The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

in the

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). It was held on June 26,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, at

Continental Airlines Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, ...

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from high schools and non-North American leagues. The

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

had the highest probability to win the

NBA draft lottery The NBA draft lottery is an annual event held by the National Basketball Association (NBA), in which the teams who had missed the playoffs the previous year participate in a lottery process to determine the draft order in the NBA draft. The NBA d ...

, but since they were an expansion team along with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

, they were not allowed to select first in this draft. The team with the second-highest probability, the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

, won the lottery and obtained the first selection. The Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies were second and third, respectively. The Raptors won the first overall pick in 1996, but they had to give that up due to the expansion agreement with the league. It is widely considered to be one of the deepest and most talented

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

s in history, with one-third of the first-round picks later becoming NBA All-Stars. The draft class produced three players who won a combined four NBA MVP awards (

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson ( ; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as both a shooting guard and point guard. As an NBA rook ...

Steve Nash Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...

), seven other drafted players who became All-Stars (

Shareef Abdur-Rahim Julius Shareef Abdur-Rahim (born December 11, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who is the president of the NBA G League. Nicknamed Reef, he previously served as the director of player personnel for the Sacramento Kings ...

Ray Allen Walter Ray Allen Jr. (born July 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Allen played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a play ...

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas (; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center (basketball), center position. The Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Asso ...

Stephon Marbury Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who was also the head coach for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) from 2019–2023. After his freshman year ...

, Jermaine O'Neal,

Peja Stojaković Predrag Stojaković ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Стојаковић, ; born 9 June 1977), known by his nickname Peja (''Peđa'', Пеђа, ), is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant gener ...

, Antoine Walker), and one undrafted All-Star ( Ben Wallace), for a grand total of 11 All-Stars. Moreover, eight players from this draft class have been named to at least one

All-NBA Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

, the most among any draft. The draft class also produced three players who have been named to the NBA's all-defensive first team: Bryant,

Marcus Camby Marcus Dion Camby (born March 22, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading ...

, and Wallace. Camby won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2007, while Wallace earned the same award in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006. Five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher was also selected in the draft. The 76ers selected two future Major League Baseball players, Mark Hendrickson and

Ryan Minor Ryan Dale Minor (January 5, 1974 – December 22, 2023) was an American professional baseball third baseman, minor league baseball manager and professional basketball player. He played all or parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball, from ...

, with their second-round picks. Most experts rate it along with the 1984 NBA draft,

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

, and

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

as one of the best drafts in history. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' named it the second-best, behind the 1984 draft, which included a draft class of

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

Alvin Robertson Alvin Cyrrale Robertson (born July 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 1993, and for one final season in 1995–96. Robertson holds the record for th ...

, and

John Stockton John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the great point guards of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, and the team made the pla ...

Key

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

The following are undrafted players of the 1996 NBA Draft but later played in the NBA.

Early entrants

College underclassmen

This year would officially see a steep climb up of the number of underclassmen declaring their entry into the NBA. While previous years starting in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

would see a relatively small amount of college underclassmen alongside overseas and even high school players not only officially declare their entry to the draft, but stick with it, this year saw an official total of 42 different players that qualified as underclassmen see an initial entry into the NBA draft. However, six of these players (those being the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n born Sunday Adebayo from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

, Carlos Knox from IUPUI, Terquin Mott from Coppin State University,

Mark Sanford Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is an American politician and author who served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001 and from 2013 to 2019, and as the 115th govern ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, Jess Settles from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, and Kebu Stewart from Cal State Bakersfield) would ultimately withdraw their initial entry into this year's NBA draft, leaving 29 players that declared for the NBA draft as proper college underclassmen, three high school players (including

and Jermaine O'Neal) entering the NBA draft as high school seniors, three proper international players (including the first two teammates from the same team) entering directly from overseas play, and one player named Priest Lauderdale previously leaving

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-y ...

to play for the Peristeri B.C. in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

for a grand total of 36 players that would qualify as underclassmen. That being said, 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. *

– F,

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) *

– G,

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. ...

(junior) *

– C,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

(junior) *

Erick Dampier Erick Travez Dampier (born July 14, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks. ...

– C,

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

(junior) * Randy Edney – C, Mount St. Mary's (junior) * Eric Gingold – C, Williams (junior) * LeMarcus Golden – G, Memphis (junior) * Ronnie Henderson – G,

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(junior) *

– G, Georgetown (sophomore) * Willie Jackson – F, Lawson CC (freshman) *

Dontae' Jones Dontae' Antijuaine Jones (born June 2, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player, formerly of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jones played college basketball at Northeast Mississippi Community ...

– F,

(junior) * Chris Kingsbury – G,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

(junior) * Idris Lee – G, Mount Senario (junior) * Randy Livingston – G,

(sophomore) * Michael Lloyd – G, Auburn Montgomery (junior) *

– G,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

(freshman) * Richard Matienzo – F, Miami Dade (freshman) * Dut Mayar Madut – C, Frank Phillips (freshman) * Jeff McInnis – G,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

(junior) * Chris Nurse – F, Delaware State (junior) * Jason Osborne – F,

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

(junior) * Jessie Pate – G,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

(junior) * Vitaly Potapenko – F/C, Wright State (sophomore) * Darnell Robinson – F/C,

(junior) * Greg Simpson – G,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

(junior) * Kevin Simpson – G,

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

(sophomore) * Antoine Walker – F,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(sophomore) *

Samaki Walker Samaki Ijuma Walker (born February 25, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball power forward and center (basketball), center. Walker played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals men's basketball, Louisville Cardinals and wa ...

– F,

(sophomore) *

Lorenzen Wright Lorenzen Vern-Gagne Wright (November 4, 1975 – July 19, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted seventh overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los An ...

– F, Memphis (sophomore)

High school players

This year marked the second year in a row where high school players would be allowed entry into the NBA directly from high school after previously not allowing high schoolers to enter the NBA draft directly since

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. ...

. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance. *

– G, Lower Merion HS (

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

) * Taj McDavid – G, Palmetto HS ( Williamston, South Carolina) * Jermaine O'Neal – F, Eau Claire HS (

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

)

International players

This year marked the first time that international teammates would declare their entry into the NBA draft simultaneously. The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Zydrunas Ilgauskas – C, Atletas Kaunas (

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

) * Efthimios Rentzias – F/C, PAOK B.C. (

) *

– F, PAOK B.C. (

)

Other eligible players

References

External links

*
1996 NBA Draft
at Basketball-reference.com {{NBA on TNT

Draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

NBA draft

20th century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Basketball in New Jersey Events in East Rutherford, New Jersey Sports in East Rutherford, New Jersey

Key

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

Early entrants

College underclassmen

High school players

International players

Other eligible players

See also

References

External links