# 1990 NBA draft

The 1990 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1990, in New York City, New York. One of the standouts of this draft is Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton. He became a nine-time All-Star, achieved the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 1996, won an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat in 2006, holds many statistical records during his tenure with the since rebranded and relocated Seattle SuperSonics, and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2013.
The top pick of the draft was Syracuse's Derrick Coleman who was selected by the New Jersey Nets. In total, 52 of the 54 players selected went on to play at least one competitive game in the NBA, and six players were at some point of their career selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game. One player who had been projected to be a lottery pick as well as possibly the number one by media outlets and draft analysts was Loyola Marymount's Hank Gathers, who died of a heart condition in March 1990 after collapsing during a game.

## Draft selections

| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team |
| $^+$ | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| $^x$ | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-NBA Team |
| $^#$ | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | NBA team | School/Club team |
| 1 | 1 | Derrick Coleman$^*$ | PF/C | United States | New Jersey Nets | Syracuse (Sr.) |
| 1 | 2 | Gary Payton$^^$ | PG | United States | Seattle SuperSonics (from Golden State via Seattle) | Oregon State (Sr.) |
| 1 | 3 | Chris Jackson | PG | United States | Denver Nuggets (from Miami) | LSU (So.) |
| 1 | 4 | Dennis Scott | SG/SF | United States | Orlando Magic | Georgia Tech (Jr.) |
| 1 | 5 | Kendall Gill | SG | United States | Charlotte Hornets | Illinois (Sr.) |
| 1 | 6 | Felton Spencer | C | United States | Minnesota Timberwolves | Louisville (Sr.) |
| 1 | 7 | Lionel Simmons | SF | United States | Sacramento Kings | La Salle (Sr.) |
| 1 | 8 | Bo Kimble | SG | United States | Los Angeles Clippers | Loyola Marymount (Sr.) |
| 1 | 9 | Willie Burton | SG | United States | Miami Heat (from Washington via Dallas and Denver) | Minnesota (Sr.) |
| 1 | 10 | Rumeal Robinson | PG | United States | Atlanta Hawks (from Golden State) | Michigan (Sr.) |
| 1 | 11 | Tyrone Hill$^+$ | PF | United States | Golden State Warriors (from Atlanta) | Xavier (Sr.) |
| 1 | 12 | Alec Kessler | PF | United States | Houston Rockets (traded to Miami for Carl Herrera and the rights to Dave Jamerson) | Georgia (Sr.) |
| 1 | 13 | Loy Vaught | PF | United States | Los Angeles Clippers (from Cleveland) | Michigan (Sr.) |
| 1 | 14 | Travis Mays | PG | United States | Sacramento Kings (from Indiana via Dallas) | Texas (Sr.) |
| 1 | 15 | Dave Jamerson | SG | United States | Miami Heat (from Denver; traded with Carl Herrera to Houston for the rights to Alec Kessler) | Ohio (Sr.) |
| 1 | 16 | Terry Mills | SF | United States | Milwaukee Bucks | Michigan (Sr.) |
| 1 | 17 | Jerrod Mustaf | PF/C | United States | New York Knicks | Maryland (Sr.) |
| 1 | 18 | Duane Causwell | C | United States | Sacramento Kings (from Dallas) | Temple (Sr.) |
| 1 | 19 | Dee Brown | SG | United States | Boston Celtics | Jacksonville (Sr.) |
| 1 | 20 | Gerald Glass | SF/SG | United States | Minnesota Timberwolves (from Philadelphia) | Ole Miss (Sr.) |
| 1 | 21 | Jayson Williams$^+$ | PF/C | United States | Phoenix Suns | St. John's (Sr.) |
| 1 | 22 | Tate George | SG | United States | New Jersey Nets (from Chicago) | Connecticut (Sr.) |
| 1 | 23 | Anthony Bonner | PF/SF | United States | Sacramento Kings (from Utah) | Saint Louis (Sr.) |
| 1 | 24 | Dwayne Schintzius | C | United States | San Antonio Spurs | Florida (Sr.) |
| 1 | 25 | Alaa Abdelnaby | PF | United States | Portland Trail Blazers | Duke (Sr.) |
| 1 | 26 | Lance Blanks | PG/SG | United States | Detroit Pistons | Texas (Sr.) |
| 1 | 27 | Elden Campbell | PF/C | United States | Los Angeles Lakers | Clemson (Sr.) |
| 2 | 28 | Les Jepsen | C | United States | Golden State Warriors | Iowa (Sr.) |
| 2 | 29 | Toni Kukoč$^^$ | SF | Yugoslavia | Chicago Bulls (from Orlando) | KK Split (Yugoslavia) |
| 2 | 30 | Carl Herrera | PF | Venezuela | Miami Heat | Houston (Jr.) |
| 2 | 31 | Negele Knight | PG | United States | Phoenix Suns | Dayton (Sr.) |
| 2 | 32 | Brian Oliver | SG | United States | Philadelphia 76ers | Georgia Tech (Sr.) |
| 2 | 33 | Walter Palmer | C | United States | Utah Jazz | Dartmouth (Sr.) |
| 2 | 34 | Kevin Pritchard | PG | United States | Golden State Warriors | Kansas (Sr.) |
| 2 | 35 | Greg Foster | PF/C | United States | Washington Bullets | UTEP (Sr.) |
| 2 | 36 | Trevor Wilson | SF | United States | Atlanta Hawks | UCLA (Sr.) |
| 2 | 37 | A. J. English | SG | United States | Washington Bullets | Virginia Union (Sr.) |
| 2 | 38 | Jud Buechler | SF | United States | Seattle SuperSonics | Arizona (Sr.) |
| 2 | 39 | Steve Scheffler | C/PF | United States | Charlotte Hornets | Purdue (Sr.) |
| 2 | 40 | Bimbo Coles | PG | United States | Sacramento Kings | Virginia Tech (Sr.) |
| 2 | 41 | Steve Bardo | SG | United States | Atlanta Hawks | Illinois (Sr.) |
| 2 | 42 | Marcus Liberty | SF | United States | Denver Nuggets | Illinois (So.) |
| 2 | 43 | Tony Massenburg | PF/C | United States | San Antonio Spurs | Maryland (Sr.) |
| 2 | 44 | Steve Henson | PG | United States | Milwaukee Bucks | Kansas State (Sr.) |
| 2 | 45 | Antonio Davis$^+$ | PF/C | United States | Indiana Pacers | UTEP (Sr.) |
| 2 | 46 | Kenny Williams | SF/PF | United States | Indiana Pacers | Barton CC (Fr.) |
| 2 | 47 | Derek Strong | PF | United States | Philadelphia 76ers | Xavier (Jr.) |
| 2 | 48 | Cedric Ceballos$^+$ | SF | United States | Phoenix Suns | Cal State Fullerton (Sr.) |
| 2 | 49 | Phil Henderson$^#$ | SG | United States | Dallas Mavericks | Duke (Sr.) |
| 2 | 50 | Miloš Babić | C | Yugoslavia | Phoenix Suns | Tennessee Tech (Jr.) |
| 2 | 51 | Tony Smith | SG/PG | United States | Los Angeles Lakers (from San Antonio) | Marquette (Sr.) |
| 2 | 52 | Stefano Rusconi | PF/C | Italy | Cleveland Cavaliers | Ranger Varese (Italy) |
| 2 | 53 | Abdul Shamsid-Deen$^#$ | C | United States | Seattle SuperSonics | Providence (Sr.) |
| 2 | 54 | Sean Higgins | SG/SF | United States | San Antonio Spurs (from L.A. Lakers) | Michigan (Jr.) |

## Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1990 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team |
| Keith Askins | F | United States | Alabama (Sr.) |
| Cedric Ball | SF | United States | Charlotte (Sr.) |
| David Benoit | SF | United States | Alabama (Sr.) |
| Matt Bullard | F | United States | Iowa (Sr.) |
| Rick Calloway | SG | United States | Kansas (Sr.) |
| Richard Coffey | SF | United States | Minnesota (Sr.) |
| Marty Conlon | PF/C | Ireland | Providence (Sr.) |
| Michael Curry | SG/SF | United States | Georgia Southern (Sr.) |
| Dan Godfread | C | United States | Evansville (Sr.) |
| Andrés Guibert | PF/C | Cuba | Cantera Instituto Manuel Fajardo (Cuba) |
| Tony Harris | SG | United States | New Orleans (Sr.) |
| Skeeter Henry | SG | United States | Oklahoma (Sr.) |
| Brian Howard | SF | United States | NC State (Sr.) |
| Kurk Lee | PG | United States | Towson (Sr.) |
| Ian Lockhart | SF | The Bahamas | Tennessee (Sr.) |
| Tharon Mayes | SG | United States | Florida State (Sr.) |
| Chris Munk | PF | United States | USC (Sr.) |
| Melvin Newbern | SG | United States | Minnesota (Sr.) |
| Dan O'Sullivan | C/PF | United States | Fordham (Sr.) |
| Alan Ogg | C | United States | UAB (Sr.) |
| Anthony Pullard | PF | United States | McNeese State (Sr.) |
| Eldridge Recasner | G | United States | Washington (Sr.) |
| Larry Robinson | SF/SG | United States | Centenary (Sr.) |
| Irving Thomas | PF | United States | Florida State (Sr.) |
| Stephen Thompson | SG | United States | Syracuse (Sr.) |
| Andy Toolson | SG/SF | United States | BYU (Sr.) |
| Scott Williams | C/PF | United States | North Carolina (Sr.) |

## Early entrants
### College underclassmen

For the eighth year in a row and the twelfth time in thirteen years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would be the fifth year in a row where a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, with former Grambling State University player Jesse Spinner going to Austria to play professionally for the Sefra Tyrolia. Including him, that expands the number of underclassmen for this year out to fourteen total players. Regardless, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
* Kelvin Ardister – F, Idaho (junior)
* Herb Barthol – C, Cleveland State (junior)
* Gabriel Estaba – F, South Alabama (junior)
* David Shon Henderson – G, Idaho (junior)
* Carl Herrera – F, Houston (junior)
* Sean Higgins – F, Michigan (junior)
* Chris Jackson – G, LSU (sophomore)
* Marcus Liberty – F, Illinois (junior)
* Kenny Miller – F, Barton County CC (junior)
* Jerrod Mustaf – F, Maryland (sophomore)
* Dennis Scott – F, Georgia Tech (junior)
* Per Stumer – F, Loyola Marymount (junior)
* Kenny Williams – F, Elizabeth City State (sophomore)

### Other eligible players

This would be the fifth year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman, as well as the first year where a player didn't go out to either Italy or France to play overseas professionally first.
| Player | Team | Note | Ref. |
| Jesse Spinner | Sefra Tyrolia (Austria) | Left Grambling State in 1988; playing professionally since the 1989–90 season | |