El Draft de l'NBA de 1981 es va celebrar el dia 9 de juny.
Primera ronda = All-Star = Hall of Fame Posició Jugador Nacionalitat Equip de l'NBA Origen (Universitat/club) 1 Mark Aguirre Dallas Mavericks DePaul 2 Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons Indiana 3 Buck Williams New Jersey Nets Maryland 4 Al Wood Atlanta Hawks North Carolina 5 Danny Vranes Seattle SuperSonics Utah 6 Orlando Woolridge Chicago Bulls Notre Dame 7 Steve Johnson Kansas City Kings Oregon State 8 Tom Chambers San Diego Clippers Utah 9 Rolando Blackman Dallas Mavericks Kansas State 10 Albert King New Jersey Nets Maryland 11 Frank Johnson Washington Bullets Wake Forest 12 Kelly Tripucka Detroit Pistons Notre Dame 13 Danny Schayes Utah Jazz Syracuse 14 Herb Williams Indiana Pacers Ohio State 15 Jeff Lamp Portland Trail Blazers Virginia 16 Darnell Valentine Portland Trail Blazers Kansas 17 Kevin Loder Kansas City Kings Alabama State 18 Ray Tolbert New Jersey Nets Indiana 19 Mike McGee Los Angeles Lakers Michigan 20 Larry Nance Phoenix Suns Clemson 21 Alton Lister Milwaukee Bucks Arizona State 22 Franklin Edwards Philadelphia 76ers Cleveland State 23 Charles Bradley Boston Celtics Wyoming
Jugadors destacats no escollits en 1a ronda Posició Jugador Nacionalitat Equip de l'NBA Origen (Universitat/club) 24 Jay Vincent Dallas Mavericks Michigan State 29 Eddie Johnson Kansas City Kings Illinois 31 Danny Ainge Boston Celtics BYU 57 Frank Brickowski New York Knicks Penn State 214 Tony Gwynn San Diego Clippers San Diego State 221 Kenny Easley Chicago Bulls UCLA
1981 Categoria:Competicions de bàsquet del 1981