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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) holds an annual
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 ...
where teams select eligible players to join the league. While most NBA players are drafted, undrafted players occasionally earn roster spots as well. Sometimes, they even outperform more celebrated draft picks. The number of rounds in the draft has evolved since the first one in
1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...
. The
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...
and 1968 drafts were 21 rounds, before settling at 10 rounds by
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
(in
1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
, however, the draft was held in eight); it was reduced to seven rounds in
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
. After negotiations with the
National Basketball Players Association The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is the labor union that represents National Basketball Association (NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major professional sports leagues in the U ...
, the draft has been two rounds since
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
, leaving undrafted players free to negotiate with any team. With the creation of
two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...
s in the NBA being made available ever since the 2017–18 season, more undrafted talents have gained opportunities to debut in the NBA than they previously had in recent years. Unlike with
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL), undrafted players are less likely to become recognizable stars in the NBA. Only one modern-day undrafted player has been elected to the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...
Ben Wallace in 2021. The first undrafted player to be voted an
NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...
starter in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
, Wallace played the most career games of any undrafted player with 1,088 games played in 15 seasons, won an
NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
, was a four-time All-Star, and was a four-time winner of the
NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award The NBA Defensive Player of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswriters and b ...
. Other undrafted players who have made significant contributions include John Starks who was the first undrafted player in the modern era to become an All-Star in
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
.
Udonis Haslem Udonis Johneal Haslem ( ; born June 9, 1980) is an American professional basketball executive and former player. He is the vice president of basketball development for the Miami Heat, where he List of NBA players who have spent their entire caree ...
became the first undrafted player to lead a franchise (
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
) in career
rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...
in 2012, and he was a member of each of the Heat's three championship teams. Bruce Bowen played 13 seasons in the NBA, was selected to the
NBA All-Defensive Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in tw ...
eight times, and was a key contributor on three
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
championship teams. David Wesley scored 11,842 points in a 14-year NBA career, and retired as the highest-scoring undrafted player of the modern era. Mike James from the 1998 draft was the first undrafted player to average 20 points in a season (20.3) in 2006.
Jorge Garbajosa Jorge Garbajosa Chaparro (born 19 December 1977) is a Spanish former professional basketball player, the outgoing president of the Spanish Basketball Federation, and the current President of FIBA Europe. Standing at 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in ...
was the first to be named All-Rookie First Team in 2007. Undrafted in the 2016 draft, Fred VanVleet holds the single-game scoring record for an undrafted player with 54 points on February 2, 2021. Troy Hudson, who enjoyed an 11-year NBA career after being passed over in the 1997 draft, alluded to his rise in his 2007 album ''
Undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
''.


List of undrafted players

The following players were undrafted in the specified year, but later played in at least one official regular season or playoff game in their career.


Professional players before/around the BAA's debut

The following players had previously played professional basketball before or around the inception of the
Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...
(now NBA) but had played for the BAA/NBA at least once afterward.


Notes


See also

* First overall NBA draft picks


References

{{NBA Drafts Undrafted players Undrafted players