John Payak Jr. (November 20, 1926 – February 27, 2009) was a

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) player for the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden ...

Waterloo Hawks The Waterloo Hawks were a National Basketball League and National Basketball Association team based in Waterloo, Iowa. The Hawks remain the only sports franchise ever based in Iowa from any of the current Big Four Leagues. They are not affili ...

, and

Milwaukee Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

. Born in

Rossford, Ohio Rossford is a city in Wood County, Ohio, United States, located along the Maumee River in the Toledo metropolitan area. The population was 6,299 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town includes the intersection of Interstate 75 and ...

, Payak graduated from Woodward High School in Toledo in 1944 and then attended

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, graduating in 1949 after an interruption for service in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Payak was a 6'4"

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

. Payak played for the Philadelphia Warriors and Waterloo Hawks during the 1949–50 season, and for the Milwaukee Hawks in 1952–53. He also played with the Toledo Mercuries, a traveling team that competed against the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

at various exhibitions. He followed his retirement as a player as a basketball referee, officiating for over 17 years in the Big Ten Conference, the Mid-America Conference and in NCAA tournament action. He also served as Supervisor of Basketball Referees for the Mid-American Conference. Payak was elected to the Bowling Green State University Athletic Hall of Fame, the Toledo City Athletic Hall of Fame, and the

National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973. The mission of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievement by individuals of Polish heritage in the field o ...

. He died February 27, 2009, in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

References

External links

John Payak page, National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame
1926 births 2009 deaths American men's basketball players American people of Polish descent Basketball players from Ohio Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball players College men's basketball referees in the United States Milwaukee Hawks players People from Rossford, Ohio Sportspeople from Wood County, Ohio Philadelphia Warriors players Shooting guards Undrafted NBA players United States Navy personnel of World War II Waterloo Hawks players 20th-century American sportsmen {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub