| 1956 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date | April 30, 1956 |
| Location | New York City, New York |
| Overview | |
| 92 total selections in14 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| Territorial picks | Tom Heinsohn,Boston Celtics |
| First selection | Si Green,Rochester Royals |
| Hall of Famers | |
The1956 NBA draft was the tenth annualdraft of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the1956–57 season. In thisdraft, 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 theprevious season, except for the defending champion and runner-up, who were assigned the last two picks in each round. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising 92 players selected.
Si Green fromDuquesne University was selectedfirst overall by theRochester Royals.Tom Heinsohn from theCollege of the Holy Cross was selected before the draft asBoston Celtics'territorial pick. Heinsohn went on to win theRookie of the Year Award in his first season.[1]Bill Russell from theUniversity of San Francisco was selected second overall by theSt. Louis Hawks and immediately traded to theBoston Celtics forEd Macauley andCliff Hagan.[2] Three players from this draft, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Russell, andK. C. Jones, have been inducted to theBasketball Hall of Fame after championship careers with the Boston Celtics.[3]Elgin Baylor andSam Jones, who were selected by theMinneapolis Lakers in the later rounds, have also been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame, although they did not enter the league immediately after the draft. In the1957 draft, Sam Jones was selected in the first round by the Boston Celtics, with whom he played for in his whole career.[4] In the1958 draft, Elgin Baylor was selected first overall by the Lakers, with whom he played for in his whole career.[5] During this draft, the St. Louis Hawks became the second team to select a high school senior for a future draft as a conditional territorial pick under a new rule that was implemented at the time by a new rule that was implemented at the time to select a high school senior that was within the team's territorial rights at the time by selecting small forward Jack Pirrie fromMaplewood Richmond Heights High School.[6] However, unlike the previous player that was selected like that in the previous year's draft,Wilt Chamberlain for the Philadelphia Warriors, Pirrie would eventually go undrafted in1960 despite the Hawks giving him the initial territorial draft rights for that year's draft due to a decrease in production in college atVanderbilt University after previously being considered "one of the greatest high school talents" that was ever seen according to Hawks coachRed Holzman.[7]
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T | – | Tom Heinsohn^ | F/C |  United States | Boston Celtics | Holy Cross |
| 1 | 1 | Si Green | G/F | United States | Rochester Royals | Duquesne |
| 1 | 2 | Bill Russell^ | C | United States | St. Louis Hawks(traded toBoston)[a] | San Francisco |
| 1 | 3 | Jim Paxson | G/F | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Dayton |
| 1 | 4 | Ronnie Shavlik | F | United States | New York Knicks | NC State |
| 1 | 5 | Joe Holup | F | United States | Syracuse Nationals | George Washington |
| 1 | 6 | Ron Sobieszczyk | G | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons(traded toNew York)[b] | DePaul |
| 1 | 7 | Hal Lear | G | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Temple |
| 2 | 8 | Bob Burrow | F/C | United States | Rochester Royals | Kentucky |
| 2 | 9 | Willie Naulls+ | F/C | United States | St. Louis Hawks | UCLA |
| 2 | 10 | Terry Rand# | C | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Marquette |
| 2 | 11 | Gary Bergen | C | United States | New York Knicks | Utah |
| 2 | 12 | Paul Judson# | F | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Illinois |
| 2 | 13 | K. C. Jones^ | G | United States | Boston Celtics | San Francisco |
| 2 | 14 | Bob Kessler# | F | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Maryland |
| 2 | 15 | Phil Rollins | G | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Louisville |
The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.[8][9]
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 16 | Dave Piontek | F/C | United States | Rochester Royals | Xavier (OH) |
| 3 | 18 | Jerry Bird | F | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Kentucky |
| 3 | 20 | Forest Able | G | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Western Kentucky |
| 3 | 22 | Bill Thieben | F/C | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Hofstra |
| 4 | 24 | Johnny McCarthy | G | United States | Rochester Royals | Canisius |
| 4 | 28 | Swede Halbrook | C | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Wichita Vickers(NIBL) |
| 4 | 29 | Dan Swartz | F | United States | Boston Celtics | Morehead State |
| 5 | 33 | Norm Stewart | F | United States | St. Louis Hawks | Missouri |
| 5 | 36 | Jim Ray | G | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Toledo |
| 6 | 42 | Phil Jordon | F/C | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Whitworth |
| 6 | 43 | Pat Dunn | G | United States | New York Knicks | Utah State |
| 7 | 50 | John Barber | F | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Cal State L.A. |
| 10 | 74 | Bob Hopkins | F/C | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Grambling |
| 14 | 90 | Elgin Baylor^ | F | United States | Minneapolis Lakers[c] | Seattle |
These players were not selected in the 1956 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Eichhorst | G | United States | Southeast Missouri State |