1956 Nba Draft

The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the 1956–57 season. In this draft, 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 the previous season, except for the defending champion and runner-up, who were assigned the last two picks on each round. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising 92 players selected.

Si Green from Duquesne University was selected first overall by the Rochester Royals. Tom Heinsohn from the College of the Holy Cross was selected before the draft as Boston Celtics' territorial pick. Heinsohn went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season. Bill Russell from the University of San Francisco was selected second overall by the St. Louis Hawks and immediately traded to the Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan. Three players from this draft, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Russell, and K. C. Jones, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame after championship careers with the Boston Celtics. Elgin Baylor and Sam Jones, who were selected by the Minneapolis 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 the 1957 draft, Sam Jones was selected in the first round by the Boston Celtics, with whom he played for in his whole career. In the 1958 draft, Elgin Baylor was selected first overall by the Lakers, with whom he played for in his whole career.

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.

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	Oregon State
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

• ^a On draft-day, the Boston Celtics acquired the draft rights to second pick Bill Russell from the St. Louis Hawks in exchange for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan.
• ^b On draft-day, the New York Knicks acquired the draft rights to sixth pick Ron Sobieszczyk from the Fort Wayne Pistons in exchange for Gene Shue.
• ^c Baylor would not play for the Minneapolis Lakers until he was drafted by them again 1st overall in the 1958 NBA draft.

• List of first overall NBA draft picks
• NBA records

General

Specific