| 1990 NBA draft | |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Date: | June 27, 1990 |
| Location: | Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)[1] |
| Network: | TNT |
| League: | NBA |
| Overall: | 54 |
| Rounds: | 2 |
| First: | Derrick Coleman (New Jersey Nets) |
| Prev: | 1989 |
| Next: | 1991 |
The 1990 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1990, in New York City, New York. One of the standouts of this draft is Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton.[2] [3] He became a nine-time All-Star, achieved the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 1996, won an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat in 2006, holds many statistical records during his tenure with the since rebranded and relocated Seattle SuperSonics, and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2013.
The top pick of the draft was Syracuse's Derrick Coleman who was selected by the New Jersey Nets. In total, 52 of the 54 players selected went on to play at least one competitive game in the NBA, and six players were at some point of their career selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game. One player who had been projected to be a lottery pick as well as possibly the number one by media outlets and draft analysts was Loyola Marymount's Hank Gathers, who died of a heart condition in March 1990 after collapsing during a game.
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
These players were not selected in the 1990 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Alabama (Sr.) | |||
| SF | Charlotte (Sr.) | |||
| David Benoit | SF | Alabama (Sr.) | ||
| F | Iowa (Sr.) | |||
| SG | Kansas (Sr.) | |||
| SF | Minnesota (Sr.) | |||
| PF/C | Providence (Sr.) | |||
| SG/SF | Georgia Southern (Sr.) | |||
| C | Evansville (Sr.) | |||
| PF/C | Cantera Instituto Manuel Fajardo (Cuba) | |||
| SG | New Orleans (Sr.) | |||
| SG | Oklahoma (Sr.) | |||
| SF | NC State (Sr.) | |||
| PG | Towson (Sr.) | |||
| SF | Tennessee (Sr.) | |||
| SG | Florida State (Sr.) | |||
| PF | USC (Sr.) | |||
| SG | Minnesota (Sr.) | |||
| C/PF | Fordham (Sr.) | |||
| C | UAB (Sr.) | |||
| PF | McNeese State (Sr.) | |||
| G | Washington (Sr.) | |||
| SF/SG | Centenary (Sr.) | |||
| PF | Florida State (Sr.) | |||
| SG | Syracuse (Sr.) | |||
| SG/SF | BYU (Sr.) | |||
| C/PF | North Carolina (Sr.) |
For the eighth year in a row and the twelfth time in thirteen years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would be the fifth year in a row where a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, with former Grambling State University player Jesse Spinner going to Austria to play professionally for the Sefra Tyrolia. Including him, that expands the number of underclassmen for this year out to fourteen total players. Regardless, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.[4]
Kelvin Ardister – F, Idaho (junior) Herb Barthol – C, Cleveland State (junior)
Gabriel Estaba – F, South Alabama (junior) David Shon Henderson – G, Idaho (junior) Carl Herrera – F, Houston (junior) Sean Higgins – F, Michigan (junior) Chris Jackson – G, LSU (sophomore) Marcus Liberty – F, Illinois (junior) Kenny Miller – F, Barton County CC (junior) Jerrod Mustaf – F, Maryland (sophomore) Dennis Scott – F, Georgia Tech (junior)
Per Stumer – F, Loyola Marymount (junior) Kenny Williams – F, Elizabeth City State (sophomore)This would be the fifth year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman, as well as the first year where a player didn't go out to either Italy or France to play overseas professionally first.
| Player | class=unsortable | Note ! | class=unsortable | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesse Spinner | Sefra Tyrolia (Austria) | Left Grambling State in 1988; playing professionally since the 1989–90 season | [5] |