NBA: The 25 worst players to ever win Rookie of the Year: 5. Darrell Griffith
Dr. Dunkenstein was the king of Louisville, Kentucky. Darrell Griffith, as he was known to his family, was a high school phenom who turned down an offer from the ABA in order to star at his hometown University of Louisville. He led the Cardinals to the title in his senior year, winning the Wooden Award as the nation’s best player.
The Utah Jazz recently relocated from New Orleans, took the aerial acrobat second overall in the 1980 NBA Draft. At first, he was the king of Salt Lake City as well, with his high-flying antics a delight for fans getting a taste of NBA basketball for the first time in their lives.
He averaged 20.6 points per game as a rookie, pairing with forward Adrian Dantley as one of the highest-scoring duos in the league; together the pair averaged 51.3 points per game. The Jazz wasn’t much good that season, but they were fun, and the combination earned Griffith Rookie of the Year honors in 1981.
It was one of the closest races in the award’s history, with Griffith earning 19 first-place votes to Kelvin Ramsey’s 18. Larry Smith and Kevin McHale also received double-digit votes. For what it’s worth, if Ramsey had won the award he would have finished even higher on this list. McHale is the true gem of this rookie class.
Dr. Dunkenstein’s career was cut short by injuries, and he didn’t do much for his teams other than score and excite fans. He totaled just 22 win shares for his entire career; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar twice cleared that number in a single season. It wasn’t until the franchise added John Stockton and Karl Malone that it turned the corner and began winning. At that point, Griffith’s body was breaking down, and he settled into a reserve role for the remainder of his career. In total, he played 765 games over 10 seasons, all for the Utah Jazz.