1985 NBA draft
| 1985 NBA draft | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General information | |||||
| Date(s) | June 18, 1985 | ||||
| Time | 7:35 pm EDT | ||||
| Location | Felt Forum, New York City, New York | ||||
| Network(s) (US) | TBS Superstation | ||||
| First selection | Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks | ||||
| |||||
The 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. A total of 162 players were selected over seven rounds by the league's 23 teams.[1] The New York Knicks were awarded the first overall pick by winning the first-ever NBA draft lottery, which was held in May of that year. The Knicks ultimately used it on Georgetown's Patrick Ewing.
Draft selections
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| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team |
| + | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| x | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-NBA Team |
| # | Denotes player who never played in the NBA regular season or playoffs |
* compensation for draft choices traded away by Ted Stepien
Notable post-second round picks
This list includes only players who appeared in at least one NBA game but were not selected in the first or second rounds of the 1985 NBA draft.
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 49 | Wright, BradBrad Wright | PF |  United States |
Golden State Warriors | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 3 | 54 | Mitchell, SamSam Mitchell | SF/PF | United States |
Houston Rockets (from San Antonio via Atlanta)*** | Mercer (Sr.) |
| 3 | 59 | Toney, SedricSedric Toney | PG | United States |
Atlanta Hawks* | Dayton (Sr.) |
| 3 | 61 | Young, PerryPerry Young | SG | United States |
Portland Trail Blazers | Virginia Tech (Sr.) |
| 3 | 63 | Keeling, HaroldHarold Keeling | SG | United States |
Dallas Mavericks | Santa Clara (Sr.) |
| 3 | 66 | Adams, MichaelMichael Adams+ | PG | United States |
Kansas City Kings (from Denver) | Boston College (Sr.) |
| 3 | 69 | Brown, MikeMike Brown | C | United States |
Chicago Bulls** | George Washington (Sr.) |
| 4 | 73 | Cofield, FredFred Cofield | PG | United States |
New York Knicks | Eastern Michigan (Sr.) |
| 4 | 75 | Stivrins, AlexAlex Stivrins | F | United States |
Seattle SuperSonics | Colorado (Sr.) |
| 4 | 77 | Sabonis, ArvydasArvydas Sabonis+ | C |  Soviet Union(  Lithuania) |
Atlanta Hawks (pick voided because Sabonis was not yet 21 at the time of the draft)[3] | Žalgiris Kaunas (Soviet Union) |
| 4 | 79 | Davis, MarkMark Davis | SF | United States |
Cleveland Cavaliers | Old Dominion (Sr.) |
| 4 | 82 | Roth, ScottScott Roth | SF | United States |
San Antonio Spurs | Wisconsin (Sr.) |
| 4 | 83 | Rudd, DelaneyDelaney Rudd | G | United States |
Utah Jazz | Wake Forest (Sr.) |
| 4 | 84 | Battle, JohnJohn Battle | SG | United States |
Atlanta Hawks (from New Jersey) | Rutgers (Sr.) |
| 4 | 87 | Webb, SpudSpud Webb | PG | United States |
Detroit Pistons | NC State (Sr.) |
| 4 | 89 | Williams, PetePete Williams | PF | United States |
Denver Nuggets | Arizona (So.) |
| 4 | 90 | Gervin, DerrickDerrick Gervin | PF | United States |
Philadelphia 76ers | UTSA (Jr.) |
| 4 | 91 | McQueen, CozellCozell McQueen | PF | United States |
Milwaukee Bucks | NC State (Sr.) |
| 4 | 92 | Shouse, DexterDexter Shouse | PG | United States |
Los Angeles Lakers | South Alabama (Sr.) |
| 6 | 139 | Lewis, RalphRalph Lewis | SG | United States |
Boston Celtics | La Salle (Sr.) |
| 7 | 144 | Phelps, MikeMike Phelps | SG | United States |
Seattle SuperSonics | Alcorn State (Sr.) |
| 7 | 148 | Glouchkov, GeorgiGeorgi Glouchkov | PF |  Bulgaria |
Phoenix Suns | Akademik Varna (Bulgaria) |
| 7 | 160 | Elie, MarioMario Elie | SF/SG | United States |
Milwaukee Bucks | American International (Sr.) |
* Compensation for the Utah Jazz signing Billy Paultz
** Compensation for the Los Angeles Lakers signing Larry Spriggs
*** Compensation for the Atlanta Hawks signing Billy Paultz
Controversy
Some have argued that NBA Commissioner David Stern fixed the first overall pick to help his hometown team, the struggling New York Knicks. When an accountant from Ernst & Whinney inserted the seven envelopes into the glass drum, some have claimed that he banged the fourth one against the side of the drum to create a creased corner, thereby making it easier for Stern to determine which envelope to choose: the envelope containing the Knicks logo.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ "1985 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
- ↑ Ewing was born in
Jamaica, but had become a naturalized United States citizen while at Georgetown, as evidenced by his selection to the USA team at the 1984 Olympics. - ↑ McCallum, Jack (August 11, 2011). "Hoops giant Sabonis was a mystery man with indisputable talent". SI.com. Retrieved January 4, 2014. Sabonis was subsequently selected in the first round (24th overall) of the 1986 NBA draft.
- ↑ Rosenberg, Michael (29 October 2010). "Viewpoint: Sports conspiracy theories". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 18 August 2011.