The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were considered can't-miss prospects. All three are Hall of Famers (Naismith & FIBA); O'Neal and Mourning are (individual) player-inducted, whereas Laettner is team-inducted. Laettner made one All-Star game in his career and was an Olympic Gold Medalist on the 1992 Dream Team, but did not live up to the lofty expectations set for him. The trio would end up playing together on the 2005 Miami Heat. Two other players went on to become All-Stars (Tom Gugliotta once, Latrell Sprewell four times) and several others had solid careers (Jimmy Jackson, Robert Horry, Doug Christie, P.J. Brown, LaPhonso Ellis, Jon Barry, Walt Williams, Anthony Peeler, and Clarence Weatherspoon). Harold Miner, who was given the nickname "Baby Jordan" because of his similarities to Michael Jordan, slipped to number 12 and, other than winning two slam dunk contests, only had a brief, uneventful, and injury prone four-year career.
This was the first time the NBA draft was held outside of New York.
Draft selections
G Guard PGPoint guard SGShooting guard F Forward SFSmall forward PFPower forward CCenter
Player Nationality Team 1 1 Shaquille O'Neal^~ C Orlando Magic LSU (Jr.) 1 2 Alonzo Mourning^ C Charlotte Hornets Georgetown (Sr.) 1 3 Christian Laettner+ PF Minnesota Timberwolves Duke (Sr.) 1 4 Jimmy Jackson SG Dallas Mavericks Ohio State (Jr.) 1 5 LaPhonso Ellis PF Denver Nuggets Notre Dame (Sr.) 1 6 Tom Gugliotta+ PF Washington Bullets NC State (Sr.) 1 7 Walt Williams SF Sacramento Kings Maryland (Sr.) 1 8 Todd Day SG Milwaukee Bucks Arkansas (Sr.) 1 9 Clarence Weatherspoon PF Philadelphia 76ers Southern Miss (Sr.) 1 10 Adam Keefe PF Atlanta Hawks Stanford (Sr.) 1 11 Robert Horry SF Houston Rockets Alabama (Sr.) 1 12 Harold Miner SG Miami Heat USC (Jr.) 1 13 Bryant Stith SG Denver Nuggets (from New Jersey) Virginia (Sr.) 1 14 Malik Sealy SF Indiana Pacers St. John's (Sr.) 1 15 Anthony Peeler SG Los Angeles Lakers Missouri (Sr.) 1 16 Randy Woods PG Los Angeles Clippers La Salle (Sr.) 1 17 Doug Christie SG Seattle SuperSonics Pepperdine (Sr.) 1 18 Tracy Murray SF San Antonio Spurs UCLA (Jr.) 1 19 Don MacLean PF Detroit Pistons (traded to Washington via L.A. Clippers) UCLA (Sr.) 1 20 Hubert Davis SG New York Knicks North Carolina (Sr.) 1 21 Jon Barry SG Boston Celtics Georgia Tech (Sr.) 1 22 Oliver Miller C Phoenix Suns Arkansas (Sr.) 1 23 Lee Mayberry PG Milwaukee Bucks (from Utah) Arkansas (Sr.) 1 24 Latrell Sprewell* SG Golden State Warriors Alabama (Sr.) 1 25 Elmore Spencer C Los Angeles Clippers (from Cleveland) UNLV (Sr.) 1 26 Dave Johnson SF Portland Trail Blazers Syracuse (Sr.) 1 27 Byron Houston PF Chicago Bulls Oklahoma State (Sr.) 2 28 Marlon Maxey PF Minnesota Timberwolves UTEP 2 29 P. J. Brown PF New Jersey Nets Louisiana Tech 2 30 Sean Rooks PF/C Dallas Mavericks Arizona 2 31 Reggie Smith C Portland Trail Blazers TCU 2 32 Brent Price G Washington Bullets Oklahoma 2 33 Corey Williams G Chicago Bulls Oklahoma State 2 34 Chris Smith G Minnesota Timberwolves Connecticut 2 35 Tony Bennett G Charlotte Hornets Wisconsin–Green Bay 2 36 Duane Cooper G Los Angeles Lakers USC 2 37 Isaiah Morris F Miami Heat Arkansas 2 38 Elmer Bennett G Atlanta Hawks Notre Dame 2 39 Litterial Green G Chicago Bulls Georgia 2 40Steve Rogers# SG/SF New Jersey Nets Alabama State 2 41 Popeye Jones F Houston Rockets Murray State 2 42 Matt Geiger C Miami Heat Georgia Tech 2 43 Predrag Danilović SG Golden State Warriors KK Partizan (Yugoslavia) 2 44Henry Williams# G San Antonio Spurs UNC-Charlotte 2 45 Chris King F Seattle SuperSonics Wake Forest 2 46 Robert Werdann C Denver Nuggets St. John's 2 47 Darren Morningstar C Boston Celtics Pittsburgh 2 48 Brian Davis F/G Phoenix Suns Duke 2 49Ron Ellis# PF Phoenix Suns Louisiana Tech 2 50 Matt Fish F Golden State Warriors UNC-Wilmington 2 51Tim Burroughs# PF Minnesota Timberwolves Jacksonville 2 52 Matt Steigenga F Chicago Bulls Michigan State 2 53Curtis Blair# PG Houston Rockets Richmond 2 54Brett Roberts# SF Sacramento Kings Morehead State
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 1992 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA. Player Pos. Nationality School/club team F South Florida (Sr.) PF Indiana (Sr.) PG Ohio State (Sr.) SF Monmouth (Sr.) PF Providence (Sr.) SF Wyoming (Sr.) PF Texas (Sr.) PF Southern Miss (Sr.) C Crvena zvezda (Yugoslavia) PG/SG Pacific (Sr.) SG Morehouse (Sr.) SG South Carolina (Sr.) PG Brisbane Bullets (Australia) SF DePaul (Sr.) SG/SF Ohio State (Sr.) SF Houston (Sr.) PG UCLA (Sr.) C Minnesota (Sr.) PG UCLA (Sr.) PG Arizona (Sr.) PF Wyoming (Sr.) SF/PF Temple (Sr.) C Notre Dame (Sr.) SF Wake Forest (Sr.) PF Alabama (Jr.) PG Baylor (Sr.)
Early entrants College underclassmen For the tenth year in a row and the fourteenth time in fifteen years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would also be the first year since 1985 where no underclassmen playing overseas would enter the NBA draft and would be the first draft since 1986 with no foreign-born underclassmen as well. This year would see a total of sixteen college underclassmen entering the draft. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
Ameer Aziz – F, Saint Paul's (Virginia) (junior) John Beauford – C, Southern Poly (junior) Anthony Cade – F, Seminole JC (sophomore) Mark Chappell – G, Iowa State (junior) Dallas Lee Cothrum – G, Austin (junior) Jim Jackson – G, Ohio State (junior) Troy King – F, Beaver County CC (sophomore) Benny Maxwell – G, Western New Mexico (junior) Harold Miner – G, USC (junior) Tracy Murray – F, UCLA (junior) Shaquille O'Neal – C, LSU (junior) Melvin Robinson – C, Arizona State (junior) Tony Scott – F, Texas A&M (junior) Jeff Theiler – F, La Verne (junior) Mike Wawrzyniak – G, Cleveland State (junior) Marcus Webb – F, Alabama (junior)
Invited attendees The 1992 NBA draft is considered to be the fifteenth NBA draft to have utilized what's properly considered the "green room" experience for NBA prospects. The NBA's green room is a staging area where anticipated draftees often sit with their families and representatives, waiting for their names to be called on draft night. Often being positioned either in front of or to the side of the podium (in this case, being positioned somewhere within the Veterans Memorial Coliseum building in Portland, Oregon), once a player heard his name, he would walk to the podium to shake hands and take promotional photos with the NBA commissioner. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. However, once the NBA draft started to air nationally on TV starting with the 1980 NBA draft, the green room evolved from players waiting to hear their name called and then shaking hands with these select players who were often called to the hotel to take promotional pictures with the NBA commissioner a day or two after the draft concluded to having players in real-time waiting to hear their names called up and then shaking hands with David Stern, the NBA's commissioner at the time. The NBA compiled its list of green room invites through collective voting by the NBA's team presidents and general managers alike, which in this year's case belonged to only what they believed were the top 14 prospects at the time. Despite the large amount of invites and them successfully avoiding any inviting prospects waiting into the second round (to the point where four errors were in mind from getting a perfectly ordered invited attendees line-up this time around), the only notable absence from this group would be (the controversial) Latrell Sprewell from the University of Alabama. With that in mind, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.
Doug Christie – SG, Pepperdine Todd Day – SG, Arkansas LaPhonso Ellis – PF, Notre Dame Tom Gugliotta – PF, North Carolina State Robert Horry – SF, Alabama Jimmy Jackson – SG, Ohio State Harold Miner – SG, USC Alonzo Mourning – C, Georgetown Tracy Murray – SF, UCLA Shaquille O'Neal – C, LSU Malik Sealy – SF, St. John's Bryant Stith – SG, Virginia Clarence Weatherspoon – PF, Southern Mississippi Walt Williams – SF, Maryland
See also List of first overall NBA draft picks
Notes
References