Paul Norman Seymour (January 30, 1928 – May 5, 1998) was an 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 and coach.
Playing career
A 6'1"
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
, Seymour played collegiately at the
University of Toledo
The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...
, and had a 12-year career in the
NBA
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 St ...
and its predecessor, the
Basketball Association of America
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
(BAA). He played his first season for the
Baltimore Bullets of the BAA; the remainder of his career was with the
Syracuse Nationals
The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances.
1946– ...
.
Seymour was named to the
All-NBA second team
The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...
in the 1954–55 and 1954–55 seasons and played in three
NBA All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, a ...
s during his career. He won a championship with the Nationals in the
1954–55 season. For a good part of his career, Seymour was a
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
for the Nats.
Seymour still shares, with former teammate
Red Rocha
Ephraim J. "Red" Rocha (September 18, 1923 – February 13, 2010) was an American professional basketball player and coach.
Basketball
A 6'9" center from Oregon State University, he earned All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in 1945, 1946, an ...
, the
NBA record for most minutes in a playoff game with 67.
Coaching career
After finishing his playing career, Seymour continued a successful coaching career in the NBA, coaching three more teams. Altogether he coached four teams in eight seasons. In 1961, he was the head coach of the Western Division Team in the All Star Game.
Seymour was mentioned in the
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
documentary, Black Magic, which told the story of
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
s and basketball. In a segment about
Cleo Hill
Cleo Hill (April 24, 1938 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the first round (8th overall) of the 1961 NBA draft. A guard from Newark, New Jersey and the Winston-Salem S ...
, it was revealed that during the 1961–62 season,
Bob Pettit
Robert Lee Pettit Jr. (born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Mo ...
and
Cliff Hagan
Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li'l Abner", played his entire 10-year NBA career (1956–1966) with the St. Lo ...
approached management and complained that Hill was taking too many shots. (Allegedly, this was just a cover-up for their desire to not play with an African-American teammate.) Management granted their wish, telling Seymour to severely diminish Hill's offensive role. Seymour refused and was fired 14 games into the season.
While coaching at Baltimore during the 1965–1966 season, Seymour deliberately ended
Johnny Kerr
John Graham "Red" Kerr (July 17, 1932 – February 26, 2009) was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching ...
's then-record consecutive-games-played streak of 844 games by benching the team captain for one game. According to Kerr, only after the game did Seymour tell Kerr about his intention to end Kerr's streak, saying, "This will take the pressure off you."
Later years
Seymour was featured in the book, Basketball History in Syracuse, Hoops Roots by author Mark Allen Baker published by The History Press in 2010. The book is an introduction to professional basketball in Syracuse and includes teams like (Vic Hanson's) All-Americans, the Syracuse Reds and the
Syracuse Nationals
The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances.
1946– ...
(1946–1963).
Seymour was elected to the first class of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 along with owner Dan Biasone and NBA all-time great Dolph Schayes.
BAA/NBA career statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
References
External links
BasketballReference.com: Paul Seymour (as player)Paul Seymour graveat Woodlawn Cemetery (Syracuse, New York)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Paul
1928 births
1998 deaths
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) head coaches
Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players
Basketball coaches from Ohio
Basketball players from Ohio
Detroit Pistons head coaches
National Basketball Association All-Stars
People from Jensen Beach, Florida
Player-coaches
Professional Basketball League of America players
Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio
St. Louis Hawks head coaches
Syracuse Nationals head coaches
Syracuse Nationals players
Toledo Jeeps players
Toledo Rockets men's basketball players
Guards (basketball)
Eastern Basketball Association coaches