The NBA draft is a player’s best opportunity to be drafted into the league. Since 1947, the NBA has drafted eligible players, typically from college to the league. Below, we are going to review the history of the number 23 draft pick in the NBA.
What is the NBA Draft?
The NBA draft is an annual ceremony, in which NBA teams, through a lottery system, select eligible players from college and the international stage to join their teams. College players who have completed all four years of their education are automatically eligible for the draft.
However, college players who have not completed all four years of their education, but are one-year removed from high school, must declare their eligibility for the draft. In declaring their eligibility, these underclassmen will effectively give up their remaining college eligibility.
For international players, any player older than 22 years old are automatically eligible for the draft. However, any international player younger than 22 years old must declare their eligibility.
How Does the Lottery System Work?
The NBA draft lottery system was revamped for the 2018 season. Looking at these new rules, the 14 NBA teams which did not make the playoffs will be eligible for the first 14 picks in the draft. Under the new system, the NBA Draft Lottery will ensure that the team with the worst overall record in the league will receive no worse than the fifth overall pick.
Similarly, in the new system, the three NBA teams with the worst regular-season records will each have a 14% chance of winning the lottery and the first overall pick. Once the first four teams with the worst records have been selected, the remaining ten teams will continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record.
How Does the NBA Draft Work?
Going a bit deeper, and speaking only of the new system, the NBA draft will be televised on ESPN, who will air the results live. Drawings will be conducted to determine the first four picks, with the remaining ten picks being doled out in inverse order of an NBA teams regular-season record.
The actual lottery procedure, however, takes place in a separate room before ESPN announces the results. In this room, a member of the media, an NBA official, and a representative of the accounting firm Ernst & Young are present to ensure no foul play or tampering with the machine.
In this separate room, fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1-14 will be placed in the lottery machine. The lottery machine used by the NBA is manufactured by Smart Play Company. This company also weighs, measures, and certifies the ping-pong balls before the drawing.
There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating NBA teams.
Once all 14 balls have been placed into the machine, they will be mixed for 20-seconds before the first ball is removed. Similarly, the balls will be mixed for another 10-seconds before the second ball is drawn. Again, the machine will be mixed for another 10-seconds for both the third and fourth picks.
Full History of all 23rd Overall NBA Draft Picks
| PLAYER | TEAM | AFFILIATION | YEAR | ||
| Usman Garuba | Houston Rockets | Madrid (ESP) | 2021 | ||
| Leandro Bolmaro | New York Knicks | FC Barcelona Basquet (Spain) | 2020 | ||
| Darius Bazley | Utah Jazz | Princeton | 2019 | ||
| Aaron Holiday | Indiana Pacers | California-Los Angeles | 2018 | ||
| OG Anunoby | Toronto Raptors | Indiana | 2017 | ||
| Ante Zizic | Boston Celtics | KK Cibona (Croatia) | 2016 | ||
| Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | Portland Trail Blazers | Arizona | 2015 | ||
| Rodney Hood | Utah Jazz | Duke | 2014 | ||
| Solomon Hill | Indiana Pacers | Arizona | 2013 | ||
| John Jenkins | Atlanta Hawks | Vanderbilt | 2012 | ||
| Nikola Mirotic | Houston Rockets | Real Madrid Baloncesto (Spain) | 2011 | ||
| Trevor Booker | Minnesota Timberwolves | Clemson | 2010 | ||
| Omri Casspi | Sacramento Kings | Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. (Israel) | 2009 | ||
| Kosta Koufos | Utah Jazz | Ohio State | 2008 | ||
| Wilson Chandler | New York Knicks | DePaul | 2007 | ||
| Josh Boone | New Jersey Nets | Connecticut | 2006 | ||
| Francisco Garcia | Sacramento Kings | Louisville | 2005 | ||
| Sergei Monia | Portland Trail Blazers | PBC CSKA Moscow (Russia) | 2004 | ||
| Travis Outlaw | Portland Trail Blazers | Starkville | 2003 | ||
| Tayshaun Prince | Detroit Pistons | Kentucky | 2002 | ||
| Brandon Armstrong | Houston Rockets | Pepperdine | 2001 | ||
| DeShawn Stevenson | Utah Jazz | Washington Union | 2000 | ||
| Devean George | Los Angeles Lakers | Augsburg | 1999 | ||
| Tyronn Lue | Denver Nuggets | Nebraska | 1998 | ||
| Bobby Jackson | Seattle SuperSonics | Minnesota | 1997 | ||
| Efthimios Rentzias | Denver Nuggets | P.A.O.K. B.C. (Greece) | 1996 | ||
| Travis Best | Indiana Pacers | Georgia Tech | 1995 | ||
| Wesley Person | Phoenix Suns | Auburn | 1994 | ||
| Ervin Johnson | Seattle SuperSonics | New Orleans | 1993 | ||
| Lee Mayberry | Milwaukee Bucks | Arkansas | 1992 | ||
| Stanley Roberts | Orlando Magic | Louisiana State | 1991 | ||
| Anthony Bonner | Sacramento Kings | Saint Louis | 1990 | ||
| Roy Marble | Atlanta Hawks | Iowa | 1989 | ||
| Jerome Lane | Denver Nuggets | Pittsburgh | 1988 | ||
| Greg Anderson | San Antonio Spurs | Houston | 1987 | ||
| Ken Barlow | Los Angeles Lakers | Notre Dame | 1986 | ||
| A.C. Green | Los Angeles Lakers | Oregon State | 1985 | ||
| Earl Jones | Los Angeles Lakers | District of Columbia | 1984 | ||
| Mitchell Wiggins | Indiana Pacers | Florida State | 1983 | ||
| Darren Tillis | Boston Celtics | Cleveland State | 1982 | ||
| Charles Bradley | Boston Celtics | Wyoming | 1981 | ||
| Carl Nicks | Denver Nuggets | Indiana State | 1980 | ||
| Tico Brown | Utah Jazz | Georgia Tech | 1979 | ||
| Terry Tyler | Detroit Pistons | Detroit Mercy | 1978 | ||
| Mike Glenn | Chicago Bulls | Southern Illinois | 1977 | ||
| Alex English | Milwaukee Bucks | South Carolina | 1976 | ||
| World Free | Philadelphia 76ers | Guilford | 1975 | ||
| Gus Bailey | Houston Rockets | Texas-El Paso | 1974 | ||
| Billy Schaeffer | Los Angeles Lakers | St. John’s (NY) | 1973 | ||
| Brian Taylor | Seattle SuperSonics | Princeton | 1972 | ||
| Jim McDaniels | Seattle SuperSonics | Western Kentucky | 1971 | ||
| Pete Cross | Seattle SuperSonics | San Francisco | 1970 | ||
| Johnny Baum | Chicago Bulls | Temple | 1969 | ||
| Stu Lantz | San Diego Rockets | Nebraska | 1968 | ||
| Dwight Smith | Los Angeles Lakers | Western Kentucky | 1967 | ||
| Stephen Chubin | San Francisco Warriors | Rhode Island | 1966 | ||
| Ken McIntyre | St. Louis Hawks | St. John’s (NY) | 1965 | ||
| Mccoy McLemore | San Francisco Warriors | Drake | 1964 | ||
| Bill Burwell | St. Louis Hawks | Illinois | 1963 | ||
| Dave Fedor | San Francisco Warriors | Florida State | 1962 | ||
| Jeff Cohen | Chicago Packers | William & Mary | 1961 | ||
| Bob Mealy | Philadelphia Warriors | Manhattan | 1960 | ||
| Leo Byrd | Cincinnati Royals | Marshall | 1959 | ||
| Jim Cunningham | Boston Celtics | Fordham | 1958 | ||
| Vince Cohen | Syracuse Nationals | Syracuse | 1957 | ||
| Burdette Haldorson | St. Louis Hawks | Colorado | 1955 | ||
| Henry Daubenschmidt | Boston Celtics | St. Francis Brooklyn | 1954 | ||
| Jake Fendley | Ft. Wayne Zollner Pistons | Northwestern | 1951 |