1981 NBA Draft
Every pick from the 1981 NBA Draft, with the selecting team and college or prior team.
| Pick | Rd | Team | Player | College/From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | DAL | Mark Aguirre | DePaul |
| 2 | 1 | DET | Isiah Thomas | Indiana |
| 3 | 1 | NJN | Buck Williams | Maryland |
| 4 | 1 | ATL | Al Wood | UNC |
| 5 | 1 | SEA | Danny Vranes | Utah |
| 6 | 1 | CHI | Orlando Woolridge | Notre Dame |
| 7 | 1 | KCK | Steve Johnson | Oregon State |
| 8 | 1 | SDC | Tom Chambers | Utah |
| 9 | 1 | DAL | Rolando Blackman | Kansas State |
| 10 | 1 | NJN | Albert King | Maryland |
| 11 | 1 | WSB | Frank Johnson | Wake Forest |
| 12 | 1 | DET | Kelly Tripucka | Notre Dame |
| 13 | 1 | UTA | Danny Schayes | Syracuse |
| 14 | 1 | IND | Herb Williams | Ohio State |
| 15 | 1 | POR | Jeff Lamp | Virginia |
| 16 | 1 | POR | Darnell Valentine | Kansas |
| 17 | 1 | KCK | Kevin Loder | Alabama State University |
| 18 | 1 | NJN | Ray Tolbert | Indiana |
| 19 | 1 | LAL | Mike McGee | Michigan |
| 20 | 1 | PHX | Larry Nance | Clemson |
| 21 | 1 | MIL | Alton Lister | Arizona State |
| 22 | 1 | PHI | Franklin Edwards | Cleveland State University |
| 23 | 1 | BOS | Charles Bradley | Wyoming |
| 24 | 2 | DAL | Jay Vincent | Michigan State |
| 25 | 2 | BOS | Tracy Jackson | Notre Dame |
| 26 | 2 | POR | Brian Jackson | Utah State University |
| 27 | 2 | UTA | Howard Wood | Tennessee |
| 28 | 2 | SAS | Gene Banks | Duke |
| 29 | 2 | KCK | Eddie Johnson | Illinois |
| 30 | 2 | SAS | Ed Rains | University of South Alabama |
| 31 | 2 | BOS | Danny Ainge | BYU |
| 32 | 2 | CHI | Mike Olliver | Lamar |
| 33 | 2 | GSW | Sam Williams | Arizona State |
| 34 | 2 | DEN | Ken Green | University of Texas Rio Grande Valley |
| 35 | 2 | WSB | Charles Davis | Vanderbilt |
| 36 | 2 | IND | Ray Blume | Oregon State |
| 37 | 2 | IND | Al Leslie | Bucknell |
| 38 | 2 | ATL | Clyde Bradshaw | DePaul |
| 39 | 2 | LAL | Harvey Knuckles | Toledo |
| 40 | 2 | NYK | Greg Cook | LSU |
| 41 | 2 | WSB | Claude Gregory | Wisconsin |
| 42 | 2 | LAL | Elvis Rolle | Florida State |
| 43 | 2 | DAL | Elston Turner | Ole Miss |
| 44 | 2 | WSB | Steve Lingenfelter | South Dakota State |
| 45 | 2 | HOU | Ed Turner | |
| 46 | 2 | PHI | Vernon Smith | Texas A&M |
| 47 | 3 | DAL | Art Housey | Kansas |
| 48 | 3 | WSB | Mike Ferrara | Colgate |
| 49 | 3 | NJN | David Burns | Saint Louis |
| 50 | 3 | POR | Derek Holcomb | Illinois |
| 51 | 3 | LAL | Zam Fredrick | South Carolina |
| 52 | 3 | ATL | Rudy Macklin | LSU |
| 53 | 3 | SEA | Mark Radford | Oregon State |
| 54 | 3 | SDC | Jim Smith | Ohio State |
| 55 | 3 | CLE | Mickey Dillard | Florida State |
| 56 | 3 | GSW | Carlton Neverson | Pitt |
| 57 | 3 | NYK | Frank Brickowski | Penn State |
| 58 | 3 | KCK | Curtis Berry | Missouri |
| 59 | 3 | CLE | Russell Bowers | American University |
| 60 | 3 | IND | Purvis Miller | USC |
| 61 | 3 | POR | Pétur Guðmundsson | Washington |
| 62 | 3 | PHX | Sam Clancy | Pitt |
| 63 | 3 | NYK | Wayne McKoy | St. John's |
| 64 | 3 | SAS | Tom Baker | Eastern Kentucky University |
| 65 | 3 | LAL | Ron Cornelius | University of the Pacific |
| 66 | 3 | PHX | Craig Dykema | Cal State Long Beach |
| 67 | 3 | MIL | Mark Smith | Illinois |
| 68 | 3 | PHI | Ernest Graham | Maryland |
| 69 | 3 | BOS | John Johnson | Michigan |
| 70 | 4 | DAL | Eddie Moss | Syracuse |
| 71 | 4 | DET | John May | University of South Alabama |
| 72 | 4 | NJN | Ed Sherod | VCU |
| 73 | 4 | UTA | Georgie Torres | Southern Nazarene University |
| 74 | 4 | CLE | Ethan Martin | LSU |
| 75 | 4 | ATL | Kevin Figaro | Louisiana |
| 76 | 4 | GSW | Lewis Lloyd | Drake University |
| 77 | 4 | SDC | Lee Raker | Virginia |
| 78 | 4 | KCK | Kenny Dennard | Duke |
| 79 | 4 | WSB | Ron Davis | Arizona |
| 80 | 4 | GSW | Terry Adolph | West Texas A&M University |
| 81 | 4 | HOU | Larry Spriggs | Howard University |
| 82 | 4 | KCK | B.B. Davis | Lamar |
| 83 | 4 | IND | Rolando Frazer | Briar Cliff University |
| 84 | 4 | CHI | Oliver Lee | Marquette |
| 85 | 4 | POR | Pete Verhoeven | Fresno State |
| 86 | 4 | NYK | Alex Bradley | Villanova |
| 87 | 4 | SAS | Earl Belcher | St. Bonaventure |
| 88 | 4 | LAL | Kevin McKenna | Creighton |
| 89 | 4 | DET | Don Koonce | UNC Charlotte |
| 90 | 4 | MIL | Kris Anderson | Florida State |
| 91 | 4 | BOS | Stanley Williams | La Salle |
| 92 | 4 | PHI | Rynn Wright | Texas A&M |
| 93 | 5 | DAL | Pete Budko | UNC |
| 94 | 5 | DET | George DeVone | UNC Charlotte |
| 95 | 5 | NJN | Joe Cooper | Colorado |
| 96 | 5 | CLE | Kenny Page | New Mexico |
| 97 | 5 | UTA | Mike Clark | Oregon |
| 98 | 5 | ATL | Steve Krafcisin | Iowa |
| 99 | 5 | SEA | Andra Griffin | Washington |
| 100 | 5 | SDC | Dennis Isbell | Memphis |
| 101 | 5 | DEN | Willie Sims | LSU |
| 102 | 5 | GSW | Hank McDowell | Memphis |
| 103 | 5 | WSB | Garry Witts | Holy Cross |
| 104 | 5 | KCK | U.S. Reed | Arkansas |
| 105 | 5 | HOU | Hasan Houston | Bradley |
| 106 | 5 | IND | George Peterson | New Jersey City University |
| 107 | 5 | POR | Herb Andrew | University of South Alabama |
| 108 | 5 | CHI | Johnny Nash | Arizona State |
| 109 | 5 | NYK | Jim Wright | Rhode Island |
| 110 | 5 | SAS | Mike Rhodes | Vanderbilt |
| 111 | 5 | LAL | Craig Watts | NC State |
| 112 | 5 | PHX | Paul Heuerman | Michigan |
| 113 | 5 | MIL | Kelvin Troy | Rutgers University |
| 114 | 5 | PHI | Steve Craig | BYU |
| 115 | 5 | BOS | Glen Grunwald | Indiana |
| 116 | 6 | DAL | Karl Bankowski | Utah |
| 117 | 6 | DET | Vince Brookins | Iowa |
| 118 | 6 | NJN | Kevin Lynam | La Salle |
| 119 | 6 | UTA | Kevin Sprewer | Loyola Chicago |
| 120 | 6 | CLE | Aaron Strayhorn | Hawaii |
| 121 | 6 | ATL | Darryl Warwick | Hampton |
| 122 | 6 | SEA | Earl Banks | Auburn |
| 123 | 6 | SDC | Mike Pepper | UNC |
| 124 | 6 | DEN | Alonzo Weatherly | Denver |
| 125 | 6 | WSB | Robert Williams | Grambling State University |
| 126 | 6 | GSW | Carter Scott | Ohio State |
| 127 | 6 | HOU | Fred Cowan | Kentucky |
| 128 | 6 | KCK | Brian Walker | Purdue |
| 129 | 6 | IND | Robert Fronk | Washington |
| 130 | 6 | CHI | Roger Burkman | Louisville |
| 131 | 6 | POR | Roshern Amie | Texas-El Paso |
| 132 | 6 | NYK | John Blair | Monmouth University |
| 133 | 6 | SAS | Northern Shavers | Jackson State University |
| 134 | 6 | LAL | Kevin Singleton | California |
| 135 | 6 | PHX | Pete Harris | Northeastern University |
| 136 | 6 | MIL | Jo Jo Hunter | Colorado |
| 137 | 6 | BOS | Steve Waite | Iowa |
| 138 | 6 | PHI | Michael Thomas | North Park University |
| 139 | 7 | DAL | Danny Davis | UNC Wilmington |
| 140 | 7 | DET | Greg Nance | West Virginia |
| 141 | 7 | NJN | Rod Roberson | Northwestern |
| 142 | 7 | CLE | Andre Smith | Nebraska |
| 143 | 7 | UTA | Mike Robinson | Central Michigan University |
| 144 | 7 | ATL | Kevin Vesey | Iona College |
| 145 | 7 | SEA | Tom Sienkiewicz | Villanova |
| 146 | 7 | SDC | Randy Johnson | University of Southern Colorado |
| 147 | 7 | DEN | Greg Manning | Maryland |
| 148 | 7 | GSW | Robbie Dosty | Arizona |
| 149 | 7 | WSB | Randy Martel | Houston Baptist University |
| 150 | 7 | KCK | Clinton Wheeler | William Paterson University |
| 151 | 7 | HOU | Joe Faine | Bowling Green |
| 152 | 7 | IND | Larry McKinney | Boise State |
| 153 | 7 | POR | Julius Wayne | Texas-El Paso |
| 154 | 7 | CHI | Scott Williams | University of South Alabama |
| 155 | 7 | NYK | Terry Cramer | Ripon College |
| 156 | 7 | SAS | Mark Minderman | Northern Michigan University |
| 157 | 7 | LAL | Larry Petty | Wisconsin |
| 158 | 7 | PHX | David Williams | Southern University and A&M College |
| 159 | 7 | MIL | Lewis Latimore | Virginia |
| 160 | 7 | PHI | John Crawford | Kansas |
| 161 | 7 | BOS | Tom Seaman | Holy Cross |
| 162 | 8 | DAL | David Kennedy | Cincinnati |
| 163 | 8 | DET | Joe Schoen | Saint Francis University |
| 164 | 8 | NJN | Ken Webb | Fairleigh Dickinson University |
| 165 | 8 | UTA | Bobby Cattage | Auburn |
| 166 | 8 | CLE | Glenn Marcus | UAB |
| 167 | 8 | ATL | Gilbert Salinas | Notre Dame |
| 168 | 8 | SDC | Todd Haynes | Davidson |
| 169 | 8 | DEN | Curtis Redding | St. John's |
| 170 | 8 | WSB | Mike Howard | Wofford College |
| 171 | 8 | GSW | Yasutaka Okayama | |
| 172 | 8 | HOU | Stanley Brewer | West Georgia |
| 173 | 8 | KCK | Randy Smithson | Wichita State |
| 174 | 8 | IND | Len Hatzenbeller | Drexel |
| 175 | 8 | CHI | Ben Mitchell | |
| 176 | 8 | POR | John Smith | Saint Joseph's |
| 177 | 8 | NYK | Brian O'Connor | Thomas More College |
| 178 | 8 | SAS | Bob Bartholomew | University of San Diego |
| 179 | 8 | LAL | Jay Triano | Simon Fraser University |
| 180 | 8 | PHX | Steve Risley | Indiana |
| 181 | 8 | MIL | Mike Brkovich | Michigan State |
| 182 | 8 | BOS | George Morrow | Creighton |
| 183 | 8 | PHI | Frank Gilroy | St. John's |
| 184 | 9 | DAL | John Hollinden | Southern Indiana |
| 185 | 9 | DET | Eddie Baker | Alcorn State |
| 186 | 9 | NJN | Rudy Williams | Providence |
| 187 | 9 | CLE | Paul Roba | Cleveland State University |
| 188 | 9 | UTA | Ken Ollie | Wyoming |
| 189 | 9 | ATL | Howard Thompkins | Wagner College |
| 190 | 9 | SDC | Art Jones | NC State |
| 191 | 9 | DEN | Andrew Burton | Austin Peay State University |
| 192 | 9 | GSW | Doug Murrey | San Jose State |
| 193 | 9 | WSB | Eddie Brown | Valdosta State University |
| 194 | 9 | KCK | Mike Perry | Richmond |
| 195 | 9 | IND | Scott Whitley | William & Mary |
| 196 | 9 | POR | Sid Williams | San Jose State |
| 197 | 9 | CHI | Terry Martin | Lambuth University |
| 198 | 9 | NYK | Marty Headd | Syracuse |
| 199 | 9 | SAS | Leonel Marquetti | Hampton |
| 200 | 9 | PHX | Brian Johnson | Colorado |
| 201 | 9 | MIL | Chip Rucker | Northeastern University |
| 202 | 9 | PHI | Ron Wister | Temple |
| 203 | 9 | BOS | Greg McCray | VCU |
| 204 | 10 | DAL | Scott Bolanko | Northern State University |
| 205 | 10 | DET | Melvin Maxwell | Western Michigan |
| 206 | 10 | NJN | Vic Sison | UCLA |
| 207 | 10 | UTA | Joe Merten | University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |
| 208 | 10 | CLE | Greg Boone | Augsburg College |
| 209 | 10 | ATL | Mike Frazier | Georgetown |
| 210 | 10 | SDC | Tony Gwynn | San Diego State |
| 211 | 10 | DEN | Derrick Rowland | State University of New York at Potsdam |
| 212 | 10 | WSB | Ralton Way | Houston Baptist University |
| 213 | 10 | GSW | Barry Brooks | USC |
| 214 | 10 | KCK | Mark Wilson | Fort Hays State University |
| 215 | 10 | IND | Rodney Benson | Wright State University |
| 216 | 10 | CHI | Kenny Easley | UCLA |
| 217 | 10 | POR | Steve Cochran | Lewis and Clark College |
| 218 | 10 | NYK | Kevin Rogers | Saint Peter's College |
| 219 | 10 | SAS | Alvin Brooks | Lamar |
| 220 | 10 | PHX | Felton Sealey | Oregon |
| 221 | 10 | MIL | Artie Green | Marquette |
| 222 | 10 | BOS | Kenny Matthews | NC State |
| 223 | 10 | PHI | Pete Mullenberg | University of Delaware |