1982 NBA draft

The #1 selection from this year's draft, James Worthy, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers despite them being one of the best teams in the NBA the previous season.

Their selection at #1 this year related to a previous trade that the Lakers made with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which had them trading their first round pick for Don Ford back in 1979.

Meanwhile, continued first round trade considerations that the Cavaliers' owner at the time, Ted Stepien, led to the NBA stopping any further trades with him and the team's draft picks before he traded selections throughout the entire decade, as well as led to the creation of the Ted Stepien Rule forbidding teams of trading first round draft picks in back-to-back years unless a team had a different first round pick that they kept during that time.

For the first time since 1978, a player that had previously qualified for entry in the NBA draft as a college underclassman (in this case, a Nigerian born player from Sam Houston State University named Yommy Sangodeyi) would later withdraw his entry into the draft pool.

The following twelve college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance otherwise.

A man, wearing a gray suit, a shirt and a tie, is clapping his hands while looking up.
James Worthy was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Lakers .
A man wearing a buttoned shirt stands in front of a vine and smiles.
Clark Kellogg was selected eighth overall by the Indiana Pacers .
Fat Lever was selected eleventh overall by the Portland Trail Blazers .
Corny Thompson was selected 50th overall by the Dallas Mavericks .
Mark Eaton was selected 72nd overall by the Utah Jazz .
Tony Brown was selected 82nd overall by the New Jersey Nets .