Tom Meschery
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 26, 1938 Harbin, Manchukuo |
| Nationality | Russian / American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Lowell (San Francisco, California) |
| College | Saint Mary's (1958–1961) |
| NBA draft | 1961 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall |
| Selected by the Philadelphia Warriors | |
| Playing career | 1961–1971 |
| Position | Power forward |
| Number | 14 |
| Career history | |
| 1961–1967 | Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors |
| 1967–1971 | Seattle SuperSonics |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 9,904 (12.7 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 6,698 (8.6 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,331 (1.7 apg) |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Thomas Nicholas Meschery (born Tomislav Nikolayevich Meshcheryakov (Томислав Николаевич Мещеряков); October 26, 1938) is a Russian American former professional basketball player. He was a power forward with a 10-year National Basketball Association career from 1961 to 1971. He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics. He led the league in personal fouls in 1962 and played in the 1963 NBA All-Star Game. His jersey, number 14, was retired by the Warriors.
Meschery was born as Tomislav Nikolayevich Meshcheryakov in Harbin, China. His parents were Russian emigrants who fled from the October Revolution in 1917. The Meschery family was later relocated to a Japanese internment camp near Tokyo during World War II. After the war, Meschery and his parents emigrated to the United States. It was also in this phase of his life where his father renamed the family "Meschery" due to the anti-Communist/anti-Soviet Red Scare under Joseph McCarthy, and Tomislav Nikolayevich was renamed Thomas Nicholas, which later was abbreviated to Tom. Living in San Francisco, California, Meschery attended Lowell High School. After graduating in 1957, he went to Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961.
Standing 6 ft 6 in, Meschery also was a highly talented basketball player. After graduating from St. Mary's, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors as the 7th pick overall in the 1961 NBA draft. Meschery played alongside legend Wilt Chamberlain, to whom he later dedicated a poem. Meschery was the starting forward on the 1961 Philadelphia Warriors team in which Chamberlain scored 100 points. Meschery led the NBA in personal fouls in 1962 and played in the 1963 NBA All-Star Game. Chamberlain left the Warriors in 1965, returning to his home town Philadelphia, to play with the 76ers. The Warriors however, strengthened by the arrival of Rick Barry, made it to the 1967 NBA Finals, in which they lost to Chamberlain's 76ers. After his NBA Finals appearance, Meschery was selected by the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics during the 1967 NBA Expansion Draft.
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