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The 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such as Shawn Kemp, Glen Rice, Sean Elliott, Nick Anderson, Dana Barros, Tim Hardaway, Vlade Divac, Clifford Robinson, B. J. Armstrong and Mookie Blaylock.[2][3]
| 1989 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | June 27, 1989 |
| Location | Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)[1] |
| Network(s) | TBS |
| Overview | |
| 54 total selections in 2 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| First selection | Pervis Ellison (Sacramento Kings) |
The draft was reduced from three rounds in the previous year to the two-round format that is still in use to the present day.[4][3] As a result, NBA drafts from this season until 1995 produced the lowest number of total draft picks selected at 54 overall selections.
This was the first draft for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic, prior to their inaugural season. This was also the first draft televised prime time on U.S. national television.[5]
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.JPG)
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team |
| + | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| x | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-NBA Team |
| # | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
These players were not selected in the 1989 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
College underclassmen
For the seventh year in a row and the eleventh time in twelve years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would be the fourth year in a row where a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, with the French-born Rudy Bourgarel playing for the Boulogne-Levallois in France after leaving Marist College. In addition to that, this would also be the first year where an international player would be considered a direct underclassman to participate in an NBA draft, with Vlade Divac from the KK Partizan Belgrade of the Eastern Bloc nation known as SFR Yugoslavia (now since separated, with Divac representing Serbia) being the first ever international underclassman to be taken directly from an overseas team without previously going to an American college or playing for any prior American institution. Including those two players and Andrew Gaze, who had previously played in Australia for multiple years before playing only one season at Seton Hall University while being over the age of 22 by that time, the number of underclassmen would officially be considered a grand total of fourteen players instead of eleven (or twelve including Gaze). Regardless, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[7]
Nick Anderson – G, Illinois (junior)
Martin Den Hengst – C, Sheridan (freshman)- Jay Edwards – G, Indiana (sophomore)
Andrew Gaze – Seton Hall (freshman)- Benny Green – G, Tennessee–Chattanooga (junior)
- Shawn Kemp – F, Trinity Valley CC (freshman)
- Toney Mack – G, Georgia (junior)
- J. R. Reid – F, North Carolina (junior)
- Maurice Selvin – G, Puget Sound (sophomore)
Alex Soyebo – C, Northland Pioneer (freshman)- Johnny Steptoe – F, Southern (sophomore)
- Richard Whitmore – G, Brown (junior)
International players
This would be the first time in NBA history where an international born and raised player would be considered an underclassman in an NBA draft. The following international player successfully applied for early draft entrance.[7]
/
Vlade Divac – C, Partizan (Yugoslavia)
Other eligible players
This would be the fourth year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman. It was also the second year in a row where a player would qualify as an eligible underclassman for the NBA draft while previously playing for a French-based team in order to do so.
| Player | Team | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
 Rudy Bourgarel |
Boulogne-Levallois (France) | Left Marist in 1988; playing professionally since the 1988–89 season | [8] |
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