The 2002 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2002, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In this draft,

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from non-North American leagues.NBA.com: 2023 Draft Handbook
/ref> This was the last draft that was broadcast on TNT, as

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

obtained the rights for the 2024 draft via its incoming deal (which it retains to this day). The NBA announced that about 42 college and high school players, and five international players, had filed as early-entry candidates for the draft. The Chicago Bulls and the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

each had a 22.5% chance of acquiring the first pick, but the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

, with just an 8.9% probability, won the NBA draft lottery on May 19. The Bulls and Warriors were second and third, respectively. As punishment for salary-cap violations during the 2001-02 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round draft pick. The 2002 draft set a record of 17 international selections, with six of them coming in the first round. Two months after the conclusion of his rookie season, number-two pick Jay Williams nearly lost his life in a motorcycle crash that shattered his pelvis, severed a main nerve in his leg and tore three ligaments in his left knee, including his ACL. Despite intense rehabilitation, Williams never played a game in the NBA again. When it became clear Williams could not return to the Bulls because of his injuries, the team waived him. The Bulls could have voided Williams' contract because it prohibited riding a motorcycle. However, the franchise bought out his contract for $3 million in 2004 instead of having him walk away with nothing.Nance, Roscoe
Bulls, Jay Williams agree to contract buyout
February 2, 2004. Retrieved January 21, 2015. The draft class was relatively weak outside of the top prospects. Several players selected early had promising careers that ended prematurely due to injury, including

Yao Ming Yao Ming ( zh, c=姚明; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Baske ...

, Williams and Dajuan Wagner. Nevertheless, Yao was named a Hall of Famer—a selection predicated as much on his role in popularizing basketball in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

as it was for his on-court play. Three players selected in this draft - including Yao, second-round pick Carlos Boozer and Rookie of the Year Amar'e Stoudemire - would be named to the All-NBA Team during their careers. Caron Butler was the only other player to become an All-Star. First-round pick Tayshaun Prince was also named to the NBA All-Defensive Team four times. As of the end of the 2022–23 NBA season, Udonis Haslem was the last remaining active draft-eligible player from the 2002 class, though he went undrafted (he made his NBA debut the following season). He stopped playing after the 2022–23 season. Nine of the players selected in this draft never played in an NBA game throughout their professional basketball careers. Three of those players were the sole selection of the draft from their respective teams: Peter Fehse (Seattle's only pick), Marcus Taylor (Minnesota's only pick) and Mladen Šekularac (Dallas' only pick).

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

These eligible players were not selected in this draft but played at least one game in the NBA.

Early entrants

College underclassmen

This year would mark a bit of a step down in terms of the number of underclassmen entering the NBA draft when compared to last year. While it would be the second time the number of underclassmen would exceed the number of draft picks available in the NBA, this year only saw a total of 72 underclassmen from college and overseas declare their initial entry into the NBA draft. However, it would exceed the amount of withdrawn players with 24 players doing exactly that, leaving a total of 48 eligible underclassmen available for the draft this year. The following

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Lee Benson – F, Brown Mackie (freshman) * Rodney Bias – F,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

(sophomore) * Cordell Billups – G, Pierce (Washington) (sophomore) * Carlos Boozer – F,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

(junior) * Curtis Borchardt – C, Stanford (junior) * Caron Butler – F,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

(sophomore) * Mike Dunleavy Jr. – F,

(junior) * Drew Gooden – F,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

(junior) * Rod Grizzard – G,

(junior) * Marcus Haislip – F,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

(junior) * Rashid Hardwick – C, Eastern Oklahoma State (freshman) * Adam Harrington – G, Auburn (junior) * Casey Jacobsen – G, Stanford (junior) * Chris Jefferies – F, Fresno State (junior) * Jared Jeffries – F,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

(sophomore) * Muhammed Lasege – C, Louisville (sophomore) * Tito Maddox – G, Fresno State (sophomore) * Kei Madison – F, Okaloosa-Walton (sophomore) * Roger Mason Jr. – G,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

(junior) * Smush Parker – G, Fordham (sophomore) * Travis Robinson – F, Jacksonville (junior) * Kareem Rush – G,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

(junior) * Jamal Sampson – F/C,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

(freshman) * Jerry Sanders – F, Northern Illinois (sophomore) * Eddie Shelby – G, Dixie State (sophomore) * Bobby Smith – G, Robert Morris (junior) * Melvin Steward – G, Eastern New Mexico (junior) * Marcus Taylor – G, Michigan State (sophomore) * Terrell Taylor – G, Creighton (junior) * Dajuan Wagner – G, Memphis (freshman) * Adrian Walton – G, Fordham (freshman) * Joseph Ward – F, Fort Hays State (junior) * Omar Weaver – F/G, Riverside CC (freshman) * Chris Wilcox – F,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

(sophomore) * Troy Wiley – F,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

(junior) * Frank Williams – G,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

(junior) * George Williams – F,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

(junior) * Jay Williams – G,

(junior) * Qyntel Woods – G/F, Northeast Mississippi CC (sophomore)

High school players

This would be the eighth straight year in a row where at least one high school player would declare their entry into the NBA draft directly out of high school after previously only allowing it one time back in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. It would also mark the first time a player directly out of high school would win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award with Amar'e Stoudemire earning the honor one year before LeBron James would enter the NBA. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * DeAngelo Collins – F, Inglewood High School (

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

) * Lenny Cooke – G, Mott Adult High School ( Flint, Michigan) * Giedrius Rinkevicius – C, Bridgton Academy ( Bridgton, Maine) * Amar'e Stoudemire – F, Cypress Creek High School (

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

)

International players

The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Peter Fehse – F, Halle (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) * Nenê Hilario – F, Vasco de Gama (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) * Nenad Krstic – Partizan (

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

) * Mladen Šekularac – F, FMP (

) * Nikoloz Tskitishvili – F, Benetton Treviso (

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

)

References

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