Wayne Richard Embry (born March 26, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and basketball executive. Embry's 11-year playing career as a center spanned from 1958 to 1969 playing for the Cincinnati Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, all of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After his playing career, Embry transitioned to a career as a professional basketball executive, becoming the first African American general manager and team president in NBA history. In 1999, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Since 2004, Embry has served as a senior basketball advisor for the Toronto Raptors.
Embry was born on March 26, 1937, in Springfield Ohio. He was raised on a family farm five miles outside of Springfield, on a 70-acre property with four separate homes for his nuclear family, his grandparents, and two uncles. The family was poor and his father also had to work as a car mechanic. He attended Tecumseh High School near New Carlisle, Ohio, where he was a three-year letter winner and earned honorable mention All-State honors as a basketball payer. He was already 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) as a 15-year old junior center. In his senior year (1954), Tecumseh was undefeated in the regular season, and their only loss came in the regional tournament finals.
In his first year at Tecumseh, Embry was the only African-American student in the school. He suffered racial epithets at the school and wanted to leave, but his parents told him he had to stick it out by believing in himself as a man or no one else would believe in him, a philosophy he followed the rest of his life.
Embry was recruited to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, by coach Bill Rohr, who won Embry over by emphasizing academics rather than basketball as the primary reason to attend Miami. Embry became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He was nicknamed "Goose" by his basketball teammates.
As a two-time All-Mid-American Conference center, Embry, a team captain, led the then-Redskins to conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in 1957 and 1958. He led the MAC in scoring and rebounding in those two seasons, averaging 23.1 and 24.9 points, and 17.2 and 18.1 rebounds per game as a junior and senior, respectively.
Embry still holds several school records, including best career rebounding average (15.5) (through the 2024–25 season). He ranks among Miami leaders in the all-time scoring list with 1,401 points (just outside the top-10) and is second on the total rebounding list with 1,117 (two behind Ron Harper's 1,119). He holds both Miami and MAC records for most rebounds in a game with 34 (in a game where he also scored 39 points and hit the winning shot in a one-point overtime victory), and season (488). He was one of only 14 players in MAC history to total more than 1,000 career points and rebounds, and was the first Miami player to reach both of those numbers in a career.
He was selected to the Helms Athletic Foundation All-America third team as a senior, and he was a two-time honorable mention All-America selection in 1957 and 1958.
He was inducted in the second class of the Miami Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970. He became the fourth player in Miami history to have his jersey (23) retired.
Embry earned a Bachelor of Science in education from Miami.
Embry was originally drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in the third round of the April 1958 NBA draft (23rd overall).
In early August 1958, before ever playing for the Hawks, he was traded closer to home to the Cincinnati Royals. The Royals were rebuilding due to the loss of team star forward Maurice Stokes and their inability to sign star center Clyde Lovellette. Stokes became paralyzed with encephalitis in mid-March 1958, after hitting his head and falling unconscious three days earlier during the final game of the regular season against the Minneapolis Lakers. Stokes was still paralyzed at the time of the trade, and remained so for the rest of his shortened life.
Lovellette and the Royals were also at loggerheads over his contract, as Lovellette wanted a sizable pay increase after an excellent 1957–58 season and the Royals were unwilling to meet his demands. Lovellette was traded to St. Louis for Embry and four other rookies: Gerry Calvert, Darrell Floyd, Jim Palmer and Ken Sidle. Embry became the only African American on the Royals' roster.
As a Royals' rookie, Embry averaged 11.4 points and nine rebounds in only 24.1 minutes per game. However, the Royals record fell from 33 to 39 in 1957–58 to 19–53 in his rookie year. The following season his rebounding average increased to 9.5 per game, even though his playing time was less than 22 minutes per game (while also scoring 10.6 points per game). The Royals again played poorly, however, and finished 19–56.
Future Hall of fame guard, and one of the 75 greatest NBA players of all time, Oscar Robertson arrived to the team in 1960, reviving the Royals, who finished the season 33–46. Embry blossomed with Robertson's joining the team. He made the Western division all-star team for the first time as a backup at center (Lovellette being the starting center); averaging 14.4 points and 10.9 rebounds on the season, in just 28.3 minutes per game. On offense, Embry was notable for his pick and roll play with Robertson, for whom Embry became an enforcer. Robertson's encouragement improved Embry's game. Embry at times appeared to be a blocker on the court, a protector of teammates. A powerful 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 240 pounds (109 kg), Embry was nicknamed "The Wall" for his sturdy build and picks he set.
Embry (1960–63), Robertson (1960–63) and Jack Twyman (1961–63) were all NBA All-Stars for Cincinnati during the next three years. The Royals' record improved to 43–37 (1961–62) and 42–38 (1962–63). In 1963, he was selected team captain of the Royals. The 1962-63 Royals won the Eastern division semifinals over the Syracuse Nationals, before losing the Eastern division finals to the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series. Overall during the 1963 NBA Playoffs, Embry averaged postseason career highs of 16.8 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. He averaged 12.7 rebounds and 16 points per game in the Boston series, facing Celtics Hall of Fame center Bill Russell.
The next season, the 1963–64 Cincinnati Royals surged to the second-best record in the NBA (55–25), with future Hall of Fame teammate Jerry Lucas now added, and Robertson named the league's Most Valuable Player. That season, on December 1, Embry totaled a career high 39 points scored in a 114–109 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Embry was selected an All-Star for the fourth consecutive year (joining Lucas and Robertson on the All-Star Team), and was 9th in most valuable player voting. He averaged 17.3 points and 11.6 rebounds in 36.4 minutes per game.
Embry was selected to the All-Star Team again in 1964-65 for the fifth consecutive season, though his regular season averages (10 rebounds and 12.7 points per game) were the lowest since his second season with the Royals. In Embry's final season with the Royals (1965–66), his playing time was reduced to less than 24 minutes a game, and he had career-lows in rebounding and scoring averages. Earlier in the season he had been averaging around 30 minutes per game, but coach Jack McMahon cut that in half later in the season. An unhappy Embry decided to retire.