Rookie of the Year Rundown, Part 1
How often does the Rookie of the Year end up having the best career?
In a November post, Joe Posnanski looked at how often Major League Baseball’s Rookie of the Year Award winners went on to have the best career. Granted, the voters aren’t trying to predict who will have the best career, but rather who had the best debut season. Still, this seemed like a fun exercise, so I borrowed the idea.
Joe only went through the 1980s, but I decided to do this for the first 60 Rookie of the Year Award winners in the NBA (the 1952-53 through 2011-12 seasons). I originally planned to do a one-liner for each season, but that quickly went out the window when I realized how many interesting stories there are to tell. Today, I’ll cover the first 30 selections.
1952-53: Monk Meineke (winner), Jack McMahon (best career)
Meineke, a Fort Wayne Pistons forward, certainly didn’t post eye-opening statistics (10.7 PPG and 6.9 RPG in 68 games), but he was the best rookie in a very weak field. Meineke’s teammate, Dick Groat — a future MVP Award winner in Major League Baseball — might have claimed the award had he played a full season, but he was limited to 26 games.
There weren’t a lot of great candidates for best career, either, as not a single player from this rookie class was ever selected to play in an All-Star Game. McMahon, who played for the Rochester Royals and St. Louis Hawks, led this group in games played, minutes, field goals made, field goals attempted, free throws made, free throws attempted, assists, and points. He won an NBA title with the Hawks in 1957-58.
1953-54: Ray Felix (winner), Clyde Lovellette (best career)
Felix was a clear choice for Rookie of the Year, averaging career highs in PPG (17.6, fifth in the NBA) and RPG (13.3, fourth) in 72 games for the Baltimore Bullets. Felix was a solid player, averaging 10.9 PPG and 8.9 RPG in 637 games, but he earned his only All-Star selection in his rookie campaign.
Lovellette had the better career, earning four All-Star Game selections and winning three NBA titles. The Hall of Fame center averaged 17.0 PPG and 9.5 RPG in 704 regular season games.
1954-55: Bob Pettit (winner and best career)
Pettit was named All-NBA First Team as a rookie, averaging 20.4 PPG and 13.8 RPG in 72 games for the Milwaukee Hawks. It was the first of 10 consecutive All-NBA First Team selections for Pettit, and he averaged at least 20 PPG and 10 RPG in each of his 11 seasons in the league.
Pettit won his lone NBA title in 1958, when the St. Louis Hawks became the only team to beat a Bill-Russell-led squad in the Finals. Pettit had an epic performance in the series-clinching win, tallying 50 points and 19 rebounds.
1955-56: Maurice Stokes (winner), Jack Twyman (best career)
It’s appropriate that these two are listed together, as the NBA’s Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award is named in their honor.
Stokes made an immediate impact as a rookie, averaging a league-leading 16.3 RPG and earning the first of what would be three straight All-Star selections. Stokes was also named All-NBA Second Team following each of those seasons.
However, tragedy struck in the final game of the 1957-58 season. Stokes was knocked unconscious on a drive to the basket, striking his head on the floor on the resulting fall. Trainers used smelling salts to revive Stokes, and he later returned to the game.
But just three days later, as his Cincinnati Royals were on a flight home from their opening playoff game with the Detroit Pistons, Stokes become ill, and later suffered a seizure that left him permanently paralyzed. Stokes was diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disorder that permanently damaged his motor-control center.
Stokes’ friend and teammate, Twyman, became his legal guardian, providing care and support in the years following his injury. A six-time All-Star selection, Twyman averaged 19.2 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 823 career games.
1956-57: Tom Heinsohn (winner), Bill Russell (best career)
Russell missed the first third of the NBA season due to his commitment to the U.S. men’s national team, as the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in November and December in Melbourne, Australia. Heinsohn, his Boston Celtics teammate, was an All-Star selection in his rookie campaign, averaging 16.2 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 72 games. I think Russell (14.7 PPG and 19.6 RPG in 48 games) would have been named Rookie of the Year had he played a full season.
The Celtics won their first NBA title in 1956-57, a feat they would duplicate 10 times over the next 12 seasons. Boston won eight consecutive championships from 1958-59 through 1965-66. No other franchise has won more than three straight titles.
1957-58: Woody Sauldsberry (winner), Sam Jones (best career)
Sauldsberry was a reasonable selection, averaging 12.8 PPG and 10.3 RPG in 71 games for the Philadelphia Warriors. However, he shot just 36.0% from the floor, the second-worst field goal percentage ever recorded by a Rookie of the Year Award winner (Stokes, 35.4%).
Jones averaged less than 10 MPG as a rookie for the Boston Celtics, so he wasn’t a serious candidate for the award. However, he would go on to be a five-time All-Star selection and 10-time NBA champion, averaging 17.7 PPG in 871 career games.
1958-59: Elgin Baylor (winner & best career)
Baylor led the Minneapolis Lakers to the NBA Finals as a rookie, averaging 24.9 PPG (fourth in the league) and 15.0 RPG (third) in 70 games. He earned the first of his 10 career All-NBA First Team selections and placed third in the MVP voting.
1959-60: Wilt Chamberlain (winner & best career)
Playing for the Philadelphia Warriors, Chamberlain also won the league’s MVP Award, one of only two rookies to do so (more on the second later). He set still-standing NBA rookie records for points (2,707) and rebounds (1,941), marks which appear highly unlikely to be eclipsed anytime soon by any player, rookie or otherwise.
1960-61: Oscar Robertson (winner & best career)
Robertson nearly averaged a triple-double in his rookie season with the Cincinnati Royals (30.5 PPG, 10.1 RPG, and 9.7 APG), then became the first player in NBA history to achieve the feat in his second season (30.8 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 11.4 APG). Robertson averaged a 30-point triple-double through his first five seasons (30.3 PPG, 10.4 RPG, and 10.6 APG), racking up 135 of his 181 career triple-doubles in the process.
1961-62: Walt Bellamy (winner & best career)
Bellamy is the fourth consecutive winner who also went on to have the best career. All four of these players were eventually elected to the Hall of Fame.
As I’ve written about in the past, Bellamy’s rookie campaign was also his best season (career highs of 31.6 PPG and 19.0 RPG in 79 games for the Chicago Packers), which is quite rare for a player with a career of significant length. All four of Bellamy’s All-Star selections came in his first four seasons.
1962-63: Terry Dischinger (winner), John Havlicek (best career)
Dischinger averaged 25.5 PPG with a field goal percentage of 51.2% for the Chicago Zephyrs in his debut season. He’s one of only four rookies in NBA history to average at least 25 PPG on 50% shooting from the field, the others being Bellamy (1961-62), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70), and Michael Jordan (1984-85).
Dischinger earned All-Star selections in each of his first three seasons, averaging a cumulative 21.1 PPG and 7.4 RPG with 50.0% shooting from the field. However, he had to put his basketball career on hold for two seasons in order to fulfill a military obligation. Dischinger returned to the Detroit Pistons for the 1967-68 season and, while still an effective player, never averaged more than 13.1 PPG or 6.2 RPG in any of his six remaining seasons.
Havlicek was a 13-time All-Star and eight-time NBA champion. He averaged 20.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 4.8 APG in 1,270 career games, all with the Boston Celtics.
1963-64: Jerry Lucas (winner & best career)
Lucas had to sit out the 1962-63 season due to contractual issues with the Cleveland Pipers of the now-defunct American Basketball League. He didn’t show any signs of rust with the Cincinnati Royals as a rookie, averaging 17.7 PPG and 17.4 RPG (third in the NBA) while shooting a league-best 52.7% from the floor.
Lucas ranks fourth all time with a career rebounding average of 15.6 per game. He was a seven-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, and one-time champion with the New York Knicks in 1972-73.
1964-65: Willis Reed (winner & best career)
Reed was an All-Star as a rookie with the New York Knicks, averaging 19.5 PPG (ninth in the NBA) and 14.7 RPG (fifth) in 80 games. He would go on to earn All-Star nods in each of the next six seasons, but injuries caused him to retire after his 10th season at the relatively young age of 31. Reed led the Knicks to NBA titles in 1969-70 and 1972-73, taking home the Finals MVP Award both times.
1965-66: Rick Barry (winner & best career)
Barry was an All-NBA First Team selection in each of his first two seasons with the San Francisco Warriors, leading them to the NBA Finals in his sophomore campaign. He averaged a combined 30.6 PPG and 9.9 RPG in 158 games over that span.
After his second season, Barry signed with the American Basketball Association’s Oakland Oaks (who were coached by his then-father-in-law, Bruce Hale), but was legally forced to sit out the entire 1967-68 campaign. He played four seasons in the rival league — earning All-ABA First Team recognition each season — then returned to the Warriors for the 1972-73 season.
1966-67: Dave Bing (winner & best career)
This completes another run of four straight winners who also had the best career, all of whom are Hall of Famers. As a rookie, Bing averaged 20.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 4.1 APG in 80 games for the Detroit Pistons. It was the first of seven straight seasons in which he averaged at least 20 PPG. Bing was a seven-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection.
1967-68: Earl Monroe (winner), Walt Frazier (best career)
Another interesting pairing, as Monroe and Frazier would later go on to the play in the same backcourt for the New York Knicks, winning an NBA title together in 1973. Monroe finished fifth in the league in scoring as a rookie with the Baltimore Bullets, averaging 24.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 4.3 APG in 82 games. He’s only of only eight players in NBA history to record at least 5,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists through the first three seasons of his career.
Fraziers did not play a lot of minutes for the Knicks as a rookie (21.5 MPG in 74 games), but he was a regular starter and All-Defensive First Team selection by his second season (17.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 7.9 APG in 80 games), and made the All-NBA and All-Defensive First Teams in season number three (20.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 8.2 APG in 77 games).
1968-69: Wes Unseld (winner), Elvin Hayes (best career)
Unseld averaged 13.8 PPG and 18.6 RPG (fifth in the NBA) in 82 games for a Baltimore Bullets team that improved from 36-46 to a league-leading 57-25. He also won the MVP Award that season, joining Chamberlain as the only two rookies in NBA history to do so. This was clearly a narrative choice, though, as Unseld wasn’t even one of the five best players in the league that season.
Hayes actually had the flashier statistics as a rookie (28.4 PPG and 17.1 RPG in 82 games), but shot just 44.7% from the field and 62.6% from the free throw line for a San Diego Rockets team that went 37-45 (which, to be fair, was a 22-win improvement). He had a long and productive career, ranking 12th all time in points (27,313) and fourth in rebounds (16,279).
1969-70: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (winner & best career)
After a rookie season in which he averaged 28.8 PPG (second in the NBA) and 14.5 RPG (third) in 82 games for the Milwaukee Bucks, Abdul-Jabbar won his first MVP Award and first NBA title the following season. All told, Abdul-Jabbar won a record six MVP Awards and was a member of six championship teams.
1970-71: Dave Cowens & Geoff Petrie (co-winners), Bob Lanier (best career)
Two very different players tied for the award, as the Portland Trail Blazers’ Petrie finished seventh in the NBA in scoring (24.8 PPG), while the Boston Celtics’ Cowens ranked seventh in rebounding (15.0 RPG). This was a strong rookie class that also featured future Hall of Famers Calvin Murphy, Pete Maravich, and Nate Archibald.
I chose Lanier over Cowens and Archibald as the player from this group who had the best career, but your mileage may vary. Lanier was an eight-time All-Star selection who averaged 20.1 PPG and 10.1 RPG with a field goal percentage of 51.4% in 959 career games.
Before I move on, there’s a Cowens story that’s too good to pass up. Just eight games into the 1976-77 season, Cowens abruptly left the Celtics for “undisclosed reasons.” He retuned two months later and led Boston to the playoffs, where they fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Cowens later revealed that he was simply burned out on basketball, and had returned to his family farm in Kentucky to sell Scotch Pine trees. Imagine the meltdown on social media if something like that happened today.
1971-72: Sidney Wicks (winner), Fred Brown (best career)
An All-Star selection in his debut season, Wicks averaged career highs of 24.5 PPG and 11.5 RPG in 82 games for the Portland Trail Blazers. Even though he would go on to earn three more All-Star nods, Wicks’ scoring average actually decreased in each of his nine subsequent seasons.
From a career standpoint, this was not a stellar crop* of NBA rookies. I went with Fred Brown for best career, but Randy Smith would also be a defensible choice. A one-time All-Star, “Downtown Freddie Brown” averaged 14.6 PPG in 933 games and won an NBA title with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1978-79. He was an excellent foul shooter, with a career free throw percentage of 85.8%.
* This was not the case in the ABA, where Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, and George McGinnis all made their professional debuts.
1972-73: Bob McAdoo (winner & best career)
After averaging 18.0 PPG and 9.1 RPG in 80 games for the Buffalo Braves as a rookie, McAdoo went on to win one MVP Award (1974-75) and finish as runner-up twice in the next three seasons. He’s one of only five players in NBA history to score at least 7,500 points over a three-season span, the others being Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant.
1973-74: Ernie DiGregorio (winner), Doug Collins (best career)
DiGregorio averaged 15.2 PPG and led the league in assists per game (8.2) and free throw percentage (90.2%) in his Rookie of the Year campaign, giving the Buffalo Braves two straight winners. Unfortunately, “Ernie D” suffered a serious knee injury just six games into his second season (he was averaging 19.3 PPG and 8.2 APG at the time) and was never the same player after his return.
Once again this was not an elite rookie crop, but I think Collins was the best of the bunch. Like DiGregorio, Collins’ career was cut short due to injury (he played only 415 games in eight seasons), but he was a four-time All-Star selection who averaged 17.9 PPG with shooting percentages of 50.1% from the field and 83.3% from the free throw line.
1974-75: Jamaal Wilkes (winner & best career)
I probably would have voted for the Atlanta Hawks’ John Drew (18.5 PPG, 10.7 RPG, and 1.5 SPG in 78 games) for Rookie of the Year, but he finished second in the voting to the Golden State Warriors’ Wilkes (14.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 1.3 SPG in 82 games). This was also Bill Walton’s debut season, but he played just 35 games.
Walton, at his peak, was definitely the best player from this class, but he missed 598 out of a possible 1,066 games from his first season to his last season. Wilkes, a three-time All-Star, won an NBA title in his debut season and would go on to win two more with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979-80 and 1981-82.
I should note that the 19-year-old Moses Malone made his debut with the ABA’s Utah Jazz in 1974-75, averaging 18.8 PPG and 14.6 RPG in 83 games. He clearly had the best career among professional rookies that season.
1975-76: Alvan Adams (winner), Gus Williams (best career)
Adams had a dream rookie season, averaging 19.0 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 5.6 APG, 1.5 SPG, and 1.5 BPG in 80 games. He earned the only All-Star selection of his career, won the Rookie of the Year Award, and led the Phoenix Suns to their first NBA Finals appearance.
Choosing the player who had the best career was tough, as there’s not a single Hall of Famer in the group. I went with Williams, a two-time All-NBA selection who averaged 17.1 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 2.0 SPG in 825 games. He played in consecutive NBA Finals in 1977-78 and 1978-79, winning a title in the latter season. Williams held out for a full season in his prime due to a contract dispute (the 1980-81 season, when he was just 27 years old).
1976-77: Adrian Dantley (winner), Robert Parish (best career)
Let me first note that the ABA stars who migrated over to the NBA after the merger — Julius Erving, George Gervin, David Thompson, etc. — were not considered rookies and thus ineligible for the Rookie of the Year Award.
A six-time All-Star and two-time league scoring champion, the 6-foot-5-inch Dantley was an efficient scoring machine in the post. He averaged 24.3 PPG in 955 games, shooting 54.0% from the field and 81.8% from the free throw line. Excluding active players, Dantley, George Gervin, and Alex English are the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 PPG with shooting percentages of 50% from the field and 80% from the free throw line.
However, I went with Robert Parish for best career. He was a nine-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion who averaged 14.5 RPG, 9.1 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in a league-record 1,611 games. Parish had a career field goal percentage of 53.7% and was a respectable 72.1% free throw shooter.
1977-78: Walter Davis (winner), Jack Sikma (best career)
The New York Nets’ Bernard King put up numbers that normally would have won him the award (24.2 PPG and 9.5 RPG in 79 games), but he finished third in the voting behind the Phoenix Suns’ Davis (24.2 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 81 games, All-NBA Second Team) and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Marques Johnson (19.5 PPG and 10.6 RPG in 80 games).
All three of those players had very good NBA careers, but each had issues that prevented them from reaching their full potential: drug addiction and recurring back injuries for Davis; a serious neck injury for Johnson; and substance abuse plus a devastating leg injury for King.
A seven-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion with the Seattle SuperSonics, Sikma averaged 15.6 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 1,107 career games. He was a tremendous free throw shooter for a big man, shooting a league-best 92.2% from the line in 1987-88 and 84.9% for his career.
1978-79: Phil Ford (winner), Maurice Cheeks (best career)
Ford was named All-NBA Second Team as a rookie, averaging 15.9 PPG, 8.6 APG, and 2.2 SPG in 79 games to lead the Kansas City Kings to a surprise playoff appearance. However, the 1978-79 season would turn out to be the only one in which he earned end-of-season recognition.
Cheeks was a five-time All-Defensive selection, four-time All-Star, and one-time champion with the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s still the franchise’s career leader in assists (6,212) and steals (1,942), and was the first NBA player to reach 2,000 career steals (a statistic that has been tracked since 1973-74).
1979-80: Larry Bird (winner), Magic Johnson (best career)
The Boston Celtics went 29-53 in 1978-79, but with Bird they improved to an NBA-best 61-21 in 1979-80. He averaged 21.3 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 4.5 APG, and 1.7 SPG in 82 games with 47.4/40.6/83.6 shooting splits, easily taking home the Rookie of the Year Award over Johnson (63 out of 66 votes).
I’ve written an extensive comparison of Bird and Magic’s careers, which you can read here. TL; DR: It’s very, very close, but in my opinion Magic’s postseason performance pushes him slightly ahead of Bird.
1980-81: Darrell Griffith (winner), Kevin McHale (best career)
Griffith averaged 20.6 PPG in 81 games for the Utah Jazz, but was rather inefficient, ranking last in true shooting percentage (49.6%) among the 19 qualified players with a scoring average of at least 20 PPG that season. I probably would have voted for Joe Barry Carroll* (18.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 1.5 BPG) for Rookie of the Year.
* Later in his career, Carroll would pick up the derisive nickname “Joe Barely Cares” for his lackluster performances.
McHale started his career as a sixth man, and would develop into one of the most potent low-post scoring threats in league history. A seven-time All-Star and three-time NBA champion, he averaged 17.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 1.7 BPG in 971 career games, all with the Boston Celtics.
1981-82: Buck Williams (winner), Isiah Thomas (best career)
Williams was a good choice for the award, averaging 15.5 PPG and 12.3 RPG (third in the NBA) with a field goal percentage of 58.2% (third) in 82 games for the New Jersey Nets. He went on to have a very solid career, with a reasonable Hall of Fame case (albeit not convincing, at least to me).
I’m pleasantly surprised Williams won, as five rookies posted a higher scoring average that season: Kelly Tripucka, Jay Vincent, Mark Aguirre, Tom Chambers, and Thomas. Tripucka (21.6 PPG) and Vincent (21.4 PPG) ranked 13th and 15th, respectively, in the league in scoring.
The enigmatic Thomas was named an All-Star in each of the first 12 seasons of his 13-season career. He spent his entire career with the Detroit Pistons, averaging 19.2 PPG, 9.3 APG (sixth in NBA history), and 1.9 SPG in 979 career games. Thomas won back-to-back NBA titles in 1988-89 and 1989-90, taking home the Finals MVP Award in the latter season.