Dolph Schayes

He attended Creston Junior High School 79 and DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, New York, where he played for the basketball team and led it to a borough championship.[3][7] He played his college basketball at New York University (NYU) in 1944–48. In 1945, as a 16-year-old freshman, Schayes helped NYU reach the NCAA final.[8] Schayes earned an aeronautical engineering degree, was an All-American in basketball and won the Haggerty Award in his final year.[2][8][9] His NYU coach, Howard Cann, said of him: "He was in the gym practicing every spare minute. We had to chase him out."[7]

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.[10] The Blackhawks traded his rights to the Syracuse Nationals, who then offered him a contract worth $7,500 (worth $79,800 today), 50% more than the Knicks, influencing his decision to go to Syracuse.[9][11] Schayes played one season in the NBL and was named the league's Rookie of the Year.[12] The following season (1949–50), the Nationals moved to the newly formed National Basketball Association as part of the merger between the BAA and NBL.

Although tall for his era at 6' 7" (201 cm), 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.[11][15]

Schayes in 1951

In the 1949–50 season, he was 6th in the league in assists, with 259.[10] 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][17] He was third in the league in rebounding in 1952–53, with 920.[10] In 1953–54, his 12.3 rebounds per game were fourth-best in the NBA.[10]

In 1954–55, he led his team to the NBA championship.[10] 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][10]

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, an NBA-record streak of 706 games.[18] In 1960–61, he again led the league in free throws (with 680).[10] In 1961, he became the first player in NBA history to amass 30,000 career total PRA (Points + Rebounds + Assists). He was the first person in the NBA to ever surpass 15,000 points.[8]

Schayes ca. 1957

A 12-time NBA All-Star, 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) and third in rebounds (11,256).

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 Players in NBA History.[21]

The 76ers retired his jersey on March 12, 2016 while the Syracuse Crunch retired it on March 26, 2016.[22][23]

When the Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963 as the Philadelphia 76ers, Schayes became player-coach. However, his playing career had all but ended; he only played in 24 games, the only time in his career in which he played in fewer than 50 games. He didn't play at all during the playoffs.

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] That season, he led the Sixers to the Eastern Division regular-season title, ending a nine-year reign by the Boston Celtics. However, the Celtics ousted the Sixers in a five-game Eastern final, and Schayes was fired.[8] He was succeeded by his predecessor with the Nats, Alex Hannum, who led the team to the best record in league history at the time and an NBA title.

From 1966 to 1970, he was the supervisor of NBA referees.[2][21] He was named the first coach of the Buffalo Braves in 1970, but was fired one game into his second season.[8]

Schayes coached the US Maccabiah Games basketball team to an upset win to take the gold medal in the 1977 Maccabiah Games.[2][21][24][25] He also coached the U.S. Masters basketball team at the 1993 Maccabiah Games.[26] He also played an active role raising money for the Maccabiah Games.[21][25]