Player profile · BOS / NYK / SFW / STL

Willie Naulls

Willie Naulls stats, teams and career impact

#149 all-timeCareer averages · 15.8 PPG · 9.1 RPG · 1.6 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Position: Small forward
Final NBA team: Boston Celtics
Height / weight: 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) · 225 lb (102 kg)
Born: October 7, 1934
Died: November 22, 2018 (84 yrs old)
College: UCLA
NBA seasons: 10 seasons · 1956–57 to 1965–66

Career or season view

Career summaryWillie Naulls was a small forward who played 10 NBA seasons, from 1956–57 through 1965–66.

Career PPG: 15.8
Career RPG: 9.1
Career APG: 1.6; #13 in 1959–60; #149 all-time

Peak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Career overview

Why Willie Naulls ranks #149 all time

Willie Naulls ranks #149 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #13.3. His full-career value ranks #386, so this placement is driven more by dominance than longevity.

Peak#11 in 1960–61

Best league finish

Sustained excellence10 ranked seasons

450+ minutes required per season

Career breadth10 seasons

716 games · Career Value Rank #386

NBA honors4× All-StarContext only; honors are not model inputs.

Head to head

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Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources

Full team history

Teams: New York Knicks, St. Louis Hawks, San Francisco Warriors, and Boston Celtics
Greatest Celtics →Greatest Knicks →Greatest Warriors →Greatest Hawks →

Career shooting

NBA regular season

Field goal: 40.6%FG%
Three-point: —3P%
Free throw: 81.2%FT%

716 career games · 20,620 minutes

Sources and updateConventional stats and measurements: Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 13, 2026. hussEyquation ranking data through 2025–26. Life dates: Wikidata; conflicting dates checked against Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 17, 2026.

Traditional box score

Willie Naulls stats by season

Start with scoring and impact, then switch views for shooting or the full advanced picture. Career percentages use total makes and attempts.

Swipe for PPG · RPG · APG · Impact · Team · G · GS · MPG →


1965–66	10.7	4.5	1.0	-1.52	BOS	71	0	20.2	40.2%	—	79.4%	#65	17.6
1964–65	10.5	4.7	1.0	-1.40	BOS	71	0	20.6	38.4%	—	81.3%	#57	22.7
1963–64	9.8	4.6	0.8	-0.01	BOS	78	0	18.1	41.7%	—	79.6%	#26	73.2
1962–63	12.9	7.4	1.5	-0.75	NYK/SFW	70	0	27.2	41.7%	—	80.2%	#41	60.2
1961–62	25.0	11.6	2.6	+1.33	NYK	75	0	39.7	41.5%	—	84.2%	#16	259.6
1960–61	23.4	13.4	2.4	+1.75	NYK	79	0	37.7	42.8%	—	81.6%	#11	286.5
1959–60	21.4	14.2	2.1	+1.81	NYK	65	0	34.6	42.8%	—	83.6%	#13	225.0
1958–59	15.7	10.6	1.5	-0.42	NYK	68	0	30.3	37.8%	—	83.0%	#36	80.0
1957–58	18.1	11.8	1.4	+0.41	NYK	68	0	34.8	39.7%	—	82.6%	#29	144.6
1956–57	10.1	8.7	1.2	-1.57	NYK/STL	71	0	25.0	35.7%	—	67.7%	#61	17.6
Career	15.8	9.1	1.6	—	BOS/NYK/SFW/STL	716	—	28.8	40.6%	—	81.2%	—	—

Source: Basketball Reference regular-season totals, accessed Sep 13, 2026.

What these measures mean

Era-centered box impact: Estimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average.
Impact Rate Rank: The player's place among qualified players in one season.
Value contribution / Season Value: Completed seasons use a fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. The live season instead uses Season Value, combining that season's impact with workload.
Career Impact Rank: An all-time rank weighted toward the player's best three, five, and ten seasons.

Career Impact Rank#149

19.5 composite · lower is better

Best 5#165

19.0 average league finish

Career Value Rank#386

1,187 total value

Career standing

How Willie Naulls ranks all time

These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.

Number-one seasons0

Best in the league

Top-five seasons0

Elite finishes

Top-ten seasons0

Upper-tier finishes

Top-10 Impact Margin0.0

Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons

Career Composite Score19.5

Best 3, Best 5, and Best 10 average league finishes receive 50%, 30%, and 20% window weights. Missing seasons receive a replacement finish just below the player's typical qualified field. Lower is better.

Best 3 effective weight: 74%
Missing-season finish: 85.0
Qualified seasons: 10
All-time rank: #149

Strongest seasons

Every season

Willie Naulls advanced stats by season

Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.

More advanced statsAge, minutes, impact, rank, value and data coverage


1965–66Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	31	71	1,433	-1.52	31.2	#65	17.6	30th	Modeled
1964–65Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	30	71	1,465	-1.40	37.1	#57	22.7	36th	Modeled
1963–64Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	29	78	1,409	-0.01	72.8	#26	73.2	60th	Modeled
1962–63Historical Defense Estimate	NYK/SFW	28	70	1,901	-0.75	56.0	#41	60.2	58th	Modeled
1961–62Historical Defense Estimate	NYK	27	75	2,978	+1.33	82.6	#16	259.6	85th	Modeled
1960–61Historical Defense Estimate	NYK	26	79	2,976	+1.75	87.3	#11	286.5	90th	Modeled
1959–60Historical Defense Estimate	NYK	25	65	2,250	+1.81	84.6	#13	225.0	82nd	Modeled
1958–59Historical Defense Estimate	NYK	24	68	2,061	-0.42	56.3	#36	80.0	66th	Modeled
1957–58Historical Defense Estimate	NYK	23	68	2,369	+0.41	63.2	#29	144.6	74th	Modeled
1956–57Historical Defense Estimate	NYK/STL	22	71	1,778	-1.57	24.1	#61	17.6	28th	Modeled

Career movement

Willie Naulls's career impact by season

Peak +1.81 in 1959–60 · 10 seasons · 20,620 minutes

The same historical box-score model is used for every season, making the career shape comparable through time. The vertical scale adapts to this player's range and always includes zero.

Era-centered box impactMinutesModeled estimate

Player-specific impact scaleWorkload

Career comparison

Compare the shape, not the calendar

Align by NBA experience to compare season one with season one, or by age to compare players at the same stage of life.

Compare with a similar careerOpen full comparison →

Willie NaullsKelly Tripucka

Era-centered box impactEstimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average · dashed marker means the player did not play

Willie Naulls and Kelly Tripucka era-centered impact values by NBA season number
NBA season	Willie Naulls	Kelly Tripucka
1	-1.6	-0.1
2	0.4	1.8
3	-0.4	-0.5
4	1.8	0.2
5	1.8	1.5
6	1.3	-0.0
7	-0.7	-1.1
8	-0.0	1.3
9	-1.4	-0.9
10	-1.5	-0.9

NBA season number

Similar career arcs

Players with careers similar to Willie Naulls

The career-similarity score compares era-centered box impact, peak, prime, workload, career length, position, and experience-aligned trajectory. It describes career shape, not playing style, equal ability, or probability.

SF · All-Time Career #630

Kelly Tripucka

career similarity score

95/100 closest-season score · 1959–60 ↔ 1982–83 SF · All-Time Career #933

Dennis Scott

career similarity score

91/100 closest-season score · 1959–60 ↔ 1993–94 SF · All-Time Career #949

Keith Van Horn

career similarity score

95/100 closest-season score · 1959–60 ↔ 2001–02

How to read this page

Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played; completed player-profile rows instead show each season's fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. Career Impact Rank rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →