Entering the NBA, which is regarded as the highest hall of basketball, even more talented rookie players need time to adapt to the brand-new league, including but not limited to the intensity of the confrontation, the team environment, the scale of blowing penalties, the culture of the city and other aspects of the change. In addition, as a young rookie, there is still a lot of room for players to polish their skills. Most of the NBA stars are from the rookie players start step by step to grow into a star-level existence.
However, there are always those few players who are the exception. They can set the tone for superstardom early on by putting up extremely impressive performances in their first-year seasons.
Will they be great later? For this group of players, there is no need to wait until later?
In the 52/53 season, Don Meineke, who played for the Fort Wayne Pistons, became the first Rookie of the Year in league history, and the Rookie of the Year award has been retained ever since.
What are the top 10 strongest Rookie of the Year players in the history of the NBA in the past 66 years?
The top ten strongest rookies in the history of the NBA
Ten, Doncic (18/19 season)
Rookie season data: 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.1 steals
Doncic is the youngest championship MVP in the history of the Euroleague of Basketball, and also plays for Real Madrid team when the reputation has been the world.2018 The Atlanta Hawks selected him third overall in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft and immediately traded him to the Mavericks for Trae Young, who was also hailed by the media as a "gifted player," plus a first-round pick from the Mavericks the following year.
After a 10-year hiatus, the NBA is once again seeing a 20+5+5 caliber rookie after Tyreke Evans. If we're stretching the bar a bit higher and screening players by Doncic's 21+6+5 in his rookie year, the last rookie to reach the same level of numbers was Michael Jordan. Even if he stayed put after his first year, Doncic trumps a number of All-Stars who have been in the league for years. Yet something well-known happened, and in his sophomore year, this season, the 20-year-old Doncic continued to make explosive strides to become a strong MVP contender.
Nine, Iverson (96/97 season)
Rookie season stats: 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals per game
In that star-studded 1996 NBA Draft, Allen Iverson was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round with the first overall pick, making him the shortest draft pick in NBA history.
Allen Iverson scored 30 points on his debut night and scored 50 points in his rookie season, showing himself as an epoch-making two-way player in his debut season. Crossover has captured the hearts of countless fans.
In the eyes of the author, Iverson's rookie data in this set of the most eye-catching part is not scoring nor assists, but rebounds. May be less than 1.83 meters of real height, can grab 4.1 rebounds, including an average of 1.5 front-court rebounds. Iverson's bones that kind of good strong perseverance, every ball must fight the god of war since the moment he stepped on the NBA game has been burning.
Eight, David Thompson (75/76 season)
Rookie season data: averaged 26 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists
Countless players regard Michael Jordan as the basketball road of the life of the idol, the Flying Dutchman honors the original initiator and who? The answer is David Thompson, nicknamed "Skywalker".
Time back to 1974, the year Jordan 11 years old, in front of the television set to witness David Thompson in the NCAA crazy performance. That season, rookie David Thompson, who attended North Carolina, led his team to the 1974 NCAA title with an undefeated 27-0 record, ending UCLA's storied seven-peat era.
In the 75/76 season, the Skywalkers officially decided to move on from college to the professional basketball league, and the ABA and NBA were in the final year of their split, so the battle for the Skywalkers began.
NBA On the NBA side, the Atlanta Hawks drafted him with the first pick, and in the ABA, the Virginia Squires drafted Thompson with the first pick in the first round. Although both sides offered top contracts, Thompson himself was not a fan of either team.Finally, David Thompson joined the Denver Nuggets after a little lip service from famed coach Larry Brown. Back then, the style of basketball was still dominated by the floor stream, with few shots of any aerial work. The first impression of the "flying stream" basketball is from the flying man with an exploding head.
26 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, hitting rate of 50%, leading the Denver Nuggets into the ABA finals, this is Thompson's rookie season report card; think back to the year, David Thompson in the finals of the flyer against Dr. J, it is the dedication of the two leagues so that the two into one of the final big game.
Eight, O'Neal (92/93 season)
Rookie season data: averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 3.5 caps
1992 NBA draft, the Orlando Magic in the first round of the first pick O'Neal.
O'Neal was much slimmer in stature than he was during the Lakers' time, but his destructive power was estimated to be comparable. The destructive power of the Magic Young Sharks is not only an indication of the data above the category, this son in the NBA's first season contributed to two dunked the basket plus a pull down the performance of the basketball rack, forcing the NBA league officials to redesign the fixing mechanism of the basketball rack.
In the 92/93 season, the first-year O'Neal helped the Magic improve by 20 wins to become an All-Star starter and was named to the three-team squad that season, while the last player to become an All-Star starter in his rookie year was Michael Jordan in the 84/85 season.
Seven, David Robinson (89/90 season)
Rookie season data: averaged 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals, 3 caps
In 1987, the Spurs in the draft assembly with the first round of the first place in the first round of the draft from the Naval Academy, David Robinson. The Spurs had to serve two more years in the military before David Robinson could officially land in the NBA.
David Robinson proved to be worth the two-year wait for any team.
The Spurs drafted him in the first round of the 1987 draft, and at the age of 24, he officially landed in the NBA.
The Spurs played all 82 games for Robinson, averaging 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals, 3 caps and 1.5 rebounds. 1.4 steals and 3 caps, monopolized the rookie of the month for six times and was eventually crowned rookie of the month, while being selected as the second defense, third team and all-star. The Spurs finished that season with a 56-26 record, a full 35 wins more than the previous season.
Not to be overlooked is the fact that David Robinson averaged 24.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 4.0 caps in 10 playoff games played that same year, which culminated in the playoffs where the Spurs lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference semifinals after a grueling seven-game battle. As a rookie, David Robinson actually managed to get better and better on the big stage of the playoffs, where intensity surged, a rarity in NBA history.
From the technical style, I believe that most of the fans who have seen Robinson play will agree that he is an epoch-making center with the strength of a top lineman, the speed of a top defender and the touch of a top shooter. It's really hard to imagine what level of hyperbole first-year David Robinson could have played when put into today's era of fast-paced switching defenses.
Five, Duncan (97/98 season)
Rookie season data: averaged 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.5 caps
96/97 season, Admiral David Robinson season reimbursement, Spurs record of 20 wins and 62 defeats league bottom. The next year, the Spurs were fortunate to get the first pick and drafted the superstar that almost every team in the league had been coveting for years: Tim Duncan.
The rookie Duncan played all 82 games in the 97/98 season, posting perfect numbers of 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 caps. Under Duncan's leadership, the Spurs, who were not favored by the media, returned to the playoffs with 56 wins in the regular season stage. In the first round of the playoffs that year against the Sun, Duncan averaged 20.7 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 caps to lead the team over the line; then in the second game of the Western Conference semifinals with the Jazz, Duncan was reimbursed for spraining his ankle, and the Spurs lost the series 1-4.
Leading the team past the first round in his rookie season, being selected as a one-game, two-defense, all-star, and a top-five MVP selection, this is Ishmael's report card in his rookie season. From as early as the beginning of his career, the big nerd with no anger in his eyes has been in control of the dry spell.
Four, Larry Bird (79/80 season)
Rookie season data: 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.7 steals
1977-1978 two years is the Celtics team history of the dark period. 1979-80 season, the Green Army tree rookie Bird for the brand new core, the latter played the entire season of 82 games, is the The team's scoring, rebounds, steals, playing time of the chief bearer, is assists, three-point data of the second bearer. At the end of the season, Big Bird was named a one-time & All-Star.
Both on and off the court, Bird played a leadership role. A declining powerhouse team immediately regained its powerhouse spirit with the addition of a rookie. That season, the Greens put up 60+ wins, 32 more than the previous season. Something worth mentioning is that the MVP selection mechanism at that time was dominated by players' votes, and if we look at the selection criteria nowadays, that first-year Bird should have been the MVP player that season.
Three, Chamberlain (59/60 season)
Rookie season data: average 37.6 points, 27 rebounds, 4.4 assists (cap data missing)
Just the data level, Chamberlain is definitely the strongest dominant basketball sports history. As early as the high school league, basketball rule makers have repeatedly modified the rules defining offensive interference and free throws because of Junior Chamberlain's unusual strength. Perhaps it was because of such official targeting that Chamberlain forced out a better version of himself. After high school, the big man developed a top-notch offense that included pick-and-rolls, backward jumpers and hook shots, which added to the already insurmountable offensive ability to the extent that it was outrageous.
In 1959, the Philadelphia Warriors (later moved to San Francisco, the predecessor of the Cash State Warriors) drafted the much-anticipated son of Philadelphia on a geographical draft exception. Chamberlain received the league's highest salary of $30,000 (original highest: Bob Cousy, $25,000) as soon as he joined the NBA.
Throughout his rookie season, Chamberlain was able to surrender a ghostly 37.6 points, 27 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, and led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals. The strength of individual basketball is not better than the perfect team basketball, rookie Chamberlain led the Philadelphia Warriors by the Lord of the Rings Russell's Green Army defeated, the two continued throughout their careers, the feud plot has opened.
Chamberlain was at least 20 years ahead of his time in terms of the combination of skill and physicality. So, even in his inexperienced NBA rookie season, Chamberlain showed offensive and defensive strength naturally in another dimension.
Two, Jordan (84/85 season)
Rookie season data: average 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.4 steals
Hello, I'm Michael Jordan.
Long before Jordan's draft journey opened, North Carolina's coach & mentor, Dean Smith, made several public calls to the media. Dean outwardly proclaimed that his North Carolina system was limiting Jordan's play to a certain extent, thus suggesting to NBA scouts that there was definitely more to the love child than what he had shown on the college court. In fact, Jordan has also been voted College Player of the Year by the American media for two consecutive years.
On draft night in 1984, Jordan was selected by the Bulls with the third overall pick. Before Jordan, the Rockets selected Olajuwon with the first pick and the Blazers selected Sam Bowie with the top pick. After the draft, Dean Smith is directly to the media to pick out if Jordan to play center, he can become a superstar. The draft was a very good one, and he was not happy with the fact that his favorite player fell to the top of the scouting list.
Jordan's rookie season was phenomenal. 21-year-old Jordan played 82 games for the Bulls in the 84-85 season, averaging 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.4 steals in an era when the interior was still king.
What level of class are those kind of numbers? There's no time to go back to the 07-08 season, when Kobe, who asked for MVP, turned in 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.8 steals, and was almost completely overwhelmed by the first-year Joe.
Oscar Robertson (60/61 season)
Rookie season stats: 30.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 9.7 assists per game
Oscar Robertson took away three scoring titles with an average of up to 33.8 points per game during his three years at the University of Cincinnati. In addition, Robertson led the U.S. team to the 1960 Olympic title as co-captain with Jerry West.
The Cincinnati Royals took the son of a gun with a local pick in the 1960 draft (draft rules at the time allowed teams to select a local college player outright in exchange for an automatic waiver of that year's first-round pick). Entering the NBA, Oscar Robertson exploded quickly, surrendering a 30+ quasi-triple-double in his debut season, and the following year was a straight-up 30+ season triple-double average.In the '60s, the NBA league's marquee was the trio of Chamberlain, Russell, and Robertson.
Like Chamberlain, Robertson is also a presence beyond the basketball era. Since his rookie season, Robertson's name has been synonymous with the personification of the triple-double & the all-around warrior.
Honorable Mention Section: Griffin, James, Anthony, Durant, Evans, Chris Webber, Grant Hill, Magic Johnson, Ewing, Lillard