2002 NBA draft

• 1. Introduction

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  Jay Williams, the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, had signed a contract that explicitly prohibited him from riding a motorcycle. Two months after his rookie season ended, he got on one anyway. The Houston Rockets had won the draft lottery on the 19th of May with just an 8.9% probability of landing the first pick. The Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors had each held a 22.5% chance and fell to second and third.

  The draft convened on the 26th of June at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, where fifty-seven players were selected. It was the last time the event aired on TNT. ESPN had secured the broadcast rights for the 2003 draft and retains them today. The Minnesota Timberwolves arrived without a first-round pick; the league had stripped it as punishment for salary-cap violations during the 2001-02 season.

  Nine of the fifty-seven players selected that night would never appear in a single NBA game.

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• 2. First Pick, No Invitation

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  The NBA assembled the green room list for draft night through collective voting by team presidents and general managers. Sixteen prospects received invitations. Yao Ming, the center from the Shanghai Sharks in China who was considered the top prospect, was not among them. His absence made him the first number-one pick since David Robinson to miss the green room; Robinson had been selected directly from the U.S. Navy in 1987.

  Carlos Boozer was also left off the invitation list. A Duke junior, Boozer had declared for the draft alongside Jay Williams and Mike Dunleavy Jr. Williams went to the Chicago Bulls. Dunleavy went third to the Golden State Warriors. Boozer fell past the entire first round and was selected thirty-fifth by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second.

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• 3. The Motorcycle Clause

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  The crash shattered Jay Williams' pelvis, severed a main nerve in his leg, and tore three ligaments in his left knee, including his ACL. He had nearly lost his life. Despite rehabilitation, Williams never played another game in the NBA.

  Chicago chose not to exercise the franchise's contractual right to void Williams' deal. The Bulls had already gone without him for his second season. In 2004, the team bought out his contract for $3 million. They paid rather than have him walk away with nothing once it became clear he could not return.

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• 4. Seventeen From Abroad

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  Nikoloz Tskitishvili arrived from Benetton Treviso in Italy as the fifth overall pick, one of six international players selected in the first round. Yao Ming from the Shanghai Sharks had gone first to Houston. Nene Hilario from Vasco da Gama in Brazil went seventh to the New York Knicks before being traded to Denver. Nenad Krstic from Partizan Belgrade was taken twenty-fourth by the New Jersey Nets. Across both rounds, the 2002 draft included seventeen international selections, a new record.

  Yao Ming was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The committee credited both his on-court career and his role in growing basketball's audience in China as grounds for the honor. Several first-round picks had their careers shortened by injury; Dajuan Wagner, taken sixth by the Cleveland Cavaliers out of Memphis as a freshman, was among them.

  Seattle, Dallas, and Minnesota each made only one selection in the 2002 draft. Seattle chose Peter Fehse, from Halle in Germany, with the forty-ninth pick. Dallas selected Mladen Sekularac, from FMP in Yugoslavia, with the fifty-fifth.

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• 5. Rookie of the Year

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  Amar'e Stoudemire became the first player drafted directly from high school to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He was taken ninth overall by the Phoenix Suns from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida. The 2002 draft was the eighth consecutive year in which at least one player declared directly from high school. LeBron James entered the NBA by the same route one year later.

  Carlos Boozer, Stoudemire, and Yao Ming each earned All-NBA recognition during their careers. Tayshaun Prince, taken twenty-third by the Detroit Pistons out of Kentucky, was selected for the All-Defensive Team four times. Caron Butler, chosen tenth by the Miami Heat out of Connecticut, became an All-Star. Udonis Haslem went undrafted in 2002 despite being draft-eligible. He made his NBA debut the following season. He was still playing when the 2022-23 season ended, the last remaining active player from the class.

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