 Seymour with theSyracuse Nationals in 1958 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1928-01-30)January 30, 1928 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | May 5, 1998(1998-05-05) (aged 70) Jensen Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Woodward (Toledo, Ohio) |
| College | Toledo (1945–1946) |
| Playing career | 1946–1960 |
| Position | Point guard /shooting guard |
| Number | 24, 25, 8, 5 |
| Coaching career | 1956–1969 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1946–1947 | Toledo Jeeps |
| 1947–1948 | Baltimore Bullets |
| 1948–1960 | Syracuse Nationals |
Coaching | |
| 1956–1960 | Syracuse Nationals |
| 1960–1962 | St. Louis Hawks |
| 1965–1966 | Baltimore Bullets |
| 1966–1967 | Scranton Miners |
| 1968–1969 | Detroit Pistons |
| Career highlights | |
| As player: As coach: | |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 5,836 (9.4 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,694 (3.1 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,341 (3.8 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Paul Norman Seymour (January 30, 1928 – May 5, 1998) was an American professionalbasketball player and coach. Seymour playedcollege basketball for theToledo Rockets before playing professionally in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). In the NBA, he played for theBaltimore Bullets andSyracuse Nationals. While with the Nationals, Seymour was named to theNBA All-Star game in three consecutive years, from 1953 to 1955. He also coached in the NBA for the Nationals,St. Louis Hawks,Baltimore Bullets, andDetroit Pistons.
A 6'1"guard, Seymour played collegiately at theUniversity of Toledo, and had a 12-year career in theNBA and its predecessor, theBasketball Association of America (BAA). He played his first season for theBaltimore Bullets of the BAA; the remainder of his career was with theSyracuse Nationals.
Seymour was named to theAll-NBA second team in the 1954–55 and 1954–55 seasons and played in threeNBA All-Star Games during his career. He won a championship with the Nationals in the1954–55 season. For a good part of his career, Seymour was aplayer-coach for the Nats.
Seymour still shares, with former teammateRed Rocha, theNBA record for most minutes in a playoff game with 67.[1]
After finishing his playing career, Seymour continued a successful coaching career in the NBA, coaching three more teams. Altogether he coached four teams in eight seasons. In 1961, he was the head coach of the Western Division Team in the All Star Game.
Seymour was mentioned in theESPN documentary, Black Magic, which told the story ofAfrican-Americans and basketball. In a segment aboutCleo Hill, it was revealed that during the 1961–62 season,Bob Pettit andCliff Hagan approached management and complained that Hill was taking too many shots. (Allegedly, this was just a cover-up for their desire to not play with an African-American teammate.) Management granted their wish, telling Seymour to severely diminish Hill's offensive role. Seymour's refusal resulted in his dismissal 14 games into the season on November 17, 1961. His replacement on an interim basis was Pettit. Seymour had no ill feelings towards team ownerBen Kerner, stating, "He didn't fire me. The players did."[2]
While coaching at Baltimore during the 1965–1966 season, Seymour deliberately endedJohnny Kerr's then-record consecutive-games-played streak of 844 games by benching the team captain for one game. According to Kerr, only after the game did Seymour tell Kerr about his intention to end Kerr's streak, saying, "This will take the pressure off you."[3]
Seymour was the head coach for theScranton Miners of theEastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) during the 1966–67 season.[4]
Seymour 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).
Seymour was elected to the first class of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 along with owner Dan Biasone and NBA all-time great Dolph Schayes.[5]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won anNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947–48 | Baltimore | 22 | – | .267 | .595 | – | .3 | 3.5 |
| 1949–50 | Syracuse | 62 | – | .334 | .716 | – | 3.0 | 7.7 |
| 1950–51 | Syracuse | 51 | – | .325 | .736 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 7.2 |
| 1951–52 | Syracuse | 66 | 33.5 | .335 | .759 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 9.1 |
| 1952–53 | Syracuse | 67 | 40.1 | .383 | .817 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 14.2 |
| 1953–54 | Syracuse | 71 | 38.4 | .377 | .813 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 13.1 |
| 1954–55† | Syracuse | 72 | 41.0 | .362 | .811 | 4.3 | 6.7 | 14.6 |
| 1955–56 | Syracuse | 57 | 32.0 | .339 | .807 | 2.7 | 4.8 | 11.3 |
| 1956–57 | Syracuse | 65 | 19.0 | .324 | .821 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 |
| 1957–58 | Syracuse | 64 | 11.9 | .340 | .841 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 4.2 |
| 1958–59 | Syracuse | 21 | 12.7 | .327 | .897 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 4.3 |
| 1959–60 | Syracuse | 4 | 1.8 | .000 | .000 | .3 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 622 | 30.1 | .350 | .792 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 9.4 | |
| All-Star | 3 | 16.2 | .412 | .875 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 7.0 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Syracuse | 11 | – | .290 | .857 | – | 3.1 | 7.1 |
| 1951 | Syracuse | 7 | – | .208 | .667 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.9 |
| 1952 | Syracuse | 7 | 38.6 | .417 | .814 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 12.1 |
| 1953 | Syracuse | 2 | 56.0 | .375 | .947 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 18.0 |
| 1954 | Syracuse | 13 | 43.0 | .413 | .809 | 2.6 | 4.6 | 14.9 |
| 1955† | Syracuse | 11 | 37.3 | .309 | .900 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 12.5 |
| 1956 | Syracuse | 7 | 21.9 | .291 | .750 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 6.7 |
| 1957 | Syracuse | 5 | 19.6 | .216 | .833 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| 1958 | Syracuse | 3 | 16.7 | .348 | .667 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 6.0 |
| Career | 66 | 34.4 | .329 | .824 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 9.8 | |