2003 NBA draft
{{short description|Basketball player selection}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox sports draft
| name = 2003 NBA draft
| image =
| caption =
| logo = 2003 NBA Draft logo.png
| logosize = 180px
| sport = Basketball
| date = June 26, 2003
| location = The Theater at Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)
| network = ESPN
| league = NBA
| teams =
| overall = 58
| rounds = 2
| first = LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
| hofnum = {{Collapsible list
| title = 3
|1 = SF Carmelo Anthony
|2 = PF Chris Bosh
|3 = SG Dwyane Wade}}
| prev = 2002
| next = 2004
}}
The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the 2003 NBA draft.{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/news/draft2003_early_entries.html |title=NBA Announces Early-Entry Candidates |access-date=April 20, 2007 |publisher=NBA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427195030/http://www.nba.com/news/draft2003_early_entries.html |archive-date=April 27, 2007 |url-status=dead }} The Cleveland Cavaliers, who had a 22.50 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won the NBA draft lottery on May 22, and Cleveland chairman Gordon Gund said afterward his team would select LeBron James, and they did.{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/news/lottery_030522.html |title=Cavaliers Win NBA Draft Lottery 2003 |access-date=April 20, 2007 |publisher=NBA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226031904/http://www.nba.com/news/lottery_030522.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=The Associated Press |date=June 26, 2003 |title=LeBron James Selected First by Cleveland |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/26/sports/basketball/lebron-james-selected-first-by-cleveland.html |website=The New York Times}} The Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets were second and third, respectively. This draft was the first draft to be aired on ESPN after they picked up the license from TNT.
The 2003 draftees represented one of the deepest talent pools in NBA history. The draft contained 15 players who combined for 26 championships. Four of the top five picks are NBA All-Stars and "Redeem Team" Olympic Gold Medalists: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James.
Overview
Four of the top five picks of the 2003 draft became NBA All-Stars and "Redeem Team" Olympic Gold Medalists: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James. Nine players have participated in an All-Star Game. Dwyane Wade was named NBA Finals MVP in 2006 and won NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2006, 2012 and 2013, as well as the NBA All Star Game MVP in 2010. Boris Diaw won the Most Improved Player Award in 2006, Jason Kapono won the three point shootout in back-to-back years in 2007 and 2008, James Jones won the three point shootout in 2011, Leandro Barbosa won the Sixth Man Award in 2007, Kyle Korver set the NBA record for three point shooting percentage in 2010 (53.6%), and in the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013 seasons, LeBron James won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, and the NBA Finals MVP in 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2020. Carmelo Anthony won the 2013 NBA scoring title and was the only player in NBA history to win at least three Olympic gold medals{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/carmelo-anthony-wins-third-gold-medal-says-hes-finished-with-team-usa/ |title=Carmelo Anthony wins third gold medal, says he's finished with Team USA |date=August 21, 2016 |access-date=September 2, 2016 |archive-date=August 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826160348/http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/carmelo-anthony-wins-third-gold-medal-says-hes-finished-with-team-usa/ |url-status=live }} until Kevin Durant won his third one in 2021. Zaza Pachulia and David West won NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. Matt Bonner won NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007 and 2014. Dahntay Jones and Mo Williams won the NBA championship in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Luke Walton won three NBA championships, two as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and one as an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2015. Chris Bosh left the Toronto Raptors in 2010 as its all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks, double doubles, free throws made and attempted, and minutes played; he went on to win championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.
The 2003 draft class has drawn comparisons to the 1984 and 1996 NBA draft classes{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15403154/ |title=2003 draft eventually may be best in history |access-date=April 19, 2007 |work=MSNBC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070126002445/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15403154/ |archive-date=January 26, 2007 |df=mdy }} but is also known for the Detroit Pistons' selection of Darko Miličić with the second overall pick over other prospects who went on to have much more success in the league.
As of 2025, LeBron James is the only remaining active player from the 2003 draft class.
Eleven of the players selected in this draft never played in an NBA game throughout their professional basketball careers. Two of those players were the sole selection of the draft by their respective teams: Malick Badiane (Houston's only pick) and Paccelis Morlende (Philadelphia's only pick).
Draft selections
File:LebronFT (cropped).jpg was one of the most anticipated first overall draft picks in the history of any sport. He is the second high school draftee to be a first overall pick, the first being Kwame Brown in 2001, and was followed by Dwight Howard in 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/columns/top10/draft_picks.html#6 |title=Most anticipated No. 1 draft picks |access-date=June 16, 2008 |work=CBC Sports |date=July 27, 2005 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080621235002/http://www.cbc.ca/sports/columns/top10/draft_picks.html| archive-date=June 21, 2008 | url-status= live}}]]
File:Carmelo Anthony (2007).jpg was selected 3rd overall by the Denver Nuggets.]]
File:Chris Bosh.jpg, selected 4th overall by the Toronto Raptors, was the first member of the draft class to be elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.]]
File:Dwyane wade 2008.jpg was selected 5th overall by the Miami Heat.]]
File:Chris Kaman Clippers.jpg was selected 6th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.]]
File:David West 2011.jpg was selected 18th overall by the New Orleans Hornets.]]
File:joshhoward.jpg was selected 29th overall by the Dallas Mavericks.]]
File:Mo Williams Cavs.jpg was selected 47th overall by the Utah Jazz.]]
File:Kyle Korver Sixers (cropped).jpg was selected 51st overall by the New Jersey Nets (traded to the Philadelphia 76ers).]]
| class=wikitable | |||||
| PG | Point guard
| SG | Shooting guard
| SF | Small forward
| PF | Power forward
| C | Center |
{{NBA Draft legend|1=y|2=y|3=y|4=|5=y|6=y}}
{{reflist|group=n}}
{{Cnote|a|Chris Kaman was born in the United States, but also has German citizenship through his great-grandparents and competes internationally for Germany.[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/07/clippers-kaman.html Clippers' Kaman becomes German citizen for Olympics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613001434/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/07/clippers-kaman.html |date=June 13, 2017 }}. Los Angeles Times. July 3, 2008.}}
Notable undrafted players
{{further|List of undrafted NBA players}}
These players were not selected in the 2003 NBA draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA.
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| style="width:12%;"| Player
! style="width:1%;"| Position ! style="width:12%;"| Nationality ! style="width:12%;"| School/club team |
|---|
| {{sortname|Earl|Barron}}
|C |{{flagu|United States}} |Memphis (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Kevin|Burleson}}
|PG |{{flagu|United States}} |Minnesota (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|José|Calderón|José Calderón (basketball)}}
|PG |{{ESP}} |
| {{sortname|Matt|Carroll|Matt Carroll (basketball)}}
|SG |{{flagu|United States}} |Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Marquis|Daniels}}
|SG |{{flagu|United States}} |Auburn (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Ronald|Dupree}}
|SF |{{flagu|United States}} |LSU (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Noel|Felix}}
|PF |{{flagu|United States}} |Fresno State (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Hiram|Fuller}}
|PF |{{flagu|United States}} |Fresno State (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Britton|Johnsen}}
|SF/PF |{{flagu|United States}} |Utah (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Desmond|Penigar}}
|PF |{{flagu|United States}} |Utah State (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Kirk|Penney}}
|SG/SF |{{NZL}} |Wisconsin (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Josh|Powell}}
|PF |{{flagu|United States}} |NC State (So.) |
| {{sortname|Kasib|Powell}}
|SF |{{flagu|United States}} |Texas Tech (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Quinton|Ross}}
|SG |{{flagu|United States}} |SMU (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Melvin|Sanders}}
|SG/SF |{{flagu|United States}} |Oklahoma State (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|James|Singleton|James Singleton (basketball)}}
|SF/PF |{{flagu|United States}} |Murray State (Sr.) |
| {{sortname|Theron|Smith}}
|SF/PF |{{flagu|United States}} |Ball State (Sr.) |
Draft lottery
| class="wikitable" |
| style="background:#ff9; width:2em; text-align:center;"| ^
|style="text-align:left"|Denotes the actual lottery result |
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col" rowspan="2"|Team
!scope="col" rowspan="2"|2002–03 !scope="col" rowspan="2"|Lottery !scope="col" colspan="14"|Lottery probabilities |
|---|
| 1st||2nd||3rd||4th||5th||6th||7th||8th||9th||10th||11th||12th||13th |
| scope="row" align="left"|Cleveland Cavaliers
|17–65|| 225 ||style="background:#ff9"|.225^|||.215||.178||.357|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Denver Nuggets
|17–65|| 225 ||.225||.188||style="background:#ff9"|.171^||.319||.123|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Toronto Raptors
|24–58|| 157 ||.157||.157||.156||style="background:#ff9"|.226^||.265||.040|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Miami Heat
|25–57|| 120 ||.120||.126||.133||.099||style="background:#ff9"|.350^||.161||.013|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Los Angeles Clippers
|28–54|| 89 ||.089||.097||.107|||—||.261||style="background:#ff9"|.360^||.084||.004|||—|||—|||—|||—|||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Memphis Grizzlies
|28–54|| 64 ||.064||style="background:#ff9"|.071^||.081|||—|||—|||.440|||.304||.040||.001|||—|||—|||—|||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Chicago Bulls
|30–52|| 44 ||.044||.049||.058||—||—||—||style="background:#ff9"|.599^|||.232||.018||.000||—||—||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Atlanta Hawks
|35–47|| 29 ||.029||.022||.027||—||—||—||—||style="background:#ff9"|.724^|||.197||.011||.000||—||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|New York Knicks
|37-45|| 15 ||.015||.022||.027|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—||style="background:#ff9"|.784^||.143||.005||.000|||— |
| scope="row" align="left"|Washington Wizards
|37-45|| 14 ||.014||.021||.025|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—||style="background:#ff9"|.846^||.087||.002||.000 |
| scope="row" align="left"|Golden State Warriors
|38–44|| 7 ||.007||.009||.012|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—||style="background:#ff9"|.907^||.063||.001 |
| scope="row" align="left"|Seattle SuperSonics
|40–42|| 6 ||.006||.008||.010|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—||style="background:#ff9"|.935^||.039 |
| scope="row" align="left"|Houston Rockets
|43–39|| 5 ||.005||.007||.009|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—|||—||style="background:#ff9"|.960^ |
Early entrants
=College underclassmen=
In terms of underclassmen declaring for this year's draft, the number of players available for entry this year would increase up to 73 after previously being down a bit the previous year. However, it would also see the most withdrawn entries from underclassmen either in college, overseas, or even high school in the case of Charlie Villanueva with 27 total people doing exactly that. As such, there would actually be 46 underclassmen that qualified as such for this year's draft, which would be an overall step down when compared to last year's official number of underclassmen entering the NBA draft. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.{{cite web |title=2003 Underclassmen |url=https://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3050:2003-underclassmen&catid=136&Itemid=384 |website=The Draft Review |date=August 4, 2007 |access-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223110007/https://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3050:2003-underclassmen&catid=136&Itemid=384 |url-status=live }}
{{div col}}
- {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Alexander – C, Iowa State (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Carmelo Anthony – F, Syracuse (freshman)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Mario Austin – F, Mississippi State (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Ronald Blackshear – G, Marshall (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Bosh – F, Georgia Tech (freshman)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Lamar Castile – G, CC of Beaver County (sophomore)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Rod Edwards – G, Ouachita Baptist (junior)
- {{flagicon|CAN}} Carl English – G, Hawaii (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} T. J. Ford – G, Texas (sophomore)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Zack Fray – F, Santa Ana (sophomore)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Jonathan Hargett – G, West Virginia (freshman)
- {{flagicon|USA}} David Hamilton – F, Salem International (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Jarvis Hayes – F/G, Georgia (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Maurice Jackson – F, Texas–Permian (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Richard Jeter – G, Atlanta Metro (sophomore)
- {{flagicon|GER}} Chris Kaman – C, Central Michigan (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Josh Powell – F, NC State (sophomore)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Rick Rickert – F, Minnesota (sophomore)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Luke Ridnour – G, Oregon (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Rob Smith – F, North Carolina Wesleyan (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Michael Sweetney – F, Georgetown (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Dwyane Wade – G, Marquette (junior)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Mo Williams – G, Alabama (sophomore)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Doug Wrenn – F/G, Washington (junior)
{{div col end}}
=High school players=
This would be the ninth straight year in a row where at least one high school player would declare their entry into the NBA draft directly out of high school after previously only allowing it one time back in 1975. However, it would be one of the most famous ones due to the entry of high school phenom LeBron James entering the NBA draft this year, being the second high schooler to be drafted at #1 behind only Kwame Brown back in 2001, as well as being the second high schooler to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award behind Amar'e Stoudemire only a year prior. This draft also saw a high schooler named Charlie Villanueva initially enter for the NBA draft, but withdraw his name and go to college before the draft began. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
{{div col}}
- {{flagicon|NGR}} Ndudi Ebi – F, Westbury Christian School (Houston, Texas)
- {{flagicon|USA}} LeBron James – G, St. Vincent–St. Mary High School (Akron, Ohio)
- {{flagicon|USA}} James Lang – F, Central Park Christian High School (Birmingham, Alabama)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Travis Outlaw – F, Starkville High School (Starkville, Mississippi)
- {{flagicon|USA}} Kendrick Perkins – F, Clifton J. Ozen High School (Beaumont, Texas)
{{div col end}}
=International players=
The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
{{div col}}
- {{flagicon|SEN}} Malick Badiane – F, Langen (Germany)
- {{flagicon|BRA}} Leandro Barbosa – G, Bauru Tilibra (Brazil)
- {{flagicon|ARG}} Carlos Delfino – G, Skipper Bologna (Italy)
- {{flagicon|FRA}} Boris Diaw – F, Pau-Orthez (France)
- {{flagicon|POL}} Maciej Lampe – F, Universidad Complutense (Spain)
- {{flagicon|SCG}} Darko Miličić – F, Hemofarm Vršac (Serbia and Montenegro)
- {{flagicon|GEO|1990}} Zaza Pachulia – F/C, Ülker (Turkey)
- {{flagicon|SCG}} Aleksandar Pavlović – G/F, Budućnost (Serbia and Montenegro)
- {{flagicon|FRA}} Mickaël Piétrus – G, Pau-Orthez (France)
- {{flagicon|CRO}} Zoran Planinić – G, Cibona (Croatia)
- {{flagicon|GRE}} Sofoklis Schortsanitis – F, Iraklis (Greece)
- {{flagicon|BIH}} Nedžad Sinanović – C, Brotnjo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- {{flagicon|ISL}} Jón Arnór Stefánsson – G, Trier (Germany)
- {{flagicon|POL}} Szymon Szewczyk – F, Braunschweig (Germany)
- {{flagicon|NLD}} Remon van de Hare – C/F, FC Barcelona (Spain)
- {{flagicon|SCG}} Slavko Vraneš – C, Budućnost (Serbia and Montenegro)
- {{flagicon|CHN}} Xue Yuyang – F, Hong Kong Flying Dragons (China)
{{div col end}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/draft2003/ |title=NBA.com Draft 2003 |access-date=April 20, 2007 |publisher=NBA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070419020710/http://www.nba.com/draft2003/ |archive-date=April 19, 2007 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/players/ |title=Player profiles with their career transaction information |access-date=April 20, 2007 |publisher=NBA | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070419155103/http://www.nba.com/players/#N| archive-date=April 19, 2007 | url-status= live}}
External links
- [http://www.espn.com/nbadraft/d03/ ESPN.com Draft 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701174051/http://www.espn.com/nbadraft/d03/ |date=July 1, 2017 }}
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110520154525/http://databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=2003&lg=N databaseBasketball.com Draft 2003]}}
- {{Cite web |date=June 25, 2018 |title=How LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and the 2003 draft class transformed the NBA |series=SC Featured |publisher=ESPN |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjsmenUd84U | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211104/kjsmenUd84U| archive-date=2021-11-04 | url-status=live|via=YouTube }}{{cbignore}}
{{NBA Drafts}}
{{NBA Draft history by team}}
{{2003 NBA draft}}
{{2003–04 NBA season by team}}
{{NBA on ABC}}
{{Featured list}}
Category:Basketball in New York City