The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their inaugural season.
Danny Manning was picked first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers and later became a two-time All-Star and a Sixth Man of the Year winner. However, injuries prevented him from fulfilling his potential, despite playing 15 seasons. Mitch Richmond, the fifth pick, went on to earn six All-Star and five All-NBA team selections, while also winning Rookie of the Year. Other notable selections include All-Stars Rik Smits, Hersey Hawkins and Dan Majerle, as well as nine-time NBA champion Steve Kerr, who achieved championship success as a player (five championships) and as a coach (four championships).
Notable undrafted players
This section is for players who were eligible for the 1988 NBA draft, did not get selected, but still later appeared in at least one NBA regular season or postseason game.
Early entrants
College underclassmen
For the sixth year in a row and the tenth time in eleven years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, for the third time in a row, there would be at least one player that qualified for the status of "college underclassman" while playing professional basketball overseas. In this case, three players ended up qualifying for this case with Lloyd Daniels leaving Mt. San Antonio College to play for the Waitemata Dolphins in New Zealand, the Argentinian born Hernán Montenegro leaving Louisiana State University to play for Olimpo de Bahía Blanca in his home land of Argentina, and Eddie Pope leaving the University of Southern Mississippi to play for Saint-Étienne Basket in France. If you include those three players, the number of college underclassmen increases from nine to twelve total players for this year. Regardless, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
- Marvin Alexander – F, Memphis (junior)
- Rex Chapman – G, Kentucky (sophomore)
- Sylvester Gray – F, Memphis (sophomore)
- Tito Horford – C, Miami (Florida) (sophomore)
- Mike Jones – F, Auburn (junior)
- Jerome Lane – F, Pittsburgh (junior)
- Dwayne Lewis – G, Marshall (junior)
- Charles Shackleford – F/C, NC State (junior)
- Rod Strickland – G, DePaul (junior)
Other eligible players
This would be the third year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman. However, it would be the second year in a row where multiple players would qualify for such a feat and the first where none of the underclassmen players would play in Italy after the previous two drafts had a player go to Italy first before being drafted. It was also the second year where a foreign-born player would qualify as an underclassman while also playing for an international team and the first time it happened while said player was playing for what would be considered his home nation.
Invited attendees
The 1988 NBA draft is considered to be the eleventh NBA draft to have utilized what's properly considered the "green room" experience for NBA prospects. The NBA's green room is a staging area where anticipated draftees often sit with their families and representatives, waiting for their names to be called on draft night. Often being positioned either in front of or to the side of the podium (in this case, being positioned in the Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum for the seventh year in a row), once a player heard his name, he would walk to the podium to shake hands and take promotional photos with the NBA commissioner. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. However, once the NBA draft started to air nationally on TV starting with the 1980 NBA draft, the green room evolved from players waiting to hear their name called and then shaking hands with these select players who were often called to the hotel to take promotional pictures with the NBA commissioner a day or two after the draft concluded to having players in real-time waiting to hear their names called up and then shaking hands with David Stern, the NBA's commissioner at the time. The NBA compiled its list of green room invites through collective voting by the NBA's team presidents and general managers alike, which in this year's case belonged to only what they believed were the top 17 prospects at the time. Despite the large amount of invites, two notable absences from this group include Dan Majerle from Central Michigan University and Anthony Mason from Tennessee State University, with Shelton Jones waiting into the second round himself. Even so, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.
- Mark Bryant – PF, Seton Hall
- Rex Chapman – SG, Kentucky
- Harvey Grant – SF, Oklahoma
- Gary Grant – PG, Michigan
- Jeff Grayer – SG/SF, Iowa State
- Hersey Hawkins – SG, Bradley
- Shelton Jones – SF, St. John's
- Danny Manning – PF, Kansas
- Chris Morris – SF, Auburn
- Will Perdue – C, Vanderbilt
- Tim Perry – PF/C, Temple
- Mitch Richmond – SG, Kansas State
- David Rivers – PG, Notre Dame
- / Rony Seikaly – C, Syracuse
- Charles Smith – PF, Pittsburgh
- Rik Smits – C, Marist
- Rod Strickland – PG, DePaul