1955 NBA draft
The 1955 NBA draft was an annual player selection event held by the National Basketball Association on April 13, 1955, in New York City, comprising 14 rounds and 95 total picks across eight teams.[1][2] The St. Louis Hawks chose center Dick Ricketts from Duquesne University, where he set school records with 98 double-figure scoring games and 1,359 career rebounds, as the first overall pick, though he played only three NBA seasons and accumulated 2.1 win shares.[3][1] In addition to the standard draft order, the league allowed territorial picks for local college stars, with the Philadelphia Warriors selecting forward Tom Gola from La Salle University and the Minneapolis Lakers taking guard Dick Garmaker from Minnesota.[2][4] The draft's first round featured several impactful selections, including second overall pick Maurice Stokes, a forward from Saint Francis University taken by the Rochester Royals, who earned All-Star honors in each of his three NBA seasons before a tragic on-court injury ended his career.[2] The Boston Celtics selected forward Jim Loscutoff from Oregon third overall, while the New York Knicks picked forward Kenny Sears from Santa Clara University fourth, and the Syracuse Nationals took Ed Conlin from Fordham University fifth; both Sears and Conlin contributed modestly over multiple seasons.[2] One trade occurred when the Philadelphia Warriors' ninth pick was sent to the Fort Wayne Pistons.[2] Later rounds yielded some of the draft's most enduring talents, highlighting the era's unpredictability before advanced scouting. The Rochester Royals selected forward Jack Twyman from the University of Cincinnati in the second round (eighth overall), who went on to a 11-season career with six All-Star appearances and 75.0 career win shares, becoming a scoring mainstay.[1][2] In the eleventh round (83rd overall), the Minneapolis Lakers drafted guard K.C. Jones from the University of San Francisco, who played nine seasons—primarily with the Boston Celtics—winning eight NBA championships and later succeeding as a Hall of Fame coach who won two more titles in 1984 and 1986.[5][1][2] Overall, only 20 draftees appeared in the NBA, but the class produced multiple All-Stars and contributors during the league's early expansion phase.[1]Overview and Background
Historical Context
The 1955 NBA draft marked the ninth annual player selection event in the league's history, conducted on April 13, 1955, in New York City to stock rosters ahead of the 1955–56 season.[1] This gathering of team representatives occurred amid a stabilizing NBA, which had navigated financial challenges and structural changes in prior years to solidify its professional footing.[6] By the 1954–55 season, the NBA operated with eight teams following the midseason folding of the Baltimore Bullets on November 27, 1954, after they compiled a 3–11 record, leaving the league without a full complement for the remainder of the campaign.[7] Standings from that season determined the reverse-order pick sequence, with the Milwaukee Hawks securing the top choice due to their league-worst 26–46 finish, the lowest win total among active franchises.[8] Shortly after the draft, the Hawks relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, rebranding as the St. Louis Hawks for the upcoming year and carrying their selections with them.[9] In the mid-1950s, the NBA experienced gradual growth in popularity, bolstered by innovations like the 24-second shot clock introduced in the 1954–55 season, which accelerated gameplay and enhanced spectator appeal.[6] The league also deepened its reliance on college basketball talent through the annual draft, drawing top NCAA seniors to professional ranks and coinciding with broader racial integration efforts that had begun in 1950, allowing a more diverse pool of prospects to enter the league.[10] This era laid foundational momentum for the NBA's expansion and cultural rise in subsequent decades.[6]Draft Format and Rules
The 1955 NBA draft followed the standard procedure of the era, with the eight participating teams selecting players in reverse order of their win-loss records from the 1954–55 season, giving priority to the worst-performing teams to promote competitive balance.[11] Prior to the main draft, teams could exercise territorial picks, a mechanism introduced in the league's early years that permitted a franchise to forgo its first-round selection and instead claim rights to a local player from a college or high school within a 50-mile radius of its home arena; these picks did not count against the team's regular allotment and aimed to boost fan interest by securing regional talent.[12][13] The draft itself comprised 14 rounds, yielding 95 selections, and was held in a single day on April 13, 1955, in New York City.[1] Player eligibility was restricted to college seniors or those with comparable experience.[14]Draft Selections
Territorial Picks
In the 1955 NBA draft, territorial picks allowed teams to select players from local colleges or areas within a 50-mile radius of their home city, in exchange for forfeiting their first-round draft choice, with the primary purpose of securing popular regional talents to draw crowds and foster fan loyalty in specific markets.[15][16] The Minneapolis Lakers utilized their territorial pick to select guard Dick Garmaker from the University of Minnesota, a decision aimed at capitalizing on his local popularity to enhance home attendance.[17][12] Similarly, the Philadelphia Warriors exercised their territorial rights to draft forward Tom Gola from La Salle University, a Philadelphia native whose selection was intended to boost regional interest.[17][12] These territorial picks were integrated into the overall draft numbering (Gola as the 3rd overall selection and Garmaker as the 6th), with the Warriors and Lakers forfeiting their main first-round picks.[1] No other teams recorded territorial picks for the 1955 draft, limiting these selections to just the Lakers and Warriors ahead of the main rounds.[17][12]Main Draft Rounds
The main draft rounds of the 1955 NBA draft followed the territorial picks and were conducted in reverse order of the previous season's standings, allowing the league's weaker teams, such as the St. Louis Hawks and Rochester Royals, to secure the top selections.[1] The draft consisted of 14 rounds with a total of 95 selections, though only 20 of those players ultimately appeared in NBA games.[1] No major trades occurred during the event, with teams retaining most of their picks based on the predetermined order.[2] The first overall pick went to Dick Ricketts from Duquesne University, selected by the St. Louis Hawks.[17] The full first round featured the following selections (territorial picks excluded from main numbering here for clarity; overall picks noted):| Overall Pick | Main Pick | Player | College | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Dick Ricketts | Duquesne | St. Louis Hawks |
| 2 | 2 | Maurice Stokes | Saint Francis | Rochester Royals |
| 4 | 3 | Jim Loscutoff | Oregon | Boston Celtics |
| 5 | 4 | Ken Sears | Santa Clara | New York Knicks |
| 7 | 5 | Ed Conlin | Fordham | Syracuse Nationals |
| 8 | 6 | Johnny Horan | Dayton | Fort Wayne Pistons |