1972 NBA draft
The 1972 NBA draft was the 26th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), held on April 10 and 15, 1972, in New York City.[1] It consisted of 18 rounds and 198 total selections by the league's 17 teams.[1] The Portland Trail Blazers selected center LaRue Martin from Loyola University Chicago with the first overall pick.[2] The draft produced several standout players who went on to have illustrious careers, including three Hall of Famers.[1] The Buffalo Braves chose power forward Bob McAdoo second overall from the University of North Carolina; he earned the 1972–73 NBA Rookie of the Year award, won the league MVP in 1974–75, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.[2][3] The Boston Celtics picked guard Paul Westphal tenth overall from the University of Southern California; a five-time All-Star and member of the Hall of Fame class of 2018, Westphal also won an NBA championship as a player in 1974.[2][1] Additionally, the Milwaukee Bucks selected forward Julius Erving twelfth overall from the University of Massachusetts; though Erving initially joined the ABA's Virginia Squires and did not enter the NBA until 1976, he became a transformative figure in basketball, earning the 1981 NBA MVP award and Hall of Fame induction in 1993.[2][4] Historically, the 1972 draft is often cited for its stark contrasts in talent evaluation, particularly the Portland Trail Blazers' selection of Martin over McAdoo at the top.[5] Martin appeared in 271 games over four seasons, averaging 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game before retiring in 1976. In his NBA debut on October 13, 1972, against the Seattle SuperSonics, the No. 1 overall pick came off the bench for 6 minutes, hitting his lone field goal attempt for 2 points and grabbing 2 rebounds.[6][7] In contrast, McAdoo averaged 18.1 points in his rookie season and later led the league in scoring three times, while Erving revolutionized the game with his athleticism, winning two ABA championships and one NBA title.[8][9] This disparity has cemented the draft's reputation as one of the NBA's most regrettable top picks, highlighting the risks of early selection decisions in the league's expansion era.[5]Background and Context
Dates and Location
The 1972 NBA Draft was held over two days, April 10 and April 15, in New York City.[1] The event marked the 26th annual selection process by the league's 17 teams.[10] Prior to the main proceedings, a coin flip determined the order of the top picks among the teams with the league's worst records. The Portland Trail Blazers won the flip against the Buffalo Braves, securing the first overall selection, while the Braves received the second pick; this tiebreaker method was standard before the introduction of the draft lottery in later years.[11] The draft itself was conducted primarily via telephone conference, starting at 1:00 p.m. on the first day, allowing team representatives to make selections remotely after the initial determinations.[12] A total of 198 players were selected across 18 rounds, with the first 10 rounds completed on April 10 and the remaining 8 rounds on April 15.[1][10] This structure reflected the era's expansive draft format, which included picks from U.S. colleges and other amateur sources.[13]League Situation and Pick Forfeitures
The 1971–72 NBA season featured 17 teams, a roster that had remained stable since the addition of the Buffalo Braves and Cleveland Cavaliers as expansion franchises in 1970.[14] Ongoing merger discussions between the NBA and the rival American Basketball Association (ABA), which had intensified in the early 1970s, created a competitive environment for talent acquisition, as both leagues aggressively pursued top college players and drove up salaries.[15] This rivalry heightened the stakes of the draft, particularly for rebuilding teams seeking foundational talent. A key structural anomaly affected pick availability: four teams forfeited their 1972 first-round selections as a penalty for participating in the previous year's NBA Supplemental Hardship Draft, held on September 10, 1971, to accommodate underclassmen following a Supreme Court ruling in Spencer Haywood's antitrust case.[16] The Cincinnati Royals (who selected Nate Williams), Atlanta Hawks (Tom Payne), Golden State Warriors (Cyril Baptiste), and Baltimore Bullets (Phil Chenier) each lost their first-round picks, reducing the total from 17 to 13 and altering the draft order for the remaining teams.[1] The top pick was determined by a coin flip between the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves, the worst teams in each conference from the prior season; Portland won the toss, securing the No. 1 selection.[11] For recent expansion franchises like Portland, still in the early stages of roster construction just two seasons after joining the league, the draft represented a critical opportunity to acquire cornerstone players amid these league-wide challenges.Eligibility
Standard Eligibility Rules
The standard eligibility rules for the 1972 NBA Draft, governed by league bylaws, required players to be either college seniors, college graduates, or at least four years removed from their high school graduation date.[17] This criterion primarily targeted U.S. amateur players, ensuring that most draftees were established college athletes or those who had completed their collegiate careers.[18] International players were eligible under similar thresholds, provided they met the four-year post-high school requirement or equivalent professional experience criteria, although such selections remained exceedingly rare in 1972 with no notable foreign-born players drafted.[19] Draft selections were classified by position as guards (G), forwards (F), or centers (C), reflecting the era's emphasis on traditional roles in team composition.[1] Unlike modern NBA rules implemented after the 2005 collective bargaining agreement, which mandate that U.S. players be at least 19 years old during the draft year, the 1972 bylaws imposed no explicit minimum age beyond the high school graduation stipulation.[20] Exceptions to these standards could be granted through a hardship provision for underclassmen facing financial or personal difficulties.[21]Early Entrants via Hardship
The hardship clause for the 1972 NBA draft permitted college underclassmen—specifically freshmen, sophomores, and juniors—to apply for early eligibility if they could prove financial hardship stemming from personal or family economic difficulties. Introduced by the NBA in 1971 following the landmark Spencer Haywood antitrust lawsuit, which challenged the league's strict four-year college rule, this exception aimed to provide relief for players in dire need while gradually opening pathways for precocious talents to enter the professional ranks. This followed the inaugural hardship draft in 1971, which was held as a separate supplemental event in September after the main draft. The application window, initially set to close on December 1, 1971, was extended to April 1972 to allow more time for submissions, reflecting the league's cautious adaptation to pressures from the rival American Basketball Association (ABA), which had more lenient signing practices.[21][17] A total of eight underclassmen submitted petitions under this clause for the 1972 draft, all of which were approved by the NBA, underscoring a shift toward greater professionalization in college basketball. The approved entrants were:- Bob McAdoo, junior forward, University of North Carolina
- Brian Taylor, junior guard, Princeton University
- Mel Davis, junior forward, St. John's University
- Michael Reid, junior guard, University of California, Riverside
- Tony Delgado, junior guard, Siena College
- Walter Gardner, freshman guard, Kaskaskia College
- John Tinsley, freshman forward, Pfeiffer College
- Philmore Westbrook, freshman forward, Albemarle College
Draft Selections
First Round
The first round of the 1972 NBA Draft comprised 13 selections, with the order determined by the reverse standings from the 1971–72 season, where non-playoff teams picked earlier and playoff participants selected later. The two worst teams, the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves—both with identical 18–64 records—resolved their tie via a coin flip conducted on March 27, 1972, in New York; Portland called tails correctly and earned the No. 1 pick, while Buffalo received No. 2.[11] NBA scouting in 1972 emphasized the acquisition of centers to bolster team interiors amid a league era valuing dominant big men, positioning LaRue Martin as the consensus top center prospect due to his size and college production.[24] Among the first-round selections, hardship rule entrants Bob McAdoo and Julius Erving stood out as early college departures seeking professional opportunities.[1] The following table lists the first-round picks, including drafting teams, players, positions, colleges, and notes on immediate trades or other details:| Pick | Drafting Team | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland Trail Blazers | LaRue Martin | C | Loyola Chicago | |
| 2 | Buffalo Braves | Bob McAdoo | C | North Carolina | Hardship entrant |
| 3 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Dwight Davis | F | Houston | |
| 4 | Phoenix Suns | Corky Calhoun | F | Pennsylvania | Acquired from Houston Rockets in exchange for forward Otto Moore on April 7, 1972[25] |
| 5 | Philadelphia 76ers | Freddie Boyd | G | Oregon State | |
| 6 | Milwaukee Bucks | Russ Lee | G/F | Marshall | Acquired from Houston Rockets in exchange for forward Greg Smith and a 1973 third-round pick on December 9, 1971[25] |
| 7 | Seattle SuperSonics | Bud Stallworth | G/F | Kansas | |
| 8 | New York Knicks | Tom Riker | F/C | South Carolina | |
| 9 | Detroit Pistons | Bob Nash | F | Hawaii | |
| 10 | Boston Celtics | Paul Westphal | G | USC | |
| 11 | Chicago Bulls | Ralph Simpson | G | Michigan State | |
| 12 | Milwaukee Bucks | Julius Erving | F | UMass | Hardship entrant; signed with ABA's Virginia Squires instead of NBA[1] |
| 13 | Los Angeles Lakers | Travis Grant | F | Kentucky State |