William Paul Mlkvy
(born January 19, 1931) is a retired American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player who spent his one-year career with the Philadelphia Warriors (now the
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...
). Philadelphia selected Mlkvy with a
territorial pick of the
1952 NBA draft out of
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
.
A 6'4" (1.93 m) and 190 lb (86 kg) forward, he was nicknamed "The Owl without a Vowel."
His parents, John and Margaret, migrated to the United States in 1907 from present-day
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, when his father got a job with
The New Jersey Zinc Company
The Horsehead Holding Corporation, formerly The New Jersey Zinc Company, was an American producer of zinc and related materials based in Pittsburgh. The operations of the historic company are currently conducted as American Zinc Recycling.
The ...
.
Mlkvy is one of eight children.
After being drafted, Mlkvy continued with his schooling, attending
Temple's dental school while playing with the Warriors. After his rookie season, Warriors general manager and coach
Eddie Gottlieb
Edward Gottlieb (born Isadore Gottlieb; September 15, 1898 – December 7, 1979) was a Jewish-Ukrainian professional basketball coach and executive. Nicknamed "Mr. Basketball" and "The Mogul", he was the first coach and manager of the Philadelph ...
made Mlkvy choose between school and basketball. Mlkvy initially chose basketball but changed course when he was informed that he would be drafted into the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
as a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
if he was no longer enrolled in school but, if he finished school, he would be drafted as a dental
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
.
Mlkvy finished dental school the following year and enlisted in the Army as a
dentist
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...
and served for six years, eventually reaching the rank of
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
and serving in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.
In 1992, Mlkvy was inducted into the
.
See also
*
*
References
External links
*http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mlkvybi01.html
1931 births
Living people
All-American college men's basketball players
United States Army personnel of the Korean War
American dentists
American men's basketball players
American people of Slovak descent
Basketball players from Pennsylvania
People from Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Warriors draft picks
Philadelphia Warriors players
Small forwards
Temple Owls men's basketball players
United States Army officers
Military personnel from Pennsylvania
{{1930s-US-basketball-bio-stub