Woody Sauldsberry

Woodrow Sauldsberry Jr. (July 11, 1934 – September 3, 2007) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player.

Woody Sauldsberry
Personal information
Born(1934-07-11)July 11, 1934
Winnsboro, Louisiana
DiedSeptember 3, 2007(2007-09-03) (aged 73)
Baltimore, Maryland
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High schoolCompton Union
(Compton, California)
CollegeTexas Southern
NBA draft1957 / Round: 8 / Pick: 60th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia Warriors
Playing career1955–1966
PositionPower forward / Center
Number14, 21, 35, 18
Career history
1955–1957Harlem Globetrotters
1957–1960Philadelphia Warriors
1960–1961St. Louis Hawks
1961–1963Chicago Packers / Zephyrs
1963St. Louis Hawks
1965New Haven Elms
1965–1966Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points4,930 (10.7 ppg)
Rebounds3,618 (7.8 rpg)
Assists498 (1.1 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Sauldsberry was born in Winnsboro, Louisiana and graduated from Compton Union High School, where he was the star of his basketball team, and then went on to attend Texas Southern University. In 1957 he was drafted in Round 8 by the Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors). The following year in 1958, he was named the league's Rookie of the Year — the second African American ever to win the award and becoming the lowest overall draft pick ever to win the award, a record he still holds. In 1959 he played in the NBA All-Star Game. Later in his career he played for the St. Louis Hawks, Chicago Zephyrs and Boston Celtics.

Statistically, Woody Sauldsberry was an extremely poor shooter, having a field goal percentage of just 34.8% for his career. As a result, he has the lowest number of win shares of any player in NBA history, -7.9.[1]

During the 1950s Sauldsberry was part of the Harlem Globetrotters.

After becoming bitter over discrimination and shunning the basketball world, he died in poverty in Baltimore, Maryland after having a foot amputated due to diabetes.[2]

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
1957–58 Philadelphia 71 33.5 .360 .615 10.3 .8 12.8
1958–59 Philadelphia 72 38.1 .363 .625 11.5 1.0 15.4
1959–60 Philadelphia 71 26.0 .334 .534 6.3 1.6 9.9
1960–61 St. Louis 69 21.6 .299 .560 7.1 1.1 7.5
1961–62 St. Louis 14
1961–62 Chicago 49
1961–62 Totals 63 28.0 .343 .642 8.5 1.4 10.7
1962–63 Chicago 54 30.8 .384 .685 6.8 1.2 12.9
1962–63 St. Louis 23 16.1 .356 .545 3.5 .5 6.2
1965–66† Boston 39 13.6 .321 .500 3.6 .4 4.4
Career 462 27.7 .348 .610 7.8 1.1 10.7

Playoffs
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1958 Philadelphia 8 36.3 .344 .565 10.9 .8 12.9
1960 Philadelphia 9 33.1 .340 .571 7.1 1.3 12.9
1961 St. Louis 12 33.9 .364 .560 9.0 2.8 13.7
Career 29 34.3 .351 .565 8.9 1.8 13.2

References
  1. "Player Season Finder | Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24225281


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