1968 NBA draft | |
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General information | |
Sport | Basketball |
Date(s) | April 3, 1968 (first round) May 8 and 10, 1968 (Other rounds) |
Location | New York City, New York |
Overview | |
214 total selections in 21 rounds | |
League | NBA |
First selection | Elvin Hayes, San Diego Rockets |
The 1968 NBA draft was the 22nd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 3, 1968, and May 8 and 10, 1968 before the 1968–69 season. [1] In this draft, 14 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball 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 division, with the order determined by a coin flip. [2] The San Diego Rockets won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Baltimore Bullets 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. Six teams that had the best records in previous season were not awarded second round draft picks. Two expansion franchises, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the seventh and eighth pick in the first round, along with the last two picks of each subsequent round. The St. Louis Hawks relocated to Atlanta and became the Atlanta Hawks prior to the start of the season. [3] The draft consisted of 21 rounds comprising 214 players selected. It would also be a catalyst for the upstart rivaling American Basketball Association to either force an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA due to a leaked document that was sent to the ABA by a disgruntled ex-employee revealing the NBA's plans to show how much each team was to contribute to get the college star players to sign with the NBA teams over the ABA teams or engage in a merger between the two leagues, which eventually resulted in the NBA–ABA merger happening years later. [4]
Elvin Hayes from the University of Houston was selected first overall by the San Diego Rockets. Wes Unseld from the University of Louisville was selected second by the Baltimore Bullets. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in his first season, [5] [6] becoming only the second player to win both awards in the same season, after Wilt Chamberlain in 1960. Hayes and Unseld have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. [7] They were also named in the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. [8] Hayes and Unseld both won the NBA championship with the Washington Bullets in 1978. In the Finals, Unseld was named as the Finals Most Valuable Player. Unseld, who spent all of his 13-year playing career with the Bullets, was also selected to one All-NBA Team and five All-Star Games, while Hayes was selected to six All-NBA Teams and twelve All-Star Games. [9] [10] Bob Kauffman, the third pick, is the only other player from this draft who has been selected to an All-Star Game; he was selected to three All-Star Games during his career. [11]
Unseld became a head coach after ending his playing career. He coached the Washington Bullets for seven seasons. [12] Three other players drafted also went on to have a coaching career: 12th pick Don Chaney and 79th pick Rick Adelman. Chaney coached four NBA teams and won the Coach of the Year Award in 1991 with the Houston Rockets. [13] [14] Adelman coached four NBA teams, most recently with the Houston Rockets. He lost the NBA Finals twice with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990 and 1992. [15]
In the fourteenth round, the Seattle SuperSonics selected Mike Warren of UCLA. However, Warren never played professional basketball; he opted for an acting career in films and television instead. [16]
Pos. | G | F | C |
Position | Guard | Forward | 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 |
# | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game. [17] [18]
These players were not selected in the 1968 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
---|---|---|---|
Cliff Williams | SG | ![]() | Bowling Green (Sr.) |
^ 1: Don Smith changed his name to Zaid Abdul-Aziz in 1976. [24]
The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 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 division, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Detroit Pistons won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the San Diego Rockets 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. Three expansion franchises, the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the seventh, the eighth and the ninth pick in each round. In the first round, the Cavaliers had the seventh pick, while the Blazers and the Braves had the eighth and the ninth pick respectively. In the subsequent rounds, the Cavaliers and the Braves exchanged their order of selection, while the Blazers had the eighth pick throughout the draft. The draft consisted of 19 rounds comprising the selection of 239 players; it holds the record for the most prospects selected in any NBA draft.
Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals and was selected with the second overall pick by the Bullets in the 1968 NBA draft. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year during his rookie season and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only two players in NBA history to accomplish the feat. Unseld won an NBA championship with the Bullets in 1978, and the Finals MVP award to go with it. After retiring from playing in 1981, he worked with the Bullets/Wizards as a vice president, head coach, and general manager.
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The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. 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. The Boston Celtics, who obtained the Detroit Pistons' first-round pick in a trade, won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Utah Jazz were awarded the second pick. The Celtics then traded the first pick to the Golden State Warriors before the draft. 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. An expansion franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the eleventh pick in each round. 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. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 214 players. This draft has the distinction of being the first NBA Draft to be televised.
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