Editing 2003 NBA draft (section)

{{short description|Basketball player selection}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox sports draft
| name     = 2003 NBA draft
| image    = 
| caption  = 
| logo     = 2003 NBA Draft logo.png
| logosize = 180px
| sport    = Basketball
| date     = June 26, 2003
| location = [[The Theater at Madison Square Garden]] ([[New York City, New York]])
| network  = [[NBA on ESPN|ESPN]]
| league   = NBA
| teams    = 
| overall  = 58
| rounds   = 2
| first    = [[LeBron James]] ([[Cleveland Cavaliers]])
| hofnum   = {{Collapsible list
| title = 3
|1 = SF [[Carmelo Anthony]]
|2 = PF [[Chris Bosh]]
|3 = SG [[Dwyane Wade]]}}
| prev     = [[2002 NBA draft|2002]]
| next     = [[2004 NBA draft|2004]]
}}
The '''2003 NBA draft''' was held on June 26, 2003, at [[The Theater at Madison Square Garden]] in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the [[2003–04 NBA season|2003]] NBA draft.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/news/draft2003_early_entries.html |title=NBA Announces Early-Entry Candidates |access-date=April 20, 2007 |publisher=NBA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427195030/http://www.nba.com/news/draft2003_early_entries.html |archive-date=April 27, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Cleveland Cavaliers]], who had a 22.50 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won the [[NBA draft lottery]] on May 22, and Cleveland chairman [[Gordon Gund]] said afterward his team would select [[LeBron James]], and they did.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/news/lottery_030522.html |title=Cavaliers Win NBA Draft Lottery 2003 |access-date=April 20, 2007 |publisher=NBA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226031904/http://www.nba.com/news/lottery_030522.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=The Associated Press |date=June 26, 2003 |title=LeBron James Selected First by Cleveland |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/26/sports/basketball/lebron-james-selected-first-by-cleveland.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> The [[Detroit Pistons]] and the [[Denver Nuggets]] were second and third, respectively. This draft was the first draft to be aired on [[ESPN]] after they picked up the license from [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]].

The 2003 draftees represented one of the deepest talent pools in NBA history. The draft contained 15 players who combined for 26 championships. Four of the top five picks are NBA All-Stars and "[[Redeem Team]]" Olympic Gold Medalists: [[Carmelo Anthony]], [[Chris Bosh]], [[Dwyane Wade]], and [[LeBron James]].