Special draft choice used in the 1949 Basketball Association of America draft
A territorial pick was a type of special
draft choice used in the
Basketball Association of America (BAA)
draft in
1949 and in the
National Basketball Association (NBA) draft after the 1950 season, the year in which the BAA was renamed the NBA. In the draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S.
college basketball players. Territorial picks were eliminated when the draft system was revamped in 1966.[1][2]
In the first 20 years of the BAA/NBA, the league was still trying to gain the support of fans who lived in or near the teams' home markets. To achieve this, the league introduced the territorial pick rule to help teams acquire popular players from colleges in their area who would presumably have strong local support.[1] Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile (80 km) radius of its home arena.[2][3] As a result of the territorial picks being selected before the draft, these picks were not factored into the overall selection count of the draft; therefore, the first non-territorial pick of the draft was considered
the first overall pick.[4]
a Although
Wilt Chamberlain was playing at the
University of Kansas, outside the territory of any NBA team, he was selected as the
Philadelphia Warriors' territorial pick. The Warriors argued that because Chamberlain had grown up in
Philadelphia and played high school basketball at
Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, they held his territorial rights. The NBA agreed with the argument, hence making him the first and only territorial pick based solely on his pre-college roots.[22]
b Although
Oscar Robertson was drafted as a territorial pick, he was also recognized as the first pick in the first round of the draft as the
Cincinnati Royals also held the first overall draft pick.[23][24]
c Although
Jerry Lucas was playing at
Ohio State University, outside the territory of the
Cincinnati Royals, the Royals were the only NBA team in
Ohio, so the NBA granted them the rights to pick Lucas as their territorial pick. Lucas also qualified under the same criterion as Chamberlain, as he grew up in
Middletown, Ohio and played high school basketball at
Middletown High School, which was within Cincinnati's territorial radius.[25]