1978 NBA Draft

The 1978 NBA Draft is best remembered for Boston's selection of Larry Bird with the sixth overall pick. Bird was eligible for the draft as a college junior but elected to return to Indiana State for his senior season. Boston retained his rights and signed him in 1979, beginning one of the most celebrated careers in NBA history.

Portland selected Mychal Thompson first overall after acquiring the selection from Indiana. Thompson, who was born in the Bahamas, became the first foreign-born player selected No. 1 overall in an NBA Draft. Kansas City selected North Carolina guard Phil Ford second overall, and Ford won the 1978-79 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Five members of the draft class became NBA All-Stars: Larry Bird, Micheal Ray Richardson, Reggie Theus, Mike Mitchell and Maurice Cheeks. Bird, Cheeks and third-round selection Michael Cooper were later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The draft also produced several excellent late selections. Philadelphia selected Maurice Cheeks 36th overall, the Lakers selected Michael Cooper 60th, San Antonio selected Gerald Henderson 64th and New York selected Marc Iavaroni 55th.

Mychal Thompson: Portland selected Minnesota center Mychal Thompson first overall. Born in Nassau, Bahamas, Thompson became the first foreign-born player selected with the No. 1 overall pick in NBA Draft history. He played 12 NBA seasons and later won championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 and 1988.

Phil Ford: Kansas City selected North Carolina guard Phil Ford second overall. Ford averaged 15.9 points and 8.6 assists per game as a rookie, was named to the All-NBA Second Team and won the 1978-79 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Larry Bird: Boston selected Indiana State forward Larry Bird sixth overall even though Bird still had one college season remaining. Under the draft rules then in effect, Bird was eligible because his original college class was graduating. He returned to Indiana State for 1978-79 and led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship game before joining Boston in 1979.

One of Boston's greatest picks: Bird spent his entire 13-season NBA career with the Celtics. He won three NBA championships, three consecutive NBA MVP Awards, two Finals MVP Awards and the 1979-80 Rookie of the Year Award and was a 12-time NBA All-Star.

Maurice Cheeks: Philadelphia selected West Texas State guard Maurice Cheeks 36th overall in the second round. Cheeks became a four-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-Defensive selection and the starting point guard on Philadelphia's 1983 championship team. He was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Michael Cooper: The Lakers found another Hall of Fame player with the 60th overall pick, selecting New Mexico's Michael Cooper in the third round. Cooper became one of the NBA's premier perimeter defenders, won the 1987 Defensive Player of the Year Award and played on five Lakers championship teams. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Micheal Ray Richardson: New York selected Montana guard Micheal Ray Richardson fourth overall. Richardson became a four-time NBA All-Star and led the league in assists and steals during the 1979-80 season.

Reggie Theus: Chicago selected UNLV guard Reggie Theus ninth overall. Theus became a two-time NBA All-Star and scored more than 19,000 points during a 13-season NBA career.

Mike Mitchell: Cleveland selected Auburn forward Mike Mitchell 15th overall. Mitchell became an NBA All-Star in 1981 and scored more than 15,000 points during his NBA career.

Gerald Henderson: San Antonio selected Virginia Commonwealth guard Gerald Henderson 64th overall in the third round. Henderson played 13 NBA seasons and won three championships, two with Boston and one with Detroit.

Buffalo's final draft: The Buffalo Braves participated in the 1978 draft under their original name. The franchise relocated to San Diego later that summer and became the San Diego Clippers for the 1978-79 season. For historical accuracy, Buffalo is retained for the selections the Braves made on draft day.

Late-round passes: Not every team exercised a selection in every later round. Seattle passed in the sixth round, while Houston and Indiana passed in the eighth. These skipped opportunities are not assigned artificial overall pick numbers, which is why the draft contains 202 official player selections rather than 220.

202 selections: The 1978 NBA Draft contained 202 official selections across 10 rounds. Basketball-Reference records 68 of the 202 selected players as eventually appearing in an NBA regular-season or playoff game.