Connie Simmons

{{Short description|American basketball player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Connie Simmons | image = Connie Simmons 1953.jpg | width = | caption = Simmons, circa 1953 | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 8 | weight_lb = 222 | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|3|15}} | birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1989|4|15|1925|3|15}} | death_place = | high_school = Flushing <br /> (Flushing, New York) | career_start = 1946 | career_end = 1956 | career_number = 10, 33, 11, 6, 18, 4 | career_position = Center / power forward | years1 = 1946–1948 | team1 = Boston Celtics | years2 = 1948–1949 | team2 = Baltimore Bullets | years3 = {{nbay|1949|start}}–{{nbay|1953|end}} | team3 = New York Knicks | years4 = {{nbay|1954|start}} | team4 = Baltimore Bullets | years5 = {{nbay|1954|full=y}} | team5 = Syracuse Nationals | years6 = {{nbay|1955|full=y}} | team6 = Rochester Royals | highlights = * BAA champion (1948) * NBA champion (1955) |stats_league=BAA/NBA | stat1label = Points | stat1value = 5,859 | stat2label = Rebounds | stat2value = 2,294 | stat3label = Assists | stat3value = 940 }}

'''Cornelius Leo''' "'''Connie'''" '''Simmons''' (March 15, 1925 – April 15, 1989) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Newark, New Jersey.

A 6'8" forward/center from Flushing High School in New York City, Simmons played ten seasons (1946–56) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Boston Celtics, Baltimore Bullets, New York Knicks, Syracuse Nationals and Rochester Royals. He averaged 9.8 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game in his career and was a member of two league championship teams: the 1948 Bullets and the 1955 Nationals. He was the second player to enter the NBA without having played in college, after Tony Kappen.<ref name=infoPlease>{{cite web|title=High School Players to enter NBA |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0765788.html |accessdate=2008-05-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512103446/http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0765788.html |archivedate=2013-05-12 }}</ref>

Connie was the brother of professional basketball and baseball player Johnny Simmons.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/simmojo01.html| title=Johnny Simmons BAA stats | work=basketball-reference.com | accessdate=January 6, 2016}}</ref>

==BAA/NBA career statistics== {{NBA player statistics legend|champion=y}}

===Regular season=== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" |- ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG |- |style="text-align:left;"| 1946–47 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 60 || – || .320 || .677 || – || 1.0 || 10.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"| 1947–48 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 32 || – || .295 || .593 || – || .5 || 7.8 |- |style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"| 1947–48† | style="text-align:left;"| Baltimore | 13 || – || .302 || .556 || – || .5 || 10.6 |- |style="text-align:left;"| 1948–49 | style="text-align:left;"| Baltimore | 60 || – || .377 || .683 || – || 1.9 || '''13.0''' |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1949}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 60 || – || .331 || .662 || – || 1.7 || 11.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1950}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 66 || – || .374 || .702 || 6.5 || 1.8 || 9.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1951}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 66 || 23.6 || '''.378''' || .689 || '''7.1''' || 1.8 || 9.5 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1952}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 65 || 26.3 || .377 || '''.732''' || 7.0 || '''2.0''' || 11.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1953}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | '''72''' || '''27.9''' || .358 || .689 || 6.7 || 1.8 || 10.0 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1954}} | style="text-align:left;"| Baltimore / Syracuse | 36 || 23.9 || .357 || .632 || 6.1 || 1.7 || 9.6 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1955}} | style="text-align:left;"| Rochester | 68 || 13.3 || .336 || .605 || 3.5 || 1.2 || 5.4 |- |style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career | 598 || 22.9 || .351 || .678 || 6.2 || 1.6 || 9.8 |- |}

===Playoffs=== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" |- ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG |- |style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"| 1948† | style="text-align:left;"| Baltimore | 11 || – || .371 || .744 || – || 1.0 || '''17.1''' |- |style="text-align:left;"| 1949 | style="text-align:left;"| Baltimore | 3 || – || .351 || .759 || – || 2.3 || 16.0 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1949|end}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 5 || – || .275 || '''.952''' || – || 1.4 || 8.4 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1950|end}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | '''14''' || – || .364 || .618 || 6.7 || 1.7 || 10.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1951|end}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | '''14''' || 30.5 || '''.464''' || .764 || 7.7 || .9 || 15.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1952|end}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 11 || '''31.0''' || .367 || .729 || 7.5 || 2.3 || 13.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1953|end}} | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 4 || 27.8 || .323 || .694 || '''8.3''' || '''2.5''' || 11.3 |- |style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career | 62 || 30.3 || .382 || .731 || 7.4 || 1.5 || 13.6 |- |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{basketballstats|bbr=s/simmoco01}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Connie}} Category:1925 births Category:1989 deaths Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:American men's basketball players Category:Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Category:Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:New York Knicks players Category:Power forwards Category:Rochester Royals players Category:Syracuse Nationals players