1956 NBA draft

The 1956 NBA draft was the tenth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the 1956–57 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, except for the defending champion and runner-up, who were assigned the last two picks on each round. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising 92 players selected.

1956 NBA draft
General information
SportBasketball
Date(s)April 30, 1956
LocationNew York City, New York
Overview
92 total selections in 14 rounds
LeagueNBA
Territorial pick(s)Tom Heinsohn, Boston Celtics
First selectionSi Green, Rochester Royals

Draft selections and draftee career notes

Si Green from Duquesne University was selected first overall by the Rochester Royals. Tom Heinsohn from the College of the Holy Cross was selected before the draft as Boston Celtics' territorial pick. Heinsohn went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season.[1] Bill Russell from the University of San Francisco was selected second overall by the St. Louis Hawks and immediately traded to the Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan.[2] Three players from this draft, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Russell, and K. C. Jones, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame after championship careers with the Boston Celtics.[3] Elgin Baylor and Sam Jones, who were selected by the Minneapolis Lakers in the later rounds, have also been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame, although they did not enter the league immediately after the draft. In the 1957 draft, Sam Jones was selected in the first round by the Boston Celtics, with whom he played for in his whole career.[4] In the 1958 draft, Elgin Baylor was selected first overall by the Lakers, with whom he played for in his whole career.[5]

Draft
Tom Heinsohn was selected as the Boston Celtics' territorial pick.
Bill Russell was selected 2nd overall by the St. Louis Hawks (traded to the Boston Celtics.
Willie Naulls was selected 9th overall by the St. Louis Hawks.
K. C. Jones was selected 13th overall by the Boston Celtics.
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team College
T – Tom Heinsohn^ F/C  United States Boston Celtics Holy Cross
1 1 Si Green G/F  United States Rochester Royals Duquesne
1 2 Bill Russell^ C  United States St. Louis Hawks (traded to Boston)[a] San Francisco
1 3 Jim Paxson G/F  United States Minneapolis Lakers Dayton
1 4 Ronnie Shavlik F  United States New York Knicks NC State
1 5 Joe Holup F  United States Syracuse Nationals George Washington
1 6 Ron Sobieszczyk G  United States Fort Wayne Pistons (traded to New York)[b] DePaul
1 7 Hal Lear G  United States Philadelphia Warriors Temple
2 8 Bob Burrow F/C  United States Rochester Royals Kentucky
2 9 Willie Naulls+ F/C  United States St. Louis Hawks UCLA
2 10 Terry Rand# C  United States Minneapolis Lakers Marquette
2 11 Gary Bergen C  United States New York Knicks Utah
2 12 Paul Judson# F  United States Syracuse Nationals Illinois
2 13 K. C. Jones^ G  United States Boston Celtics San Francisco
2 14 Bob Kessler# F  United States Fort Wayne Pistons Maryland
2 15 Phil Rollins G  United States Philadelphia Warriors Louisville

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.[6][7]

Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team College
3 16 Dave Piontek F/C  United States Rochester Royals Xavier (OH)
3 18 Jerry Bird F  United States Minneapolis Lakers Kentucky
3 20 Forest Able G  United States Syracuse Nationals Western Kentucky
3 22 Bill Thieben F/C  United States Fort Wayne Pistons Hofstra
4 24 Johnny McCarthy G  United States Rochester Royals Canisius
4 28 Swede Halbrook C  United States Syracuse Nationals Oregon State
4 29 Dan Swartz F  United States Boston Celtics Morehead State
5 33 Norm Stewart F  United States St. Louis Hawks Missouri
5 36 Jim Ray G  United States Syracuse Nationals Toledo
6 42 Phil Jordon F/C  United States Minneapolis Lakers Whitworth
6 43 Pat Dunn G  United States New York Knicks Utah State
7 50 John Barber F  United States Minneapolis Lakers Cal State L.A.
10 74 Bob Hopkins F/C  United States Syracuse Nationals Grambling
14 90 Elgin Baylor^ F  United States Minneapolis Lakers[c] Seattle

Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1956 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.

Player Pos. Nationality School/club team
Rich Eichhorst G  United States Southeast Missouri State

Trades

See also

References
General
  • "1956 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  • "1952–1956 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  • "1956 NBA Draft". The Draft Review. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
Specific
  1. "Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  2. "Bill Russell Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  3. "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  4. "Sam Jones Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  5. "Elgin Baylor Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 17, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  6. "1956 NBA draft".
  7. "NBA Past Drafts - RealGM".
  8. Janssen, Kim (October 25, 2009). "Ron Sobieszczyk, 1934-2009: Former DePaul basketball standout, played in NBA". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
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