The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001, in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the Washington Wizards, over players that have gone on to have more successful NBA careers, has been a source of great criticism by numerous media outlets. Several international players from this draft, Pau Gasol (Spain), Tony Parker (France) and Mehmet Okur (Turkey), became NBA All-Stars.
The Minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round pick due to salary cap violations. It would be the first of two first rounders that would have to forfeit their picks during the early 2000s.
Eight of the players selected in this draft would never play in an NBA game in their professional basketball careers. Both of the players drafted by the New York Knicks (Michael Wright and Eric Chenowith) were among this group.
The final remaining active player from this draft was Joe Johnson, who retired from the NBA following the 2022 season. Thus, no active players remain from this class.
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.
Early entrants
College underclassmen
This year would officially mark the very first year where the number of underclassmen that declared their entry into the NBA draft would exceed the number of selections made with 75 players that fit the underclassmen criteria declaring their initial entry for the NBA draft. However, it would also mark the largest number of dropped players yet with 23 of those players either coming from college or overseas deciding to withdraw from the draft for one reason or another. The following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
- Gilbert Arenas – G, Arizona (sophomore)
- Brandon Armstrong – G, Pepperdine (junior)
- Malcolm Battles – F, Point Mark (junior)
- Tavorris Bell – F, Rhode Island (junior)
- Preston Bennett – F, Grayson (freshman)
- Michael Bradley – F, Villanova (junior)
- Jamison Brewer – G, Auburn (sophomore)
- Kedrick Brown – F, Okaloosa-Walton CC (sophomore)
- SirValiant Brown – G, George Washington (sophomore)
- Nick Burwell – G, Orange Coast (sophomore)
- Jason Collins – C, Stanford (junior)
- Omar Cook – G, St. John's (freshman)
- Samuel Dalembert – C/F, Seton Hall (sophomore)
- Maurice Evans – G, Texas (junior)
- Benjamin Eze – F, Southern Idaho (freshman)
- Alton Ford – F, Houston (freshman)
- Joseph Forte – G, North Carolina (sophomore)
- Jerry Green – G, UC Irvine (junior)
- Eddie Griffin – F, Seton Hall (freshman)
- Rob Griffin – F, Kentucky Wesleyan (junior)
- Trenton Hassell – G, Austin Peay (junior)
- Kirk Haston – F, Indiana (junior)
- Draper Housley – G, Lee College (sophomore)
- Steven Hunter – C/F, DePaul (sophomore)
- Richard Jefferson – F, Arizona (junior)
- Joe Johnson – F/G, Arkansas (sophomore)
- D. A. Layne – G, Georgia (junior)
- Zach Marbury – G, Rhode Island (sophomore)
- Jamario Moon – F, Meridian (freshman)
- Troy Murphy – F, Notre Dame (junior)
- Zach Randolph – F, Michigan State (freshman)
- Jason Richardson – G, Michigan State (sophomore)
- Kenny Satterfield – G, Cincinnati (sophomore)
- Bobby Simmons – F, DePaul (junior)
- Will Solomon – G, Clemson (junior)
- Clifton Terry – F, Kennedy–King (sophomore)
- Gerald Wallace – F/G, Alabama (freshman)
- Rodney White – F, Charlotte (freshman)
- Michael Wright – F, Arizona (junior)
High school players
This would be the seventh 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. This year would also mark the year with the highest amount of players coming directly out of high school yet with six players deciding to make the jump into an opportunity at the NBA (though only five of them would get it). Not only that, but it marked the first time that a high schooler would be taken as the #1 pick of the NBA draft. The following high school players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
- Kwame Brown – F, Glynn Academy (Brunswick, Georgia)
- Tyson Chandler – F/C, Dominguez High School (Compton, California)
- Ousmane Cisse – F, St. Jude Educational Institute (Montgomery, Alabama)
- Eddy Curry – C/F, Thornwood High School (South Holland, Illinois)
- DeSagana Diop – C, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
- Tony Key – C, Centennial High School (Compton, California)
International players
The following international players successfully applied for early draft entrance.
- Denis Ershov – C, Pulkovo Saint Petersburg (Russia)
- Antonis Fotsis – F, Panathinaikos (Greece)
- Pau Gasol – F, FC Barcelona (Spain)
- Raül López – G, Real Madrid (Spain)
- Tony Parker – G, Paris Basket Racing (France)
- Vladimir Radmanović – F, FMP (FR Yugoslavia)
Invited attendees
The 2001 NBA draft is considered to be the 23rd NBA draft to have utilized what is 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 Theater at 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 lower amount of invites for this year's draft when compared to the previous couple of drafts, there would still be a notable amount of discrepancies involved, such as an invitation being given out to Brendan Haywood instead of the actual 13th pick of the draft, Richard Jefferson, alongside multiple All-Stars and All-NBA talents like Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, Hall of Famer Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, and Mehmet Okur. Not only that, but it would also showcase the most high school players that would be invited into the Green Room by this point in time with four players being invited and later selected into the Top 10, including three players in the Top 4 and both Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler being considered the top two picks of the draft at the time. With that in mind, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.
- Shane Battier – SF, Duke
- Kedrick Brown – SF, Okaloosa-Walton Community College
- Kwame Brown – PF, Glynn Academy (Brunswick, Georgia)
- Tyson Chandler – C, Dominguez High School (Compton, California)
- Eddy Curry – SG, Thornwood High School (South Holland, Illinois)
- DeSagana Diop – C, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
- Pau Gasol – C, FC Barcelona Bàsquet (Spain)
- Eddie Griffin – PF, Seton Hall
- Brendan Haywood – C, North Carolina
- Joe Johnson – SG, Arkansas
- Troy Murphy – PF, Notre Dame
- // Vladimir Radmanović – PF, KK FMP (Yugoslavia)
- Jason Richardson – SG, Michigan State
- Rodney White – SF/PF, Charlotte