1959 NBA draft

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox sports draft 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. Three players from this draft, Wilt Chamberlain, Bailey Howell, and Dick Barnett have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Key

Pos.	G	F	C
Position	Guard	Forward	Center

Draft

A basketball player, wearing a blue jersey with the word "ORIGINAL HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS" on the front, is posing while holding a basketball.

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	College
Template:HsT	Template:Hs–	Template:Sortname^	C	Template:Flagu	Philadelphia Warriors	Harlem Globetrotters
Template:HsT	Template:Hs–	Template:Sortname	F/C	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks	Saint Louis
1	Template:Hs1	Template:Sortname+	F	Template:Flagu	Cincinnati Royals	Kansas State
1	Template:Hs2	Template:Sortname^	F	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons	Mississippi State
1	Template:Hs3	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Minneapolis Lakers	Notre Dame
1	Template:Hs4	Template:Sortname^	G/F	Template:Flagu	Syracuse Nationals	Tennessee State
1	Template:Hs5	Template:Sortname+	F/C	Template:Flagu	New York Knicks	Michigan State
1	Template:Hs6	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics	NC State
2	Template:Hs7	Template:Sortname#	F/C	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons (from Cincinnati)[a]	Rice
2	Template:Hs8	Template:Sortname#	F	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons	Louisville
2	Template:Hs9	Template:Sortname	F/C	Template:Flagu	Philadelphia Warriors	Northwestern
2	10	Template:Sortname+	F/C	Template:Flagu	Minneapolis Lakers	Dartmouth
2	11	Template:Sortname	F/C	Template:Flagu	Syracuse Nationals	Tennessee
2	12	Template:Sortname#	G	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks (from New York)[b]	St. John's
2	13	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks	NYU
2	14	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics	George Washington
3	15	Template:Sortname#	G	Template:Flagu	Cincinnati Royals	Cincinnati
3	16	Template:Sortname	C	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons	Fresno State
3	17	Template:Sortname#	F	Template:Flagu	Philadelphia Warriors	Memphis
3	18	Template:Sortname	G	Template:Flagu	Minneapolis Lakers	West Virginia
3	19	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Syracuse Nationals	Syracuse
3	20	Template:Sortname	G/F	Template:Flagu	New York Knicks	Michigan State
3	21	Template:Sortname#	G	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks	Xavier
3	22	Template:Sortname#	C	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics	Western Kentucky
4	23	Template:Sortname#	G	Template:Flagu	Cincinnati Royals	Marshall
4	24	Template:Sortname	G/F	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons	Michigan
4	25	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Philadelphia Warriors	TCU
4	26	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Minneapolis Lakers	Purdue
4	27	Template:Sortname	G	Template:Flagu	Syracuse Nationals	Stanford
4	28	Template:Sortname	G	Template:Flagu	New York Knicks	Kentucky
4	29	Template:Sortname	G	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks	Oregon State
4	30	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics	Scranton
5	31	Template:Sortname	G/F	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons	TCU
5	32	Template:Sortname	G	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons	Wyoming
5	37	Template:Sortname	G	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks	Northwestern
8	56	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	Philadelphia Warriors	Iowa
8	58	Template:Sortname#	G	Template:Flagu	New York Knicks	UCLA
8	59	Template:Sortname	F	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks	Purdue
11	77	Template:Sortname	G	Template:Flagu	St. Louis Hawks	Tennessee State
14	83	Template:Sortname	G/F	Template:Flagu	New York Knicks	Missouri 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.

See also

• List of first overall NBA draft picks

References

General

Specific

External links

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