The 1991 NBA draft took place on June 26, 1991, in New York City, New York. Larry Johnson was selected first overall; he won the 1992 NBA Rookie of the Year award and as a two-time All-Star, was the first player to represent the Charlotte Hornets franchise at an All-Star game.
Dikembe Mutombo was selected fourth overall, and became one of the greatest defensive centers in the history of the league. He was a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner and an eight-time All-Star, and played in the league for 18 seasons.
Other notable picks include Kenny Anderson, Steve Smith, Terrell Brandon, Dale Davis and Chris Gatling, who all made All-Star appearances, but with the exception of Brandon at two, each only appeared once.
The remaining picks in the first round failed to make an impact. Billy Owens was selected by the Sacramento Kings but refused to sign with them. He was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for high-scoring guard Mitch Richmond. Owens was solid but unspectacular in his career, while Richmond was a six-time All-Star and was the 1989 NBA Rookie of the Year. Luc Longley was a three-time NBA Championship winner with the Chicago Bulls and held the record for playing the most NBA games by an Australian (broken by Andrew Bogut during the 2015–16 season).
As of 2024, three players are deceased: Bobby Phills, Bison Dele, and Dikembe Mutombo. Phills died in a car accident involving teammate David Wesley. Dele disappeared in the South Pacific in July 2002, with French authorities claiming that Dele's brother had killed Dele and his girlfriend and thrown them overboard the catamaran they were travelling on. Dele's brother committed suicide in September 2002. Mutombo died from brain cancer on September 30, 2024.
This was the last draft held in New York City until 2001.
Notable undrafted players
These eligible players were not selected in the 1991 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.
Early entrants
College underclassmen
For the ninth year in a row and the thirteenth time in fourteen years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would be the second time in NBA history (and the second time in three years) where an international player would be considered a direct underclassman to participate in an NBA draft, with Žan Tabak of the KK POP 84 of the Eastern Bloc nation known as SFR Yugoslavia (now since separated, with Tabak representing Croatia) being the second ever international underclassman to be taken directly from an overseas team without previously going to an American college or playing for any prior American institution (the first being fellow Yugoslavian Vlade Divac). In addition to that, this was also the sixth straight year where at least one player that previously played basketball collegiately would go play professionally overseas, with Richard Dumas from Oklahoma State University would play for Hapoel Holon B.C. in Israel, the Israeli born Nadav Henefeld from the University of Connecticut would play for the rivaling Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. in his home nation, and Stanley Roberts from Louisiana State University would play for Real Madrid Baloncesto in Spain. Including those four people, the total number of underclassmen would increase from ten to fourteen players. Regardless, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
- Kenny Anderson – G, Georgia Tech (sophomore)
- Terrell Brandon – G, Oregon (junior)
- Tony Farmer – F, Nebraska (junior)
- Jerome Harmon – G, Louisville (junior)
- Donald Hodge – C, Temple (junior)
- Anderson Hunt – G, UNLV (junior)
- Raoul Hutchens – G, Whittier (junior)
- Ty Moseler – G, Waukesha County Tech (sophomore)
- Chancellor Nichols – F, James Madison (junior)
- Billy Owens – F, Syracuse (junior)
- Brian Williams – F/C, Arizona (junior)
International players
This would be the second time in NBA history where an international born and raised player would be considered an underclassman in an NBA draft, as well as the second time a player from the now-former nation of SFR Yugoslavia would enter the NBA draft as such a player. The following international player successfully applied for early draft entrance.
- / Žan Tabak – C, Split (Yugoslavia)
Other eligible players
This would be the sixth 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 multiple underclassmen that went overseas to play professionally would play in the same nation as each other (albeit for different teams).
Invited attendees
The 1991 NBA draft is considered to be the fourteenth 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 somewhere within the main building of the Madison Square Garden), 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 14 prospects at the time. Despite the large amount of invites and them successfully avoiding any inviting prospects waiting into the second round (to the point where the only error in mind from getting a perfectly ordered invited attendees line-up was leaving out Dale Davis from Clemson University), two notable absences from this group include the aforementioned Dale Davis from Clemson University and Chris Gatling from Old Dominion University, making this the most accurate green room draft invite list for the NBA yet. Even so, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.
- Kenny Anderson – PG, Georgia Tech
- Greg Anthony – PG, UNLV
- Stacey Augmon – SG/SF, UNLV
- Anthony Avent – PF, Seton Hall
- Terrell Brandon – PG, Oregon
- Larry Johnson – PF, UNLV
- Rich King – C, Nebraska
- Luc Longley – C, New Mexico
- Mark Macon – SG, Temple
- / Dikembe Mutombo – C, Georgetown
- Billy Owens – SF, Syracuse
- Doug Smith – PF, Missouri
- Steve Smith – SG, Michigan State
- Brian Williams – PF/C, Arizona