The 1981 NBA Draft was the 35th draft of the NBA. Taking place on June 9, 1981, it featured NBA teams selecting college and other players in a pre-decided order based on their record in the previous season.
The draft consisted of 10 rounds. Two players drafted in the final round went on to have very successful careers in other sports. Tony Gwynn had a baseball career that eventually put him in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as an outfielder with the San Diego Padres, while Kenny Easley had a long and productive NFL career, that included five Pro Bowl selections with the Seattle Seahawks. The 31st pick, Danny Ainge, played baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, but had a much longer and more successful career in the NBA.
Draft[]
Round one[]
|
Pick |
Player |
Nationality |
Team |
School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Aguirre |  American
|
Dallas Mavericks | DePaul (Jr.) |
| 2 | Isiah Thomas | American
|
Detroit Pistons | Indiana (So.) |
| 3 | Buck Williams | American
|
New Jersey Nets | Maryland (Jr.) |
| 4 | Al Wood | American
|
Atlanta Hawks <smal>(from CLE via PHI, POR and CHI) | North Carolina (Sr.) |
| 5 | Danny Vranes | American
|
Seattle SuperSonics (from UTAH) | Utah (Sr.) |
| 6 | Orlando Woolridge | American
|
Chicago Bulls (from ATL) | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| 7 | Steve Johnson | American
|
Kansas City Kings (from SEA via NYK) | Oregon State (Sr.) |
| 8 | Tom Chambers | American
|
San Diego Clippers | Utah (Sr.) |
| 9 | Rolando Blackman |  Panamanian / American
|
Dallas Mavericks (from DEN) | Kansas State (Sr.) |
| 10 | Albert King | American
|
New Jersey Nets (from GSW via POR) | Maryland (Sr.) |
| 11 | Frank Johnson | American
|
Washington Bullets | Wake Forest (Sr.) |
| 12 | Kelly Tripucka | American
|
Detroit Pistons (from KCK) | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| 13 | Danny Schayes | American
|
Utah Jazz (from HOU) | Syracuse (Sr.) |
| 14 | Herb Williams | American
|
Indiana Pacers | Ohio State (Sr.) |
| 15 | Jeff Lamp | American
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Virginia (Sr.) |
| 16 | Darnell Valentine | American
|
Portland Trail Blazers (from CHI) | Kansas (Sr.) |
| 17 | Kevin Loder | American
|
Kansas City Kings (from NYK via CLE) | Alabama State (Sr.) |
| 18 | Ray Tolbert | American
|
New Jersey Nets (from SAS) | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 19 | Mike McGee | American
|
Los Angeles Lakers | Michigan (Sr.) |
| 20 | Larry Nance | American
|
Phoenix Suns | Clemson (Sr.) |
| 21 | Alton Lister | American
|
Milwaukee Bucks | Arizona State (Sr.) |
| 22 | Franklin Edwards | American
|
Philadelphia 76ers | Cleveland State (Sr.) |
| 23 | Charles Bradley | American
|
Boston Celtics | Wyoming (Sr.) |
Round two[]
|
Pick |
Player |
Nationality |
Team |
School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Jay Vincent | American
|
Dallas Mavericks | Michigan State (Sr.) |
| 25 | Tracy Jackson | American
|
Boston Celtics (from DET) | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| 26 | Brian Jackson | American
|
Portland Trail Blazers (from NJN via IND) | Utah State (Sr.) |
| 27 | Howard Wood | American
|
Utah Jazz | Tennessee (Sr.) |
| 28 | Gene Banks | American
|
San Antonio Spurs (from CLE via LAL and CHI) | Duke (Sr.) |
| 29 | Eddie Johnson | American
|
Kansas City Kings (from ATL) | Illinois (Sr.) |
| 30 | Ed Rains | American
|
San Antonio Spurs (from SEA via CHI) | South Alabama (Sr.) |
| 31 | Danny Ainge | American
|
Boston Celtics (from SDC) | BYU (Sr.) |
| 32 | Mike Olliver | American
|
Chicago Bulls (from DEN, traded to IND) | Lamar (Sr.) |
| 33 | Sam Williams | American
|
Golden State Warriors (from WAS) | Arizona State (Sr.) |
| 34 | Ken Green | American
|
Denver Nuggets (from GSW via UTA) | Pan American (Sr.) |
| 35 | Charles Davis | American
|
[[Washington Bullets] (from HOU) | Vanderbilt (Sr.) |
| 36 | Ray Blume | American
|
Indiana Pacers (from KCK via CLE, traded to CHI) | Oregon State (Sr.) |
| 37 | Al Leslie | American
|
Indiana Pacers | Bucknell (Sr.) |
| 38 | Clyde Bradshaw | American
|
Atlanta Hawks (from CHI) | DePaul (Sr.) |
| 39 | Harvey Knuckles | American
|
Los Angeles Lakers (from POR via DET) | Toledo (Sr.) |
| 40 | Greg Cook | American
|
New York Knicks | LSU (Sr.) |
| 41 | Claude Gregory | American
|
Washington Bullets (from SAS) | Wisconsin (Sr.) |
| 42 | Elvis Rolle | American
|
Los Angeles Lakers | Flordia State (Sr.) |
| 43 | Elston Turner | American
|
Dallas Mavericks (from PHO) | Ole Miss (Sr.) |
| 44 | Steve Lingenfelter | American
|
Washington Bullets (from MIL via KCK and NJN) | South Dakota State (Sr.) |
| 45 | Ed Turner | American
|
Houston Rockets (from BOS) | Texas A&M - Kingsville (Sr.) |
| 46 | Vernon Smith | American
|
Philadelphia 76ers | Texas A&M (Sr.) |
Round three[]
|
Pick |
Player |
Nationality |
Team |
School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Art Housey | American
|
Dallas Mavericks | Kansas (Sr.) |
| 48 | Mike Ferrara | American
|
Washington Bullets | Colgate (Sr.) |
| 49 | David Burns | American
|
New Jersey Nets | Saint Louis (Sr.) |
| 50 | Derek Holcomb | American
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 51 | Zam Fredrick | American
|
Los Angeles Lakers | South Carolina (Sr.) |
| 52 | Rudy Macklin | American
|
Atlanta Hawks | LSU (Sr.) |
| 53 | Mark Radford | American
|
Seattle SuperSonics | Oregon State (Sr.) |
| 54 | Jim Smith | American
|
San Diego Clippers | Ohio State (Sr.) |
| 55 | Mickey Dillard | American
|
Cleveland Cavaliers (from DEN) | Florida State (Sr.) |
| 56 | Carlton Neverson | American
|
Golden State Warriors | Pittsburgh (Sr.) |
| 57 | Frank Brickowski | American
|
New York Knicks (from WAS) | Penn State (Sr.) |
| 58 | Curtis Berry | American
|
Kansas City Kings | Missouri (Sr.) |
| 59 | Russell Bowers | American
|
Cleveland Cavaliers | American University (Sr.) |
| 60 | Purvis Miller | American
|
Indiana Pacers | USC (Sr.) |
| 61 | Pétur Guðmundsson |  Icelandic
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Washington (Sr.) |
| 62 | Sam Clancy | American
|
Phoenix Suns | Pittsburgh (Sr.) |
| 63 | Wayne McKoy | American
|
New York Knicks | St. John's (Sr.) |
| 64 | Tom Baker | American
|
San Antonio Spurs | Eastern Kentucky (Sr.) |
| 65 | Ron Cornelius | American
|
Los Angeles Lakers | Pacific (Sr.) |
| 66 | Craig Dykema | American
|
Phoenix Suns | Long Beach State (Sr.) |
| 67 | Mark Smith | American
|
Milwaukee Bucks | Illinois (Sr.) |
| 68 | Ernest Graham | American
|
Philadelphia 76ers | Maryland (Sr.) |
| 69 | John Johnson |  English
|
Boston Celtics | Michigan (Sr.) |
Round four[]
|
Pick |
Player |
Nationality |
Team |
School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | Eddie Moss | American
|
Dallas Mavericks | Syracuse (Sr.) |
| 71 | John May | American
|
Washington Bullets | South Alabama (Sr.) |
| 72 | Ed Sherod | American
|
New Jersey Nets | VCU (Sr.) |
| 73 | George Torres |  Puerto Rican
|
Utah Jazz | Indiana (Sr.) |
| 74 | Ethan Martin | American
|
Cleveland Cavaliers | LSU (Sr.) |
| 75 | Kevin Figaro | American
|
Atlanta Hawks | Louisiana - Lafayette (Sr.) |
| 76 | Lewis Lloyd | American
|
Golden State Warriors (from SEA) | Drake (Sr.) |
| 77 | Lee Raker | American
|
San Diego Clippers | Virginia (Sr.) |
| 78 | Mickey Dillard | American
|
Kansas City Kings (from DEN) | Duke (Sr.) |
| 79 | Ron Davis | American
|
Washington Bullets | Arizona (Sr.) |
| 80 | Terry Adolph | American
|
Golden State Warriors | West Texas A&M (Sr.) |
| 81 | Larry Spriggs | American
|
Houston Rockets | Howard (Sr.) |
| 82 | B.B. Davis | American
|
Kansas City Kings | Lamar (Sr.) |
| 83 | Rolando Frazier | Panamanian
|
Indiana Pacers | Briar Cliff (Sr.) |
| 84 | Oliver Lee | American
|
Chicago Bulls | Marquette (Sr.) |
| 85 | Pete Verhoeven | American
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Fresno State (Sr.) |
| 86 | Alex Bradley | American
|
New York Knicks | Villanova (Sr.) |
| 87 | Earl Belcher | American
|
San Antonio Spurs | St. Bonaventure (Sr.) |
| 88 | Kevin McKenna | American
|
Los Angeles Lakers | Creighton (Sr.) |
| 89 | Don Koonce | American
|
Detroit Pistons | Charlotte (Sr.) |
| 90 | Kris Anderson | American
|
Milwaukee Bucks | Florida State (Sr.) |
| 91 | Stanley Williams | American
|
Boston Celtics | La Salle (Sr.) |
| 92 | Rynn Wright | American
|
Philadelphia 76ers | Texas A&M (Sr.) |
Round five[]
|
Pick |
Player |
Nationality |
Team |
School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93 | Pete Budko | American
|
Dallas Mavericks | North Carolina (Sr.) |
| 94 | George DeVone | American
|
Detroit Pistons | Charlotte (Sr.) |
| 95 | Joe Cooper | American
|
New Jersey Nets | Colorado (Sr.) |
| 96 | Ken Page | American
|
Cleveland Cavaliers | New Mexico (Sr.) |
| 97 | Mike Clark | American
|
Utah Jazz | Oregon (Sr.) |
| 98 | Steve Krafscisin | American
|
Atlanta Hawks | Iowa (Sr.) |
| 99 | Andra Griffin | American
|
Seattle SuperSonics | Washington (Sr.) |
| 100 | Dennis Isbell | American
|
San Diego Clippers | Memphis (Sr.) |
| 101 | Willie Sims | American  Israeli
|
Denver | LSU (Sr.) |
| 102 | Hank McDowell | American
|
Golden State Warriors | Memphis (Sr.) |
| 103 | Garry Witts | American
|
Washington Bullets | Holy Cross (Sr.) |
| 104 | U.S. Reed | American
|
Kansas City Kings | Arkansas (Sr.) |
| 105 | Hasan Houston | American
|
Houston Rockets | Bradley (Sr.) |
| 106 | George Peterson | American
|
Indiana Pacers | New Jersey City (Sr.) |
| 107 | Herb Andrew | American
|
Portland Trail Blazers | South Alabama (Sr.) |
| 108 | Johnny Nash | American
|
Chicago Bulls | Arizona State (Sr.) |
| 109 | Jim Wright | American
|
New York Knicks | Rhode Island (Sr.) |
| 110 | Mike Rhodes | American
|
San Antonio Spurs | Vanderbilt (Sr.) |
| 111 | Craig Watts | American
|
Los Angeles Lakers | North Carolina State (Sr.) |
| 112 | Paul Heuerman | American
|
Phoenix Suns | Michigan (Sr.) |
| 113 | Kelvin Troy | American
|
Milwaukee Bucks | Rutgers (Sr.) |
| 114 | Steve Craig | American
|
Philadelphia 76ers | BYU (Sr.) |
| 115 | Glen Grunwald | American
|
Boston Celtics | Indiana (Sr.) |
Round six[]
Undrafted players[]
These players were not selected in the 1969 NBA Draft.
| Player | Original NBA team | Nationality | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Cavenall | New York Knicks | American
|
Texas Southern (Sr.) |
| Jerome Henderson | Detroit Pistons | American
|
New Mexico (Sr.) |