Ray Felix

Raymond Darlington Felix (December 10, 1930 – July 28, 1991) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in New York City. He played high school basketball at Metropolitan High School in New York and college basketball at Long Island University. Felix was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1953 NBA draft.

Ray Felix
Personal information
Born(1930-12-10)December 10, 1930
New York City, New York
DiedJuly 28, 1991(1991-07-28) (aged 60)
Queens, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High schoolMetropolitan
(New York City, New York)
CollegeLIU Brooklyn (1949–1951)
NBA draft1953 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Baltimore Bullets
Playing career1953–1962
PositionCenter
Number25, 19, 14
Career history
1953–1954Baltimore Bullets
1954–1960New York Knicks
1960–1962Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points6,974 (10.9 ppg)
Rebounds5,652 (8.9 rpg)
Assists458 (0.7 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Basketball career

A 6' 11" center from Metropolitan High School and Long Island University, Felix was selected by the Baltimore Bullets with the first pick in the 1953 NBA Draft.

Felix won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1954 after averaging 17.6 points and 13.3 rebounds. Felix was also the second African-American, following Don Barksdale, to be named an All-Star. His 13.3 rebounds is on the List of National Basketball Association rookie single-season rebounding leaders.

After his rookie season, Felix was traded on September 17, 1954. The soon to be folded Baltimore Bullets traded Felix and Chuck Grigsby to the New York Knicks for Alfred McGuire and Connie Simmons.[1]

In six seasons with the Knicks, Felix averaged 12.0 points and 9.1 rebounds.[1]

On January 24, 1960 Felix was traded by the Knicks, with a 1960 4th round draft pick (Ben Warley was later selected), to the Minneapolis Lakers for Dick Garmaker and a 1960 2nd round draft pick (Dave Budd was later selected).[1]

In his Lakers tenure, the team moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles and his role turned to a reserve one. He averaged 6.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in three seasons.[1]

The Lakers lost to the Celtics in the 1962 NBA Finals, in seven games. Felix averaged 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in the series, which marked the end of his NBA career.[2]

Overall, Felix spent nine seasons in the league, and played for the Bullets, New York Knicks and the Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers. Felix averaged 10.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, with career totals of 6,974 points and 5,652 rebounds. He retired in 1962.[1]

Russell rivalry

Felix had an incident with future hall of famer Bill Russell in Russell's rookie season, when after Russell felt Felix had been trying to intimidate him, he knocked Felix unconscious with a punch to the head.[3]

Toward the end of his career, after having several of his shots blocked by Russell, Felix took the ball then flung it off the side of the backboard, saying to Russell, smiling, "You didn't get that one!"[4]

Felix and the Lakers lost to Russell and the Celtics in the 1962 NBA Finals, in seven games.[2]

After Basketball

Following his retirement, Felix worked for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation[5] where he sponsored a basketball tournament in Elmhurst, Queens[6] and later worked as a supervisor at Harlem men's shelter.[7]

Felix died of a heart attack on July 28, 1991. He had a son, Ray Jr., with his wife Gloria.[8]

NBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1953–54 Baltimore 72 37.1 .417 .638 13.3 1.1 17.6
1954–55 New York 72 28.1 .438 .622 11.4 0.9 14.4
1955–56 New York 72 23.6 .415 .706 8.7 0.7 12.3
1956–57 New York 72 22.5 .416 .747 8.2 0.5 12.0
1957–58 New York 72 23.7 .442 .697 10.4 0.7 12.2
1958–59 New York 72 22.1 .371 .713 7.9 0.7 10.4
1959–60 New York 16 11.6 .330 .576 5.1 0.1 5.1
1959–60 Minneapolis 31 22.5 .402 .646 8.3 0.9 8.4
1960–61 L.A. Lakers 78 19.4 .372 .699 6.9 0.5 6.6
1961–62 L.A. Lakers 80 18.5 .430 .692 5.9 0.7 5.4
Career 637 23.8 .412 .678 8.9 0.7 10.9
All-Star 1 32.0 .500 1.000 11.0 1.0 13.0

Playoffs
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1955 New York 3 21.0 .125 .619 4.0 0.3 5.7
1959 New York 2 22.5 .429 .500 11.5 1.0 13.0
1960 Minneapolis 8 18.4 .415 .720 6.6 1.1 6.5
1961 L.A. Lakers 12 28.3 .422 .769 10.4 0.8 10.2
1962 L.A. Lakers 13 18.6 .492 .684 5.9 0.5 6.5
Career 38 22.0 .419 .701 7.6 0.8 7.9

References
  1. "Ray Felix Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
  2. "1962 NBA Finals - Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics". Basketball-Reference.com.
  3. Taylor, John (2006). The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball. Random House. p. 77. ray felix.
  4. Hundley, Rod; McEachin, Tom (1998). Hot Rod Hundley: "You Gotta Love It, Baby". Sports Publishing LLC. p. 31. ISBN 9781571672438.
  5. Ray Felix, 60, Is Dead; Knicks Center in 50's. New York Times obituaries, July 31, 1991. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  6. Mallozzi, Vincent (June 17, 2003). Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament. Knopf Doubleday. ISBN 9780385506762.
  7. Berkow, Ira (August 1, 1991) Sports of The Times; Ray Felix Is Not Forgotten. New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  8. "Ray Felix, 60, Is Dead; Knicks Center in 50's". July 31, 1991 – via NYTimes.com.
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