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NBA Rookie of the Year
National Basketball Association award From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, named after the former Philadelphia Warriors head coach. Since the 2022–23 NBA season, winners receive the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy, named after the former Rookie of the Year winner, who also won the regular season MVP and All-Star Game MVP during his rookie season.
The winner is selected by a panel of United States and Canadian sportswriters and broadcasters,[1] each casting first-, second-, and third-place votes (worth five points, three points, and one point, respectively). The player(s) with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.[2]
The most recent Rookie of the Year winner is Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs. Twenty-two winners were drafted first overall. Sixteen winners have also won the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in their careers with Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld earning both honors the same season. Thirty of the non-active winners have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Three seasons had joint winners—Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie in the 1970–71 season, Grant Hill and Jason Kidd in the 1994–95 season, and Elton Brand and Steve Francis in the 1999–2000 season.[3] Six players won the award unanimously (by capturing all of the first-place votes)—Ralph Sampson, David Robinson, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Victor Wembanyama.[4][5]
Patrick Ewing of Jamaica,[6] Pau Gasol of Spain, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons of Australia, Andrew Wiggins of Canada, Luka Dončić of Slovenia, and Victor Wembanyama of France are the only winners not born in the United States. Three of these individuals have dual nationality by birth—Wiggins and Simmons have American fathers, and both of Irving's parents are Americans. Ewing immigrated to the Boston area at age 11, Irving moved to the United States at age 2, and Wiggins and Simmons moved to the U.S. while in high school. Gasol, Dončić, and Wembanyama are the only winners trained entirely outside the United States.
Chamberlain (Harlem Globetrotters), Gasol (FC Barcelona of Liga ACB and EuroLeague), Dončić (Real Madrid of Liga ACB and EuroLeague), LaMelo Ball (BC Prienai of the Lithuanian Basketball League, the Los Angeles Ballers of the JBA, and the Illawarra Hawks of the NBL), and Wembanyama (Nanterre 92, ASVEL, and Metropolitans 92 of LNB Élite) all had professional careers outside the NBA prior to being drafted. Ball also had previously won the NBL Rookie of the Year Award.
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Winners
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Unofficial winners
Prior to the 1952–53 season, the Rookie of the Year was selected by newspaper writers;[20] however, the NBA does not officially recognize those players as winners. The league published the pre-1953 winners in their 1994–95 edition of the Official NBA Guide and the 1994 Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, but those winners have not been listed in subsequent publications.[20][21][22]
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See also
Notes
- A player is not eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until he has been fully retired for two calendar years.
- Won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in same year.
- Though drafted in 1962 by the Cincinnati Royals, Jerry Lucas did not sign with the team until 1963 when he tried to sign with the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League instead. He ended up sitting out the year when the deal fell through. His rookie season with the Royals began in the 1963–64 season.[8]
- Though drafted in 1978 by the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird opted to stay in college for his senior year and did not play in the NBA until 1979. His rookie season with the Celtics began in the 1979–80 season.[9]
- Patrick Ewing was born in Jamaica, but had become a naturalized United States citizen while playing college basketball at Georgetown.[10] He represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[11]
- Though drafted in 1987 by the San Antonio Spurs, David Robinson did not play in the NBA until 1989 due to commitments to the United States Navy.[12] His rookie season with the Spurs began in the 1989–90 season.[13]
- Because Tim Duncan is a United States citizen by birth, as are all natives of the U.S. Virgin Islands,[14] he was able to play for the U.S. internationally. He represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics[15]
- Though drafted in 2009 by the Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin missed the entire 2009–10 season due to a knee injury. His rookie season with the Clippers was the 2010–11 season.[16]
- Karl-Anthony Towns was born and raised in the United States to an American father and a Dominican mother.[17] He has represented the Dominican Republic internationally since 2012.[18]
- Though drafted in 2016 by the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben Simmons missed the entire 2016–17 season due to a broken right foot. His rookie season with the Sixers was the 2017–18 season.[19]
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References
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