Stanley Lee Von Nieda Jr. (born June 19, 1922) is an American retired 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. He was born in

Ephrata, Pennsylvania Ephrata ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Effridaa'') is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg and about west-northwest ...

Career

He played basketball at Ephrata High School and

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. Enlisting in the army during World War II, he played with the Fort Benning, Georgia paratroopers. There he led the country, both college and service teams, in scoring with 1062 points in 44 games. After being discharged he played for the

Lancaster Red Roses The Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, originally known as the Maroons, changed its name at the start of the 1906 season during a bitter match with the York, Pennsylvania-based White Roses. Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named fo ...

in the

Eastern Basketball League Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

where he led that league in scoring, averaging better than 24 points per game. In 1947 he began playing for the

Tri-Cities BlackHawks Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

in the National Basketball League (NBL). While with the Blackhawks he made the All-Rookie team averaging 12 points a game. The team made it to the final round of the playoffs in both of the years he played there. In 1949, the founding year of 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), he was traded to the Baltimore Bullets where he completed the 1949 and 1950 NBA seasons. In Baltimore he started every game playing both

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

. Whitey was known for his quickness on the court. After leaving the NBA he coached at

Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College (informally E-town) is a private college in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. History Founding and early years Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is one of many higher learning institutions founded in the 19th century by c ...

for two years. In 1952 he became the player/coach of the Lancaster Red Roses for four years making it to the finals three of the four years. Von Nieda was selected to the All-EPBL Second Team in 1951. Again in 1985 he coached Lancaster in the Continental League, these teams were a stepping stone to the NBA. Once again his team made it to the finals. For many years he coached junior teams where he worked with 10- and 12-year-old kids teaching them the fundamentals of basketball.

Personal life

Von Nieda resides in

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania Elizabethtown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Betzischteddel'') is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located southeast of Harrisburg, the state capital. Small factories existed at the turn of the 20th century when the popu ...

, with his wife, Arlene. He turned 100 on June 19, 2022; he is the first NBA player to reach 100 years of age. He is currently the oldest living former NBA player.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Von Nieda, Whitey 1922 births Living people American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania Point guards People from Ephrata, Pennsylvania Penn State Nittany Lions basketball players Shooting guards Tri-Cities Blackhawks players United States Army personnel of World War II American centenarians Men centenarians