Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox sports draft The 2002 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2002, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from non-North American leagues.<ref name="handbook">NBA.com: 2023 Draft Handbook</ref> This was the last draft that was broadcast on TNT, as ESPN obtained the rights for the 2024 draft via its incoming deal (which it retains to this day). The NBA announced that about 42 college and high school players, and five international players, had filed as early-entry candidates for the draft.<ref>NBA.com. Twenty-Four Early Entry Candidates Withdraw from Draft 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2025.</ref> The Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors each had a 22.5% chance of acquiring the first pick, but the Houston Rockets, with just an 8.9% probability, won the NBA draft lottery on May 19.<ref>NBA.com. Ties Broken for NBA Draft Order of Selection. April 24, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2025.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Bulls and Warriors were second and third, respectively. As punishment for salary-cap violations during the 2001-02 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round draft pick.
The 2002 draft set a record of 17 international selections, with six of them coming in the first round.<ref>Lago, Joe. Draft record set with 17 foreign-born picks. June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.</ref>
Two months after the conclusion of his rookie season, number-two pick Jay Williams nearly lost his life in a motorcycle crash that shattered his pelvis, severed a main nerve in his leg and tore three ligaments in his left knee, including his ACL. Despite intense rehabilitation, Williams never played a game in the NBA again. When it became clear Williams could not return to the Bulls because of his injuries, the team waived him. The Bulls could have voided Williams' contract because it prohibited riding a motorcycle. However, the franchise bought out his contract for $3 million in 2004 instead of having him walk away with nothing.<ref>Nance, Roscoe. Bulls, Jay Williams agree to contract buyout. February 2, 2004. Retrieved January 21, 2015.</ref>
The draft class was relatively weak outside of the top prospects. Several players selected early had promising careers that ended prematurely due to injury, including Yao Ming, Williams and Dajuan Wagner. Nevertheless, Yao was named a Hall of Famer—a selection predicated as much on his role in popularizing basketball in China as it was for his on-court play. Three players selected in this draft - including Yao, second-round pick Carlos Boozer and Rookie of the Year Amar'e Stoudemire - would be named to the All-NBA Team during their careers. Caron Butler was the only other player to become an All-Star. First-round pick Tayshaun Prince was also named to the NBA All-Defensive Team four times.
As of the end of the 2022–23 NBA season, Udonis Haslem was the last remaining active draft-eligible player from the 2002 class, though he went undrafted (he made his NBA debut the following season). He stopped playing after the 2022–23 season.
Nine of the players selected in this draft never played in an NBA game throughout their professional basketball careers. Three of those players were the sole selection of the draft from their respective teams: Peter Fehse (Seattle's only pick), Marcus Taylor (Minnesota's only pick) and Mladen Šekularac (Dallas' only pick).
Draft selectionsEdit
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
Notable undrafted playersEdit
Template:Further These eligible players were not selected in this draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
Early entrantsEdit
College underclassmenEdit
This year would mark a bit of a step down in terms of the number of underclassmen entering the NBA draft when compared to last year. While it would be the second time the number of underclassmen would exceed the number of draft picks available in the NBA, this year only saw a total of 72 underclassmen from college and overseas declare their initial entry into the NBA draft. However, it would exceed the amount of withdrawn players with 24 players doing exactly that, leaving a total of 48 eligible underclassmen available for the draft this year. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.<ref name=tdr>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Template:Flagicon Lee Benson – F, Brown Mackie (freshman)
- Template:Flagicon Rodney Bias – F, Alabama (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Cordell Billups – G, Pierce (Washington) (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Carlos Boozer – F, Duke (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Curtis Borchardt – C, Stanford (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Caron Butler – F, Connecticut (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Mike Dunleavy Jr. – F, Duke (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Drew Gooden – F, Kansas (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Rod Grizzard – G, Alabama (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Marcus Haislip – F, Tennessee (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Rashid Hardwick – C, Eastern Oklahoma State (freshman)
- Template:Flagicon Adam Harrington – G, Auburn (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Casey Jacobsen – G, Stanford (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Chris Jefferies – F, Fresno State (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Jared Jeffries – F, Indiana (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Muhammed Lasege – C, Louisville (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Tito Maddox – G, Fresno State (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Kei Madison – F, Okaloosa-Walton (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Roger Mason Jr. – G, Virginia (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Smush Parker – G, Fordham (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Travis Robinson – F, Jacksonville (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Kareem Rush – G, Missouri (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Jamal Sampson – F/C, California (freshman)
- Template:Flagicon Jerry Sanders – F, Northern Illinois (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Eddie Shelby – G, Dixie State (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Bobby Smith – G, Robert Morris (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Melvin Steward – G, Eastern New Mexico (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Marcus Taylor – G, Michigan State (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Terrell Taylor – G, Creighton (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Dajuan Wagner – G, Memphis (freshman)
- Template:Flagicon Adrian Walton – G, Fordham (freshman)
- Template:Flagicon Joseph Ward – F, Fort Hays State (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Omar Weaver – F/G, Riverside CC (freshman)
- Template:Flagicon Chris Wilcox – F, Maryland (sophomore)
- Template:Flagicon Troy Wiley – F, Rhode Island (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Frank Williams – G, Illinois (junior)
- Template:Flagicon George Williams – F, Houston (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Jay Williams – G, Duke (junior)
- Template:Flagicon Qyntel Woods – G/F, Northeast Mississippi CC (sophomore)
High school playersEdit
This would be the eighth straight year in a row where at least one high school player would declare their entry into the NBA draft directly out of high school after previously only allowing it one time back in 1975. It would also mark the first time a player directly out of high school would win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award with Amar'e Stoudemire earning the honor one year before LeBron James would enter the NBA. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance.<ref name=tdr />
- Template:Flagicon DeAngelo Collins – F, Inglewood High School (Inglewood, California)
- Template:Flagicon Lenny Cooke – G, Mott Adult High School (Flint, Michigan)
- Template:Flagicon Giedrius Rinkevicius – C, Bridgton Academy (Bridgton, Maine)
- Template:Flagicon Amar'e Stoudemire – F, Cypress Creek High School (Orlando, Florida)
International playersEdit
The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance.<ref name=tdr />
- Template:Flagicon Peter Fehse – F, Halle (Germany)
- Template:Flagicon Nenê Hilario – F, Vasco de Gama (Brazil)
- Template:Flagicon Nenad Krstic – Partizan (FR Yugoslavia)
- Template:Flagicon Mladen Šekularac – F, FMP (FR Yugoslavia)
- Template:Flagicon Nikoloz Tskitishvili – F, Benetton Treviso (Italy)
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Template:NBA Drafts Template:NBA Draft history by team Template:2002 NBA draft Template:2002–03 NBA season by team Template:NBA on TNT Template:Portal bar