 total selections in 10 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets) |
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.
The first overall pick of this draft was 7’4” center Ralph Sampson, predicted as an NBA superstar since high school. The three-time College Player of the Year had spent all four years of his college career at the University of Virginia, and was taken first by the Houston Rockets. Displaying his graceful above-the-rim game and ability to run the court like a guard, he got off to a certain Hall of Fame bound start as an NBA All-Star and NBA Rookie of the Year before injuries several seasons in derailed his career.
Sampson was joined in the Hall by University of Houston Cougars standout Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, taken number 14 by the Portland Trail Blazers. 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 all of their first-round picks in consecutive years.
Four players from the 1983 draft later served or now serve as coaches—Doc Rivers for the Philadelphia 76ers, Randy Wittman for the Washington Wizards, Byron Scott for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2014 to 2016, and point guard of the 1983 NCAA championship North Carolina State Wolfpack Sidney Lowe.
While Scott won the Coach of the Year award in 2008, Rivers won an NBA Championship with the Celtics in that same year.
7’7” 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 Andrew Wiggins, was drafted 23rd by the Indiana Pacers.
Draft
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| 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 has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ralph Sampson^ | C |  United States | Houston Rockets | Virginia (Sr.) |
| 1 | 2 | Steve Stipanovich | C | United States | Indiana Pacers | Missouri (Sr.) |
| 1 | 3 | Rodney McCray | SF | United States | Houston Rockets (from Cleveland via Philadelphia) | Louisville (Sr.) |
| 1 | 4 | Byron Scott | SG | United States | San Diego Clippers | Arizona State (Jr.) |
| 1 | 5 | Sidney Green | PF | United States | Chicago Bulls | UNLV (Sr.) |
| 1 | 6 | Russell Cross | C | United States | Golden State Warriors | Purdue (Jr.) |
| 1 | 7 | Thurl Bailey | PF | United States | Utah Jazz | NC State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 8 | Antoine Carr | PF | United States | Detroit Pistons | Wichita State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 9 | Dale Ellis* | SG | United States | Dallas Mavericks | Tennessee (Sr.) |
| 1 | 10 | Jeff Malone+ | SG | United States | Washington Bullets | Mississippi State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 11 | Derek Harper | PG/SG | United States | Dallas Mavericks (from Atlanta via Cleveland) | Illinois (Jr.) |
| 1 | 12 | Darrell Walker | SG | United States | New York Knicks | Arkansas (Sr.) |
| 1 | 13 | Ennis Whatley | PG | United States | Kansas City Kings | Alabama (So.) |
| 1 | 14 | Clyde Drexler^ | SG | United States | Portland Trail Blazers | Houston (Jr.) |
| 1 | 15 | Howard Carter | SG | United States | Denver Nuggets | LSU (Sr.) |
| 1 | 16 | Jon Sundvold | PG | United States | Seattle SuperSonics | Missouri (Sr.) |
| 1 | 17 | Leo Rautins | SF | .svg.png){kind=small} Canada | Philadelphia 76ers (from New Jersey) | Syracuse (Sr.) |
| 1 | 18 | Randy Breuer | C | United States | Milwaukee Bucks | Minnesota (Sr.) |
| 1 | 19 | John Paxson | PG | United States | San Antonio Spurs | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| 1 | 20 | Roy Hinson | C | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers (from Phoenix) | Rutgers (Sr.) |
| 1 | 21 | Greg Kite | C | United States | Boston Celtics | BYU (Sr.) |
| 1 | 22 | Randy Wittman | SG | United States | Washington Bullets (from Los Angeles) | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 1 | 23 | Mitchell Wiggins | SG | United States | Indiana Pacers (from Philadelphia) | Florida State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 24 | Stewart Granger | PG | Canada | Cleveland Cavaliers * | Villanova (Sr.) |
| 2 | 25 | Sidney Lowe | PG | United States | Chicago Bulls | NC State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 26 | Leroy Combs | SF | United States | Indiana Pacers | Oklahoma State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 27 | John Garris | PF | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | Boston College (Sr.) |
| 2 | 28 | Rod Foster | PG | United States | Phoenix Suns | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 2 | 29 | Larry Micheaux | PF | United States | Chicago Bulls | Houston (Sr.) |
| 2 | 30 | Mark West | C | United States | Dallas Mavericks | Old Dominion (Sr.) |
| 2 | 31 | Doc Rivers+ | PG | United States | Atlanta Hawks | Marquette (Jr.) |
| 2 | 32 | Michael Britt# | SF | United States | Washington Bullets | UDC (Sr.) |
| 2 | 33 | Dirk Minniefield | PG | United States | Dallas Mavericks | Kentucky (Sr.) |
| 2 | 34 | Guy Williams | F | United States | Washington Bullets | Washington State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 35 | Darrell Lockhart | C | United States | San Antonio Spurs | Auburn (Sr.) |
| 2 | 36 | Scooter McCray | PF | United States | Seattle SuperSonics | Louisville (Sr.) |
| 2 | 37 | David Russell# | SF | United States | Denver Nuggets | St. John's (Sr.) |
| 2 | 38 | Chris McNealy | PF | United States | Kansas City Kings | San Jose State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 39 | Granville Waiters | C | United States | Portland Trail Blazers | Ohio State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 40 | Jim Thomas | SG | United States | Indiana Pacers | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 2 | 41 | Ted Kitchel# | SF | United States | Milwaukee Bucks | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 2 | 42 | Mike Davis# | SG | United States | Milwaukee Bucks | Alabama (Sr.) |
| 2 | 43 | Pace Mannion | SF | United States | Golden State Warriors | Utah (Sr.) |
| 2 | 44 | Horace Owens# | SG | United States | New Jersey Nets | Rhode Island (Sr.) |
| 2 | 45 | Paul Williams# | SF | United States | Phoenix Suns | Arizona State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 46 | Kevin Williams | PG | United States | San Antonio Spurs | St. John's (Sr.) |
| 2 | 47 | Kenneth Lyons# | PF | United States | Philadelphia 76ers | North Texas State (Sr.) |
*Compensation for draft choices previously 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.[2][3]
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6 | Larry Anderson | SG | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | UNLV (Sr.) |
| 3 | 48 | Craig Ehlo | SG | United States | Houston Rockets | Washington State (Sr.) |
| 3 | 50 | Paul Thompson | SF | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | Tulane (Sr.) |
| 3 | 53 | Mike Holton | SG | United States | Golden State Warriors | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 3 | 54 | Bob Hansen | SG | United States | Utah Jazz | Iowa (Sr.) |
| 3 | 57 | Darren Daye | SF | United States | Washington Bullets | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 3 | 58 | John Pinone | SF | United States | Atlanta Hawks | Villanova (Sr.) |
| 3 | 59 | Bruce Kuczenski | PF | United States | New Jersey Nets | Connecticut (Sr.) |
| 3 | 62 | Tom Piotrowski | C | United States | Portland Trail Blazers | La Salle (Sr.) |
| 4 | 75 | Ron Crevier | C | Canada | Chicago Bulls | Boston College (Sr.) |
| 4 | 77 | Peter Thibeaux | SF | United States | Golden State Warriors | Saint Mary's (Sr.) |
| 4 | 82 | Mark Jones | PG | United States | New York Knicks | St. Bonaventure (Sr.) |
| 4 | 90 | Brant Weidner | PF | United States | San Antonio Spurs | William & Mary (Sr.) |
| 4 | 91 | Carlos Clark | SG | United States | Boston Celtics | Ole Miss (Sr.) |
| 5 | 97 | Manute Bol | C |  Sudan | San Diego Clippers (Pick voided on technicalities)[1] | None |
| 5 | 101 | Ken Austin | PF | United States | Detroit Pistons | Rice (Sr.) |
| 5 | 102 | Jim Lampley | C | United States | Dallas Mavericks | Arkansas–Little Rock (Sr.) |
| 6 | 139 | Sedale Threatt | SG | United States | Philadelphia 76ers | West Virginia Tech (Sr.) |
| 7 | 152 | Dane Suttle | SG | United States | Kansas City Kings | Pepperdine (Sr.) |
References
- General
- "Complete First Round Results 1980-89". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 21, 2010. 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