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

(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 grave
at 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