Brad Sellers

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Bradley Donn Sellers (born December 17, 1962 in Warrensville Heights, Ohio) is an American former professional basketball player. A 7'0" power forward/center from Ohio State University, he was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round (ninth pick overall) of the 1986 NBA Draft.

Sellers was a controversial selection among the Bulls' staff and players. General manager Jerry Krause was attracted to Sellers because of his above-average shooting ability, which was rare in a player of Seller's size. Michael Jordan and others, however, had wanted Krause to draft Johnny Dawkins, a hard-playing guard from Duke University who was a friend of Jordan [1]. Sellers eventually became a part-time starter for the Bulls, but he never averaged more than 9.5 points or 4.7 rebounds in a season, and with the emergence of forward Scottie Pippen during the 1988 NBA Playoffs, he began to see his playing time diminish [2]. In 1989, he was finally traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for the 18th overall pick of the NBA Draft, which would become B. J. Armstrong.

Though widely considered a disappointment among Bulls fans[3] [4], Sellers did have an important role in one of the Bulls' most famous plays: he inbounded the ball to Michael Jordan for The Shot, Jordan's series-clinching jump shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1989 NBA Playoffs [5]. It should also be noted that none of the players selected after Sellers in the first round of the 1986 draft–including Johnny Dawkins–ever became NBA All-Stars.

Sellers also played briefly for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Detroit Pistons before leaving the NBA in 1993 to embark on a lengthy overseas career. Sellers played in Spain, Israel, Greece, and France before retiring in 2000 to become community liaison director for his hometown.