During that streak, his tally of 31 points against the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962, went essentially unnoticed. On the same court in Hershey, Pa., Wilt Chamberlain had astonished the basketball world with a 100-point game. That night, putting the trouncing aside, Naulls and a few other Knicks drove back to New York with Chamberlain, who was living there while owning a Harlem nightclub.
Naulls shed the burden of playing for losing teams when he joined the Celtics in 1963 after a brief stint with the San Francisco Warriors. He played on Boston teams that won N.B.A. championships in 1964, 1965 and 1966.
William Dean Naulls was born on Oct. 7, 1934, in Dallas, a son of Daily and Bettie (Artis) Naulls. The family moved to Los Angeles during World War II, and his father worked at shipyards in the port of San Pedro. His mother was a domestic worker.
Naulls was a basketball star at San Pedro High School before Wooden recruited him. He averaged more than 15 points and 11 rebounds per game in his three seasons at U.C.L.A. but he battled weight problems, bringing him the unwanted nickname Willie the Whale.
His biggest game may have come in December 1954 when his Bruins earned a 47-40 victory over the University of San Francisco, which was led by Russell and K.C. Jones, his future Celtics teammates. It was the only defeat that season for the Dons, who would win the first of two consecutive N.C.A.A. tournament championships.
After all those poor seasons with the Knicks and briefly with the Warriors, Naulls considered retiring. But he changed his mind after receiving a phone call from Russell urging him to become a Celtic.
Red Auerbach, the Celtics’ coach, who oversaw the franchise’s personnel moves, obtained him from the Warriors for cash and a future draft pick.
