Ed Kalafat

Edward L. Kalafat (October 13, 1932 – October 7, 2019) was an American basketball player. A center, he played college basketball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and professionally for three seasons with the Minneapolis Lakers.

Biography

Kalafat was born on October 13, 1932, in Anaconda, Montana. He played football and basketball at Anaconda High School, winning a state championship in 1948.

After high school, he went on to play for the University of Minnesota. He was the team's starting center from 1951 to 1954 and served as captain in the 1953–1954 season. He won the team MVP award his senior season.

After graduation, he was selected by the Lakers in the first round of the 1954 NBA draft with the ninth overall pick. He played three season with the Lakers averaging 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Kalafat retired after the Lakers traded him to the Detroit Pistons in 1957.

After retiring from basketball Kalafat went into banking, working for many years at First Bank System. He also joined the U.S. Army Reserve retiring at the rank of captain.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1954–55	Minneapolis	72	15.3	.315	.661	4.4	1.0	4.8
1955–56	Minneapolis	72	22.8	.359	.738	6.1	1.8	8.0
1956–57	Minneapolis	65	24.9	.351	.661	6.5	1.6	8.5
Career		209	20.9	.345	.688	5.7	1.5	7.1

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1954–55	Minneapolis	7	10.9	.091	.300	2.6	.0	1.0
1955–56	Minneapolis	3	18.3	.429	.789	7.0	.7	11.0
1956–57	Minneapolis	5	20.8	.583	.677	4.8	1.8	12.6
Career		15	15.7	.405	.650	4.2	.7	6.9

References

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