The 1968 NBA draft was the 22nd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 3, 1968, and May 8 and 10, 1968, before the 1968–69 season. In this draft, 14 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. 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. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each division, with the order determined by a coin flip. The San Diego Rockets won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Baltimore Bullets 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. Six teams that had the best records in previous season were not awarded second round draft picks. Two expansion franchises, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the seventh and eighth pick in the first round, along with the last two picks of each subsequent round. The St. Louis Hawks relocated to Atlanta and became the Atlanta Hawks prior to the start of the season. The draft consisted of 21 rounds comprising 214 players selected. It would also be a catalyst for the upstart rivaling American Basketball Association to either force an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA due to a leaked document that was sent to the ABA by a disgruntled ex-employee revealing the NBA's plans to show how much each team was to contribute to get the college star players to sign with the NBA teams over the ABA teams or engage in a merger between the two leagues, which eventually resulted in the NBA–ABA merger happening years later.Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), , p. 426
Draft selections and draftee career notes Elvin Hayes from the University of Houston was selected first overall by the San Diego Rockets. Wes Unseld from the University of Louisville was selected second by the Baltimore Bullets. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in his first season, becoming only the second player to win both awards in the same season, after Wilt Chamberlain in 1960. Hayes and Unseld have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. They were also named in the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. Hayes and Unseld both won the NBA championship with the Washington Bullets in 1978. In the Finals, Unseld was named as the Finals Most Valuable Player. Unseld, who spent all of his 13-year playing career with the Bullets, was also selected to one All-NBA Team and five All-Star Games, while Hayes was selected to six All-NBA Teams and twelve All-Star Games. Bob Kauffman, the third pick, is the only other player from this draft who has been selected to an All-Star Game; he was selected to three All-Star Games during his career.
Unseld became a head coach after ending his playing career. He coached the Washington Bullets for seven seasons. Three other players drafted also went on to have a coaching career: 12th pick Don Chaney and 79th pick Rick Adelman. Chaney coached four NBA teams and won the Coach of the Year Award in 1991 with the Houston Rockets. Adelman coached four NBA teams, most recently with the Houston Rockets. He lost the NBA Finals twice with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990 and 1992.
In the fourteenth round, the Seattle SuperSonics selected Mike Warren of UCLA. However, Warren never played professional basketball; he opted for an acting career in films and television instead.Michael Warren (actor)
Key Pos.GFCPositionGuardForwardCenter
Draft
Player Team 11 ^ F/C San Diego Rockets Houston 12 ^~ F/C Baltimore Bullets Louisville 13 + F/C Seattle SuperSonics Guilford 14 C Chicago Bulls Tennessee 15 F/C Cincinnati Royals Iowa State 16 F/C Detroit Pistons Pan American 17 F/C Milwaukee Bucks Northeastern State 18 F/C Phoenix Suns South Carolina 19 G San Francisco Warriors West Virginia 110 F/C New York Knicks Ohio State 111 F Los Angeles Lakers USC 112 G Boston Celtics Houston 113 G Atlanta Hawks South Carolina 114 G/F Philadelphia 76ers Utah State 215 F San Diego Rockets Nevada Southern 216 G Seattle SuperSonics Stanford 217 G Chicago Bulls Oregon State 218 G/F Baltimore Bullets Xavier (Ohio) 219 # C Chicago Bulls Illinois 220 F/C Detroit Pistons Niagara 221 C Phoenix Suns Murray State 222 # F/C Milwaukee Bucks Saint Louis 323 G San Diego Rockets Nebraska 324 # C Seattle SuperSonics Utah 325 # F Detroit Pistons St. Mary of the Plains 326 # G Baltimore Bullets New Mexico 327 G Cincinnati Royals Colorado 328 F Cincinnati Royals Miami (Ohio) 329 # F/C San Francisco Warriors Oklahoma 330 F New York Knicks Dayton 331 C Chicago Bulls Columbia 332 F/C Boston Celtics Eastern Kentucky 333 # G Baltimore Bullets South Carolina 334 # C Seattle SuperSonics Tennessee State 335 G Milwaukee Bucks Iowa 336 # C Phoenix Suns American 437 F San Diego Rockets Northeastern 438 # G Seattle SuperSonics Western Carolina 439 F Chicago Bulls UCLA 440 # F Baltimore Bullets Kentucky Wesleyan 441 # F Cincinnati Royals Weber State 442 C Detroit Pistons Saint Louis 443 # F San Francisco Warriors UCLA 444 # G New York Knicks Wichita State 445 G Los Angeles Lakers North Carolina State 446 C Boston Celtics Grambling 447 # G Atlanta Hawks Vanderbilt 448 # F San Diego Rockets Benedictine 449 F/C Phoenix Suns Memphis State 450 F Milwaukee Bucks Western Kentucky 551 # G San Diego Rockets Virginia Tech 552 G Seattle SuperSonics Bowling Green 553 # F Chicago Bulls Loyola Chicago 554 # F Baltimore Bullets Voorhees 555 # F Cincinnati Royals Boston College 556 # C Detroit Pistons Bethune–Cookman 557 C San Francisco Warriors Brigham Young 558 # C New York Knicks Cheyney 559 # F Los Angeles Lakers Missouri State 560 # F Boston Celtics Kentucky 561 # F Atlanta Hawks Miami (Florida) 562 # G Philadelphia 76ers North Carolina 563 # F Milwaukee Bucks Wisconsin 564 # G Phoenix Suns Denver 665 # G San Diego Rockets Tulsa 666 # F Seattle SuperSonics Duquesne 667 # C Chicago Bulls Delaware 668 # G Baltimore Bullets Princeton 669 # F Cincinnati Royals Texas Southern 670 F/C Detroit Pistons Creighton 671 F San Francisco Warriors Marshall 672 # F New York Knicks Marquette 673 # C Los Angeles Lakers Kansas State 674 # F Boston Celtics Indiana State 675 # G Atlanta Hawks Georgia Tech 676 G Philadelphia 76ers Colorado 677 F/C Phoenix Suns Davidson 678 # G Milwaukee Bucks Hawaii 779 ^ G San Diego Rockets Loyola (California) 780 # C Seattle SuperSonics Washington State 781 # C Chicago Bulls North Texas 782 # F Baltimore Bullets Southern 783 # G Cincinnati Royals Northeastern State 784 # G Detroit Pistons LIU 785 # F San Francisco Warriors West Virginia 786 # F New York Knicks Dickinson State 787 # F Los Angeles Lakers Hillsdale 788 # C Boston Celtics Duke 789 # F Atlanta Hawks Elizabeth City State 790 # G Philadelphia 76ers Fairfield 791 # C Milwaukee Bucks Minnesota 792 # F Phoenix Suns Idaho State 893 # F San Diego Rockets Jackson State 894 # G Seattle SuperSonics Oklahoma 895 # F Chicago Bulls Pasadena 896 G Baltimore Bullets Saint Louis 897 # C Cincinnati Royals Mississippi State 898 # G Detroit Pistons Saint Peter's 899 # F San Francisco Warriors Bowling Green 8100 # G New York Knicks Dayton 8101 # C Los Angeles Lakers Southern Colorado State 8102 # F/C Boston Celtics Alcorn A&M 8103 # G Atlanta Hawks Manhattan 8104 # F Philadelphia 76ers Albany State 8105 # G Phoenix Suns Denver 8106 # F Milwaukee Bucks UNLV 9107 # F San Diego Rockets Ashland 9108 # G Seattle SuperSonics Utah State 9109 # F Chicago Bulls Loyola Chicago 9110 # F Baltimore Bullets Western Kentucky 9111 # F Cincinnati Royals Indiana 9112 # F Detroit Pistons Syracuse 9113 # G San Francisco Warriors San Francisco 9114 # F New York Knicks Kansas 9115 # F Los Angeles Lakers Marshall 9116 # G Boston Celtics St. Bonaventure 9117 # G Atlanta Hawks Albany State 9118 # F Philadelphia 76ers Temple 9119 # C Milwaukee Bucks Kentucky 9120 # G Phoenix Suns Utah 9121 # G San Diego Rockets Memphis 10122 F Seattle SuperSonics Duke 10123 # F Chicago Bulls Northwestern 10124 # F Baltimore Bullets Boston College 10125 # F Cincinnati Royals Vanderbilt 10126 # F Detroit Pistons Nebraska 10127 # F San Francisco Warriors Santa Clara 10128 # G New York Knicks North Carolina A&T 10129 # F Los Angeles Lakers East Carolina 10130 # F Boston Celtics LIU 10131 F Atlanta Hawks Tennessee State Huntsmen 10132 # F Philadelphia 76ers Rider 10133 # F/C Phoenix Suns North Carolina Central 10134 # C Milwaukee Bucks Missouri 11135 # F San Diego Rockets Clark Atlanta 11136 F Seattle SuperSonics USC 11137 # G Chicago Bulls Iowa State 11138 # C Baltimore Bullets Bowling Green 11139 # G Cincinnati Royals RIT 11140 # G San Francisco Warriors UNLV 11141 # G New York Knicks Marshall 11142 # F Los Angeles Lakers Florida Presbyterian 11143 # F Boston Celtics Evansville 11144 # F Atlanta Hawks Tennessee State Huntsmen 11145 # F Philadelphia 76ers Miami (Florida) 11146 # G Milwaukee Bucks Marquette 11147 G/F Phoenix Suns Idaho State 12148 # F San Diego Rockets Lane 12149 # G Seattle SuperSonics Utah 12150 # F Chicago Bulls Wisconsin–Oshkosh 12151 # F Baltimore Bullets UTEP 12152 # G Cincinnati Royals Northeast Louisiana State 12153 # F San Francisco Warriors California 12154 # F New York Knicks Guilford 12155 # G/F Los Angeles Lakers Western Michigan 12156 # F Boston Celtics Fordham 12157 # C Atlanta Hawks UTEP 12158 # F Philadelphia 76ers North Carolina A&T 12159 # F Milwaukee Bucks Florida 12160 # F Phoenix Suns Arizona 13161 # F San Diego Rockets Lincoln (Missouri) 13162 F Seattle SuperSonics Santa Clara 13163 G/F Chicago Bulls Purdue 13164 # F Baltimore Bullets St. John's 13165 # F Cincinnati Royals UMass 13166 # F New York Knicks Hillsdale 13167 # F Los Angeles Lakers Elks Club 13168 # F Boston Celtics Rhode Island 13169 # G Atlanta Hawks South Carolina 13170 # F Philadelphia 76ers Kansas State 13171 # F Phoenix Suns California State 14172 # G San Diego Rockets South Carolina State 14173 # G Seattle SuperSonics UCLA 14174 # G Chicago Bulls Washington 14175 # C Baltimore Bullets East Tennessee State 14176 # F Cincinnati Royals Southeastern Louisiana 14177 # F New York Knicks Princeton 14178 # G Los Angeles Lakers Abilene Christian 14179 # G Boston Celtics Holy Cross 14180 # G Atlanta Hawks Syracuse 14181 # F Philadelphia 76ers Davidson 15182 # G San Diego Rockets East Texas State 15183 # F Chicago Bulls TCU 15184 # F Baltimore Bullets Bradley 15185 # G Cincinnati Royals Westminster College (Pennsylvania) 15186 # F New York Knicks Guilford 15187 F Los Angeles Lakers Temple 15188 # F Atlanta Hawks Pasadena 15189 # G Philadelphia 76ers North Carolina A&T 16190 # G San Diego Rockets UMSL 16191 # G Chicago Bulls Louisville 16192 # F Baltimore Bullets San Francisco 16193 # F Cincinnati Royals Manchester 16194 # F New York Knicks Tennessee Wesleyan 16195 # G Los Angeles Lakers Wyoming 16196 # F Atlanta Hawks Baldwin–Wallace 16197 # G Philadelphia 76ers Villanova 17198 # F San Diego Rockets Dakota Wesleyan 17199 # G Chicago Bulls Central Washington State 17200 # G Baltimore Bullets Cornell 17201 # F Cincinnati Royals Cincinnati 17202 G New York Knicks Lincoln (Missouri) 17203 # G Philadelphia 76ers Tennessee State 18204 # F San Diego Rockets Pepperdine 18205 # F Chicago Bulls DePaul 18206 # F Baltimore Bullets Fairfield 18207 # G Cincinnati Royals Evansville 19208 # F San Diego Rockets UConn 19209 # F Chicago Bulls Indiana State 19210 # F Baltimore Bullets Seattle 19211 # F Cincinnati Royals Georgia 20212 # G Chicago Bulls Norfolk State 20213 # C Baltimore Bullets Midwestern 21214 # F Chicago Bulls Delaware State