# 2003 NBA draft

The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the 2003 NBA draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who had a 22.50 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won the NBA draft lottery on May 22, and Cleveland chairman Gordon Gund said afterward his team would select LeBron James, and they did. The Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets were second and third, respectively. This draft was the first draft to be aired on ESPN after they picked up the license from TNT.
The 2003 draftees represented one of the deepest talent pools in NBA history. The draft contained 15 players who combined for 26 championships. Four of the top five picks are NBA All-Stars and "Redeem Team" Olympic Gold Medalists: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James.

## Overview

Four of the top five picks of the 2003 draft became NBA All-Stars and "Redeem Team" Olympic Gold Medalists: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James. Nine players have participated in an All-Star Game. Dwyane Wade was named NBA Finals MVP in 2006 and won NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2006, 2012 and 2013, as well as the NBA All Star Game MVP in 2010. Boris Diaw won the Most Improved Player Award in 2006, Jason Kapono won the three point shootout in back-to-back years in 2007 and 2008, James Jones won the three point shootout in 2011, Leandro Barbosa won the Sixth Man Award in 2007, Kyle Korver set the NBA record for three point shooting percentage in 2010 (53.6%), and in the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013 seasons, LeBron James won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, and the NBA Finals MVP in 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2020. Carmelo Anthony won the 2013 NBA scoring title and was the only player in NBA history to win at least three Olympic gold medals until Kevin Durant won his third one in 2021. Zaza Pachulia and David West won NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. Matt Bonner won NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007 and 2014. Dahntay Jones and Mo Williams won the NBA championship in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Luke Walton won three NBA championships, two as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and one as an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2015. Chris Bosh left the Toronto Raptors in 2010 as its all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks, double doubles, free throws made and attempted, and minutes played; he went on to win championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.
The 2003 draft class has drawn comparisons to the 1984 and 1996 NBA draft classes but is also known for the Detroit Pistons' selection of Darko Miličić with the second overall pick over other prospects who went on to have much more success in the league. As of 2025, LeBron James is the only remaining active player from the 2003 draft class.
Eleven of the players selected in this draft never played in an NBA game throughout their professional basketball careers. Two of those players were the sole selection of the draft by their respective teams: Malick Badiane (Houston's only pick) and Paccelis Morlende (Philadelphia's only pick).

## 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 |
| $^#$ | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
| $^~$ | Denotes player who has been selected as Rookie of the Year |
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 1 | LeBron James*$^~$ | SF/PF | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | St. Vincent–St. Mary HS (Akron, Ohio) |
| 1 | 2 | Darko Miličić | C | Serbia and Montenegro | Detroit Pistons (from Memphis) | Hemofarm Vršac (Serbia and Montenegro) |
| 1 | 3 | Carmelo Anthony* | SF/PF | United States | Denver Nuggets | Syracuse (Fr.) |
| 1 | 4 | Chris Bosh^ | PF/C | United States | Toronto Raptors | Georgia Tech (Fr.) |
| 1 | 5 | Dwyane Wade^ | SG | United States | Miami Heat | Marquette (Jr.) |
| 1 | 6 | Chris Kaman$^+$ | C | United States | Los Angeles Clippers | Central Michigan (Jr.) |
| 1 | 7 | Kirk Hinrich | PG | United States | Chicago Bulls | Kansas (Sr.) |
| 1 | 8 | T. J. Ford | PG | United States | Milwaukee Bucks (from Atlanta) | Texas (So.) |
| 1 | 9 | Michael Sweetney | PF | United States | New York Knicks | Georgetown (Jr.) |
| 1 | 10 | Jarvis Hayes | F/G | United States | Washington Wizards | Georgia (Jr.) |
| 1 | 11 | Mickaël Piétrus | G/F | France | Golden State Warriors | Pau-Orthez (France) |
| 1 | 12 | Nick Collison | PF | United States | Seattle SuperSonics | Kansas (Sr.) |
| 1 | 13 | Marcus Banks | PG | United States | Memphis Grizzlies (from Houston, traded to Boston) | UNLV (Sr) |
| 1 | 14 | Luke Ridnour | PG | United States | Seattle SuperSonics (from Milwaukee) | Oregon (Jr) |
| 1 | 15 | Reece Gaines | F/G | United States | Orlando Magic | Louisville (Sr) |
| 1 | 16 | Troy Bell | PG | United States | Boston Celtics (traded to Memphis) | Boston College (Sr) |
| 1 | 17 | Žarko Čabarkapa | SF | Serbia and Montenegro | Phoenix Suns | Budućnost Podgorica (Serbia and Montenegro and Adriatic League) |
| 1 | 18 | David West$^+$ | PF | United States | New Orleans Hornets | Xavier (Sr) |
| 1 | 19 | Sasha Pavlović | F/G | Serbia and Montenegro | Utah Jazz | Budućnost Podgorica (Serbia and Montenegro and Adriatic League) |
| 1 | 20 | Dahntay Jones | SG | United States | Boston Celtics (from Philadelphia, traded to Memphis) | Duke (Sr) |
| 1 | 21 | Boris Diaw | PF | France | Atlanta Hawks (from Indiana) | Pau-Orthez (France) |
| 1 | 22 | Zoran Planinić | G/F | Croatia | New Jersey Nets | Cibona Zagreb (Croatia and Adriatic League) |
| 1 | 23 | Travis Outlaw | SF | United States | Portland Trail Blazers | Starkville HS (Starkville, Mississippi) |
| 1 | 24 | Brian Cook | PF | United States | Los Angeles Lakers | Illinois (Sr) |
| 1 | 25 | Carlos Delfino | SG | Argentina | Detroit Pistons | Skipper Bologna (Italy) |
| 1 | 26 | Ndudi Ebi | SF | United Kingdom Nigeria | Minnesota Timberwolves | Westbury Christian HS (Houston, Texas) |
| 1 | 27 | Kendrick Perkins | C | United States | Memphis Grizzlies (from Sacramento via Orlando, traded to Boston) | Ozen HS (Beaumont, Texas) |
| 1 | 28 | Leandro Barbosa | SG | Brazil | San Antonio Spurs (traded to Phoenix) | Bauru Tilibra (Brazil) |
| 1 | 29 | Josh Howard$^+$ | F/G | United States | Dallas Mavericks | Wake Forest (Sr) |
| 2 | 30 | Maciej Lampe | PF | Poland | New York Knicks (from Denver) | Complutense University of Madrid (Spain) |
| 2 | 31 | Jason Kapono | F/G | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | UCLA (Sr) |
| 2 | 32 | Luke Walton | SF | United States | Los Angeles Lakers (from Toronto) | Arizona (Sr) |
| 2 | 33 | Jerome Beasley | PF | United States | Miami Heat | North Dakota (Sr) |
| 2 | 34 | Sofoklis Schortsanitis$^#$ | C | Greece | Los Angeles Clippers | Iraklis BC (Greece) |
| 2 | 35 | Szymon Szewczyk$^#$ | PF | Poland | Milwaukee Bucks (from Memphis) | Braunschweig (Germany) |
| 2 | 36 | Mario Austin$^#$ | PF | United States | Chicago Bulls | Mississippi State (Jr) |
| 2 | 37 | Travis Hansen | SG | United States | Atlanta Hawks | BYU (Sr) |
| 2 | 38 | Steve Blake | PG | United States | Washington Wizards | Maryland (Sr) |
| 2 | 39 | Slavko Vraneš | C | Serbia and Montenegro | New York Knicks | Budućnost Podgorica (Serbia and Montenegro and Adriatic League) |
| 2 | 40 | Derrick Zimmerman | PG | United States | Golden State Warriors | Mississippi State (Sr) |
| 2 | 41 | Willie Green | SG | United States | Seattle SuperSonics (traded to Philadelphia) | Detroit (Sr) |
| 2 | 42 | Zaza Pachulia | PF | Georgia | Orlando Magic | Ülkerspor (Turkey) |
| 2 | 43 | Keith Bogans | SG | United States | Milwaukee Bucks (traded to Orlando) | Kentucky (Sr) |
| 2 | 44 | Malick Badiane$^#$ | PF | Senegal | Houston Rockets | Langen (Germany) |
| 2 | 45 | Matt Bonner | F | United States | Chicago Bulls (from Phoenix, traded to Toronto) | Florida (Sr) |
| 2 | 46 | Sani Bečirović$^#$ | SG | Slovenia | Denver Nuggets (from Boston) | Virtus Bologna (Italy) |
| 2 | 47 | Mo Williams$^+$ | PG | United States | Utah Jazz | Alabama (So) |
| 2 | 48 | James Lang | C | United States | New Orleans Hornets | Central Park Christian HS (Birmingham, Alabama) |
| 2 | 49 | James Jones | SF | United States | Indiana Pacers | Miami (Florida) (Sr) |
| 2 | 50 | Paccelis Morlende$^#$ | PG | France | Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Seattle) | Dijon (France) |
| 2 | 51 | Kyle Korver$^+$ | SG | United States | New Jersey Nets (traded to Philadelphia) | Creighton (Sr) |
| 2 | 52 | Remon van de Hare | C | Netherlands | Toronto Raptors (from Los Angeles Lakers) | FC Barcelona (Spain) |
| 2 | 53 | Tommy Smith$^#$ | PF | United States | Chicago Bulls (from Detroit via Miami) | Arizona State (Sr) |
| 2 | 54 | Nedžad Sinanović$^#$ | C | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Portland Trail Blazers | Brotnjo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
| 2 | 55 | Rick Rickert$^#$ | PF | United States | Minnesota Timberwolves | Minnesota (So) |
| 2 | 56 | Brandon Hunter | PF | United States | Boston Celtics (from Sacramento) | Ohio (Sr) |
| 2 | 57 | Xue Yuyang$^#$ | C | China | Dallas Mavericks (traded to Denver) | Hong Kong Flying Dragons (China) |
| 2 | 58 | Andreas Glyniadakis | C | Greece | Detroit Pistons (from San Antonio) | AEK (Greece) |
* ↑ Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according to FIBA rules.
^ a: Chris Kaman was born in the United States, but also has German citizenship through his great-grandparents and competes internationally for Germany.

## Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 2003 NBA draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School/club team |
| Earl Barron | C | United States | Memphis (Sr.) |
| Kevin Burleson | PG | United States | Minnesota (Sr.) |
| José Calderón | PG | Spain | Tau Cerámica (Spain) |
| Matt Carroll | SG | United States | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
| Marquis Daniels | SG | United States | Auburn (Sr.) |
| Ronald Dupree | SF | United States | LSU (Sr.) |
| Noel Felix | PF | United States Belize | Fresno State (Sr.) |
| Hiram Fuller | PF | United States Libya | Fresno State (Sr.) |
| Britton Johnsen | SF/PF | United States | Utah (Sr.) |
| Desmond Penigar | PF | United States | Utah State (Sr.) |
| Kirk Penney | SG/SF | New Zealand | Wisconsin (Sr.) |
| Josh Powell | PF | United States | NC State (So.) |
| Kasib Powell | SF | United States | Texas Tech (Sr.) |
| Quinton Ross | SG | United States | SMU (Sr.) |
| Melvin Sanders | SG/SF | United States | Oklahoma State (Sr.) |
| James Singleton | SF/PF | United States | Murray State (Sr.) |
| Theron Smith | SF/PF | United States | Ball State (Sr.) |

## Draft lottery

| ^ | Denotes the actual lottery result |
| Team | 2002–03 record | Lottery | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities | Lottery probabilities |
| Team | 2002–03 record | Lottery | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 17–65 | 225 | .225^ | .215 | .178 | .357 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Denver Nuggets | 17–65 | 225 | .225 | .188 | .171^ | .319 | .123 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Toronto Raptors | 24–58 | 157 | .157 | .157 | .156 | .226^ | .265 | .040 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Miami Heat | 25–57 | 120 | .120 | .126 | .133 | .099 | .350^ | .161 | .013 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 28–54 | 89 | .089 | .097 | .107 | — | .261 | .360^ | .084 | .004 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 28–54 | 64 | .064 | .071^ | .081 | — | — | .440 | .304 | .040 | .001 | — | — | — | — |
| Chicago Bulls | 30–52 | 44 | .044 | .049 | .058 | — | — | — | .599^ | .232 | .018 | .000 | — | — | — |
| Atlanta Hawks | 35–47 | 29 | .029 | .022 | .027 | — | — | — | — | .724^ | .197 | .011 | .000 | — | — |
| New York Knicks | 37-45 | 15 | .015 | .022 | .027 | — | — | — | — | — | .784^ | .143 | .005 | .000 | — |
| Washington Wizards | 37-45 | 14 | .014 | .021 | .025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | .846^ | .087 | .002 | .000 |
| Golden State Warriors | 38–44 | 7 | .007 | .009 | .012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .907^ | .063 | .001 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 40–42 | 6 | .006 | .008 | .010 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .935^ | .039 |
| Houston Rockets | 43–39 | 5 | .005 | .007 | .009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .960^ |

## Early entrants
### College underclassmen

In terms of underclassmen declaring for this year's draft, the number of players available for entry this year would increase up to 73 after previously being down a bit the previous year. However, it would also see the most withdrawn entries from underclassmen either in college, overseas, or even high school in the case of Charlie Villanueva with 27 total people doing exactly that. As such, there would actually be 46 underclassmen that qualified as such for this year's draft, which would be an overall step down when compared to last year's official number of underclassmen entering the NBA draft. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
* Chris Alexander – C, Iowa State (junior)
* Carmelo Anthony – F, Syracuse (freshman)
* Mario Austin – F, Mississippi State (junior)
* Ronald Blackshear – G, Marshall (junior)
* Chris Bosh – F, Georgia Tech (freshman)
* Lamar Castile – G, CC of Beaver County (sophomore)
* Rod Edwards – G, Ouachita Baptist (junior)
* Carl English – G, Hawaii (junior)
* T. J. Ford – G, Texas (sophomore)
* Zack Fray – F, Santa Ana (sophomore)
* Jonathan Hargett – G, West Virginia (freshman)
* David Hamilton – F, Salem International (junior)
* Jarvis Hayes – F/G, Georgia (junior)
* Maurice Jackson – F, Texas–Permian (junior)
* Richard Jeter – G, Atlanta Metro (sophomore)
* Chris Kaman – C, Central Michigan (junior)
* Josh Powell – F, NC State (sophomore)
* Rick Rickert – F, Minnesota (sophomore)
* Luke Ridnour – G, Oregon (junior)
* Rob Smith – F, North Carolina Wesleyan (junior)
* Michael Sweetney – F, Georgetown (junior)
* Dwyane Wade – G, Marquette (junior)
* Mo Williams – G, Alabama (sophomore)
* Doug Wrenn – F/G, Washington (junior)

### High school players

This would be the ninth straight year in a row where at least one high school player would declare their entry into the NBA draft directly out of high school after previously only allowing it one time back in 1975. However, it would be one of the most famous ones due to the entry of high school phenom LeBron James entering the NBA draft this year, being the second high schooler to be drafted at #1 behind only Kwame Brown back in 2001, as well as being the second high schooler to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award behind Amar'e Stoudemire only a year prior. This draft also saw a high schooler named Charlie Villanueva initially enter for the NBA draft, but withdraw his name and go to college before the draft began. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
* Ndudi Ebi – F, Westbury Christian School (Houston, Texas)
* LeBron James – G, St. Vincent–St. Mary High School (Akron, Ohio)
* James Lang – F, Central Park Christian High School (Birmingham, Alabama)
* Travis Outlaw – F, Starkville High School (Starkville, Mississippi)
* Kendrick Perkins – F, Clifton J. Ozen High School (Beaumont, Texas)

### International players

The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
* Malick Badiane – F, Langen (Germany)
* Leandro Barbosa – G, Bauru Tilibra (Brazil)
* Carlos Delfino – G, Skipper Bologna (Italy)
* Boris Diaw – F, Pau-Orthez (France)
* Maciej Lampe – F, Universidad Complutense (Spain)
* Darko Miličić – F, Hemofarm Vršac (Serbia and Montenegro)
* Zaza Pachulia – F/C, Ülker (Turkey)
* Aleksandar Pavlović – G/F, Budućnost (Serbia and Montenegro)
* Mickaël Piétrus – G, Pau-Orthez (France)
* Zoran Planinić – G, Cibona (Croatia)
* Sofoklis Schortsanitis – F, Iraklis (Greece)
* Nedžad Sinanović – C, Brotnjo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* Jón Arnór Stefánsson – G, Trier (Germany)
* Szymon Szewczyk – F, Braunschweig (Germany)
* Remon van de Hare – C/F, FC Barcelona (Spain)
* Slavko Vraneš – C, Budućnost (Serbia and Montenegro)
* Xue Yuyang – F, Hong Kong Flying Dragons (China)