1959 NBA Draft

1959 NBA Draft
General information
Date(s)	March 31, 1959
Location	Cincinnati, Ohio
Territorial pick(s)	Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors Bob Ferry, St. Louis Hawks
First selection	Bob Boozer, Cincinnati Royals
NBA Draft  < 1958 1960 >

The 1959 NBA Draft was the 13th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 31, 1959 before the 1959–60 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. The draft consisted of 14 rounds comprising 85 players selected.

Draft selections and draftee career notes

Bob Boozer from Kansas State University was selected first overall by the Cincinnati Royals. Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Ferry were selected before the draft as Philadelphia Warriors' and St. Louis Hawks' territorial picks respectively. Although Chamberlain played at the University of Kansas, outside the territory of any NBA team, he was selected as the Warriors' territorial pick because the Warriors argued that Chamberlain had grown up in Philadelphia and played high school basketball at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. The NBA agreed with the argument, hence making him the first territorial pick based solely on his pre-college roots. Chamberlain went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in his first season. Two players from this draft, Wilt Chamberlain and Bailey Howell, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Key

Pos.	G	F	C
Position	Guard	Forward	Center

^	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
+	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
#	Denotes player who never played in the NBA

Draft

Wilt Chamberlain was selected as the Philadelphia Warriors' territorial pick.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	College
0T	00–	Chamberlain, WiltWilt Chamberlain^	C	United States	Philadelphia Warriors	Kansas
0T	00–	Ferry, BobBob Ferry	F/C	United States	St. Louis Hawks	Saint Louis
1	01	Boozer, BobBob Boozer+	F	United States	Cincinnati Royals	Kansas State
1	02	Howell, BaileyBailey Howell^	F	United States	Detroit Pistons	Mississippi State
1	03	Hawkins, TomTom Hawkins	F	United States	Minneapolis Lakers	Notre Dame
1	04	Barnett, DickDick Barnett+	G/F	United States	Syracuse Nationals	Tennessee State
1	05	Green, JohnnyJohnny Green+	F/C	United States	New York Knicks	Michigan State
1	06	Richter, JohnJohn Richter	F	United States	Boston Celtics	NC State
2	07	Robitaille, TomTom Robitaille#	F/C	United States	Detroit Pistons (from Cincinnati)	Rice
2	08	Goldstein, DonDon Goldstein#	F	United States	Detroit Pistons	Louisville
2	09	Ruklick, JoeJoe Ruklick	F/C	United States	Philadelphia Warriors	Northwestern
2	10	LaRusso, RudyRudy LaRusso+	F/C	United States	Minneapolis Lakers	Dartmouth
2	11	Tormohlen, BumperBumper Tormohlen	F/C	United States	Syracuse Nationals	Tennessee
2	12	Seiden, AlAl Seiden#	G	United States	St. Louis Hawks (from New York)	St. John's
2	13	Ramsey, CalCal Ramsey	F	United States	St. Louis Hawks	NYU
2	14	Guarilia, GeneGene Guarilia	F	United States	Boston Celtics	George Washington

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	College
3	16	Alcorn, GaryGary Alcorn	C	United States	Detroit Pistons	Fresno State
3	18	Smith, BobbyBobby Smith	G	United States	Minneapolis Lakers	West Virginia
3	20	Anderegg, BobBob Anderegg	G/F	United States	New York Knicks	Michigan State
4	24	Lee, GeorgeGeorge Lee	G/F	United States	Detroit Pistons	Michigan
4	27	Neumann, PaulPaul Neumann	G	United States	Syracuse Nationals	Stanford
4	28	Cox, JohnnyJohnny Cox	G	United States	New York Knicks	Kentucky
5	32	Windis, TonyTony Windis	G	United States	Detroit Pistons	Wyoming
5	37	Mantis, NickNick Mantis	G	United States	St. Louis Hawks	Northwestern
8	56	Gunther, DaveDave Gunther	F	United States	Philadelphia Warriors	Iowa
11	77	Barnhill, JohnJohn Barnhill	G	United States	St. Louis Hawks	Tennessee State

Trades

• ^a Prior to the draft, the Detroit Pistons acquired Archie Dees along with the Cincinnati Royals' second-round pick, which was used to select Tom Robitaille, from the Royals in exchange for Phil Jordon.
• ^b Prior to the draft, the St. Louis Hawks acquired the New York Knicks' second-round pick, which was used to select Alan Seiden, from the Knicks in exchange for Frank Selvy.

Notes

^ 1: Wilt Chamberlain was playing for the University of Kansas until May 1958, when he decided to leave college early to play professional basketball. However, the NBA rules prevented college players from playing in the league until their class graduated, therefore Chamberlain wasn't eligible to play in the 1958–59 season. He spent the 1958–59 season playing for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to the 1959 draft.

References

General

• "Complete First Round Results 1957–59". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/draft_round1_1950s.html. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 
• "1959 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1959.html. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 
• "1957–1961 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. http://www.apbr.org/5761drft.html. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 
• "1959 NBA Draft". The Draft Review. http://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2588&Itemid=103. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 

Specific

External links

• NBA.com
• NBA.com: NBA Draft History