Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. He also won the Finals Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the first rookie ever to win the award. Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history. During his eleven-year career with the Jazz, he won two Defensive Player of the Year Awards and was selected to five consecutive All-Defensive Team and one All-Star Game. [25] After retiring, he coached the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for eight seasons, leading them to two consecutive WNBA championships in 2001 and 2002. [12] After retiring as a player, Bird went on to have a coaching career. [9] For his achievements, he has been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Subscribe to our Free Newsletter, This Week in Sports ReferenceFind out when we add a feature or make a change. Nevertheless, on April 1979, he signed a five-year, US$3.25-million contract with the Celtics, which made him the highest-paid rookie in the history of team sport at that time. [4] Before the draft, five college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule. [10], Draft selections and draftee career notes, player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game, player who has been selected for at least one All-NBA Team, "The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts", "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees", "If Blazers draft Bird, they won't wait year to sign him", https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1978.html, http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1978, "Nets Get Phil Jackson as Part Of a Settlement With Knicks; Nets' Other Concessions Another Indemnity Nets Sign Jackson as Part Of a Settlement With Knicks Top Choices", "Golden State Warriors 2009–10 Media Guite: Draft & Transactions", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1978_NBA_draft&oldid=964173353, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game, This page was last edited on 24 June 2020, at 00:20. [4] 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. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He won a Eurobasket title, 8 Greek championships, 7 Greek cups as well as numerous personal honors and awards. [20] After retiring as a player, he coached the Portland Trail Blazers and the Philadelphia 76ers for four and a half seasons each. [6] Prior to the draft, the Jazz relocated from New Orleans to Salt Lake City and became the Utah Jazz. He won the Rookie of the Year Award and was also selected to both the All-NBA First Team and the All Star Game in his rookie season. First Overall Pick: Magic Johnson (155.8 Win Shares), Most Win Shares: M. Johnson (155.8), B. Laimbeer (105.6) and S. Moncrief (90.3), All-Stars: 8 (B. Cartwright, J. Donaldson, M. Eaton, M. Johnson, B. Laimbeer, S. Moncrief, C. Natt and J. Paxson). His hometown team, the Indiana Pacers, initially held the first overall pick. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. In "The Book of Basketball", Bill Simmons noted that then-Lakers GM Jerry West had actually wanted to trade down from the #1 pick and use it to get Moncrief along with more players and picks, but Jerry Buss vetoed West's plans because Buss wanted Magic to be the new face of the team he was just finishing his full purchase of. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. The NBA Draft is home to some of the best players the league has to offer. [23][24], The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game. However, when they failed to persuade him to leave college early, they traded the first pick to the Blazers, who also failed to convince him into signing. [17][18] Five teams, including the Pacers who held the third pick, passed on Bird until the Celtics used the sixth pick to draft him. The Lakers used the pick to draft Magic Johnson. [11] Bird was also named to the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. Do you have a sports website? If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. He was also selected to ten All-NBA Teams and thirteen consecutive All-Star Games. [6] The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 202 players. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? 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. He spent his entire 12-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers and won five NBA championships. The 1978 NBA draft was the 32nd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached the Indiana Pacers for three seasons, leading them to an NBA Finals appearance. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award and was also selected to the All-NBA Second Team in his rookie season. [13] Jim Paxson, the twelfth pick, was selected to one All-NBA Team and two All-Star Games. He has been inducted into both the FIBA Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. [20] Two other players from this draft, eighth pick Calvin Natt and 73rd pick James Donaldson, were also selected to one All-Star Game each. Mychal Thompson from the University of Minnesota was selected first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. Do you have a blog? [16] Bill Laimbeer, the 65th pick, won two NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990 and was selected to four All-Star Games.