Donald Vernon Carlson was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

.

A 6'0" (1.83 m) guard/forward from the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

, Carlson played four seasons (1946–1947; 1948–1951) in the Basketball Association of America/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...

 as a member of the Chicago Stags

Chicago Stags

The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago, Illinois, U.S..- Franchise history :The Chicago Stags were founded in 1946 and folded in 1950. Despite their short history, they were able to acquire the draft rights to a young Bob Cousy in a trade with the Tri-Cities...

, Minneapolis Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

, and Washington Capitols

Washington Capitols

The Washington Capitols were a charter Basketball Association of America team based in Washington, D.C. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach....

. He averaged 8.0 points per game

Points per game

Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by number of games. The terminology is often used in...

 in his NBA career and won two championships with the Lakers. He also played one season in the National Basketball League

National Basketball League (United States)

Founded in 1937, the National Basketball League, often abbreviated to NBL, was a professional men's basketball league in the United States. The league would later merge with the Basketball Association of America  to form the National Basketball Association  in 1949.- League history :The...

. After his playing days, he was a coach and athletic director at Columbia Heights High School in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

Carlson died in 2004.

External links