1992 NBA draft

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. It is the only draft where the first three picks were centers.

Draft selections

right|thumb|150px|[[Shaquille O'Neal, the 1st pick to the Orlando Magic]]

right|thumb|150px|[[Alonzo Mourning, the 2nd pick to the Charlotte Hornets]]

right|thumb|150px|[[Christian Laettner, the 3rd pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves]]

right|thumb|150px|[[Tom Gugliotta, the 6th pick to the Washington Bullets]]

{|class=wikitable

| G ||Guard

| PG||Point guard

| SG||Shooting guard

| F || Forward

| SF||Small forward

| PF||Power forward

| C||Center

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left"

!style="width:20px;"|

!style="width:150px;"| Player

!style="width:20px;"|

!style="width:100px;"| Nationality

!style="width:250px;"| Team

!style="width:150px;"|

| 1

| bgcolor="#FFFF99"| Shaquille O'Neal^~

| C

| Orlando Magic

| LSU (Jr.)

| 1

| 2

| bgcolor="#FFFF99"| Alonzo Mourning^

| C

| Charlotte Hornets

| Georgetown (Sr.)

| 1

| 3

| bgcolor="#FFCC00"| 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

| bgcolor="#FFCC00"| 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

| bgcolor="#FBCEB1"| 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

| 40

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Steve 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

| 44

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Henry 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

| 49

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Ron Ellis#

| PF

| Phoenix Suns

| Louisiana Tech

| 2

| 50

| Matt Fish

| F

| Golden State Warriors

| UNC-Wilmington

| 2

| 51

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Tim Burroughs#

| PF

| Minnesota Timberwolves

| Jacksonville

| 2

| 52

| Matt Steigenga

| F

| Chicago Bulls

| Michigan State

| 2

| 53

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Curtis Blair#

| PG

| Houston Rockets

| Richmond

| 2

| 54

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Brett 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.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!style="width:19%;"| Player

!style="width:1%;"| Pos.

!style="width:16%;"| Nationality

!style="width:20%;"| 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.