1961 NBA draft

The 1961 NBA draft was the 15th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 27, 1961, before the 1961–62 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile radius of its home arena as their territorial pick.[1][2] An expansion franchise, the Chicago Packers, were assigned the first pick of the first round and the last pick of each subsequent round, along with five extra picks at the end of the second round.[3] The draft consisted of 15 rounds comprising 107 players selected.

1961 NBA draft
General information
SportBasketball
Date(s)March 27, 1961
LocationNew York City, New York
Overview
107 total selections in 15 rounds
LeagueNBA
First selectionWalt Bellamy, Chicago Packers

Draft selections and draftee career notes

Walt Bellamy from the Indiana University was selected first overall by the Chicago Packers. Bellamy went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season and was also selected to the All-Star Game.[4][5] In his rookie season, he averaged 31.6 points per game, the second highest scoring average for a rookie, and 19.0 rebounds per game, the third highest rebounding average for a rookie.[6][7] He was selected to four consecutive All-Star Games during his stint with the Packers, which later became the Chicago Zephyrs and Baltimore Bullets. He then played for three other NBA teams during his 14-year career.[5] For his achievements, he has been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.[8]

Three other players from this draft, 7th pick Tom Meschery, 21st pick Don Kojis and 32nd pick Bill Bridges, have also been selected to at least one All-Star Game.[9][10][11] Doug Moe, the 22nd pick, never played in the NBA. His contract with the Packers was voided due to his suspected involvement in the college basketball point shaving scandal.[12][13] He eventually played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for five years. He won the ABA championship in 1969 and was selected to three ABA All-Star Games and two All-ABA Teams.[14] After his playing career, he became a head coach. He coached four NBA teams and won the Coach of the Year Award in 1988 with the Denver Nuggets.[15][16] Ray Scott, the 4th pick, played for the Detroit Pistons for five and a half seasons before he moved on to play with two other teams in the NBA and ABA.[17] After retiring as a player in 1972, he immediately became a head coach. He coached the Pistons for three and a half seasons and won the Coach of the Year Award in 1974.[18] Two other players drafted also went on to have a coaching career: 12th pick Johnny Egan and 60th pick Donnie Butcher.[19][20]

Key
Pos.GFC
PositionGuardForwardCenter
^ 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 has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game

Draft
Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School/club team
1 1 Walt Bellamy^ C  United States Chicago Packers Indiana
1 2 Tom Stith F  United States New York Knicks St. Bonaventure
1 3 Larry Siegfried F  United States Cincinnati Royals Ohio State
1 4 Ray Scott F/C  United States Detroit Pistons Allentown Jets (EPBL)[21]
1 5 Wayne Yates C  United States Los Angeles Lakers Memphis State
1 6 Ben Warley G/F  United States Syracuse Nationals Cleveland Pipers (NIBL)[22]
1 7 Tom Meschery+ F  United States[1] Philadelphia Warriors Saint Mary's (CA)
1 8 Cleo Hill G  United States St. Louis Hawks Winston-Salem State
1 9 Gary Phillips G  United States Boston Celtics Houston
2 10 Whitey Martin G  United States New York Knicks St. Bonaventure
2 11 Bob Wiesenhahn F  United States Cincinnati Royals Cincinnati
2 12 Johnny Egan G  United States Detroit Pistons Providence
2 13 Fred Sawyer# C  United States Los Angeles Lakers Louisville
2 14 Chris Smith# C  United States Syracuse Nationals Virginia Tech
2 15 Ted Luckenbill F  United States Philadelphia Warriors Houston
2 16 Ron Horn F  United States St. Louis Hawks Indiana
2 17 Al Butler G  United States Boston Celtics Niagara
2 18 Jack Turner G/F  United States Chicago Packers Louisville
2 19 Jerry Graves# F  United States Chicago Packers Mississippi State
2 20 York Larese G  United States Chicago Packers North Carolina
2 21 Don Kojis+ F  United States Chicago Packers Marquette
2 22 Doug Moe# G/F  United States Chicago Packers North Carolina
2 23 Jeff Cohen# C  United States Chicago Packers William & Mary

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.[23][24]

Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team School/club team
3 25 Bevo Nordmann C  United States Cincinnati Royals Saint Louis
3 26 Doug Kistler F  United States Detroit Pistons Duke
3 28 Chuck Osborne F  United States Syracuse Nationals Western Kentucky
3 32 Bill Bridges+ F/C  United States Chicago Packers Kansas
4 33 George Blaney G  United States New York Knicks Holy Cross
5 42 Bill Smith G/F  United States New York Knicks Saint Peter's
5 44 Danny Doyle F  United States Detroit Pistons Belmont Abbey
5 50 Howie Carl G  United States Chicago Packers DePaul
6 51 Cleveland Buckner F/C  United States New York Knicks Jackson State
7 60 Donnie Butcher G  United States New York Knicks Pikeville
7 61 Dave Zeller G  United States Cincinnati Royals Miami (OH)
10 91 Larry Comley G  United States Chicago Packers Kansas State
11 92 Kevin Loughery G  United States New York Knicks St. John's
12 100 George Patterson F/C  United States Cincinnati Royals Toledo

Notes

^ 1: Tom Meschery (formerly Tomislav Mescheryakov) was born in Harbin, Manchuria (now part of China) to Russian parents. He moved to the United States at the age of 8 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.[25][26]

References
General
  • "Complete First Round Results 1960–69". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  • "1961 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  • "1957–1961 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  • "1961 NBA Draft". The Draft Review. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
Specific
  1. "How the NBA draft became a lottery". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. May 21, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  2. "Lakers Select Baylor In NBA Draft Meeting". The Daily Collegian. Pennsylvania State University. April 23, 1958. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  3. Hareas, John (August 6, 2001). "A Colorful Tradition". NBA.com/Wizards. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  4. "Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  5. "Walt Bellamy Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  6. "Player Season Finder: Points per game in rookie season". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  7. "Player Season Finder: Rebounds per game in rookie season". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  8. "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  9. "Tom Meschery Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  10. "Don Kojis Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  11. "Bill Bridges Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  12. Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion II: The Molinas period". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  13. Newman, Bruce (November 7, 1988). "This Joker Is Wild". Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  14. "Doug Moe Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  15. "Doug Moe Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  16. "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  17. "Ray Scott Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  18. "Ray Scott Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  19. "Johnny Egan Coaching Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  20. "Donnie Butcher Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  21. "Archie!". The Milwaukee Journal. April 15, 1961. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  22. "National Basketball Draft Brings Smiles". The Nevada Daily Mail. March 28, 1961. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  23. https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1961.html
  24. http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1961
  25. Crowe, Jerry (November 9, 2009). "Former NBA tough guy Tom Meschery a man of rhyme, reason". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  26. "International Timeline". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
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