Conley Played 11 Years in Major League Baseball and Six Years in the NBA

Published on October 9th, 2024 11:06 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


The Remarkable Career of Gene Conley, Dual-Sport Champion. Here is a piece of sports trivia that might stump even the most knowledgeable of sports fans:

Who is the only man to have ever won a NBA Championship AND a World Series?

The answer: Gene Conley.

Conley was an atheletically gifted young man who excelled in multiple sports in high school, including baseball, basketball and track and field.

Conley attracted plenty of interest from baseball scouts while playing for Washington State University and eventually signed a professional contract with the Boston Braves in 1950.

Conley, a pitcher, did very well over the course of his professional career, being named an All-Star four times and winning a World Series with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957.

Conley didn't debut with the Boston Braves until 1952. While playing minor league baseball, Conley signed a contract to play basketball with the Wilkes-Barre Barrons of the American Basketball League.

Conley attracted eyeballs from NBA scouts, and he would be drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 1952 NBA Draft.

Conley was drafted just days after getting called up to the Boston Braves for the first time.

Conley played for both the Braves and Celtics in 1952, though he was sparingly used by the Celtics in his rookie season.

Gene Conley had a decision to make - where would he focus his attention? He couldn't play full time in both the NBA and MLB - it was impossible.

Conley decided that he would take a hiatus from the NBA to play full-time with the Boston Braves.

This turned out to be a smart move, as it produced multiple All-Star appearance as well as a title.

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Conley decided to return to the Boston Celtics for the 1958-59 season, and this turned out to be another very smart move.

Conley won three straight NBA titles with the Celtics in 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61. Conley wasn't one of the main pieces of the team, though he did contribute important minutes, especially in 1959-60.

After returning to Major League Baseball for three seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Conley returned to the NBA, where he would play nearly a decade more with teams such as the Washington Tapers, New York Knicks and Hartford Capitols.

After a nearly two decade career as a professional athlete, Conley elected to retire.

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This is one of those accomplishments in sports that will almost certainly never be repeated.

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