1998 NBA Draft

1998 NBA Draft
General information
Date(s)	June 24, 1998
Time	7:30 pm (EDT)
Location	General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Network(s) (US)	TNT
First selection	Michael Olowokandi, Los Angeles Clippers
NBA Draft < 1997 1999 >

The 1998 NBA Draft took place on June 24, 1998 at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around three struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, and the Toronto Raptors.

The Mavericks, despite having a talented nucleus of Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson in the mid-1990s, had not had a winning season since 1989–1990. By the end of the 1997 season, all three players were traded and it was time to rebuild. With the sixth selection in 1998, they drafted Robert Traylor and quickly traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity. They then traded Garrity in a package to the Phoenix Suns for Steve Nash. With Nash and Nowitzki, the Mavericks quickly went from a lottery team in the late 1990s to a perennial playoff contender throughout the 2000s. Nowitzki went on to win the 2011 NBA Finals with Dallas, but without Nash.

Meanwhile, the Raptors were a recent expansion team that had failed to win more than 30 games in its first three seasons. With the fourth pick they selected Antawn Jamison, whom they quickly dealt to the Golden State Warriors for Vince Carter.

The Kings, having been a perennial lottery bound franchise, skyrocketed in popularity with the addition of Chris Webber and 7th pick Jason Williams. The Kings went to the playoffs that year and took the defending Western Conference Champions to the final game of their 1st round Playoff series.

First overall pick Michael Olowokandi is regarded by Sports Illustrated as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.

Five players from the 1998 draft class have played in the NBA All-Star Game at least once in their careers: Nowitzki, Carter, Jamison, Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis.

As of the 2012-13 NBA season, only Pierce and Nowitzki are currently playing for their original teams. They, along with Carter, have reached the 20,000 points plateau during their 14-year careers.

*	Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s) and (an) All-NBA Team(s)
+	Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-Star Game(s)
x	Denotes player who has been selected for (an) All-NBA Team(s)

Draft

Mike Bibby, the 2nd pick

Antawn Jamison, the 4th pick

Vince Carter, the 5th pick

Jason Williams, the 7th pick

Dirk Nowitzki, the 9th pick

Paul Pierce, the 10th pick

Rashard Lewis, the 32nd pick

Rafer Alston, the 39th pick

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	NBA team	School/Club team
1	1	Olowokandi, MichaelMichael Olowokandi	C	Nigeria United Kingdom	Los Angeles Clippers	Pacific (Sr.)
1	2	Bibby, MikeMike Bibby	PG	United States	Vancouver Grizzlies	Arizona (So.)
1	3	LaFrentz, RaefRaef LaFrentz	C/F	United States	Denver Nuggets	Kansas (Sr.)
1	4	Jamison, AntawnAntawn Jamison+	F	United States	Toronto Raptors (traded to Golden State)	North Carolina (Jr.)
1	5	Carter, VinceVince Carter*	G/F	United States	Golden State Warriors (traded to Toronto)	North Carolina (Jr.)
1	6	Traylor, RobertRobert Traylor	F/C	United States	Dallas Mavericks (traded to Milwaukee)	Michigan (Jr.)
1	7	Williams, JasonJason Williams	PG	United States	Sacramento Kings	Florida (Jr.)
1	8	Hughes, LarryLarry Hughes	SG	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Saint Louis (Fr.)
1	9	Nowitzki, DirkDirk Nowitzki*	PF	Germany	Milwaukee Bucks (traded to Dallas)	DJK Würzburg (Germany, 2nd division)
1	10	Pierce, PaulPaul Pierce*	G/F	United States	Boston Celtics	Kansas (Jr.)
1	11	Wells, BonziBonzi Wells	G/F	United States	Detroit Pistons	Ball State (Sr.)
1	12	Doleac, MichaelMichael Doleac	C	United States	Orlando Magic	Utah (Sr.)
1	13	Clark, KeonKeon Clark	F/C	United States	Orlando Magic (from Golden State via Washington)	UNLV (Sr.)
1	14	Dickerson, MichaelMichael Dickerson	SG	United States	Houston Rockets	Arizona (Sr.)
1	15	Harpring, MattMatt Harpring	F/G	United States	Orlando Magic (from New Jersey)	Georgia Tech (Sr.)
1	16	Drew, BryceBryce Drew	PG	United States	Houston Rockets	Valparaiso (Sr.)
1	17	Nesterovič, RadoslavRadoslav Nesterovič	C	Slovenia	Minnesota Timberwolves	Kinder Bologna (Italy)
1	18	Türkcan, MirsadMirsad Türkcan	PF	Turkey	Houston Rockets (from Toronto via Portland)	Efes Pilsen (Turkey)
1	19	Garrity, PatPat Garrity	PF	United States	Milwaukee Bucks (from Cleveland, traded to Phoenix)	Notre Dame (Sr.)
1	20	McLeod, RoshownRoshown McLeod	SF	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Duke (Sr.)
1	21	Davis, RickyRicky Davis	G/F	United States	Charlotte Hornets	Iowa (Fr.)
1	22	Skinner, BrianBrian Skinner	F/C	United States	Los Angeles Clippers (from Miami)	Baylor (Sr.)
1	23	Lue, TyronnTyronn Lue	PG	United States	Denver Nuggets (from Phoenix traded to L.A. Lakers)	Nebraska (Jr.)
1	24	López, FelipeFelipe López	SG	Dominican Republic	San Antonio Spurs (traded to Vancouver)	St. John's (Sr.)
1	25	Harrington, AlAl Harrington	F	United States	Indiana Pacers	St. Patrick's High School (Elizabeth, New Jersey)
1	26	Jacobson, SamSam Jacobson	SG	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	Minnesota (Sr.)
1	27	Stepania, VladimirVladimir Stepania	C	Georgia	Seattle SuperSonics	Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia)
1	28	Benjamin, CoreyCorey Benjamin	SG	United States	Chicago Bulls	Oregon State (So.)
1	29	Mohammed, NazrNazr Mohammed	C/F	United States	Utah Jazz (traded to Philadelphia)	Kentucky (Jr.)
2	30	Sesay, AnsuAnsu Sesay	SF	United States	Dallas Mavericks (from Toronto)	Mississippi (Sr.)
2	31	Patterson, RubenRuben Patterson	SF	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (from Vancouver)	Cincinnati (Sr.)
2	32	Lewis, RashardRashard Lewis+	SF	United States	Seattle SuperSonics (from Detroit)	Alief Elsik HS (Houston, Texas)
2	33	McCoy, JelaniJelani McCoy	F/C	United States	Seattle SuperSonics (from L.A. Clippers)	UCLA (Jr.)
2	34	Williams, ShammondShammond Williams	PG	United States	Chicago Bulls (from Golden State)	North Carolina (Sr.)
2	35	Šundov, BrunoBruno Šundov	C	Croatia	Dallas Mavericks	Split (Croatia)
2	36	James, JeromeJerome James	C	United States	Sacramento Kings	Florida A&M (Jr.)
2	37	Shaw, CaseyCasey Shaw	C	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Toledo (Sr.)
2	38	Johnson, DeMarcoDeMarco Johnson	PF	United States	New York Knicks (from Boston)	Charlotte (Sr.)
2	39	Alston, RaferRafer Alston	PG	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Fresno State (Sr.)
2	40	Young, KorleoneKorleone Young	SF	United States	Detroit Pistons	Hargrave Military Academy
2	41	Mobley, CuttinoCuttino Mobley	SG	United States	Houston Rockets	Rhode Island (Sr.)
2	42	Simon, MilesMiles Simon	SG	United States	Orlando Magic	Arizona (Sr.)
2	43	White, JahidiJahidi White	F/C	United States	Washington Wizards	Georgetown (Sr.)
2	44	Marks, SeanSean Marks	PF	New Zealand	New York Knicks	California (Sr.)
2	45	Bailey, TobyToby Bailey	SG	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (from New Jersey)	UCLA (Sr.)
2	46	Patterson, AndraeAndrae Patterson	SF	United States	Minnesota Timberwolves	Indiana (Sr.)
2	47	Wheeler, TysonTyson Wheeler	PG	United States	Toronto Raptors	Rhode Island (Sr.)
2	48	Stack, RyanRyan Stack	C	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	South Carolina (Sr.)
2	49	Carr, CoryCory Carr	SG	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Texas Tech (Sr.)
2	50	Betts, AndrewAndrew Betts	C	United Kingdom	Charlotte Hornets	Long Beach State (Sr.)
2	51	Brewer, Corey L.Corey L. Brewer	PG	United States	Miami Heat	Oklahoma (Sr.)
2	52	Dial, DerrickDerrick Dial	SG	United States	San Antonio Spurs	Eastern Michigan (Sr.)
2	53	Buckner, GregGreg Buckner	SG	United States	Dallas Mavericks (from Phoenix)	Clemson (Sr.)
2	54	Fowlkes, TremaineTremaine Fowlkes	SF	United States	Denver Nuggets (from Indiana)	Fresno State (Sr.)
2	55	Bowen, RyanRyan Bowen	SF	United States	Denver Nuggets (from Seattle)	Iowa (Sr.)
2	56	Henderson, J.R.J.R. Henderson	SF	United States	Vancouver Grizzlies (from L.A. Lakers)	UCLA (Sr.)
2	57	Braggs, TorrayeTorraye Braggs	PF	United States	Utah Jazz	Xavier (Sr.)
2	58	Baston, MaceoMaceo Baston	PF	United States	Chicago Bulls	Michigan (Sr.)

Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1998 NBA Draft but have played at least four seasons in the NBA, have been recognized in the All-Star or All-NBA teams, or have started a majority of games played in a season.

Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club team
Boykins, EarlEarl Boykins	PG	United States	Eastern Michigan (Sr.)
Carter, AnthonyAnthony Carter	PG	United States	Hawaii (Sr.)
James, MikeMike James	PG	United States	Duquesne (Sr.)
Miller, BradBrad Miller+	C	United States	Purdue (Sr.)

External links

• Official website (archived)
• 1998 NBA Draft at Basketball-Reference.com