Paul Seymour (basketball)

Paul Seymour

Personal information
Born	(1928-01-30)January 30, 1928 Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Died	May 5, 1998(1998-05-05) (aged 70) Jensen Beach, Florida, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school	Woodward (Toledo, Ohio)
College	Toledo (1945–1946)
Playing career	1946–1960
Position	Point guard / shooting guard
Number	24, 25, 8, 5
Career history
As player:
1946–1947	Toledo Jeeps
1947–1948	Baltimore Bullets
1948–1960	Syracuse Nationals
As coach:
1956–1960	Syracuse Nationals
1960–1962	St. Louis Hawks
1965–1966	Baltimore Bullets
1968–1969	Detroit Pistons
Career highlights and awards
As player: NBA champion (1955) 3× NBA All-Star (1953–1955) 2× All-NBA Second Team (1954, 1955) As coach: NBA All-Star Game head coach (1961)
Career NBA statistics
Points	5,836 (9.4 ppg)
Rebounds	1,694 (3.1 rpg)
Assists	2,341 (3.8 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Paul Norman Seymour (January 30, 1928 – May 5, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. Seymour played college basketball for the Toledo Rockets before playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the NBA, he played for the Baltimore Bullets and Syracuse Nationals. While with the Nationals, Seymour was named to the NBA All-Star game in three consecutive years, from 1953 to 1955. He also coached in the NBA for the Nationals, St. Louis Hawks, Baltimore Bullets, and Detroit Pistons.

Playing career

A 6'1" guard, Seymour played collegiately at the University of Toledo, and had a 12-year career in the NBA and its predecessor, the Basketball Association of America (BAA). He played his first season for the Baltimore Bullets of the BAA; the remainder of his career was with the Syracuse Nationals.

Seymour was named to the All-NBA second team in the 1954–55 and 1954–55 seasons and played in three NBA All-Star Games 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 for the Nats.

Seymour still shares, with former teammate Red Rocha, 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 documentary, Black Magic, which told the story of African-Americans and basketball. In a segment about Cleo Hill, it was revealed that during the 1961–62 season, Bob Pettit and Cliff Hagan 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's refusal resulted in his dismissal 14 games into the season on November 17, 1961. His replacement on an interim basis was Pettit. Seymour had no ill feelings towards team owner Ben Kerner, stating, "He didn't fire me. The players did."

While coaching at Baltimore during the 1965–1966 season, Seymour deliberately ended Johnny Kerr'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 (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

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high
†	Won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1947–48	Baltimore	22	–	.267	.595	–	.3	3.5
1949–50	Syracuse	62	–	.334	.716	–	3.0	7.7
1950–51	Syracuse	51	–	.325	.736	3.8	3.7	7.2
1951–52	Syracuse	66	33.5	.335	.759	3.4	3.3	9.1
1952–53	Syracuse	67	40.1	.383	.817	3.7	4.4	14.2
1953–54	Syracuse	71	38.4	.377	.813	4.1	5.1	13.1
1954–55†	Syracuse	72	41.0	.362	.811	4.3	6.7	14.6
1955–56	Syracuse	57	32.0	.339	.807	2.7	4.8	11.3
1956–57	Syracuse	65	19.0	.324	.821	2.0	3.0	6.0
1957–58	Syracuse	64	11.9	.340	.841	1.7	1.5	4.2
1958–59	Syracuse	21	12.7	.327	.897	1.9	1.7	4.3
1959–60	Syracuse	4	1.8	.000	.000	.3	.0	.0
Career		622	30.1	.350	.792	3.1	3.8	9.4
All-Star		3	16.2	.412	.875	2.3	2.0	7.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1950	Syracuse	11	–	.290	.857	–	3.1	7.1
1951	Syracuse	7	–	.208	.667	3.7	3.6	4.9
1952	Syracuse	7	38.6	.417	.814	3.7	3.6	12.1
1953	Syracuse	2	56.0	.375	.947	5.0	4.0	18.0
1954	Syracuse	13	43.0	.413	.809	2.6	4.6	14.9
1955†	Syracuse	11	37.3	.309	.900	3.9	6.8	12.5
1956	Syracuse	7	21.9	.291	.750	1.6	2.6	6.7
1957	Syracuse	5	19.6	.216	.833	2.0	1.6	4.2
1958	Syracuse	3	16.7	.348	.667	1.3	1.3	6.0
Career		66	34.4	.329	.824	3.0	3.9	9.8

External links

• BasketballReference.com: Paul Seymour (as player)
• BasketballReference.com: Paul Seymour (as coach)
• Paul Seymour grave at Woodlawn Cemetery (Syracuse, New York)