NBA Draft Day is the biggest night of the lives of 60 young players that finally get to see their NBA dreams come true. They spent their entire childhood in preparation for that moment, so everyone wants to know whether they’ll be selected and where they’re gonna end up.
Just like it’ll apply to the 2023 Class on Thursday, it did to the 1999 NBA Draft class when their day came. Former NBA Champion Richard Hamilton revealed that Baron Davis leaked the 1999 draft order to him, prompting him to fire his agent.
Rip Hamilton: “My man BD, he came into my room and was like, ‘Man, you going to the Wizards.’ I’m like, How you know?”
Baron Davis: “So I go knock on Rip like, ‘Hey, I think you bout to go to Washington.’ He was like, ‘f*ck you mean? Who told you that?’ I’m like, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m telling you like, trust me.'”
Rip Hamilton: “He is like, ‘Man, I’m going to Charlotte, Steve Francis is going to get drafted by Vancouver.’ I’m like, ‘bro how do you know?’ He’s like, ‘My agent told me.’ I said you gotta be kidding me, started looking at my agent crazy because, after the draft, I end up firing my agent because of the information that Baron Davis had that my agent didn’t have. I was thinking like, ‘How come you don’t know this man? How’s he come to tell me that?'”
Agents provide crucial information to their clients during the draft, including what their stock is looking like and teams that will possibly draft them. The fact that Hamilton didn’t know Washington was going to select him when others knew had to be a shock to his system.
For what it’s worth, Davis did have accurate information. Steve Francis went No. 2 to Vancouver, Davis went No. 3 to Charlotte, and Hamilton went No. 7 to Washington.
The 1999 Draft Class Was Packed With Talent
The impact of the 1999 NBA Draft on the NBA through the 2000s was significant, with many players selected this year playing crucial roles in championship teams. Hamilton himself went on to win a title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Other notable lottery picks, along with the three we mentioned were Elton Brand (No. 1), Lamar Odom (No. 4), Wally Sczerbiak (No. 6), Andre Miller (No. 8), and Shawn Marion (No. 9), and Jason Terry (No. 10). The class gets deeper with Ron Artest (No. 16) and Andrei Kirilenko (No. 24). The best came towards the end of the class, as future Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili was selected No. 57 as the second last pick.
These players combined 14 All-Star appearances, seven All-NBA appearances, and eight NBA championships.
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