The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1952–53 NBA season, to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. The winner receives the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, which is named in honor of the Philadelphia Warriors head coach who led the team to the 1946–47 NBA Championship. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player(s) with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.[1]
The most recent winner of the award is Damian Lillard. Fourteen of the Rookie of the Year winners have won the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) during their careers; Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld both accomplished the feat in the same season. Nineteen of the forty two non-active Rookie of the Year winners have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Nineteen winners were drafted first overall. 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 as well as Elton Brand and Steve Francis in the 1999–00 season.[2] Four players won the award unanimously by capturing all of the first-place votes—Ralph Sampson, David Robinson, Blake Griffin and Lillard.[3]
Tim Duncan of the United States Virgin Islands, Patrick Ewing of Jamaica, Pau Gasol of Spain and Kyrie Irving of Australia are the only four winners who were not born in the United States. (Duncan is an American citizen, but is considered an international player by the NBA because he was not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C.)[4] Gasol is the only winner who was trained totally outside the U.S.; Duncan played college basketball at Wake Forest, Ewing immigrated to the Boston area at age 11, and Irving moved to the United States at age 2.
Winners [edit]
Unofficial winners [edit]
Prior to the 1952–53 season, the Rookie of the Year was selected by newspaper writers;[14] however, the NBA does not officially recognize those players as winners. The league did publish 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.[14][15][16]
- ^ a b Won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in same year.
- ^ a b 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.[5]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Denotes seasons in which joint winners were named
- ^ a b Though drafted in 1978 by the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird, opted to stay in college for his senior year, did not play in the NBA until 1979. His rookie season with the Celtics began in the 1979–80 season.[6]
- ^ Patrick Ewing was born in Jamaica, but had become a naturalized United States citizen while playing college basketball at Georgetown.[7] He represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[8]
- ^ a b 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.[9] His rookie season with the Spurs began in the 1989–90 season.[10]
- ^ Because Tim Duncan is a United States citizen by birth, as are all natives of the U.S. Virgin Islands,[11] he was able to play for the U.S. internationally. He represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics[12]
- ^ a b 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.[13]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- General
- Specific
- ^ "Trail Blazers’ Brandon Roy Named 2006-07 T-Mobile NBA Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 3, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
- ^ "Brand, Francis named NBA co-rookies of the year". CBC Sports. November 10, 2000. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ "Damian Lillard named top rookie". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. May 1, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
- ^ "Bargnani becomes first European top NBA draft pick". People's Daily Online. June 29, 2006. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
- ^ "Jerry Lucas Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ "Larry Bird Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ Ralph Wiley (January 7, 1985). "The Master Of The Key: After years of relying on others to unlock doors for him, Georgetown's center Patrick Ewing will soon go off on his own". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
- ^ "All-Time USA Basketball Men's Roster: E". USA Basketball. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ Dave Anderson (May 18, 1987). "Sports of the Times; The Robinson Plot Thickens". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
- ^ "David Robinson". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
- ^ "Virgin Islands". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
- ^ "All-Time USA Basketball Men's Roster: D". USA Basketball. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
- ^ "Griffin's rookie season lost to injury". ESPN.com. January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
- ^ a b Friedman, David (March 2, 2009). "Bill Tosheff: NBA Co-Rookie of the Year and Tireless Advocate for the "Pre-1965ers". 20 Second Timeout. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
- ^ Goldstein, Allan (October 30, 1994). "NBA forgot it honored Hoffman". The Baltimore Sun (Tribune Company). Retrieved September 1, 2011.
- ^ Sachare, Alex (1994). The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia. New York: Villard Books. p. 371. ISBN 978-0-679-43293-7.
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