NBA territorial pick

A territorial pick was a type of special draft choice used in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) draft in 1949 and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft after the 1950 season, the year in which the BAA was renamed the NBA. In the draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. Territorial picks were eliminated when the draft system was revamped in 1966.[1][2]

Wilt Chamberlain was selected as the Philadelphia Warriors' territorial pick in 1959.

In the first 20 years of the BAA/NBA, the league was still trying to gain the support of fans who lived in or near the teams' home markets. To achieve this, the league introduced the territorial pick rule to help teams acquire popular players from colleges in their area who would presumably have strong local support.[1] Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile (80 km) radius of its home arena.[2][3] As a result of the territorial picks being selected before the draft, these picks were not factored into the overall selection count of the draft; therefore, the first non-territorial pick of the draft was considered the first overall pick.[4]

Of the 23 territorial picks, 12 players have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Tom Heinsohn, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas are the only four territorial picks who won the Rookie of the Year Award.[5] Chamberlain also won the Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season. He went on to win the Most Valuable Player Award three more times in his career. Oscar Robertson is the only other territorial pick who has won the Most Valuable Player Award; he won it in the 1963–64 season.[6] The Philadelphia Warriors had the most territorial picks, having selected six who attended a total of five colleges. The University of Cincinnati had the most players taken as a territorial pick; three Cincinnati players were selected using this method by the Cincinnati Royals. The 1965 NBA draft, the last draft in which the rule remained in effect, had the most territorial picks in a single draft with three. The 1953 draft also had three territorial picks. No territorial pick was selected in the 1954, 1957 and 1961 drafts.

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 and All-NBA Team
+ Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game

List of territorial picks
Tom Heinsohn was selected as the Boston Celtics' territorial pick in 1956.
Guy Rodgers was selected as the Philadelphia Warriors' territorial pick in 1958.
Bill Bradley was selected as the New York Knicks' territorial pick in 1965.
Oscar Robertson was selected as the Cincinnati Royals' territorial pick in 1960.
 draft Player  Pos. Nationality Team College (city) Ref.
1949 Ed Macauley^ F/C  United States St. Louis Bombers Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri) [7]
1949 Vern Mikkelsen^ F/C  United States Minneapolis Lakers Hamline University (Saint Paul, Minnesota) [7]
1950 Paul Arizin^ G/F  United States Philadelphia Warriors Villanova University (Philadelphia) [8]
1951 Whitey Skoog G  United States Minneapolis Lakers University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) [9]
1952 Bill Mlkvy F  United States Philadelphia Warriors Temple University (Philadelphia) [10]
1953 Ernie Beck G/F  United States Philadelphia Warriors University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) [11]
1953 Walter Dukes+ C  United States New York Knicks Seton Hall University (South Orange, New Jersey) [11]
1953 Larry Hennessy G  United States Philadelphia Warriors Villanova University (Philadelphia) [12]
1955 Dick Garmaker* G/F  United States Minneapolis Lakers University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) [13]
1955 Tom Gola^ G/F  United States Philadelphia Warriors La Salle University (Philadelphia) [13]
1956 Tom Heinsohn^ F/C  United States Boston Celtics College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts) [14]
1958 Guy Rodgers^ G  United States Philadelphia Warriors Temple University (Philadelphia) [15]
1959 Wilt Chamberlain^ C  United States Philadelphia Warriors[a] University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas) [16]
1959 Bob Ferry F/C  United States St. Louis Hawks Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri) [16]
1960 Oscar Robertson^[b] G/F  United States Cincinnati Royals University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati) [17]
1962 Dave DeBusschere^ G/F  United States Detroit Pistons University of Detroit (Detroit) [18]
1962 Jerry Lucas^ F/C  United States Cincinnati Royals[c] Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio) [18]
1963 Tom Thacker G/F  United States Cincinnati Royals University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati) [19]
1964 Walt Hazzard+ G  United States Los Angeles Lakers UCLA (Los Angeles) [20]
1964 George Wilson C  United States Cincinnati Royals University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati) [20]
1965 Bill Bradley^ G/F  United States New York Knicks Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey) [21]
1965 Bill Buntin F/C  United States Detroit Pistons University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan) [21]
1965 Gail Goodrich^ G  United States Los Angeles Lakers UCLA (Los Angeles) [21]

See also
  • KHL territorial pick
  • CFL territorial pick

Notes
  • a Although Wilt Chamberlain was playing at the University of Kansas, outside the territory of any NBA team, he was selected as the Philadelphia Warriors' territorial pick. The Warriors argued that because Chamberlain had grown up in Philadelphia and played high school basketball at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, they held his territorial rights. The NBA agreed with the argument, hence making him the first and only territorial pick based solely on his pre-college roots.[22]
  • b Although Oscar Robertson was drafted as a territorial pick, he was also recognized as the first pick in the first round of the draft as the Cincinnati Royals also held the first overall draft pick.[23][24]
  • c Although Jerry Lucas was playing at Ohio State University, outside the territory of the Cincinnati Royals, the Royals were the only NBA team in Ohio, so the NBA granted them the rights to pick Lucas as their territorial pick. Lucas also qualified under the same criterion as Chamberlain, as he grew up in Middletown, Ohio and played high school basketball at Middletown High School, which was within Cincinnati's territorial radius.[25]

References
  1. "Evolution of the Draft and Lottery". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  2. "How the NBA Draft became a lottery". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. May 21, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  3. "Lakers Select Baylor In NBA Draft Meeting". The Daily Collegian. Pennsylvania State University. April 23, 1958. p. 11.
  4. "All-time top 30 draft picks by slot". Sports Illustrated. June 24, 2009. Archived from the original on March 13, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  5. "Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  6. "Most Valuable Player". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  7. "1949 BAA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  8. "1950 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  9. "1951 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  10. "1952 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  11. "1953 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  12. 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.
  13. "1955 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  14. "1956 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  15. "1958 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  16. "1959 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  17. "1960 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  18. "1962 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  19. "1963 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  20. "1964 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  21. "1965 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  22. "Wilt Chamberlain Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  23. "Oscar Robertson Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  24. Wise, Mike (June 29, 2000). "Clippers Go to High School to Get Miles". The New York Times Company. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  25. Pluto, Terry (2000). Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA. University of Nebraska Press. p. 215. ISBN 0-8032-8766-6. Retrieved September 29, 2009.

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