1983 NBA Draft

The 1983 NBA Draft produced two future Basketball Hall of Fame players: Ralph Sampson and Clyde Drexler. Sampson went first overall to Houston, while Portland found Drexler with the 14th selection.

Five members of the draft class became NBA All-Stars: Ralph Sampson, Clyde Drexler, Dale Ellis, Jeff Malone and Doc Rivers. The class also included longtime NBA contributors such as Rodney McCray, Byron Scott, Thurl Bailey, Antoine Carr, Derek Harper, John Paxson, Roy Hinson, Randy Breuer, Mark West, Craig Ehlo and Sedale Threatt.

The first round contained 24 selections even though the NBA had only 23 teams. Cleveland received an additional first-round selection as compensation after former Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien had traded away a series of future first-round draft choices.

All 226 valid player selections are preserved below. Several unusual ineligible selections and forfeited draft opportunities are explained in the Draft Notes section.

Ralph Sampson: Houston selected 7-foot-4 Virginia center Ralph Sampson first overall. Sampson had won three consecutive Naismith College Player of the Year awards and immediately became an NBA star, winning the 1983-84 Rookie of the Year Award and earning four consecutive All-Star selections to begin his career.

Clyde Drexler: Portland selected University of Houston guard Clyde Drexler 14th overall. Drexler became a 10-time NBA All-Star, helped Portland reach the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, and won the 1995 NBA championship after joining the Houston Rockets. He was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Two Hall of Famers: Ralph Sampson and Clyde Drexler were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as players.

Five NBA All-Stars: Ralph Sampson, Clyde Drexler, Dale Ellis, Jeff Malone and Doc Rivers all earned NBA All-Star selections.

Dale Ellis: Dallas selected Tennessee scorer Dale Ellis ninth overall. Ellis later became an All-Star with Seattle, won the 1986-87 NBA Most Improved Player Award and became one of the NBA's leading three-point shooters during the early years of the three-point era.

Jeff Malone: Washington selected Mississippi State guard Jeff Malone 10th overall. Malone became a two-time NBA All-Star and averaged more than 20 points per game in six different seasons.

Derek Harper: Dallas selected Illinois guard Derek Harper 11th overall. Harper spent 16 seasons in the NBA and became one of the most productive players from the class despite never being selected to an All-Star Game.

Byron Scott: San Diego selected Arizona State guard Byron Scott fourth overall before trading his rights to the Los Angeles Lakers. Scott became a starting guard on three Lakers championship teams during the Showtime era.

Doc Rivers: Atlanta selected Marquette guard Doc Rivers 31st overall in the second round. Rivers became an NBA All-Star in 1988 and later built a lengthy coaching career, winning the 2008 NBA championship as head coach of the Boston Celtics.

Craig Ehlo: Houston selected Washington State guard Craig Ehlo 48th overall in the third round. Ehlo played 14 NBA seasons and became a longtime starter and rotation player with Cleveland, Seattle and Atlanta.

Sedale Threatt: Philadelphia selected West Virginia Tech guard Sedale Threatt 139th overall in the sixth round. Threatt beat long odds for such a late pick and played 14 NBA seasons.

Cleveland's compensation pick: The NBA had 23 teams, but the 1983 first round contained 24 selections. Cleveland received the additional No. 24 selection as part of league compensation related to first-round choices that former owner Ted Stepien had previously traded away. The Cavaliers used the pick on Villanova guard Stewart Granger.

The Stepien Rule: Cleveland's aggressive trading of future draft choices under former owner Ted Stepien contributed to the NBA adopting restrictions preventing teams from leaving themselves without first-round picks in consecutive future drafts. The restriction became commonly known as the Stepien Rule.

Manute Bol's voided selection: San Diego attempted to select Sudanese center Manute Bol with the 97th pick in the fifth round. The NBA voided the selection because Bol had not properly declared for the draft and was listed as too young to be eligible. Bol later entered the NBA after Washington selected him in the second round of the 1985 draft.

Houston's forfeited tenth-round selection: Houston attempted to select San Jose State junior Darrell Johnson in the tenth round. Johnson had not declared for early entry and was ineligible, so the selection was forfeited and does not receive an official pick number.

Philadelphia's unusual final selection: Philadelphia attempted to select Norman Horvitz after the 226th pick. Horvitz was a physician and friend of 76ers owner Harold Katz who had graduated from college decades earlier. The NBA ruled him ineligible, so the selection is not counted among the draft's 226 official picks.

226 selections: The 1983 NBA Draft contained 226 official player selections over 10 rounds. Basketball-Reference records 58 of those players as eventually appearing in an NBA regular-season or playoff game.