[3] Naulls attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played for the Bruins under future Basketball Hall of Fame coach John Wooden.

[1] In December 1954 during his junior year, UCLA won 47–40 over San Francisco, who were led by Naulls' future Boston teammates Bill Russell and K. C.

[2] UCLA won the Pacific Coast Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament that season,[2] while Naulls was named a consensus second-team All-American.

[1] Naulls averaged a double-double (19.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game) during his seven-year tenure with the Knicks, and he appeared as an NBA All-Star four times.

[7] The Knicks named him their captain in 1960, making him the first African-American athlete to hold the position for any pro team in a major American sport.

[1] In December 1964 against St. Louis, he replaced an injured Tom Heinsohn to form NBA's first all-black starting lineup along with Russell at center, K. C. and Sam Jones at the guards and Satch Sanders at forward.

[2] Naulls died on November 22, 2018, in Laguna Niguel, California, from respiratory failure due to eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis,[1] which he had been battling for eight years.