1953 NBA draft
General information
SportBasketball
Date(s)April 24, 1953
LocationBoston, Massachusetts
Overview
122 total selections in 19 rounds
LeagueNBA
Territorial pick(s)Ernie Beck, Philadelphia Warriors
Walter Dukes, New York Knicks
Larry Hennessy, Philadelphia Warriors[1]
First selectionRay Felix, Baltimore Bullets
← 1952
1954 →

The 1953 NBA draft was the seventh annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24, 1953, before the 1953–54 season. In this draft, nine remaining 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 19 rounds comprising 122 players selected.

Draft selections and draftee career notes

Ray Felix from Long Island University was selected first overall by the Baltimore Bullets and went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season.[2] Ernie Beck and Walter Dukes were selected before the draft as Philadelphia Warriors' and New York Knicks' territorial picks respectively. Three players from this draft, Bob Houbregs, Frank Ramsey and Cliff Hagan, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.[3]

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 and All-NBA Team
+ Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
# Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game

Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team College
T – Ernie Beck G/F  United States Philadelphia Warriors Pennsylvania
T – Walter Dukes+ C  United States New York Knicks Seton Hall
T[1] – Larry Hennessy G  United States Philadelphia Warriors Villanova
1 1 Ray Felix+ C  United States Baltimore Bullets Long Island
1 2 Bob Houbregs^ F/C  Canada Milwaukee Hawks Washington
1 3 Jack Molinas+ F  United States Fort Wayne Pistons Columbia
1 4 Richie Regan+ G  United States Rochester Royals Seton Hall
1 5 Frank Ramsey^ G/F  United States Boston Celtics Kentucky
1 6 Jim Neal C  United States Syracuse Nationals Wofford
1 7 Jim Fritsche F/C  United States Minneapolis Lakers Hamline
2 8 Don Ackerman G  United States New York Knicks (from Baltimore)[4] Manchester British-Americans (American Basketball League)
2 9 Bobby Speight# F/C  United States Baltimore Bullets (from Milwaukee)[4] NC State
2 10 George Glasgow# G  United States Fort Wayne Pistons Fairleigh Dickinson
2 11 Norm Swanson F  United States Rochester Royals Detroit
2 12 Chet Noe# F/C  United States Boston Celtics Oregon
2 13 Dick Knostman C  United States Syracuse Nationals Kansas State
2 14 Nield Gordon# F  United States New York Knicks Furman
2 15 Ron Feiereisel G  United States Minneapolis Lakers DePaul

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.[5][6]

Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team College
3 16 Norm Grekin F  United States Philadelphia Warriors La Salle
3 17 Bob Peterson F  United States Baltimore Bullets Oregon
3 18 Irv Bemoras G/F  United States Milwaukee Hawks Illinois
3 20 Frank Reddout F  United States Rochester Royals Syracuse
3 21 Cliff Hagan^ G/F  United States Boston Celtics Kentucky
3 22 Billy Kenville G/F  United States Syracuse Nationals St. Bonaventure
5 35 Paul Nolen C  United States Baltimore Bullets Texas Tech
5 36 Gene Dyker F  United States Milwaukee Hawks DePaul
5 41 Bob Santini F  United States New York Knicks Iona
6 50 Richard Atha G  United States New York Knicks Indiana State
7 58 Lou Tsioropoulos F  United States Boston Celtics Kentucky
8 63 Connie Rea G/F  United States Baltimore Bullets Centenary
9 77 Joe Smyth F  United States New York Knicks Niagara
11 89 Bill Bolger F  United States Milwaukee Hawks Georgetown
13 102 Jack George* G  United States Philadelphia Warriors La Salle
14 108 Ken Sears+ F  United States Rochester Royals Santa Clara

Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1953 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.

Player Pos. Nationality School/club team
Andy Johnson F  United States Portland
Jim Mooney F  United States Villanova
Hal Uplinger G  United States LIU Brooklyn

See also

References

General
  • "1953 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
  • "1952–1956 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  • "1953 NBA Draft". The Draft Review. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
Specific
  1. ^ a b Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The basketball draft fact book: A history of professional basketball's college drafts (E-book ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press (Rowman & Littlefield). p. 30. ISBN 978-0-8108-9069-5.
  2. ^ "Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  3. ^ "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "1953 Draft Day Trades". The Draft Review. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  5. ^ "1953 NBA Draft". www.basketball-reference.com.
  6. ^ "NBA Past Drafts - RealGM".

External links

NBA drafts
NBA draft history by team
1953 NBA draft
1953–54 NBA season
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