# 1952 NBA draft

The 1952 NBA draft was the sixth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 26, 1952, before the 1952–53 season. In this draft, ten remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In each round, the teams selected in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season, except for the defending champion, the Minneapolis Lakers, who was assigned the last pick of each round. The draft consisted of 17 rounds comprising 106 players selected.

## Draft selections and draftee career notes

Mark Workman from West Virginia University was selected first overall by the Milwaukee Hawks. Bill Mlkvy from Temple University was selected before the draft as Philadelphia Warriors' territorial pick. Don Meineke from the University of Dayton was selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the second round and went on to win the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award. The ninth pick of the draft, Clyde Lovellette from University of Kansas, was the only player from that draft to make it to an NBA All-Star Game at least once and to have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. As such, it would be seen as one of the least successful and less talked about drafts in NBA history.
Tenth-round pick Gene Conley played both professional basketball and baseball. He played six seasons in the NBA for the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks as well as 11 seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB). He won three NBA championships with the Celtics as well as the 1957 World Series with the Milwaukee Braves, becoming the only athlete to win world championships in both basketball and baseball.
Dick Groat from Duke was picked 3rd overall by the Fort Wayne Pistons and went on to win the National League 1960 MVP, and two World Series championships while playing shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates and then the St. Louis Cardinals.

## Key

| Pos. | G | F | C |
| Position | Guard | Forward | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| $^#$ | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |

## Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College |
| T | – | Bill Mlkvy | F | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Temple |
| 1 | 1 | Mark Workman | F/C | United States | Milwaukee Hawks | West Virginia |
| 1 | 2 | Jim Baechtold | G/F | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Eastern Kentucky |
| 1 | 3 | Dick Groat | G | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Duke |
| 1 | 4 | Joe Dean$^#$ | G | United States | Indianapolis Olympians | LSU |
| 1 | 5 | Ralph Polson | F/C | United States | New York Knicks | Whitworth |
| 1 | 6 | Bill Stauffer$^#$ | F | United States | Boston Celtics | Missouri |
| 1 | 7 | Bob Lochmueller | F | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Louisville |
| 1 | 8 | Chuck Darling$^#$ | F/C | United States | Rochester Royals | Iowa |
| 1 | 9 | Clyde Lovellette^ | F/C | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Kansas |
| 2 | 10 | Eddie Miller | F/C | United States | Milwaukee Hawks | Syracuse |
| 2 | 11 | Chuck Grigsby | G | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Dayton |
| 2 | 12 | Don Meineke | F/C | United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Dayton |
| 2 | 13 | Walt Davis | F/C | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Texas A&M |
| 2 | 14 | Bob Zawoluk | F/C | United States | Indianapolis Olympians | St. John's |
| 2 | 15 | Bert Cook | G | United States | New York Knicks | Utah State |
| 2 | 16 | Jim Iverson$^#$ | G | United States | Boston Celtics | Kansas State |
| 2 | 17 | Jim Brasco | G | United States | Syracuse Nationals | NYU |
| 2 | 18 | Jack McMahon | G | United States | Rochester Royals | St. John's |
| 2 | 19 | Jim Holstein | F | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Cincinnati |

## Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College |
| 3 | 25 | Dick Bunt | G | United States | New York Knicks | NYU |
| 4 | 37 | Herm Hedderick | G | United States | Boston Celtics | Canisius |
| 4 | 38 | Ronnie MacGilvray | G | United States | Rochester Royals | St. John's |
| 4 | | Blaine Denning | G | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Lawrence Tech |
| 5 | 40 | George McLeod | F | United States | Milwaukee Hawks | TCU |
| 5 | 43 | Tom Brennan | F | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Villanova |
| 5 | 44 | Gene Rhodes | G | United States | Indianapolis Olympians | Western Kentucky |
| 5 | 47 | Ken McBride | G/F | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Maryland State |
| 6 | 59 | Jim Holstein | G/F | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Cincinnati |
| 7 | 61 | Bob Priddy | F | United States | Baltimore Bullets | New Mexico A&M |
| 7 | 64 | Skippy Whitaker | G | United States | Indianapolis Olympians | Kentucky |
| 8 | 73 | Moe Radovich | G | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Wyoming |
| 8 | 75 | Dick Surhoff | F | United States | New York Knicks | Long Island |
| 10 | 90 | Gene Conley | F/C | United States | Boston Celtics | Washington State |
| 11 | 93 | Bob Peterson | F | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Oregon |
| 11 | 96 | Carl McNulty | G | United States | Minneapolis Lakers | Purdue |
| 12 | 97 | Jim Walsh | F | United States | Baltimore Bullets | Stanford |

## Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1952 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
| Fred Christ | G | United States | Fordham |
| Pete Darcey | C | United States | Oklahoma State |
| Don Hanrahan | F | United States | Loyola Chicago |
| Bob Naber | F | United States | Louisville |