Dolph Schayes
.jpeg) Schayes in 1955 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 19, 1928 The Bronx, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
DeWitt Clinton (Bronx, New York) |
| College | NYU (1944–1948) |
| NBA draft | 1948 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall |
| Selected by the New York Knicks | |
| Pro career | 1948–1964 |
| Position | Power forward / Center |
| Number | 55, 4 |
| Coaching career | 1963–1972 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1948–1964 | Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers |
| As coach: | |
| 1963–1966 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1970–1972 | Buffalo Braves |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
As player:
As coach: | |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points |
19,247 (18.2 ppg) (NBL/BAA/NBA) 18,438 (18.5 ppg) (BAA/NBA) |
| Rebounds | 11,256 (12.1 rpg) |
| Assists | 3,072 (3.1 apg) |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame as player | |
Adolph "Dolph" Schayes (born May 19, 1928) is a retired American professional basketball player and former coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A top scorer and rebounder, he was a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals and a 12-time All-Star.[1]
Schayes played his entire Hall of Fame career with the Nationals and their successor, the Philadelphia 76ers, from 1948 to 1964.[2] In his 16-year career, he led the team into the post-season 15 times.[3]
Personal
Schayes was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Carl (truck driver for Consolidated Laundries) and Tina (homemaker). Both of his parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants.[4] “Dolph” grew up on Davidson Avenue and 183rd Street, near Jerome Avenue in University Heights, Bronx.[5]
He is the father of retired NBA center Danny Schayes, who played in the NBA for 18 seasons.[2][6] He is the grandfather of Abi, Carla and Rachel Goettsch, who won silver medals for the U.S. volleyball team at the 2001 Maccabiah Games, and Mickey Ferri, who won a gold medal in the 4×100 metres relay at the 2005 Maccabiah Games.[7][8] He settled in Syracuse in 1948, where he first played in the NBA, and still makes his home there, where he is a real estate developer.[9]
Basketball career
High school and college
He attended Creston Junior High School 79 and DeWitt Clinton High School (1945–48) in the Bronx, New York, where he played for the basketball team and led it to a borough championship.[3][6] He played his college basketball at New York University in 1944–48, where he earned an engineering degree, was an All-American in basketball and won the Haggerty Award in his final year.[2][10] His NYU coach, Howard Cann, said of him: "He was in the gym practicing every spare minute. We had to chase him out."[6]
Professional career
Schayes was drafted by both the New York Knicks in the 1948 BAA Draft (1st round; 4th pick overall), and by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in the NBL draft.[11] The Blackhawks traded his rights to the Syracuse Nationals, who then offered him a contract worth $7,500 ($73,600 today), 50% more than the Knicks, influencing his decision to go to Syracuse.[10][12]
Although tall for his era at 6' 8", Schayes was especially known for his deadly, high-arcing, outside set-shot. It arced so high that his teammates referred to it as "Sputnik".[13] Defenders who attempted to deny him the outside shot were confronted by his powerful drive to the basket.[14] These two offensive weapons served him well, even as the NBA was transitioning into a league of jump-shooters.
Early in Schayes' career, he broke his right arm and played almost an entire season in a cast. Oddly, this injury became a seminal point in his development: he learned to shoot with his off-hand, making him especially difficult to guard. He was one of the best—and the last—to use a two-handed set-shot with feet planted on the floor, before the game changed to one-handed jump shots.[12][15]
In the 1949–50 season, he was 6th in the league in assists, with 259.[11] He *led the NBA in rebounding in 1950–51 (in which he also had 10 of the top 14 individual rebounding games), with 1,080 and a 16.4-per-game average.[16][16][17] He was third in the league in rebounding in 1952-53, with 920.[11] In 1953-54, his 12.3 rebounds per game were fourth-best in the NBA.[11]
In 1954-55, he led his team to the NBA championship.[11] In 1956–57, he led the league in minutes-per-game (39.6) and free throws (625), while grabbing 1,008 rebounds (3rd in the league) and averaging 22.6 points per game (4th in the league). In 1957, he set an NBA consecutive free throw record in a single game with 18.[18] In 1957–58 he again led the league in minutes-per-game (40.5), and averaged a career-high 24.9 points per game, second in the league, while averaging 14.2 rebounds per game (fourth in the NBA).[1][11]
Schayes led the NBA in free throw percentage three times: in 1958 (.904), 1960 (.892) and 1962 (.896).[16][17][19] In 1959, he scored a career-high 50 points in a game against the Celtics.[18] In the NBA, he didn't miss a single game from February 17, 1952 to December 26, 1961, a NBA-record streak of 706 games.[18] In 1960–61, he again led the league in free throws (with 680).[11] In 1961, he became the first player in NBA history to amass 30,000 career total PRA (Points + Rebounds + Assists).
Schayes was a six-time All-NBA First Team honoree, and was also selected to the All-NBA Second Team six times.[19] He came in second in MVP voting in 1958, and 5th in both 1956 and 1957.[15] When he retired in 1964, he held the NBA records for games played (996), foul shots made (6,712), attempted (7,904), personal fouls (3,432) and was second to Bob Pettit in scoring (18,438).
In 1970, he was elected to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team as one of the top 12 retired players.[15]
In 1972, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[2] He is also a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the US National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Jewish American Sports Hall of Fame.[20]
In 1996, he was selected as one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all-time.[21]
NBA coach and referee supervisor
When the Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963, Schayes was named player-coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. He retired as a player after the season, but stayed on as coach for three more seasons. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1966.[16] From 1966–70, he was the supervisor of NBA referees.[2][21] He was named the first coach of the Buffalo Braves in 1970, but resigned one game into his second season.
Maccabiah Games coach
Schayes coached the US Maccabiah Games basketball team to a gold medal in the 1977 Maccabiah Games, beating a more experienced Israeli team in an upset win.[2][21][22][23] He also coached the U.S. Masters basketball team at the 1993 Maccabiah Games.[7] He also played an active role raising money for the Maccabiah Games.[21][23]
See also
- List of select Jewish basketball players
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders
- List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise
- List of National Basketball Association season minutes leaders
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nino Frostino (2004). Right on the Numbers. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1-4120-3305-5. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Jewish sports legends: the International Jewish Hall of Fame. Brassey's. 2000. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Salute to the Romanian Jews in America and Canada, 1850-2010. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ Othello Harris, George Kirsch; Claire Nolte (April 2000). Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 401. ISBN 0-313-29911-0.
- ↑ "The Depth of Ethnicity: Jewish Identity and Ideology in Interwar New York City" (PDF). Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Jewish Sports Stars: Athletic Heroes Past and Present. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Klein, Steve. "NBA Hall-of-Famer says games in Israel forged his Jewish identity". Haaretz. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ Araton, Harvey (September 19, 2001). "Sports of The Times - Giving In Wasn't The Answer". ISRAEL: The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ "The Greatest - by Marc Tracy". Tablet Magazine. December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 "Dolph Schayes NBA & ABA Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "NBA.com Schayes Summary". Retrieved August 26, 2007.
- ↑ The Philadelphia 76ers. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ Kiss 'Em Goodbye: An ESPN Treasury of Failed, Forgotten, and Departed Teams. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Who's better, who's best in basketball?: Mr. Stats sets the record straight on the top 50 NBA players of all time. McGraw Hill. 2003. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 A Basketball Handbook. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Smooth moves: juking, jamming, hooking & slamming: basketball's plays, players, action & style. 2003. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Day by day in Jewish sports history. 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Basketball-Reference.com: Dolph Schayes". Retrieved August 26, 2007.
- ↑ Hall of fame museums: a reference guide. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Encyclopedia of ethnicity and sports in the United States. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. May 19, 1928. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience. Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dolph Schayes. |
- Dolph Schayes biography at NBA Encyclopedia
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