| 1998 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | June 24, 1998 |
| Location | General Motors Place (Vancouver, British Columbia) |
| Network(s) | TNT |
| Overview | |
| 58 total selections in 2 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Michael Olowokandi (Los Angeles Clippers) |
The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the Toronto Raptors.
The Mavericks, despite having a talented nucleus of Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson in the mid-1990s, had not had a winning season since 1989-90, which was also the last time they made the playoffs. By the end of the 1997 season, all three players were traded and it was time to rebuild. With the sixth selection in 1998, they drafted Robert Traylor and quickly traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity. They then traded Garrity in a package to the Phoenix Suns for Steve Nash. With Nash and Nowitzki, the Mavericks quickly went from a lottery team in the late 1990s to a perennial playoff contender throughout the 2000s. Nowitzki went on to win the 2011 NBA Finals with Dallas without Nash, but with Kidd.
Meanwhile, the Raptors were a recent expansion team that had failed to win more than 30 games in its first three seasons. With the fourth pick they selected Antawn Jamison, whom they quickly dealt to the Golden State Warriors for Vince Carter.
First overall pick Michael Olowokandi from mid-major University of the Pacific is regarded by Sports Illustrated as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.[1] As of February 2019, he is the last top selection to come out of a university that is considered mid-major.
Five players from the 1998 draft class have played in the NBA All-Star Game at least once in their careers: Nowitzki, Carter, Jamison, Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis. All of them have reached the 20,000 points plateau during their careers except for Lewis.
Carter retired in 2020, making him the last active player drafted in the 1990s to retire. He set the record for most seasons played in the NBA with 22 and is the only player to play in 4 decades. Nowitzki retired in April 2019 and remained with the Mavericks for his entire career, making him the only person to ever play 21 seasons with one team.
Draft selections
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| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| * | 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 |
| ~ | Denotes player who has been selected as Rookie of the Year |
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality[n 1] | NBA team | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Michael Olowokandi | C |  Nigeria | Los Angeles Clippers | Pacific (Sr.) |
| 1 | 2 | Mike Bibby | PG |  United States | Vancouver Grizzlies | Arizona (So.) |
| 1 | 3 | Raef LaFrentz | C/F | United States | Denver Nuggets | Kansas (Sr.) |
| 1 | 4 | Antawn Jamison+ | F | United States | Toronto Raptors (traded to Golden State) | North Carolina (Jr.) |
| 1 | 5 | Vince Carter*~ | SF/SG | United States | Golden State Warriors (traded to Toronto) | North Carolina (Jr.) |
| 1 | 6 | Robert Traylor | F/C | United States | Dallas Mavericks (traded to Milwaukee) | Michigan (Jr.) |
| 1 | 7 | Jason Williams | PG | United States | Sacramento Kings | Florida (Jr.) |
| 1 | 8 | Larry Hughes | SG | United States | Philadelphia 76ers | Saint Louis (Fr.) |
| 1 | 9 | Dirk Nowitzki* | PF |  Germany | Milwaukee Bucks (traded to Dallas) | DJK Würzburg (Germany, 2nd division) |
| 1 | 10 | Paul Pierce* | SF/SG | United States | Boston Celtics | Kansas (Jr.) |
| 1 | 11 | Bonzi Wells | G/F | United States | Detroit Pistons | Ball State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 12 | Michael Doleac | C | United States | Orlando Magic | Utah (Sr.) |
| 1 | 13 | Keon Clark | F/C | United States | Orlando Magic (from Washington via Golden State) | UNLV (Sr.) |
| 1 | 14 | Michael Dickerson | SG | United States | Houston Rockets | Arizona (Sr.) |
| 1 | 15 | Matt Harpring | F/G | United States | Orlando Magic (from New Jersey) | Georgia Tech (Sr.) |
| 1 | 16 | Bryce Drew | PG | United States | Houston Rockets (from New York via Portland and Toronto) | Valparaiso (Sr.) |
| 1 | 17 | Radoslav Nesterovič | C |  Slovenia | Minnesota Timberwolves | Kinder Bologna (Italy) |
| 1 | 18 | Mirsad Türkcan | PF |  Turkey | Houston Rockets (from Portland via Toronto) | Efes Pilsen (Turkey) |
| 1 | 19 | Pat Garrity | PF | United States | Milwaukee Bucks (from Cleveland, traded to Phoenix) | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| 1 | 20 | Roshown McLeod | SF | United States | Atlanta Hawks | Duke (Sr.) |
| 1 | 21 | Ricky Davis | G/F | United States | Charlotte Hornets | Iowa (Fr.) |
| 1 | 22 | Brian Skinner | F/C | United States | Los Angeles Clippers (from Miami) | Baylor (Sr.) |
| 1 | 23 | Tyronn Lue | PG | United States | Denver Nuggets (from Phoenix traded to L.A. Lakers) | Nebraska (Jr.) |
| 1 | 24 | Felipe López | SG |  Dominican Republic | San Antonio Spurs (traded to Vancouver) | St. John's (Sr.) |
| 1 | 25 | Al Harrington | F | United States | Indiana Pacers | St. Patrick's High School (Elizabeth, New Jersey) |
| 1 | 26 | Sam Jacobson | SG | United States | Los Angeles Lakers | Minnesota (Sr.) |
| 1 | 27 | Vladimir Stepania | C | .svg.png){kind=small} Georgia | Seattle SuperSonics | Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) |
| 1 | 28 | Corey Benjamin | SG | United States | Chicago Bulls | Oregon State (So.) |
| 1 | 29 | Nazr Mohammed | C/F | United States | Utah Jazz (traded to Philadelphia) | Kentucky (Jr.) |
| 2 | 30 | Ansu Sesay | SF | United States | Dallas Mavericks (from Toronto) | Mississippi (Sr.) |
| 2 | 31 | Ruben Patterson | SF | United States | Los Angeles Lakers (from Vancouver) | Cincinnati (Sr.) |
| 2 | 32 | Rashard Lewis+ | PF | United States | Seattle SuperSonics (from Detroit) | Alief Elsik HS (Houston, Texas) |
| 2 | 33 | Jelani McCoy | F/C | United States | Seattle SuperSonics (from L.A. Clippers) | UCLA (Jr.) |
| 2 | 34 | Shammond Williams | PG | United States | Chicago Bulls (from Golden State) | North Carolina (Sr.) |
| 2 | 35 | Bruno Šundov | C |  Croatia | Dallas Mavericks | Split (Croatia) |
| 2 | 36 | Jerome James | C | United States | Sacramento Kings | Florida A&M (Jr.) |
| 2 | 37 | Casey Shaw | C | United States | Philadelphia 76ers | Toledo (Sr.) |
| 2 | 38 | DeMarco Johnson | PF | United States | New York Knicks (from Boston) | Charlotte (Sr.) |
| 2 | 39 | Rafer Alston | PG | United States | Milwaukee Bucks | Fresno State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 40 | Korleone Young | SF | United States | Detroit Pistons | Hargrave Military Academy |
| 2 | 41 | Cuttino Mobley | SG | United States | Houston Rockets | Rhode Island (Sr.) |
| 2 | 42 | Miles Simon | SG | United States | Orlando Magic | Arizona (Sr.) |
| 2 | 43 | Jahidi White | F/C | United States | Washington Wizards | Georgetown (Sr.) |
| 2 | 44 | Sean Marks | PF |  New Zealand | New York Knicks | California (Sr.) |
| 2 | 45 | Toby Bailey | SG | United States | Los Angeles Lakers (from New Jersey) | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 2 | 46 | Andrae Patterson | SF | United States | Minnesota Timberwolves | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 2 | 47 | Tyson Wheeler | PG | United States | Toronto Raptors | Rhode Island (Sr.) |
| 2 | 48 | Ryan Stack | C | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | South Carolina (Sr.) |
| 2 | 49 | Cory Carr | SG | United States | Atlanta Hawks | Texas Tech (Sr.) |
| 2 | 50 | Andrew Betts# | C |  United Kingdom | Charlotte Hornets | Long Beach State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 51 | Corey Brewer | PG | United States | Miami Heat | Oklahoma (Sr.) |
| 2 | 52 | Derrick Dial | SG | United States | San Antonio Spurs | Eastern Michigan (Sr.) |
| 2 | 53 | Greg Buckner | SG | United States | Dallas Mavericks (from Phoenix) | Clemson (Sr.) |
| 2 | 54 | Tremaine Fowlkes | SF | United States | Denver Nuggets (from Indiana) | Fresno State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 55 | Ryan Bowen | SF | United States | Denver Nuggets (from Seattle) | Iowa (Sr.) |
| 2 | 56 | J. R. Henderson | SF | United States | Vancouver Grizzlies (from L.A. Lakers) | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 2 | 57 | Torraye Braggs | PF | United States | Utah Jazz | Xavier (Sr.) |
| 2 | 58 | Maceo Baston | PF | United States | Chicago Bulls | Michigan (Sr.) |
- ^ 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.
Notable undrafted players
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These players were not selected in the 1998 NBA Draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Boykins | PG | United States | Eastern Michigan (Sr.) |
| Gerald Brown | SG | United States | Pepperdine (Sr.) |
| Anthony Carter | PG | United States | Hawaii (Sr.) |
| Steve Goodrich | PF/C | United States | Princeton (Sr.) |
| Mike James | PG | United States | Duquesne (Sr.) |
| Šarūnas Jasikevičius | PG |  Lithuania | Maryland (Sr.) |
| Charles Jones | SG | United States | LIU Brooklyn (Sr.) |
| Mark Jones | SF | United States | UCF (Sr.) |
| Kelly McCarty | SG | United States | Southern Miss (Sr.) |
| Slava Medvedenko[2] | PF |  Ukraine | Budivelnyk Kiev (Ukraine) (born 1979) |
| Brad Miller+ | C | United States | Purdue (Sr.) |
| Tyrone Nesby | SF | United States | UNLV (Sr.) |
| Daniel Santiago | C |  Puerto Rico | Saint Vincent (Sr.) |
References
- ^ "Sports Illustrated photo gallery".
- ^ Early entry candidate, per 2013 NBA Draft Media Guide, p. 213.
External links
- "Official website". Archived from the original on 2001-02-14. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
- 1998 NBA Draft at Basketball-Reference.com