Maurice "Maury" E. King (March 12, 1935 – September 17, 2007) was an American professional basketball player, who played in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA) for the Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...

 and Chicago Zephyrs

Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...

, and with the Baltimore Bullets of the Eastern Professional Basketball League

Continental Basketball Association

The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...

 (EPBL) and the Kansas City Steers

Kansas City Steers

The Kansas City Steers were an American basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri that was a member of the American Basketball League.-Year-by-year:...

 of the American Basketball League

American Basketball League (1961-1963)

The American Basketball League played one full season, 1961-1962, and part of 1962-1963. The league actually folded on December 31, 1962. The ABL was the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal.-Formation:...

 (ABL).

King played collegiately for the Kansas Jayhawks and was the first black starter in Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 basketball history in 1954. A teammate of Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain

Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...

, he scored 11 points in the famous 1957 NCAA Championship

1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1957, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri...

 game, where the Jayhawks lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels

North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball

The North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is considered one of the most successful programs in NCAA history...

 in triple-overtime. The , 195 lb (88.5 kg; 13.9 st) guard was selected out of the University of Kansas

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 by the Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...

 with the 48th overall pick in the 6th round of the 1957 NBA Draft

1957 NBA Draft

The 1957 NBA Draft was the 11th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on April 17, 1957 before the 1957–58 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players...

.

In 1957, King was drafted into the army. When he finished serving his two-year commitment, he joined the Celtics. He played only one game with the Celtics in 1959 (scoring ten points), before he joined the Baltimore Bullets in the Eastern Professional Basketball League

Continental Basketball Association

The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...

. He then joined the Kansas City Steers of the ABL. In the league's fledgling season, King averaged 7.8 points per game, and led the team with an average of 3.2 assists. In Kansas City's second season, King averaged 14.7 points and 5.7 assists before the league folded in mid-season in the winter of 1963. King immediately signed with the Chicago Zephyrs of the NBA, and played in 37 games, averaging 5.8 points and 3.8 assists. Maurice King also was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi

Kappa Alpha Psi

Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...

 fraternity, Mu chapter, at Kansas University, where he and Wilt Chamberlain were team mates and fraternity brothers.

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