1998 NBA draft
| 1998 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | June 24, 1998 |
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia) |
| Network(s) | TNT, TSN |
| 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
The Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors were not able to win the NBA draft lottery; as they were expansion teams, they were not allowed to select first in this draft.
The Mavericks, despite having a talented nucleus of
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. Carter went on to win Rookie of the Year.
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 played in the NBA All-Star Game at least once in their careers: Nowitzki, Carter, Jamison, Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis. All of them except Lewis scored at least 20,000 career points.
Carter retired in 2020, making him the last active player drafted in the 1990s to retire. He set the record for
Draft selections
| 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 |
| ~ | Denotes player who has been selected as Rookie of the Year
|
Notable undrafted players
These players eligible for the 1998 NBA Draft were not selected but 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.) |
| Sean Colson | PG | United States
|
Charlotte (Sr.) |
| Steve Goodrich | PF/C | United States
|
Princeton (Sr.) |
| Zendon Hamilton | C | United States
|
St. John's (Sr.) |
| Randell Jackson | PF | United States
|
Florida State (Jr.) |
| 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 | PF |  Ukraine
|
Budivelnyk Kyiv (Ukraine) |
| Brad Miller+ | C | United States
|
Purdue (Sr.) |
| Makhtar N'Diaye | PF |  Senegal
|
North Carolina (Sr.) |
| Tyrone Nesby | SF | United States
|
UNLV (Sr.) |
| Daniel Santiago | C |  Puerto Rico
|
Saint Vincent (Sr.) |
| Jeff Sheppard | G | United States
|
Kentucky (Sr.) |
| Billy Thomas | SG | United States
|
Kansas (Sr.) |
| Óscar Torres | SF/SG |  Venezuela
|
Marinos (Venezuela) |
Early entrants
College underclassmen
Much like last year, this year initially saw 40 total players classified as underclassmen entering the NBA draft. However, seven players from this year's draft would later withdraw their names from entry, with
Rafer Alston – G, Fresno State (junior)- Corey Benjamin – G, Oregon State (sophomore)
- Mike Bibby – G, Arizona (sophomore)
- Virginia Union(sophomore)
- Marcus Bullard – G, Auburn Montgomery (junior)
- Vince Carter – F/G, North Carolina (junior)
- Park(freshman)
- Northeast Mississippi CC(sophomore)
- Peter Cornell – C, Loyola Marymount (junior)
- St. Joseph's(sophomore)
- Ricky Davis – F/G, Iowa (freshman)
- Tremaine Fowlkes – F, Fresno State (junior)
- Larry Hughes – G, Saint Louis (freshman)
- Randell Jackson – F, Florida State (junior)
- Jerome James – C, Florida A&M (junior)
- Antawn Jamison – F, North Carolina (junior)
- Tyronn Lue – G, Nebraska (junior)
- Jelani McCoy – F/C, UCLA (junior)
- Mark Miller – G, UIC (junior)
- Nazr Mohammed – F/C, Kentucky (junior)
- Paul Pierce – G/F, Kansas (junior)
- San Francisco State(junior)
- Shaw(junior)
- Robert Traylor – F, Michigan (junior)
- Winfred Walton – F, Fresno State (sophomore)
- Jason Williams – G, Florida (sophomore)
High school players
Had Lamar Odom declared entry into this year's draft like he planned on doing, he would not have represented St. Thomas Aquinas High School in New Britain, Connecticut due to him already declaring entry into college this year, but having academic troubles to qualify for collegiate play. That being said, this would be the fourth year in a row where at least one high school player would declare entry into the NBA draft after previously only doing it back in 1975. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[2]
- Al Harrington – F, St. Patrick (Elizabeth, New Jersey)
- Houston, Texas)
- Los Angeles, California)
- Korleone Young – F, Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, Virginia)
International players
In addition to the players below, three more players from Greece initially declared entry for this year's draft, but ultimately withdrew their names for one reason or another. The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[2]
Slava Medvedenko – F, Budivelnyk Kiev (Ukraine)
Dirk Nowitzki – F, DJK Würzburg (Germany)- Croatia)
See also
- List of first overall NBA draft picks
- NBA records
References
- ^ "Sports Illustrated photo gallery". Archived from the original on June 27, 2005.
- ^ a b c "1998 Underclassmen". The Draft Review. August 4, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
External links
- "Official website". )
- 1998 NBA Draft at Basketball-Reference.com