The Mad Russian: Tom Meschery’s Extraordinary NBA Career and Unforgettable Life Story

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Tom Meschery was one of the great players in Golden State Warriors history. His #14 jersey hangs in the rafters alongside those of Rick Barry, Nate Thurmond, and Wilt Chamberlain. But, you have probably never heard of him.

That is why this podcast exists; to make sure we do not forget players like these. The reason that his story stuck out to me is because of his extremely unusual path to the NBA. His path crosses multiple continents. This is where it starts.

A Russian Born In China

As far as I know, he is probably the only NBA player to publish a book of original poetry while he was still playing the game. He is an expert in both English and Russian literature.

He was born with the name Tomislav Nikolayevich Mescheriakov to Russian parents, obviously, in Harbin, Manchuria, China. That is quite a long way from Russia. You see, Meschery is descended from czarist nobility. In other words, his family was the upper class of the upper class in Russian society.

That was not a good thing to be when Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik Party took control of Petrograd in 1917. Now, I am not going to pretend that I am an expert in Russian history. So, I will just give you the big picture. Besides, this is a basketball history blog, not a Russian history blog.

Tom Meschery
Star Presidian, Volume 14, Number 9, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons of Russian basketball player Tom Meschery

Escaping Russia

Lenin’s Bolshevik Revolution occurred and it led to a larger Russian Revolution over the next five or six years. Basically, Russia used to be ruled by a Czar, which is the Russian word for Caesar. In other words, Russia was ruled by a king. However, the soviet party did not want a king and wanted to bring power to the people.

So, as part of the revolution, the Soviets executed the King and his entire family, so as to leave no heirs. Again, Meschery’s family was nobility in this society, and they were a target for execution. They escaped to China to save their own lives.

Now, let us fast forward about 15 years. His family has been living in China that entire time and that is where Meschery was born in 1938.

Escaping China

His father then decided that it was time to make the move to America, especially as fighting between China and Japan was escalating. After all this time it was now unsafe for the family in China. Japan wanted desperately to conquer China and subdue its people.

That is actually why Japan struck America at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Japanese wanted to continue attacking China without the Americans interfering. The United States had already committed to helping China defend itself against Japan. So, after the attack at Pearl Harbor with the United States temporarily out of commission in the Pacific, Japan was able to go after China with no one to stop them.

It is here that we come back to the story of the Mescherys. Tom Meschery’s father had made it to America by himself and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was sending for his family when they were captured by the Japanese and sent to an internment camp… for the next six years! It was actually in that camp where Christian Missionaries taught young Tom how to speak English, which would come in very handy later on.

Basketball player Tom Meschery
Oakland Tribune, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons of Tom Meschery

Coming To America

When World War II ended, the Meschery family was able to make it to California and reunite with the father who had been waiting for them this whole time. Now that they were reunited it was time to make another change. The father decided to anglicize their name.

Having a Russian name during the 1940s in the United States would severely limit their ability to pursue the American Dream. At the time America was not comfortable with Soviet Russia. In fact, American culture, in general, was antagonistic towards anything having to do with Russia. So it was at this point where the family decided to change their name and Tomislav Nikolayevich Mescheriakov became Thomas Nicholas Meschery, or just Tom for short.

As a child, he was often bullied and ostracized because he spoke with a noticeable Russian accent and he was still trying to master the English language. He would often come home from school crying because the other kids made fun of him. But one day he was playing kickball in the schoolyard.

It was his turn to kick and he kicked the ball so hard that he was able to run around all four bases and score before getting tagged. That is the day his life in America changed. He realized that he was bigger, stronger, and faster than the other kids and he could use his athleticism to become popular.

And that is exactly what happened. He grew to a height of 6’6” (198cm) and was well-coordinated and quick. He became the star of the high school basketball team for Lowell High School in San Francisco and was named a Parade All-American as a senior. He then moved on to play for St. Mary’s College in California where he was, again, named an All-American his senior year. And then it was off to the NBA.

Making It To The NBA

Meschery was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors as the 7th pick in the first round of the 1961 NBA Draft where he played alongside Wilt Chamberlain as the team’s new forward. In fact, Meschery was in the starting lineup on the night that Wilt had his 100-point game.

Meschery also led the league in personal fouls that year. By his own admission, he had a quick temper and was always ready to fight with anyone who wanted a piece of him. That is how he earned the nickname, The Mad Russian.

Then after just one season of playing in Philadelphia, the team relocated to San Francisco which was, of course, Meschery’s hometown. He made his only All-Star Game appearance during that second season in the league in 1963 where he became the first foreign-born player to be an NBA All-Star. He was a tenacious rebounder and defender.

Meschery was the kind of guy whose motor was always running. To use a modern phrase, he left it all on the court every single night. He only knew one speed to play in and that was full speed. In total, he only played with the Warriors for five seasons, but he made such an impact and was so loved by the fans that his number 14 was retired. 

He then played five more seasons for the brand-new Seattle SuperSonics, and those were fairly uneventful seasons of basketball. The biggest thing that happened to him during his years as a Sonic was that he published his first book of original poetry called Over The Rim.

Professional basketball players Tom Meschery (left), Bob Rule (center) and Wilt Chamberlain (right)
Credit Martin Blumenthal of The Sporting News Archive, pulled via Wikimedia Commons in the public domain of Professional basketball players Tom Meschery (left), Bob Rule (center) and Wilt Chamberlain (right)

The Mad Russian Retires

Upon retiring from the game he needed to figure out what his next move was. While NBA salaries were excellent salaries by the 1970s it typically was not enough money to last for a person retiring in their early to mid 30s.

Most players had to look for a second career. So, he interviewed for a position as a professor in the English department of Evergreen College in Washington. But, in a surprise move, he decided that he would like to take some time to give back as a member of the Peace Corps. Well, that did not last long as President Nixon cut the funding to the Peace Corps, and Meschery’s job was eliminated. So maybe he was going to be a professor after all. 

But, a basketball team called and they needed a new head coach. He was hired by the ABA’s Carolina Cougars. Since, he was already a professional writer, a publishing company in New York asked him to keep a diary of his first season as head coach of the Cougars.

That diary would become his second published book called Caught In The Pivot. It chronicled his first and only season as a head coach at the professional level. He was fired at the end of that first season as the Cougars finished in last place. He was frustrated by the endeavor and at that point completely walked away from basketball. He could not understand how his players did not give 100% every game the way that he used to. It did not make sense to him. 

So, he threw himself into his other passion, which was poetry and other writing. He earned his Master’s Degree at the University of Iowa and then studied with United States Poet Laureate, Mark Strand, at the University of Washington.

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    Career As An English Teacher

    He spent the rest of his career teaching English at Reno High School in Reno, Nevada. He never did make the Basketball Hall of Fame, but he did make the Nevada Writer’s Hall of Fame for his work in fiction and poetry.  He also was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame class of 2003.

    He was one of those uncommon players in NBA history who had other passions besides the game. Most players can only think of one thing, and that is basketball. To achieve the success that most of these players do, you have to have a laser-like focus on your craft to become one of the world’s best. But, it is refreshing to come across a player who has this whole other passion that has nothing to do with the game. Compared to other professional athletes, Meschery is practically a renaissance man.

    Meschery is retired now and living in Sacramento, CA where he still writes and publishes his work. If you are interested in reading his blog, it is called Meschery’s Musings. He is definitely a one-of-a-kind character in the annals of basketball history. His contributions to both basketball and literature are worth remembering. So is his story.

    I mean, we started in Czarist Russia, then moved to pre-communist, imperial China, moved to a Japanese internment camp, then San Francisco, Philadelphia, back to San Francisco, Seattle, North Carolina, Reno NV, and finally Sacramento. It is amazing where life can take someone. It is equally amazing where some of our finest NBA players come from. There is not one path to the NBA and Meschery proved that.

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