1977–78 rookie class

1977 NBA Draft

Every selection in order, with the drafting team, player affiliation and a direct path into each available Sportsboxd career profile.

170selections

8rounds

22teams selecting

First off the board

Top five picks

Pick #1

Milwaukee Bucks

Kent Benson

Indiana

Pick #2

Kansas City Kings

Otis Birdsong

Houston

Pick #3

Milwaukee Bucks

Marques Johnson

California-Los Angeles

Pick #4

Washington Bullets

Greg Ballard

Oregon

Pick #5

Phoenix Suns

Walter Davis

North Carolina

Complete draft board

Every pick

Round one is open. Expand any later round to continue through the class.

Round 122 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
1	Kent Benson	Milwaukee Bucks	Indiana	1
2	Otis Birdsong	Kansas City Kings	Houston	2
3	Marques Johnson	Milwaukee Bucks	California-Los Angeles	3
4	Greg Ballard	Washington Bullets	Oregon	4
5	Walter Davis	Phoenix Suns	North Carolina	5
6	Kenny Carr	Los Angeles Lakers	North Carolina State	6
7	Bernard King	New Jersey Nets	Tennessee	7
8	Jack Sikma	Seattle SuperSonics	Illinois Wesleyan	8
9	Tom LaGarde	Denver Nuggets	North Carolina	9
10	Ray Williams	New York Knicks	Minnesota	10
11	Ernie Grunfeld	Milwaukee Bucks	Tennessee	11
12	Cedric Maxwell	Boston Celtics	North Carolina-Charlotte	12
13	Tate Armstrong	Chicago Bulls	Duke	13
14	Tree Rollins	Atlanta Hawks	Clemson	14
15	Brad Davis	Los Angeles Lakers	Maryland	15
16	Rickey Green	Golden State Warriors	Michigan	16
17	Bo Ellis	Washington Bullets	Marquette	17
18	Wesley Cox	Golden State Warriors	Louisville	18
19	Rich Laurel	Portland Trail Blazers	Hofstra	19
20	Glenn Mosley	Philadelphia 76ers	Seton Hall	20
21	Anthony Roberts	Denver Nuggets	Oral Roberts	21
22	Norm Nixon	Los Angeles Lakers	Duquesne	22

Round 222 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
23	Mike Glenn	Chicago Bulls	Southern Illinois	1
24	Larry Johnson	Buffalo Braves	Kentucky	2
25	Wilson Washington	Philadelphia 76ers	Old Dominion	3
26	Glen Gondrezick	New York Knicks	Nevada-Las Vegas	4
27	Glenn Williams	Milwaukee Bucks	St. John's (NY)	5
28	Kim Anderson	Portland Trail Blazers	Missouri	6
29	Alonzo Bradley	Indiana Pacers	Texas Southern	7
30	Steve Sheppard	Chicago Bulls	Maryland	8
31	Eddie Owens	Kansas City Kings	Nevada-Las Vegas	9
32	Toby Knight	New York Knicks	Notre Dame	10
33	Eddie Jordan	Cleveland Cavaliers	Rutgers	11
34	Larry Moffett	Houston Rockets	Nevada-Las Vegas	12
35	Mark Landsberger	Chicago Bulls	Arizona State	13
36	Ben Poquette	Detroit Pistons	Central Michigan	14
37	Jeff Wilkins	San Antonio Spurs	Illinois State	15
38	Ricky Love	Golden State Warriors	Alabama-Huntsville	16
39	Phil Walker	Washington Bullets	Millersville	17
40	Robert Reid	Houston Rockets	St. Mary's (TX)	18
41	T.R. Dunn	Portland Trail Blazers	Alabama	19
42	Bob Elliott	Philadelphia 76ers	Arizona	20
43	Herm Harris	Philadelphia 76ers	Arizona	21
44	Essie Hollis	New Orleans Jazz	St. Bonaventure	22

Round 322 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
45	Bill Paterno	Kansas City Kings	Notre Dame	1
46	James Edwards	Los Angeles Lakers	Washington	2
47	Gary Yoder	Milwaukee Bucks	Cincinnati	3
48	Sammy Smith	Atlanta Hawks	Nevada-Las Vegas	4
49	Eddie Johnson	Atlanta Hawks	Auburn	5
50	Tony Hanson	New Orleans Jazz	Connecticut	6
51	Stan Mayhew	Indiana Pacers	Weber State	7
52	Joey Hassett	Seattle SuperSonics	Providence	8
53	John Kuester	Kansas City Kings	North Carolina	9
54	Lloyd McMillian	New York Knicks	Long Beach State	10
55	Steve Grote	Cleveland Cavaliers	Michigan	11
56	Skip Brown	Boston Celtics	Wake Forest	12
57	Steve Puidokas	Washington Bullets	Washington State	13
58	John Irving	Detroit Pistons	Hofstra	14
59	Dan Henderson	San Antonio Spurs	Arkansas State	15
60	Marlon Redmond	Golden State Warriors	San Francisco	16
61	Jerry Schellenberg	Washington Bullets	Wake Forest	17
62	Phil Bond	Houston Rockets	Louisville	18
63	Ricky Brown	Portland Trail Blazers	Alabama	19
64	Arnold Dugger	Philadelphia 76ers	Oral Roberts	20
65	Robert Smith	Denver Nuggets	Nevada-Las Vegas	21
66	Mike Bratz	Phoenix Suns	Stanford	22

Round 422 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
67	Bob Elmore	New Jersey Nets	Wichita State	1
68	Melvin Watkins	Buffalo Braves	North Carolina-Charlotte	2
69	Lewis Brown	Milwaukee Bucks	Nevada-Las Vegas	3
70	Dave Bormann	Atlanta Hawks	Gardner-Webb	4
71	Greg Griffin	Phoenix Suns	Idaho State	5
72	Dennis Boyd	New Orleans Jazz	Detroit Mercy	6
73	George Pendleton	Indiana Pacers	Georgia State	7
74	Jim Cooper	Seattle SuperSonics	Alabama	8
75	Larry Williams	Kansas City Kings	Texas Southern	9
76	Steve Hayes	New York Knicks	Idaho State	10
77	Melvin Jones	Cleveland Cavaliers	West Texas A&M	11
78	Jeff Cummings	Boston Celtics	Tulane	12
79	Mike McConalthy	Chicago Bulls	Louisiana Tech	13
80	Bruce King	Detroit Pistons	Iowa	14
81	Matt Hicks	San Antonio Spurs	Northern Illinois	15
82	Roy Smith	Golden State Warriors	Kentucky State	16
83	David Reavis	Washington Bullets	Georgia	17
84	Rocky Smith	Houston Rockets	Oregon State	18
85	Greg White	Portland Trail Blazers	Southern California	19
86	Jack Jones	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah	20
87	Leartha Scott	Golden State Warriors	Wisconsin-Parkside	21
88	Tony Robertson	Los Angeles Lakers	West Virginia	22

Round 522 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
89	Gerald Cunningham	New Jersey Nets	Kentucky State	1
90	Mike Hanley	Buffalo Braves	Niagara	2
91	Ron Norwood	Milwaukee Bucks	DePaul	3
92	Bill Gordon	Atlanta Hawks	Tennessee-Chattanooga	4
93	Cecil Rellford	Phoenix Suns	St. John's (NY)	5
94	Jim Grady	New Orleans Jazz	Gonzaga	6
95	Marvin Jackson	Indiana Pacers	Prairie View A&M	7
96	Dale Haberman	Seattle SuperSonics	McKendree	8
97	Bob Chapman	Kansas City Kings	Michigan State	9
98	Bill Terry	New York Knicks	Monmouth	10
99	Al Smith	Cleveland Cavaliers	Jackson State	11
100	Bill Langloh	Boston Celtics	Virginia	12
101	Nate Davis	Chicago Bulls	South Carolina	13
102	Jim Kennedy	Detroit Pistons	Missouri	14
103	Scott Sims	San Antonio Spurs	Missouri	15
104	Ray Epps	Golden State Warriors	Norfolk State	16
105	Bruce Parkinson	Washington Bullets	Purdue	17
106	Ed Thompson	Houston Rockets	Idaho State	18
107	Donn Wilber	Portland Trail Blazers	La Salle	19
108	Teko Wynder	Philadelphia 76ers	Tulsa	20
109	John Billups	Denver Nuggets	Mississippi	21
110	John Robinson	Los Angeles Lakers	Michigan	22

Round 621 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
111	Mark Crow	New Jersey Nets	Duke	1
112	Curvan Lewis	Buffalo Braves	Virginia Union	2
113	Chuck Goodyear	Milwaukee Bucks	Miami (OH)	3
114	Calvin Crews	Atlanta Hawks	Louisiana-Lafayette	4
115	Billy McKinney	Phoenix Suns	Northwestern	5
116	Wayne Golden	New Orleans Jazz	Tennessee-Chattanooga	6
117	Tom Scheffler	Indiana Pacers	Purdue	7
118	Bucky O'Brien	Seattle SuperSonics	Seattle	8
119	Bob Cooper	Kansas City Kings	Providence	9
120	Jerry Graycraft	New York Knicks	Milligan	10
121	Ron Cox	Cleveland Cavaliers	Eastern Washington	11
122	Roy Pace	Boston Celtics	Rutgers-Camden	12
123	Jay Chessman	Chicago Bulls	Brigham Young	13
124	Herb Nobles	Detroit Pistons	Kansas	14
125	Bruce Buckley	San Antonio Spurs	North Carolina	15
126	Jack Phelan	Golden State Warriors	Saint Francis (PA)	16
127	Ernie Wansley	Washington Bullets	Virginia Tech	17
128	Myron Jordan	Portland Trail Blazers	Pacific	18
129	George Gibson	Philadelphia 76ers	Winston-Salem State	19
130	Jim Town	Denver Nuggets	Massachusetts	20
131	Grover Woolard	Los Angeles Lakers	Murray State	21

Round 720 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
132	Scott Conant	New Jersey Nets	Newberry	1
133	Mike Jackson	Buffalo Braves	Tennessee	2
134	Ron Bostic	Milwaukee Bucks	Detroit Mercy	3
135	James Holliman	Atlanta Hawks	Arizona State	4
136	Alvin Scott	Phoenix Suns	Oral Roberts	5
137	Lusia Harris	New Orleans Jazz	Delta State	6
138	Billy Reynolds	Seattle SuperSonics	Northwestern State	7
139	Bruce Jenner	Kansas City Kings	Graceland (IA)	8
140	Tom Weadock	New York Knicks	St. John's (NY)	9
141	Bob Riddle	Cleveland Cavaliers	Eastern Michigan	10
142	Dave Kyle	Boston Celtics	Cleveland State	11
143	Mike Smith	Chicago Bulls	Evansville	12
144	Robert Lewis	Detroit Pistons	Johnson C. Smith	13
145	Richard Robinson	San Antonio Spurs	New Mexico State	14
146	Jerry Thurston	Golden State Warriors	Mercer	15
147	Calvin Brown	Washington Bullets	American	16
148	Don Smith	Portland Trail Blazers	Oregon State	17
149	Dennin Forest	Philadelphia 76ers	Nebraska-Omaha	18
150	Willie High	Denver Nuggets	Alabama State	19
151	Lars Hansen	Los Angeles Lakers	Washington	20

Round 819 selections +

Overall	Player	Drafting team	Affiliation	Round pick
152	Ralph Drollinger	New Jersey Nets	California-Los Angeles	1
153	Emery Sammons	Buffalo Braves	Philadelphia University	2
154	Larry Pikes	Milwaukee Bucks	Milwaukee	3
155	Vern Thompson	Atlanta Hawks	Brigham Young	4
156	Alvin Joseph	Phoenix Suns	California-Riverside	5
157	Dave Speicher	New Orleans Jazz	Toledo	6
158	Jeff Frey	Seattle SuperSonics	Evansville	8
159	Ken Slappy	New York Knicks	St. Peter's	10
160	Tom Cutter	Cleveland Cavaliers	Western Michigan	11
161	Tom Harris	Boston Celtics	Bowling Green	12
162	Rich Rhodes	Chicago Bulls	Eastern Illinois	13
163	Tim Appleton	Detroit Pistons	Kenyon	14
164	Jerome Gladney	San Antonio Spurs	Arizona	15
165	Eric Marsh	Golden State Warriors	Manhattan	16
166	Pat McKinley	Washington Bullets	Towson	17
167	Harold Rhodes	Portland Trail Blazers	Washington	19
168	John Olive	Philadelphia 76ers	Villanova	20
169	Len Saunders	Denver Nuggets	Florida	21
170	Art Allen	Los Angeles Lakers	Pepperdine	22

Source: NBA.com Draft History. Draft-night trades can cause the team attached to a selection to differ from the player’s eventual rookie team.