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Forward · Boston Celtics

Chuck Cooper

Age 99 · USA · 196 cm (6'5") · 95 kg · Born Sep 29, 1926 · Duquesne

6.3 PPG 5.6 RPG 1.7 APG 476 games 6 seasons

Career snapshot

6seasons
476games
3,019career pts
8.1PER (avg)
Most-played franchise: Boston Celtics · 272 games · 1950-51–1953-54

Position rank · 1955-56

#19PPG rank
#19PER rank
#19WS rank
Among 22 Forward players (min. 41 games)

Career highs (single season)

PPG 9.3 1950-51 · BOS
RPG 8.5 1950-51 · BOS
APG 2.6 1950-51 · BOS
PER 12.7 1951-52 · BOS
WS 3.3 1950-51 · BOS

Draft

1950
Round 2 · Pick 0
from Duquesne

Career by team

Atlanta Hawks
1954-55 – 1955-56 · 2 seasons
7.2 PPG 5.0 RPG 2.0 APG
105 games
Detroit Pistons
1955-56 – 1955-56 · 1 seasons
3.9 PPG 3.2 RPG 0.9 APG
32 games
Boston Celtics
1950-51 – 1953-54 · 4 seasons
6.8 PPG 6.6 RPG 1.8 APG
272 games

Stats by season

SeasonTeamGGSMIN PTSREBASTSTLBLK FG%3P%FT%PERWS
1950-51 BOS 66 0 0.0 9.3 8.5 2.6 0.0 0.0 34.4 0.0 75.3 0.0 3.3
1951-52 BOS 66 0 29.9 8.2 7.6 2.0 0.0 0.0 36.1 0.0 74.1 12.7 3.1
1952-53 BOS 70 0 28.5 6.5 6.3 1.6 0.0 0.0 33.7 0.0 75.8 10.1 1.7
1953-54 BOS 70 0 15.7 3.3 4.3 1.1 0.0 0.0 29.9 0.0 67.2 9.7 0.0
1954-55 ATL 70 0 25.0 8.2 5.5 2.2 0.0 0.0 33.9 0.0 75.1 — —
1955-56 NBA 67 0 17.1 4.5 3.6 1.3 0.0 0.0 32.8 0.0 75.2 — —
1955-56 ATL 35 0 16.4 5.1 3.9 1.7 0.0 0.0 33.7 0.0 73.8 — —
1955-56 DET 32 0 17.8 3.9 3.2 0.9 0.0 0.0 31.6 0.0 77.6 — —

Transfers & team changes

Derived from season-by-season team membership.

Date Move
Jul 1955 Atlanta Hawks Detroit Pistons
Jul 1954 Boston Celtics Atlanta Hawks

All entries are season change.

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Born on September 29

Dick O'Keefe 1923 Arthur Williams 1939 · Boston Celtics Vic Bartolome 1948 · Golden State Warriors John Paxson 1960 · Chicago Bulls Eddie Phillips 1961 · Brooklyn Nets Brad Lohaus 1964 · Milwaukee Bucks Hersey Hawkins 1966 · New Orleans Pelicans Tanoka Beard 1971

About Chuck Cooper

Charles Henry Cooper was an American professional basketball player. Cooper played college basketball for the Duquesne Dukes and was named a consensus second-team All-American in 1950. According to the November 18, 1950 issue of the Afro-American newspaper, he was the first Black "basketer" [sic] to be named an All-American college athlete. Cooper was the first African-American to be drafted by a National Basketball Association (NBA) team; he was chosen by the Boston Celtics with the first pick of the second round of the 1950 NBA Draft. Cooper and two others—Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton and Earl L