The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). It was held on June 26,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

Continental Airlines Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor arena facility located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The arena is located on ...

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from high schools and non-North American leagues. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto Raptors, they were not allowed to select first in this draft. The team with the second-highest probability, the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

, won the lottery and obtained the first selection. The Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies were second and third, respectively. It is widely considered to be one of the deepest and most talented NBA drafts in history, with one-third of the first-round picks later becoming NBA All-Stars. The draft class produced three players who won a combined four NBA MVP awards (

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iv ...

Steve Nash Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...

), seven other drafted players who became All-Stars ( Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Ray Allen, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, Stephon Marbury, Jermaine O'Neal,

Peja Stojaković Predrag Stojaković ( sr-cyr, Предраг Стојаковић, ; born June 9, 1977), known by his nickname Peja (''Peđa'', Пеђа, ), is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant gen ...

, Antoine Walker), and one undrafted All-Star ( Ben Wallace), for a grand total of 11 All-Stars. Moreover, eight players from this draft class have been named to at least one All-NBA Team, the most among any draft. The draft class also produced three players who have been named to the NBA's all-defensive first team: Bryant, Marcus Camby, and Wallace. Camby won the

Defensive Player of the Year Award Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding Defense (sports), defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for D ...

in 2007, while Wallace earned the same award in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006. Five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher was also selected in the draft. The 76ers selected two future Major League Baseball players, Mark Hendrickson and Ryan Minor, with their second-round picks. Most experts rate it along with the

1984 NBA draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...

and 2003 NBA draft as one of the best drafts in history. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' named it the second-best, behind the 1984 draft, which included a draft class of

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets a ...

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Nati ...

, and John Stockton.

Key

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

The following are undrafted players of the 1996 NBA Draft but later played in the NBA. BenWallaceCloseup (cropped)

Early entrants

College underclassmen

The following

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Shareef Abdur-Rahim – F,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

(freshman) * Ray Allen – G,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

(junior) * Marcus Camby – C,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

(junior) * Erick Dampier – C, Mississippi State (junior) * Randy Edney – C, Mount St. Mary's (junior) * Eric Gingold – C, Williams (junior) * LeMarcus Golden – G, Memphis (junior) * Ronnie Henderson – G, LSU (junior) *

– G, Georgetown (sophomore) * Willie Jackson – F, Lawson CC (freshman) * Dontae' Jones – F, Mississippi State (junior) * Chris Kingsbury – G,

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

(junior) * Idris Lee – G, Mount Senario (junior) *

Randy Livingston Randy Livingston (born April 2, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player and current coach. He played parts of eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for nine different teams. The national high school player ...

– G, LSU (sophomore) * Michael Lloyd – G, Auburn Montgomery (junior) * Stephon Marbury – G,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

(freshman) * Richard Matienzo – F,

Miami Dade Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county i ...

(freshman) * Dut Mayar Madut – C, Frank Phillips (freshman) *

Jeff McInnis Jeff Lemans McInnis (born October 22, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), in Greece North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

(junior) * Chris Nurse – F, Delaware State (junior) * Jason Osborne – F, Louisville (junior) * Jessie Pate – G,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

(junior) *

Vitaly Potapenko Vitaly Nikolaevich Potapenko ( uk, Віталій Миколайович Потапенко, pronounced ''vee-TAH-lee poe-TAH-pen-koe'', born March 21, 1975) is a Ukrainian former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach ...

– F/C, Wright State (sophomore) * Darnell Robinson – F/C,

(junior) * Greg Simpson – G,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

(junior) * Kevin Simpson – G,

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cove ...

(sophomore) * Antoine Walker – F,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

(sophomore) *

Samaki Walker Samaki Ijuma Walker (born February 25, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball power forward and center. Walker played college basketball at the University of Louisville and was drafted in 1996 by the Dallas Mavericks, where he play ...

– F, Louisville (sophomore) *

Lorenzen Wright Lorenzen Vern-Gagne Wright (November 4, 1975 – July 19, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was drafted seventh overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers ...

– F, Memphis (sophomore)

High school players

The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance. *

– G, Lower Merion HS (

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

) * Taj McDavid – G, Palmetto HS ( Williamston, South Carolina) * Jermaine O'Neal – F, Eau Claire HS (

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the cit ...

)

International players

The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance. * Zydrunas Ilgauskas – C, Atletas (

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

) * Efthimios Rentzias – F/C, PAOK (

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

) *

– F, PAOK (

)

Other eligible players

References

External links

*
1996 NBA Draft
at Basketball-reference.com {{NBA on TNT Draft National Basketball Association draft National Basketball Association lists

Key