When you look at the history of great players to grace the NBA, it’s easy to forget how important their rookie season is. Their debut sets the pace for the rest of their time in the league. Here are the thirty greatest NBA rookie seasons in history.
30. Derrick Rose
The first overall pick in the 2008 draft, Derrick Rose, showed up to the Bulls meaning business. He quickly earned comparisons to Michael Jordon by putting up ten points in his first ten games and earned the trophy in the Skills Challenge during the All-Star Break. He also won the Rookie of the Year award for the 2008-09 season.
29. Kevin Durant
KD is one of the best to ever do it, and he was pretty great in his debut season, too. The SuperSonics got him second overall in the 2007 draft and he averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game in his first outing. Needless to say, he won Rookie of the Year and the rest is history.
28. Pau Gasol
As a Spanish player who came to the US just to play in the NBA, expectations for Gasol were high in his 2001 debut with the Grizzlies. He quickly wowed critics and fans alike and became the first foreign player to win Rookie of the Year honors. Interestingly, he was the only player to appear in all 82 games in the 2001-02 season.
27. Allen Iverson
One of the greatest scoring threats in the history of the league quickly made a name for himself after getting picked first overall by the Sixers in 1996. Iverson is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the shortest first pick in the history of the league. He immediately proved his value, though, as he scored 30 points in his debut game against the Bucks and went on to win Rookie of the Year.
26. Ralph Sampson
Expectations for Ralph Sampson were sky-high when he was first-picked by the Rockets in 1983. He was expected to rival Wilt Chamberlain in the center position due to his combination of power and speed. He rose to the challenge, playing in the All-Star game and winning Rookie of the Year. Once Hakeem Olajuwon joined the Rockets in 1984, the Twin Towers became a huge force in the NBA.
25. Patrick Ewing
When the Knicks took Ewing first in the 1985 draft, fans were ecstatic. His college career had been legendary, and he brought an impressive 20-9-2 season to New York even while battling numerous injuries. He won Rookie of the Year and would become synonymous with the Knicks organization.
24. Mitch Richmond
In addition to having a downright awesome name, Mitch Richmond had an electric first season with the NBA. After being chosen fifth overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 1988 draft, Richmond averaged 22 points per game and secured an easy Rookie of the Year award.
23. Terry Dischinger
The Chicago Zephyrs (how long has it been since you’ve read that name?) first-picked Dischinger in the 1962 draft. He put up some historic numbers, averaging 25.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists across his first 57 games. He was a lock for Rookie of the Year and, famously, also earned his chemical engineering degree from Purdue the same year. No big deal!
22. Geoff Petrie
Geoff Petrie was on the first-ever Portland Trail Blazers team in 1971, and became a rare co-Rookie of the Year winner alongside Dave Cowens. Petrie scored nearly 25 points per game on average in his debut season and held the individual single-game scoring record (54 points) for Portland until 2005.
21. Rick Barry
When Rick Barry arrived in San Francisco to play with the Warriors, he made an instant impact. They won only 17 games in the 1964-65 season. With Barry on the court, they won 35 games in the season. He averaged nearly 26 points per game and won himself a Rookie of the Year award for his trouble.
20. Blake Griffin
The Clippers had a no-brainer choice for the first pick of the 2009 draft with Blake Griffin. He was the consensus national college player of the year in his sophomore campaign with the Sooners, and he showed up in the NBA seven weeks late after a knee injury kept him off the court. He still won the Rookie of the Year award despite the shortened season, and went on to have a legendary career in the NBA.
19. Maurice Stokes
Maurice Stokes was one of the game’s earliest superstars. He was drafted second overall in the 1955 draft by the Rochester Royals and quickly proved himself to be a dynamite defensive player. He averaged over 16 rebounds per game and won a Rookie of the Year award for his defensive dynamism.
18. Walter Davis
Walter Davis was picked fifth overall in the 1977 draft by the Suns. He got tons of time on the court in his debut season, playing 81 games and averaging over 24 points per game. In addition to being second team All-NBA, he also won the 1978 Rookie of the Year award.
17. Mark Jackson
Jackson was a big surprise to both the Knicks and every other team in the NBA when he burst onto the scene in 1987. The Knicks took him 18th overall, and he quickly worked alongside Patrick Ewing to push the Knicks to the playoffs. Oh, and he got the Rookie of the Year award, naturally.
16. Hakeem Olajuwon
The Rockets badly needed Olajuwon on their roster after their disastrous 1983-84 season. As soon as The Dream arrived, they added 19 wins to their record in the 1984-85 season. Olajuwon’s work alongside Ralph Sampson saw them dubbed the “Twin Towers,” and he would have won a Rookie of the Year award were it not for the presence of this little-known Bulls player named Michael Jordan.
15. Walt Bellamy
Four-time All-Star and all-around legend Walt Bellamy was picked first in the 1961 draft by the Chicago Packers and had a very impressive first outing. He averaged a mind-blowing 31.6 points per game, second only to Wilt Chamberlain, and scored 973 field goals in the 1961-62 season.
14. Elgin Baylor
The Lakers (that’s Minneapolis, not LA) picked Baylor first overall in the 1958 draft. They convinced him not to attend SU for his senior year, and they were instantly glad he did. He likely saved the Lakers from financial disaster by bringing Rookie-of-the-Year caliber star power to the otherwise aging and sluggish team.
13. LeBron James
This might seem like an oddly low placement for King James, but it’s important to remember that he got so much better after his rookie year. And that’s saying a lot, because the guy won Rookie of the Year, up 20.9-5.5-5.9, and did it all right out of high school in the 2003-04 season. Notably, this still only pushed the Cavs up 18 wins over the prior season, despite his personal successes.
12. Wes Unseld
Unseld beat out Elvin Hayes to win the Rookie of the Year award in 1968-69, and his success didn’t stop there. He also joined Wilt Chamberlain in the elite club of players who won ROY and MVP in the same season. Oh, and he pushed Baltimore from the bottom of the league to first place, so make of that what you will.
11. Elvin Hayes
There’s a lot to be said for rookie scoring, as we’ve noted, and Elvin Hayes led the entire dang league in his debut season. He didn’t win Rookie of the Year in 1968-69, but he did go to the All-Star Game and averaged an eye-popping 28.4 points per game.
10. Shaquille O’Neal
When the Magic got Shaq on their roster, things started to change. He was huge, fast, and brought instant impact to Orlando. They jumped up to nearly twice the victories in 1992-93 as the season prior, and he only got better after his Rookie of the Year turn.
9. Victor Wembanyama
The Spurs have had some excellent luck in drafting great newcomers to the NBA. Case in point: the 2023-24 season Rookie of the Year, Victor Wembanyama. He led the league in blocks in his debut season and put up some great numbers. While he didn’t help push their wins up, he’s a player to watch in the seasons to come.
8. David Robinson
While the Spurs drafted Robinson in 1987, he had to finish his tour of duty with the Navy before he could join the NBA. And you can bet your bottom dollar they were happy to have him. “Rookie of the Year” was accurate, but it only hinted at the nearly 4 shots per game he blocked and the extra 35 wins, season-over-season, he brought to San Antonio.
7. Tim Duncan
If David Robinson kickstarted the Spurs at the start of the 90s, Tim Duncan pushed things to a new level when he arrived in the 1997-98 season. He went 21 points per game, nearly 12 rebounds per game, and a shade under 3 assists on average in his impressive Rookie of the Year season.
6. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The Bucks were only in their second season when Abdul-Jabbar joined up for the 1969-70 campaign. While they had only 27 wins the year prior, Kareem got them to 56 on the year and pushed them to the finals for the Eastern conference. He was so good that his aerial silhouette became an easily-identifiable symbol of the NBA.
5. Michael Jordan
News flash: Michael Jordan was really good at basketball. Stop the presses, I know. But here’s some numbers for you: 25-5-5 in his rookie year, numbers only matched by Oscar Robertson (more on him in a bit). The guy made everyone in the league pay attention from the moment he set foot on the court in the 1984-85 season.
4. Larry Bird
Astonishingly, Bird beat out Magic Johnson for Rookie of the Year in the 1979-80 season. While Johnson had the better numbers, Bird drove Boston to 61 wins and hit 40% of his three-pointers in his debut season. That’s not nothing, and it was just the prologue to an epic career.
3. Magic Johnson
You don’t get called “Magic” by being pretty decent. Magic Johnson put up 18 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, and 7.3 assists per game in the 1979-80 season. Somehow, he lost Rookie of the Year balloting to Larry Bird, but, hey, that’s good company to be in. And Magic was probably better that first year, anyway.
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2. Oscar Robertson
Robertson pulled off some astonishing feats during his introductory season in Cincinnati in 1960-61, putting up 26 triple-doubles. Oh, and four of those came in his first five games with the Royals. Let’s not forget he won the All-Star MVP that year, too.
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1. Wilt Chamberlain
Look, the NBA calls the Rookie of the Year award the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy for a reason, okay? The man hit the league like a ton of bricks, putting up numbers that still look good even all these years later. He just did things in the first year in the league that other players could only dream of.
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