The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto Raptors they were not allowed to select first in this draft. Although the Boston Celtics had the second-worst record in the 1996–97 season and the best odds (36 percent) of winning the lottery with two picks, the Spurs lost David Robinson and Sean Elliott to injury early in the season, finished with the third-worst record, and subsequently won the lottery. Leading up to the draft, there was no doubt that Tim Duncan would be selected at No. 1 by the Spurs as he was considered to be far and away the best prospect. After Duncan, the rest of the draft was regarded with some skepticism.[1] The Celtics had the third and sixth picks, selecting Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer, both of whom were traded in the next two years.
Duncan became the Spurs' franchise player and in a 19-year career spent entirely in San Antonio, he led the Spurs to five NBA championships, winning NBA Finals MVP in three of those campaigns. In addition, Duncan was a two-time NBA MVP, 15-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA and 15-time All-Defensive team selection. Billups went on to earn five All-Star selections and won Finals MVP honors in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons. The ninth pick, Tracy McGrady, captured two NBA scoring titles and was named to seven All-Star and All-NBA teams.
The Washington Wizards forfeited their 1997 first-round pick in connection with the signing of Juwan Howard. (Washington would have had the 17th pick.) Thus, the draft only had 28 first-round selections and 57 selections overall.
↑ 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.
↑ Tim Duncan is a United States citizen by birth, as are all natives of the U.S. Virgin Islands, he has represented the United States internationally.[2]
This would be the third year in a row where high school players were allowed entry into the NBA draft after previously only doing it back in 1975. However, only one player would go directly from high school to enter the NBA this year. The following high school player successfully applied for early draft entrance.[3]
This year, only one international born player would officially enter the NBA draft after seeing three other international players initially declare their interest in entering this year's draft. The following international player successfully applied for early draft entrance.[3]
This year marked the third time in NBA history (the first two times being in 1971 and 1987) that an eligible underclassman player of sorts would declare entry for an NBA draft by playing minor league basketball within the U.S.A. first (as well as have it be the first time that it wouldn't involve the Continental Basketball Association or its previous name in the Eastern Basketball Association). It would also be the fourth time that a player would declare entry while also playing in another American basketball league, with the second case of this occurring in 1973 with David Brent being allowed entry into the NBA draft despite him already playing for the Carolina Cougars of the rivaling American Basketball Association at the time.
"Official website". NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2001. Retrieved June 15, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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