 Cervi circa 1949 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1917-02-12)February 12, 1917 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 2009(2009-11-09) (aged 92) Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | East (Buffalo, New York) |
| Playing career | 1937–1953 |
| Position | Forward /guard |
| Number | 15 |
| Coaching career | 1948–1959 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1937–1938 | Buffalo Bisons |
| 1945–1947 | Rochester Royals |
| 1947 | Trenton Tigers |
| 1947–1948 | Rochester Royals |
| 1948–1953 | Syracuse Nationals |
Coaching | |
| 1948–1958 | Syracuse Nationals |
| 1958–1959 | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Career highlights | |
As player:
As coach: | |
| Career NBA playing statistics | |
| Points | 1,591 (7.9 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 261 (1.8 rpg) |
| Assists | 648 (3.2 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Career coaching record | |
| NBA | 326–241 (.575) |
| Record atBasketball Reference | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Alfred Nicholas Cervi (February 12, 1917 – November 9, 2009) was an American professionalbasketball player andcoach in theNational Basketball League (NBL) andNational Basketball Association (NBA). One of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s, he was always assigned to defend against the opposing team's best scoring threat. He earned thenickname "Digger" because of his hard-nosed style of defense. He won the National Basketball League championship in 1946 with the Rochester Royals while being an All-NBL First Team in three straight seasons. He stayed with the NBL with the Syracuse Nationals in 1948, where he became player-coach that same year, which was the last one prior to joining the NBA. In that first year in the NBA, the Nationals won 51 games and reached the Finals, where they lost to the Minneapolis Lakers in six games. Cervi led the team back to the Finals in 1954 and 1955, which each saw the Nationals play in a Game 7; denied in 1954 to Minneapolis, the Nationals won Game 7 in 1955 for their first NBA championship. After twelve games in 1956, Cervi was fired from the Nationals, having coached them to eight postseason appearances in nine seasons. He coached one season with the Philadelphia Warriors in 1958 but elected to leave coaching for more lucrative ventures.[1] Cervi was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Born inBuffalo, New York, Cervi attended East High School in his hometown, where he captained the baseball and basketball teams and achieved All-City honors in both sports. He dropped out of school after his junior year when he was recruited by the Buffalo Bisons of the newly formed NBL.[2] He played in all of the Bisons' nine games in 1937–38, the franchise's only season of existence.[3]
He never attended college. Instead, he served five years in theUnited States Army Air Forces from 1940 through 1945.[1][4]
After the conclusion of World War II, he joined theRochester Royals, another NBL franchise entering its first year of operations. He immediately experienced success as the team captured the 1945–46 league title after sweeping the best-of-five championship series from theSheboygan Red Skins. The Royals returned to the finals the following two seasons, but lost to theChicago American Gears andMinneapolis Lakers in four games each.[3] Cervi made the All-NBL First Team in 1947 and 1948.[5] In the first of those two campaigns, he was the leading scorer with 632 points.[1][3]
His time with the Royals lasted only three seasons.[3] After discovering that other teammates were being paid more than his $7,500 annual salary, he requested a $3,500 raise, which was denied by team ownerLes Harrison. As a result, instead of moving with the Royals to theBasketball Association of America (BAA) after the 1948 campaign, Cervi stayed in the NBL and joined theSyracuse Nationals, who met his salary demands and appointed himplayer-coach.[1][3]
Besides being named to the All-NBL First Team for a third straight year in 1949, he also earned Coach of the Year honors. After the BAA-NBL merger to form the NBA prior to the1949–50 campaign, he continued to serve in the dual capacity role until his retirement as an active player in1953.[5] However, his last year as a full-time player was 1952; it was the last year that he played at least 50 games.
The Syracuse teams he piloted took on his relentlessly competitive nature. He played a major role in the development ofDolph Schayes.[6]
The Nationals qualified for the playoffs in eight of the nine seasons that he coached the ballclub, including three trips to theNBA Finals. They were twice defeated by the Lakers, first in six games in1950 and then in seven in1954. The pinnacle of Cervi's coaching career was leading his squad to the NBA Championship over theFort Wayne Pistons in seven games in1955.[5]
When the Nationals began the1956–57 campaign at 4–8, he was replaced by team captainPaul Seymour.[7]
Cervi succeededGeorge Senesky as coach of thePhiladelphia Warriors in1958,[8] but left after one season to accept a more lucrative job in thetrucking business as an areamanager forEastern Freightways, Inc. inRochester, New York. In1960 he declined to accept a two-year offer to coach the Lakers in its first campaign in Los Angeles because his wife was reluctant to leave the Rochester area. He lived in the suburb ofBrighton for the last 58 years of his life.[1]
Cervi was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.[9] He received similar honors from theGreater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[10]
He died on November 9, 2009, in Rochester, New York, at the age of 92.[4]
Cervi was featured in the book, Basketball History in Syracuse, Hoops Roots by author Mark Allen Baker published by The History Press in 2010. The book is an introduction to professional basketball in Syracuse and includes teams like (Vic Hanson's) All-Americans, the Syracuse Reds and theSyracuse Nationals (1946–1963).
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | FGM | Field-goals made | ||
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | FTM | Free-throws made | ||
| FTA | Free-throws attempted | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | ||
| PTS | Points | PPG | Points per game | ||
| Bold | Career high | ||||
| † | Denotes seasons in which Cervi's team won anNBL championship |
Source[11]
| Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | FTA | FT% | PTS | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937–38 | Buffalo | 9 | 19 | 6 | 44 | 4.9 | ||
| 1945–46† | Rochester | 28 | 112 | 76 | 108 | .704 | 300 | 10.7 |
| 1946–47 | Rochester | 44 | 228 | 176 | 236 | .746 | 632 | 14.4 |
| 1947–48 | Rochester | 49 | 234 | 187 | 242 | .773 | 655 | 13.4 |
| 1948–49 | Syracuse | 57 | 204 | 287 | 382 | .751 | 695 | 12.2 |
| Career | 187 | 797 | 732 | 968 | .750 | 2,326 | 12.4 | |
| Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | FTA | FT% | PTS | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946† | Rochester | 7 | 23 | 24 | 30 | .800 | 70 | 10.0 |
| 1947 | Rochester | 11 | 49 | 50 | 68 | .735 | 148 | 13.5 |
| 1948 | Rochester | 6 | 18 | 14 | 19 | .737 | 50 | 8.3 |
| 1949 | Syracuse | 6 | 12 | 22 | 30 | .733 | 46 | 7.7 |
| Career | 30 | 102 | 110 | 147 | .748 | 314 | 10.5 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–50 | Syracuse | 56 | – | .332 | .829 | – | 4.7 | 10.2 |
| 1950–51 | Syracuse | 53 | – | .382 | .819 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 8.6 |
| 1951–52 | Syracuse | 55 | 15.5 | .354 | .883 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 7.6 |
| 1952–53 | Syracuse | 38 | 7.9 | .437 | .810 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 3.8 |
| Career | 202 | 12.4 | .359 | .839 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 7.9 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Syracuse | 11 | – | .338 | .826 | – | 4.7 | 7.6 |
| 1951 | Syracuse | 7 | – | .304 | .880 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 11.1 |
| 1952 | Syracuse | 7 | 12.6 | .223 | .957 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 5.1 |
| 1953 | Syracuse | 2 | 14.0 | .600 | .800 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 9.0 |
| Career | 27 | 12.9 | .314 | .866 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 8.0 | |
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syracuse | 1949–50 | 64 | 51 | 13 | .797 | 1st inEastern | 11 | 6 | 5 | .545 | Lost inNBA Finals |
| Syracuse | 1950–51 | 66 | 32 | 34 | .318 | 4th in Eastern | 7 | 4 | 3 | .571 | Lost inDivision finals |
| Syracuse | 1951–52 | 66 | 40 | 26 | .606 | 1st in Eastern | 7 | 3 | 4 | .571 | Lost inDivision finals |
| Syracuse | 1952–53 | 71 | 47 | 24 | .662 | 2nd in Eastern | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | Lost inDivision semifinals |
| Syracuse | 1953–54 | 72 | 42 | 30 | .583 | 2nd in Eastern | 13 | 9 | 4 | .692 | Lost inNBA finals |
| Syracuse | 1954–55 | 72 | 43 | 29 | .597 | 1st in Eastern | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | WonNBA championship |
| Syracuse | 1955–56 | 72 | 35 | 37 | .486 | 3rd in Eastern | 8 | 4 | 4 | .500 | Lost inDivision finals |
| Syracuse | 1956–57 | 12 | 4 | 8 | .333 | (replaced) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Philadelphia | 1958–59 | 72 | 32 | 40 | .444 | 4th in Eastern | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Career[12] | 567 | 326 | 241 | .575 | 59 | 33 | 26 | .559 | |||
· Basketball Reference