NBL (United States) Rookie of the Year Award

The National Basketball League Rookie of the Year Award was an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season in each of the twelve years the league existed. The Rookie of the Year was selected by sports writers, broadcasters, coaches, and managers.^[1][2] Despite the dozens of teams that played in the NBL through its history, three of them collectively dominated the award's recipients. The Indianapolis Kautskys and Sheboygan Red Skins had three winners each, while the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots had two, for a combined eight of the twelve awards bestowed (66.7%).^[3] The only other teams to manage even one NBL Rookie of the Year Award winner were the Cleveland Chase Brassmen, the Chicago American Gears, the Rochester Royals, and the Syracuse Nationals.

Among the winners were two future Basketball Hall of Famers, Red Holzman (1986) and Dolph Schayes (1973).^[4][5]

Winners

*	Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Team (X)	Denotes the number of times a player from this team had won at that time

Season	Player	Position	Team
1937–38	Robert Kessler	Forward	Indianapolis Kautskys
1938–39	Jewell Young	Forward	Indianapolis Kautskys (2)
1939–40	Ben Stephens	Guard / forward	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
1940–41	Eddie Sadowski	Guard	Indianapolis Kautskys (3)
1941–42	George Glamack	Forward / center	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (2)
1942–43	Ken Buehler	Forward / center	Sheboygan Red Skins
1943–44	Mel Riebe	Guard / forward	Cleveland Chase Brassmen
1944–45	Stan Patrick	Forward	Chicago American Gears
1945–46	Red Holzman*	Guard	Rochester Royals
1946–47	Fred Lewis	Guard / forward	Sheboygan Red Skins (2)
1947–48	Mike Todorovich	Forward / center	Sheboygan Red Skins (3)
1948–49	Dolph Schayes*	Center	Syracuse Nationals

See also

• NBA Rookie of the Year Award