Woody Sauldsberry

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Woody Sauldsberry
St. Louis Hawks
1961–1963Chicago Packers / Zephyrs
1963St. Louis Hawks
1965New Haven Elms
1965–1966Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points
4,930 (10.7 ppg)
Rebounds3,618 (7.8 rpg)
Assists498 (1.1 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Woodrow Sauldsberry Jr. (July 11, 1934 – September 3, 2007) was an American basketball player. He was the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1958 and in 1966 he won the NBA championship as a member of the Boston Celtics.

Early life

Sauldsberry was born in Winnsboro, Louisiana and graduated from Compton Union High School, where he was the star of his basketball team, and then went on to attend Texas Southern University.

Professional career

Following his college career, Sauldsberry was part of the

Syracuse Nationals.[3] The same month, he was selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game.[4]

On October 17, 1961, Sauldsberry was among seven players—the others being Bill Russell, Al Butler, Sam Jones, K. C. Jones, Tom Sanders, and Cleo Hill— to refuse to play in an exhibition basketball game over alleged discrimination. The five members of the Boston Celtics said that a hotel coffee shop denied them service, after which they told Coach Red Auerbach they wanted to return to Boston. Sauldsberry and Hill joined the five in refusing to play the game.[5]

In November 1961, Sauldsberry was traded to the

Chicago Packers along with Joe Graboski, Si Green and Fred LaCour for Barney Cable, Archie Dees and Ralph Davis.[6]

In January 1963, Sauldsberry was traded back to the Hawks for Barney Cable.[7] On March 13, he was suspended by the Hawks for a week following a dispute with head coach Harry Gallatin.[8] He did not return to the team and was left of its playoff roster.[9][10] In June 1963, he was waived by the Hawks.[11]

After two years away from the NBA, Sauldsberry worked out for the

Eastern League.[1] In November 1965, he signed with the Celtics for the season. After the NBA refused to accept the contract, Sauldsberry filed a class action suit against J. Walter Kennedy and all the NBA teams, except the Celtics, for a conspiracy to keep him out of the league.[12] In December, the NBA approved the contract when the Celtics and Sauldsberry agreed to conditions laid down to them[13] and the suit was officially dropped in January 1966.[14] He played his last NBA game on March 1, 1966, missing the rest of the regular season and playoffs due to a back injury.[15][16]

Later life

Sometime in the late 90s, Sauldsberry was diagnosed with diabetes and had to have his leg amputated.[17]

He died September 3, 2007, aged 73 in Baltimore, Maryland.[18] An article by Dan Klores alleges that when Sauldsberry died, "he was broke, alone and on the verge of losing his left leg to diabetes, which took his right."[19]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  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 an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1957–58 Philadelphia 71 33.5 .360 .615 10.3 .8 12.8
1958–59 Philadelphia 72 38.1 .363 .625 11.5 1.0 15.4
1959–60 Philadelphia 71 26.0 .334 .534 6.3 1.6 9.9
1960–61 St. Louis 69 21.6 .299 .560 7.1 1.1 7.5
1961–62 St. Louis 14 20.8 .336 .655 5.1 0.9 7.2
1961–62 Chicago 49 30.1 .344 .638 9.5 1.6 11.7
1961–62 Totals 63 28.0 .343 .642 8.5 1.4 10.7
1962–63 Chicago 54 30.8 .384 .685 6.8 1.2 12.9
1962–63 St. Louis 23 16.1 .356 .545 3.5 .5 6.2
1965–66† Boston 39 13.6 .321 .500 3.6 .4 4.4
Career 462 27.7 .348 .610 7.8 1.1 10.7

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1958
 Philadelphia 8 36.3 .344 .565 10.9 .8 12.9
1960
 Philadelphia 9 33.1 .340 .571 7.1 1.3 12.9
1961
 St. Louis 12 33.9 .364 .560 9.0 2.8 13.7
Career 29 34.3 .351 .565 8.9 1.8 13.2

References

  1. ^
    Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  2. ^ Matt Velazquez (June 26, 2017). "Brogdon named Rookie of the Year; Antetokounmpo Most Improved". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  3. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  4. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  5. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  6. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  7. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  8. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  9. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  10. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  11. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  12. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  13. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  14. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  15. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  16. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  17. ^ Brodie, James Michael (March 28, 2001). "Life and Basketball: The Redemption of Woody Sauldsberry". Baltimore CityPaper. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  18. Baltimore Sun
    . Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  19. ^ Dan Klores (September 7, 2007). "End basketball's blacklist". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 16, 2023.

External links

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