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The vast majority of the drafts organized by professional sports leagues are fairly lengthy affairs that see hundreds of players selected over multiple rounds spanning a number of days.
For example, Major League Baseball’s draft was a whopping 40 rounds until that number was officially cut in half in 2022, while the NHL and NFL have each opted for a slightly more manageable event that comes to an end after seven.
As a result, the NBA is a bit of an anomaly when you consider its franchises are able to take care of all of their business over the course of a single night that’s limited to a grand total of two rounds. However, that hasn’t always been the case, as the NBA Draft had historically boasted between seven and 20 rounds before it was reduced to the current number in 1989.
That change was the culmination of a sustained campaign that can be traced back to the 1970s and arguably came to a head thanks to what transpired in 1977.
I’ve previously taken a look at the NBA Draft classes that boasted the most talent as well as some years that left plenty to be desired thanks to the number of busts that failed to live up to expectations.
However, when it comes to the strangest NBA Draft in history, 1977 is impossible to top.
Why the 1977 NBA Draft featured some absolutely bizarre picks
This particular saga was brought to my attention courtesy of Frank Michael Smith, who put together a great Twitter thread chronicling what transpired that year.
This wasn’t the first year owners around the league had expressed their displeasure with what was viewed as an unnecessarily drawn-out affair, but after NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien failed to address their concerns, franchises hatched a plan to try to get their message about its pointlessly lengthy nature across.
Things came to a head once the seventh round rolled around, as the New Orleans (now Utah) Jazz used the 137th overall pick to select a 6’3″ standout from Delta State University: Lusia Harris, who was a member of the women’s squad and couldn’t have shown up at training camp even if she’d wanted to because she was pregnant at the time.
While Harris (who is technically the only woman selected in the NBA Draft) had played college basketball, the same could not be said for the person who was selected by the Kansas City Kings (who now call Sacramento home): the decathlete who was then known as Bruce Jenner, who’d secured a medal for the United States at the Summer Olympics in Toronto the previous year.
Things went increasingly off the rails from there, as the Celtics eventually used a late-round pick to secure the rights to a waterboy that was already employed by the team.
The Lakers also attempted to draft Scooby Doo before the NBA rejected the pick (while Air Bud taught the world there’s no rule that says dogs can’t play basketball, animated canines are apparently banned).
Los Angeles doubled down by countering with a wooden chair that was owned by Jerry West’s mom only to be rebuffed yet again and ultimately settled for a real, actual person who never played a game in the NBA.
As I mentioned above, the league wouldn’t shorten the draft for over a decade, so while you have to respect the protest, it didn’t exactly have the desired effect.