The 1979 NBA draft was the 33rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on Monday, June 25. In this draft, the 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players; it went ten rounds and selected 202 players.
The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Los Angeles Lakers, who obtained the New Orleans Jazz's first-round pick in a trade, won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Chicago Bulls were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection.
If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. Larry Bird would have been eligible to join this draft class because his "junior eligible" draft status from being taken by Boston in 1978 would expire the minute the 1979 draft began, but Bird and the Celtics agreed on a five-year contract on June 8 to avoid that. Before the draft, five college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule. These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier. Prior to the draft, the Jazz relocated from New Orleans to Salt Lake City and became the Utah Jazz.
Draft selections and draftee career notes Magic Johnson from NCAA champion Michigan State University, one of the "hardship" players, was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson, who had just finished his sophomore season in college, became the first underclassman to be drafted first overall. He went on to win the NBA championship with the Lakers in his rookie season. He also won the Finals Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the first rookie ever to win the award. He spent his entire 13-year career with the Lakers and won five NBA championships. He also won three Most Valuable Player Awards, three Finals Most Valuable Player Awards, ten consecutive All-NBA Team selections and twelve All-Star Game selections. For his achievements, he has been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also named to the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. After retiring as a player, Johnson went on to have a brief coaching career as an interim head coach of the Lakers in .
Sidney Moncrief, the fifth pick, won two Defensive Player of the Year Awards and was selected to five consecutive All-NBA Teams, five consecutive All-Defensive Teams and five consecutive All-Star Games. In "The Book of Basketball", Bill Simmons noted that then-Lakers head coach Jerry West had actually wanted to trade down from the #1 pick and use it to get Moncrief along with more players and picks, but Jerry Buss vetoed West's plans because Buss wanted Magic to be the new face of the team he was just finishing his full purchase of. Jim Paxson, the twelfth pick, was selected to one All-NBA Team and two All-Star Games. Bill Cartwright, the third pick, won three consecutive NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls from through . He also had one All-Star Game selection, which occurred in his rookie season. He then became the Bulls' head coach for three seasons. Bill Laimbeer, the 65th pick, won two NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons in and and was selected to four All-Star Games. After retiring, he coached the Detroit Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for eight seasons, leading them to three WNBA championships in 2003, 2006 and 2008. Mark Eaton, who had only completed one year of college basketball, was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 107th pick. He opted to return to college basketball and later joined the NBA in , after he was drafted again by the Utah Jazz in the 1982 draft. During his eleven-year career with the Jazz, he won two Defensive Player of the Year Awards and was selected to five consecutive All-Defensive Team and one All-Star Game. Two other players from this draft, eighth pick Calvin Natt and 73rd pick James Donaldson, were also selected to one All-Star Game each.
In the fourth round, the Boston Celtics selected Nick Galis from Seton Hall University with the 68th pick. However, he suffered a serious injury in the training camp and was waived by the Celtics before the season started. Galis, who was born in the United States to Greek parents, opted to play in Greece. He never played in the NBA and spent all of his professional career in Greece, where he helped the country emerge as an international basketball power. He won a Eurobasket title, 8 Greek championships, 7 Greek cups as well as numerous personal honors and awards. He has been inducted into both the FIBA Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Draft
Pos.GFCPositionGuardForwardCenter
Player Team 11 ^ G/F Los Angeles Lakers Michigan State 12 F/C Chicago Bulls UCLA 13 + C New York Knicks San Francisco 14 F Detroit Pistons Michigan State 15 ^ G Milwaukee Bucks Arkansas 16 F/C Seattle SuperSonics Rutgers 17 G Seattle SuperSonics Baylor 18 + F New Jersey Nets Northeast Louisiana 19 F/C New York Knicks Arizona 110 G Detroit Pistons UCLA 111 F New Jersey Nets USC 112 * G/F Portland Trail Blazers Dayton 113 G/F Indiana Pacers North Carolina 114 G Los Angeles Lakers UCLA 115 F/C Detroit Pistons Michigan 116 G/F Philadelphia 76ers Duke 117 F Houston Rockets East Texas State 118 F Kansas City Kings Alabama 119 G San Antonio Spurs Mississippi State 120 # F Utah Jazz Loyola (IL) 121 G/F New York Knicks Rhode Island 122 G Phoenix Suns Kentucky 223 # G Utah Jazz Georgia Tech 224 G Phoenix Suns Nevada 225 G Los Angeles Lakers East Carolina 226 F Cleveland Cavaliers Notre Dame 227 G New York Knicks St. John's 228 # F Golden State Warriors Pan American 229 G Detroit Pistons Pennsylvania 230 G Denver Nuggets DePaul 231 F/C Milwaukee Bucks Nevada 232 F Indiana Pacers Arizona State 233 # G Chicago Bulls Idaho State 234 # F New York Knicks San Diego State 235 # F Atlanta Hawks Memphis State 236 G Philadelphia 76ers Seattle 237 F Philadelphia 76ers Marquette 238 # F Atlanta Hawks Nicholls State 239 # F Los Angeles Lakers Louisiana Tech 240 # F Portland Trail Blazers Cheyney State 241 # F Los Angeles Lakers Fairfield 242 F/C Houston Rockets Kansas 243 G Seattle SuperSonics Texas 244 # G Washington Bullets Fairfield 345 C Utah Jazz Augustana (SD) 346 # G Washington Bullets Iowa State 347 F Chicago Bulls Oral Roberts 348 G Detroit Pistons Detroit 349 F/C Chicago Bulls South Carolina 350 G New York Knicks Texas Tech 351 # G New Jersey Nets Davidson 352 # C Milwaukee Bucks Maryland 353 G Boston Celtics Drake 354 G/F Golden State Warriors Wichita State 355 # G San Diego Clippers Boston University 356 # G Portland Trail Blazers Saint Mary's University (Canada) 357 # G Atlanta Hawks Franklin & Marshall 358 F/C Philadelphia 76ers Detroit 359 # G Houston Rockets Pepperdine 360 # G Los Angeles Lakers Georgia 361 # G Boston Celtics Briar Cliff 362 G Kansas City Kings Tennessee 363 C San Antonio Spurs Jackson State 364 # G Phoenix Suns LSU 365 + C Cleveland Cavaliers Notre Dame 366 # F Washington Bullets High Point 467 G Utah Jazz Utah 468^# G Boston Celtics Seton Hall 469 # C Milwaukee Bucks Louisiana–Monroe 470 # G Cleveland Cavaliers The Citadel 471 # F New York Knicks U.S. Armed Forces 472 # G Chicago Bulls East Carolina 473 + C Seattle SuperSonics Washington State 474 # G Indiana Pacers Idaho 475 # F Golden State Warriors Green Bay 476 # G Houston Rockets Georgia Tech 477 # F San Diego Clippers Southern 478 # G Portland Trail Blazers Appalachian State 479 # G Los Angeles Lakers Mississippi State 480 # F Houston Rockets LSU 481 # G Los Angeles Lakers Temple 482 G Golden State Warriors Purdue 483 F Philadelphia 76ers Cal State Fullerton 484 # G San Antonio Spurs Furman 485 G Kansas City Kings Oklahoma 486 # F Phoenix Suns Florida 487 # F Seattle SuperSonics Cal State Dominguez Hills 488 # G Washington Bullets Oral Roberts 589 # G Utah Jazz Stanford 590 # G Boston Celtics New Haven 591 # F Cleveland Cavaliers Georgia Southern 592 # G Detroit Pistons UNLV 593 # G Chicago Bulls Drury 594 # F New York Knicks UC Riverside 595 # F New Jersey Nets UConn 596 # F Golden State Warriors Centenary 597 Jim Tillman