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.
Juan Ignacio Sánchez Brown, commonly known as Pepe Sánchez, is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position. He was a part of Argentina's 2004 Olympic gold medal team. Pepe Sánchez was the first Argentine to play in the NBA. He played two seasons in the NBA, playing in a total of 38 games with the Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, and the Detroit Pistons, averaging only 5 minutes per game. He also played with the Golden State Warriors, during the NBA preseason. In 2010 he won the Konex Award as one of the five best Basketball Players from the last decade in Argentina.
Terry Michael Teagle is a retired American professional basketball player, whose National Basketball Association (NBA) career lasted from 1982 to 1993. During his playing career, at a height of 6'5" tall, he played at the shooting guard position.
Marlon Lee Maxey is a former American professional basketball player. During his playing career, at a height of 6'8 3⁄4" tall, and a weight of 250 lbs. (113 kg), Maxey, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, played at the power forward and center positions. Maxey was selected with the 28th overall draft pick, by the Minnesota Timberwolves, in the 1992 NBA draft.
Victor Joe Alexander is an American former professional basketball player. Listed at 6'10" tall, and 273 pounds (124 kg) in weight, he played as a center and power forward.
David Thirdkill is an American retired basketball player. He played in the NBA, and was the 1993 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP.
Pace Shewan Mannion is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the Italian league with the team of Cantù. He has worked as a studio analyst for the Utah Jazz television pre- and post-game shows.
Jason Love Lawson is an American former professional basketball player and coach.
LaFarrell Darnell Mee is an American former professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Western Kentucky before being selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 34th overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft. He played 40 games in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets. In his 12 seasons in Australia, Mee was named the NBL Best Defensive Player five times and won two NBL championships. He became an Australian citizen in 2006.
Raymond Anthony Townsend is an American retired professional basketball player. He played three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Golden State Warriors and the Indiana Pacers. Townsend played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, earning all-conference honors in the Pacific-8. He was selected by the Warriors in the first round of the 1978 NBA draft, with the 22nd overall pick, and became the first Filipino-American to play in the NBA. During his playing career, he was listed at 6'3" tall and 175 lbs. (79 kg). He played at the point guard position.
Joseph John "Joe" Arlauckas is an American former professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. During his playing career, he played at the power forward position. In 2018, Arlauckas was named to the 101 Greats of European Basketball list.
Rickey Darnell Brown is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of 2.08 m (6'10") tall, he played at the power forward and center positions.
Anthony Erwin Randolph Jr. is a German-born American and naturalized Slovenian former professional basketball player who last played for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He also represented the senior Slovenian national basketball team, winning the 2017 EuroBasket with them. Born in Germany, to two American parents who served in the US military there, Randolph's family eventually relocated to the United States, where he grew up in Pasadena, California. The family later moved to Dallas, Texas, where Randolph soon became a standout at Woodrow Wilson High School, eventually being recruited by the Louisiana State Tigers. After one year, Randolph left college, and entered the 2008 NBA draft, where he was chosen as the fourteenth pick overall by the Golden State Warriors. In 2016, he earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection.
Wendell Paul Alexis is a retired American professional basketball player who played for several European clubs, between 1986 and 2004, most notably for ALBA Berlin, where he was voted MVP of the German Bundesliga four times, during his 6-year stay with the club.
Mickell Jawaun Gladness is an American professional basketball player, who last played for Arka Gdynia of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). Gladness grew up in Alabama, played college basketball for Lawson State Community College and Alabama A&M University, and he began his professional career in the Netherlands after going undrafted in the 2008 NBA draft. In 2011, Gladness debuted in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Miami Heat.
Findlay Prep is a former high school basketball program located in Henderson, Nevada. The program was created in 2006 by local businessman Cliff Findlay, who owns several car dealerships in the Las Vegas area. Despite closing its high school in 2010 due to the local economic downturn, the Findlay Prep players took high school classes at Henderson International School. Findlay was part of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA), but they were ineligible to compete in state championships due to the fact that they were allowed to recruit from outside the state. Instead, they competed for National High School Invitational (NHSI) championships, an 8 team tournament featuring the top high school teams in the country played in New York. They won a total of 3 national championships during their time, coming in 2009, 2010, and 2012, all under Mike Peck. Through the years, Findlay has produced 17 NBA players and over 70 Division I athletes. The program produced several international players as well from countries like Lithuania, Senegal, Canada, France, Georgia, and others. They had an all-time record of 381-43 (.899), with only 2 losses ever on their home court.
Anthony Michael Gennari was an Italian-American former professional basketball player. At a height of 1.91 m (6'3") tall, he played at the point guard and shooting guard positions.
Alen Smailagić is a Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan Mozzart Bet of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague.
Brian Ralph Jackson is an American former professional basketball player. After playing high school basketball in Palos Verdes Estates, California, Jackson played college basketball at Utah State, and was an all-conference selection in three of his four seasons there. He was selected in the second round of the 1981 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers but was waived before the start of the NBA season, and he moved to Europe where he played in Italy and most notably in Spain, where he was selected as an All-Star 4 times. While playing for Real Madrid he won 2 league titles, one Copa del Rey and one FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, of which he also was the finals top scorer. He retired in 1995 after a 14-year career; in 2012 he was inducted in the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame.
Terry Adolph was an American professional basketball player. He graduated from West Texas A&M in 1981 where he was a point guard. He played for two seasons at West Texas A&M, playing in a total of 57 games. In his senior year his record included a 43.7% field goal attempt and a 77.4% free throw record. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the 4th round of the NBA draft on June 9, 1981. In 1981 he was the recipient of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award. Adolph was born in Los Angeles, California.
