1959 NBA draft

Basketball player selection

The 1959 NBA draft was the 13th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 31, 1959, before the 1959–60 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. The draft consisted of 14 rounds comprising 85 players selected.

Bob Boozer from Kansas State University was selected first overall by the Cincinnati Royals. Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Ferry were selected before the draft as Philadelphia Warriors' and St. Louis Hawks' territorial picks respectively. Although Chamberlain played at the University of Kansas, outside the territory of any NBA team, he was selected as the Warriors' territorial pick because the Warriors argued that Chamberlain had grown up in Philadelphia and played high school basketball at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. The NBA agreed with the argument, hence making him the first territorial pick based solely on his pre college roots. Chamberlain went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in his first season. Two players from this draft, Wilt Chamberlain and Bailey Howell, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Pos. GFCPositionGuardForwardCenter

Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team CollegeT– ^ C Philadelphia Warriors Harlem GlobetrottersT– F/C St. Louis Hawks Saint Louis11 + F Cincinnati Royals Kansas State12 ^ F Detroit Pistons Mississippi State13 F Minneapolis Lakers Notre Dame14 + G/F Syracuse Nationals Tennessee State15 + F/C New York Knicks Michigan State16 F Boston Celtics NC State27 # F/C Detroit Pistons (from Cincinnati) Rice28 # F Detroit Pistons Louisville29 F/C Philadelphia Warriors Northwestern210 + F/C Minneapolis Lakers Dartmouth211 F/C Syracuse Nationals Tennessee212 # G St. Louis Hawks (from New York) St. John's213 F St. Louis Hawks NYU214 F Boston Celtics George Washington315 G Cincinnati Royals Cincinnati316 C Detroit Pistons Fresno State317 F Philadelphia Warriors Memphis318 G Minneapolis Lakers West Virginia319 F Syracuse Nationals Syracuse320 G/F New York Knicks Michigan State321 G St. Louis Hawks Xavier322 C Boston Celtics Western Kentucky423 G Cincinnati Royals Marshall424 G/F Detroit Pistons Michigan425 F Philadelphia Warriors TCU426 F Minneapolis Lakers Purdue427 G Syracuse Nationals Stanford428 G New York Knicks Kentucky429 G St. Louis Hawks Oregon State430 F Boston Celtics Scranton531 G/F Detroit Pistons TCU532 G Detroit Pistons Wyoming537 G St. Louis Hawks Northwestern856 F Philadelphia Warriors Iowa858# G New York Knicks UCLA859 F St. Louis Hawks Purdue1177 G St. Louis Hawks Tennessee State1483 G/F New York Knicks Missouri State

Prior to the draft, the Detroit Pistons acquired Archie Dees along with the Cincinnati Royals' second round pick, which was used to select Tom Robitaille, from the Royals in exchange for Phil Jordon. Prior to the draft, the St. Louis Hawks acquired the New York Knicks' second round pick, which was used to select Alan Seiden, from the Knicks in exchange for Frank Selvy.