The National Basketball League (NBL) was a professional basketball league in the United States. Established in 1935 as the Midwest Basketball Conference, it changed its name to the NBL in 1937. After the 1948–49 season, its twelfth, it merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). Five current NBA teams trace their history back to the NBL: the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Sacramento Kings.
Nathaniel Thurmond was an American basketball player who spent the majority of his 14-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Golden State Warriors franchise. He played the center and power forward positions. Thurmond was a seven-time All-Star and the first player in NBA history to record an official quadruple-double. In 1965, he grabbed 42 rebounds in a game; only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell recorded more rebounds in an NBA game. Thurmond was named a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985, one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, and part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Walter Ray Allen Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018. Allen is widely considered to be one of the greatest three-point shooters of all-time, and he held the record for most three-pointers made in a career from 2011 until 2021, when he was surpassed by Stephen Curry.
Micheal "Sugar" Ray Richardson is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies. The No. 4 overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Richardson played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight years with the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and New Jersey Nets. He was a four-time NBA All-Star, and led the league in steals in three seasons. He later became a head coach in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and National Basketball League of Canada.
W. Harold Anderson was an American college men's basketball coach at Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo. As a player, he played at Otterbein College, a small liberal arts college outside Columbus, Ohio. As a coach he was one of the first to win more than 500 games on the collegiate level. Anderson was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Steven Charles Mix, nicknamed "The Mayor", is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Mix had a thirteen year playing career, was an NBA All-Star and played in the NBA Finals on four occasions. He later had a lengthy career as a broadcaster for the Philadelphia 76ers.
John Raymond Scott is an American former professional basketball player and coach.
Paul Norman Seymour was an American professional basketball player and coach. Seymour played college basketball for the Toledo Rockets before playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the NBA, he played for the Baltimore Bullets and Syracuse Nationals. While with the Nationals, Seymour was named to the NBA All-Star game in three consecutive years, from 1953-1955. He also coached in the NBA for the Nationals, St. Louis Hawks, Baltimore Bullets, and Detroit Pistons.
The 1961 NBA draft was the 15th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 27, 1961, before the 1961–62 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile radius of its home arena as their territorial pick. An expansion franchise, the Chicago Packers, were assigned the first pick of the first round and the last pick of each subsequent round, along with five extra picks at the end of the second round. The draft consisted of 15 rounds comprising 107 players selected.
The 1960 NBA draft was the 14th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 11, 1960, before the 1960–61 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile radius of its home arena as their territorial pick. The Minneapolis Lakers participated in the draft, but relocated to Los Angeles and became the Los Angeles Lakers prior to the start of the season. The draft consisted of 21 rounds comprising 100 players selected.
Howard K. "Butch" Komives was an American professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Buffalo Braves and Kansas City-Omaha Kings.
The 1953 NBA draft was the seventh annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24, 1953, before the 1953–54 season. In this draft, nine remaining 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 19 rounds comprising 122 players selected.
Calvin Lawrence Christensen was an American basketball player.
Raymond Albert Patterson, Jr. was general manager of the NBA's Houston Rockets from 1972 to 1990. He was named NBA Executive of the Year in 1977, and his Rockets appeared in the NBA Finals in 1981 and 1986. Among his most notable player acquisitions were Ralph Sampson in 1983 and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984. He left the Rockets in 1990 with hopes of becoming co-owner of an NHL team in Houston, and was succeeded by his son, Steve. Ray Patterson's NHL dreams never materialized, but he helped found an International Hockey League franchise, the Houston Aeros, in 1994.
Joseph Casey Shaw is an American former basketball player who is an assistant coach for the Grand Canyon Antelopes of the Western Athletic Conference. Prior to this he was the head coach of the boys varsity basketball team at Davidson Academy and before that an assistant coach for the Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team. Shaw played the center position. After a collegiate career at the University of Toledo, he was drafted 37th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1998 NBA draft.
Thomas William Kozelko is a retired American basketball player who played briefly in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Dale B. Hamilton was a professional basketball guard–forward who spent eight seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) and one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the NBL, Hamilton played for the Hammond Ciesar All-Americans (1939–40), the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (1940–45), the Toledo Jeeps (1946–48) and the Waterloo Hawks (1949–50). He played for the Waterloo Hawks once they joined the NBA during the 1949–50 season. He attended Franklin College.
Jerry Alvin Fowler was a professional basketball player who spent one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Milwaukee Hawks during the 1951–52 season. He also played with the Kansas City Hi-Spots of the National Professional Basketball League (1950–1951). He attended the University of Missouri. He later toured with the Harlem Globetrotters as a member of the Toledo Mercurys.
Ryan Anthony Rollins is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Toledo Rockets.
