1979 NBA draft

The 1979 NBA draft was the 33rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on Monday, June 25.^[1][2] In this draft, the 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players; it went ten rounds and selected 202 players.

The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip.^[3] The Los Angeles Lakers, who obtained the New Orleans Jazz' first-round pick in a trade, won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Chicago Bulls were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection.

If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. Larry Bird would have been eligible to join this draft class because his "junior eligible" draft status from being taken by Boston in 1978 would expire the minute the 1979 draft began, but Bird and the Celtics agreed on a five-year contract on June 8 to avoid that.^[4] Before the draft, five college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule.^[5] These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier.^[6] Prior to the draft, the Jazz relocated from New Orleans to Salt Lake City and became the Utah Jazz.^[7]