1959 NBA draft

Bob Boozer from Kansas State University was selected first overall by the Cincinnati Royals. Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Ferry were selected before the draft as Philadelphia Warriors' and St. Louis Hawks' territorial picks respectively. Although Chamberlain played at the University of Kansas, outside the territory of any NBA team, he was selected as the Warriors' territorial pick because the Warriors argued that Chamberlain had grown up in Philadelphia and played high school basketball at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. The NBA agreed with the argument, hence making him the first territorial pick based solely on his pre-college roots.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/players/chamberlain_bio.html|title=Wilt Chamberlain Bio|work=NBA.com|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|access-date=September 10, 2009}} Chamberlain went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in his first season.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/awards_rookieofyear.html|title=Rookie of the Year|work=NBA.com|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|access-date=October 28, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329231204/http://www.nba.com/history/awards_rookieofyear.html|archive-date=March 29, 2010|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/awards_mvp.html|title=Most Valuable Player |work=NBA.com|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|access-date=March 16, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090318083605/http://www.nba.com/history/awards_mvp.html| archive-date= 18 March 2009 | url-status= live}} Three players from this draft, Wilt Chamberlain, Bailey Howell, and Dick Barnett have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/hof.html|title=Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees|work=basketball-reference.com|access-date=October 28, 2009}}

{{NBA Draft legend|1=y|3=y|5=y}}

File:Wilt Chamberlain3.jpg was selected as the Philadelphia Warriors' territorial pick.]]

• {{note label|Note1|a|a}} Prior to the draft, the Detroit Pistons acquired Archie Dees along with the Cincinnati Royals' second-round pick, which was used to select Tom Robitaille, from the Royals in exchange for Phil Jordon.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/deesar01.html|title=Archie Dees Bio|work=basketball-reference.com|access-date=January 8, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/pistons/history/transactions_alltime.html|title=All-Time Transactions|work=NBA.com/Pistons|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|access-date=December 28, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091230220239/http://www.nba.com/pistons/history/transactions_alltime.html| archive-date= 30 December 2009 | url-status= live}}
• {{note label|Note2|b|b}} Prior to the draft, the St. Louis Hawks acquired the New York Knicks' second-round pick, which was used to select Alan Seiden, from the Knicks in exchange for Frank Selvy.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/10/23/archives/knicks-quintet-obtains-selvy-from-hawks-for-2d-draft-pick-new.html|title=Knicks' Quintet Obtains Selvy From Hawks for 2d Draft Pick; New Member of Club Paced College Scorers When Playing at Furman|work=The New York Times|date=October 23, 1958|access-date=January 30, 2010}}

{{Cnote|1|Wilt Chamberlain was playing for the University of Kansas until May 1958, when he decided to leave college early to play professional basketball. However, the NBA rules prevented college players from playing in the league until their class graduated, therefore Chamberlain wasn't eligible to play in the 1958–59 season. He spent the 1958–59 season playing for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to the 1959 draft.}}

• List of first overall NBA draft picks

;General

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/draft_round1_1950s.html|title=Complete First Round Results 1957–59|work=NBA.com|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|access-date=December 28, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091203204222/http://www.nba.com/history/draft_round1_1950s.html| archive-date= 3 December 2009 | url-status= live}}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1959.html|title=1959 NBA Draft|work=basketball-reference.com|access-date=December 28, 2009}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.apbr.org/5761drft.html|title=1957–1961 NBA Drafts|publisher=The Association for Professional Basketball Research|access-date=December 28, 2009}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2588&Itemid=103|title=1959 NBA Draft|publisher=The Draft Review|access-date=December 28, 2009}}

{{refend}}

;Specific

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.nba.com/ NBA.com]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090315112610/http://www.nba.com/history/draft_index.html NBA.com: NBA Draft History]

{{NBA Drafts}}

{{NBA Draft history by team}}

{{1959 NBA draft}}

{{1959–60 NBA season by team}}

Draft

Category:NBA draft

NBA draft

NBA draft

Category:20th century in Cincinnati

Category:Basketball in Cincinnati

Category:Events in Cincinnati