The 1962–63 Cincinnati Royals season was the team's 15th season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) and its sixth in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. The Royals were shifted from the Western Division into the Eastern Division before the start of the season because the Philadelphia Warriors had relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In their first season in the Eastern Division, the Royals posted a 42–38 record and finished in 3rd place.Cincinnati Royals (1957–1972)
/ref> The season saw the Royals challenged by a rival league, the American Basketball League run by

Abe Saperstein Abraham Michael Saperstein (; July 4, 1902 – March 15, 1966) was the founder, owner and earliest coach of the Harlem Globetrotters. Saperstein was a leading figure in black basketball and baseball from the 1920s through the 1950s, primarily bef ...

, like few NBA teams ever have been.

Larry Staverman Lawrence Joseph Staverman (October 11, 1936 – July 12, 2007) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A 6' 7" forward from Villa Madonna College (now known as Thomas More College), Staverman was drafted in the 9th round of the ...

and Win Wilfong had left the team for the new league. #1 draft picks

Larry Siegfried Larry E. Siegfried (May 22, 1939 – October 14, 2010) was an American National Basketball Association player. Early years Siegfried led Ohio in scoring as a senior at Shelby High School. Siegfried played college basketball for Ohio State Univ ...

and

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State, and 1960 gold medal Olympian and international player before later starring as a p ...

were both also signed away by the ABL. These key losses would later greatly affect the team's

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

result. Lucas was particularly missed by Cincinnati fans. Oscar Robertson nonetheless led a balanced and solid Royals five that year, supported by

Wayne Embry Wayne Richard Embry (born March 26, 1937) is a retired American basketball player and basketball executive. Embry's 11-year playing career as a center spanned from 1958 to 1969 playing for the Cincinnati Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Buck ...

Jack Twyman John Kennedy Twyman (May 21, 1934 – May 30, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and sports broadcaster. Twyman is a namesake of the NBA's Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. Twyman was inducted into the Naismith Basketb ...

Bob Boozer Robert Louis Boozer (April 26, 1937 – May 19, 2012) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Boozer won a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics and won an NBA Championship as a member of the ...

and Arlen Bockhorn. Draft pick

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

had arrived and joined Tom Hawkins and Hub Reed at the head of the bench. Robertson posted 28.3 points per game, and his league-leading assists total was twice that of all but one other NBA player. He sank the second-most free throws in the league, and was a strong third on the Royals in rebounds. The Royals were consistent winners all season long, buoyed by a 10–6 November. In the playoffs, the Royals would win their first

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

series in 11 years. The Royals upset the second-place Syracuse Nationals with an overtime win on the road in Game 5 on March 26. The two teams had each won their two home games before Robertson led the upset. It was the last NBA game ever hosted by a team in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In the Eastern Finals, the Royals faced the defending NBA Champion

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

and stunned them with two wins at Boston Gardens to seize a 2–1 series lead. Thomas E. Wood, the team's key owner, died in 1961. An ownership dispute between competing groups came to a head in 1963 when

Louis Jacobs Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer and theologian. He was the rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as "The Jacobs Affair" in the ...

, who had bought

Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati Gardens was an indoor arena located in Cincinnati, Ohio, that opened in 1949. The 25,000 square foot (2,300 m²) brick and limestone building at 2250 Seymour Avenue in Bond Hill had a entrance that was decorated with six three-dimensio ...

from the Wood estate, scheduled a circus for the week of the Boston series without telling the Royals. The team was furious and had to host their second home playoff game at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

's small Schmidt Fieldhouse. Despite that fact, and the earlier loss of draft pick Jerry Lucas, Robertson led the team to a third win over the Celtics in Game Six to force a seventh game. The Royals lost Game Seven in Boston on April 10, 142–131. Robertson had 43 points, the Celtics' Sam Jones had 47 in that concluding game. The season marks arguably the closest the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

ever came to an NBA title, despite the obstacles mentioned above. Ballyhooed #1 pick Jerry Lucas, two-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Player of The Year, was signed away by

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

of the ABL

Cleveland Pipers The Cleveland Pipers were an American industrial basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Pipers are mostly known for having played in the short-lived American Basketball League from 1961–62. They were also a po ...

, a serious blow to this year's team. # 2 pick was 6' 8

Bud Olsen Enoch Eli "Bud" Olsen III (July 25, 1940 – March 12, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'8" center from the University of Louisville, Olsen was selected by the Cincinnati Royals in the second round of the 1962 NBA dr ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, a college star with local ties.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Season schedule

The Royals won five straight to move to 10–6 in November, and followed that with a 6–8 December. They were 9–9 in both January and February, reaching 36–31 on 2-21-63. The Royals won four straight to finish the season 42-38.

Playoffs

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L 120–123
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Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

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Onondaga War Memorial The Upstate Medical University Arena (originally known as Onondaga County War Memorial and later as the Oncenter War Memorial Arena) is a multi-purpose arena located in Syracuse, New York. It is part of the Oncenter Complex. Designed by Edgart ...

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L 117–121
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Embry Embry may refer to: People * Aaron Embry (born 1975), American musician * Ashton F. Embry (born 1946), Canadian research scientist *Basil Embry (1902–1977), British air force commander * C. B. Embry (1941-2022), American politician *Eric Embry ...

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W 131–127 (OT)
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Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

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L 102–125
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W 121–116
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L 110–128
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Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

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L 120–125
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W 109–99
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L 131–142
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Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and honors

, First Team All-NBA selection, NBA All-Star *

, NBA All-Star *

, NBA All-Star

References

Royals on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1962-63 Cincinnati Royals season Sacramento Kings seasons