Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 52 – Dolph Schayes
On NBA 50 at 50 List
Career: 1949 – 1964
Achievements: 1955 NBA Champion; All-NBA (12x); All-Star (12x); led the league in rebounding (1x)
The early years of the NBA were ripe for the most talented players to absolutely dominate, and that’s exactly what Dolph Schayes did. After he went fourth overall in the 1948 BAA Draft, Schayes played 15 years in the league and made 12 All-NBA teams.
Schayes played his entire career for the Syracuse Nationals, who in 1963 moved to Philadelphia and became the 76ers. He was a crafty scorer at the power forward position, leading the league in rebounding in 1951 and averaging 18.5 points per game for his career. His best season came in 1957-58 when he averaged a career-best 24.9 points per game and finished as the MVP runner-up.
Syracuse saw its greatest team success from 1954 to 1955, making back-to-back NBA Finals and winning the title in 1955. There was no NBA Finals award at that time, but if there were Schayes would likely have brought home the hardware. One crazy fact is that Schayes in 1952 played the entire season with his right arm in a cast, shooting with his left arm for the season. This meant that moving forward he was even more dangerous as he was something of a “switch shooter” launching with either arm.