The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

, over players that have gone on to have more successful NBA careers, has been a source of great criticism by numerous media outlets. Several international players from this draft, Pau Gasol (Spain),

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...

(France) and

Mehmet Okur Mehmet Murat Okur (born 26 May 1979) is a Turkish former professional basketball player. Listed at , he played as a power forward and center. Okur is known for his three-point shooting and ability to space the floor. In his seven seasons with t ...

(Turkey), became NBA All-Stars. The

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

forfeited their first-round pick due to

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

violations. It would be the first of two first rounders that would have to forfeit their picks during the early 2000s. Eight of the players selected in this draft would never play in an NBA game in their professional basketball careers. Both of the players drafted by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

(Michael Wright and Eric Chenowith) were among this group.

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

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

Early entrants

College underclassmen

This year would officially mark the very first year where the number of underclassmen that declared their entry into the NBA draft would exceed the number of selections made with 75 players that fit the underclassmen criteria declaring their initial entry for the NBA draft. However, it would also mark the largest number of dropped players yet with 23 of those players either coming from college or overseas deciding to withdraw from the draft for one reason or another. 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. * Gilbert Arenas – G,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

(sophomore) * Brandon Armstrong – G, Pepperdine (junior) * Malcolm Battles – F, Point Mark (junior) * Tavorris Bell – 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) * Preston Bennett – F, Grayson (freshman) * Michael Bradley – F, Villanova (junior) * Jamison Brewer – G, Auburn (sophomore) * Kedrick Brown – F, Okaloosa-Walton CC (sophomore) * SirValiant Brown – G,

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

(sophomore) * Nick Burwell – G, Orange Coast (sophomore) * Jason Collins – C, Stanford (junior) * Omar Cook – G, St. John's (freshman) * Samuel Dalembert – C/F, Seton Hall (sophomore) * Maurice Evans – G,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(junior) * Benjamin Eze – F, Southern Idaho (freshman) * Alton Ford – 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 ...

(freshman) *

Joseph Forte Joseph Xavier Forte (born March 23, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was an NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, All-American player at North Carol ...

– 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 ...

(sophomore) * Jerry Green – G,

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Education In the United States * University of California system * University of Charleston, West Virginia * University of Chicago, Illinois * University of Cincinnati, Ohio * Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey (''defunct ...

(junior) * Eddie Griffin – F, Seton Hall (freshman) * Rob Griffin – F, Kentucky Wesleyan (junior) * Trenton Hassell – G, Austin Peay (junior) * Kirk Haston – 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 ...

(junior) * Draper Housley – G,

Lee College Lee College is a public community college in Baytown, Texas. Lee College's main campus occupies near downtown Baytown and extension campuses throughout its service area. The school has an enrollment of over 7,773 total students as of Fall 2018 ...

(sophomore) *

Steven Hunter Steven Deon Hunter (born October 31, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He is listed as a center (basketball), center. He most recently played for Dinamo Basket Sassari, Dinamo Sassari. High school and college career H ...

– C/F, DePaul (sophomore) *

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...

– F,

(junior) * Joe Johnson – F/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 ...

(sophomore) * D. A. Layne – G,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

(junior) * Zach Marbury – G,

(sophomore) *

Jamario Moon Jamario Raman Moon (born June 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for one season at Meridian Community College and began his professional career with teams in the United States Basketbal ...

– F, Meridian (freshman) * Troy Murphy – F, Notre Dame (junior) *

Zach Randolph Zachary McKenley Randolph (born July 16, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Z-Bo", the 2-time NBA All-Star played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball, Michigan State Spartans bef ...

– F, Michigan State (freshman) * Jason Richardson – G, Michigan State (sophomore) * Kenny Satterfield – G,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

(sophomore) * Bobby Simmons – F, DePaul (junior) * Will Solomon – G, Clemson (junior) * Clifton Terry – F, Kennedy–King (sophomore) * Gerald Wallace – F/G,

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 ...

(freshman) * Rodney White – F, Charlotte (freshman) * Michael Wright – F,

(junior)

High school players

This would be the seventh 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. ...

. This year would also mark the year with the highest amount of players coming directly out of high school yet with six players deciding to make the jump into an opportunity at the NBA (though only five of them would get it). Not only that, but it marked the first time that a high schooler would be taken as the #1 pick of the NBA draft. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Kwame Brown – F, Glynn Academy (

Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-larges ...

) * Tyson Chandler – F/C, Dominguez High School (

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

) * Ousmane Cisse – F, St. Jude Educational Institute (

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

) * Eddy Curry – C/F, Thornwood High School ( South Holland, Illinois) * DeSagana Diop – C, Oak Hill Academy ( Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) * Tony Key – C, Centennial High School (

)

International players

The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Denis Ershov – C, Pulkovo Saint Petersburg (Russia) * Antonis Fotsis – F, Panathinaikos (

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 ...

) * Pau Gasol – F,

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) * Raül López – G,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

(

) *

– G,

Paris Basket Racing Paris Basket Racing, or PBR, was a French professional basketball club from Paris. It was founded in 1922, as the basketball section of the sports club, multi-sports club Racing Club de Paris. The team took the name "Paris Basket Racing" in 2000. ...

(

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) * Vladimir Radmanović – F, FMP (

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 ...

)

Other eligible players

References

External links

NBA.com: 2001 NBA Draft

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