Dolph Schayes
Encyclopedia
Adolph "Dolph" Schayes is a retired American professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player and coach in the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

. A top scorer and rebounder, he was a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals
Syracuse Nationals
The Syracuse Nationals were an American professional basketball team that existed from 1946 to 1963 as part of the National Basketball League and National Basketball Association . They are currently known as the Philadelphia 76ers, and are the NBA's oldest continued franchise.The team began in...

 and a 12-time All-Star.

Schayes played his entire Hall of Fame career with the Nationals and their successor, the Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...

, from 1948 to 1964. In his 16-year career, he led the team into the post-season 15 times.

Life

Schayes was born in New York, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the son of Carl, a truck driver for Consolidated laundries, and his mother Tina, a housewife. Schayes was Jewish, and both his parents were Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

 Jewish immigrants. “Dolph” grew up on Davidson Avenue and 183rd Street, off Fordham.

He is the father of retired NBA center
Center (basketball)
The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...

 Danny Schayes
Danny Schayes
Daniel Leslie "Danny" Schayes is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA from 1981 until 1999. At 6'11" and 235 pounds, he played at center...

, who played in the NBA for 18 seasons. 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
2001 Maccabiah Games
For the 2001 16th Maccabiah Games , the Opening Ceremony was held in Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, while the re-building process of the collapsed bridge and investigations into the collapse continued....

, Mickey Ferri, who won a gold medal in the 4x100 relay at the 2005 Maccabiah Games
2005 Maccabiah Games
The 2005 Maccabiah Games were the 17th incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games to date, including more than 900 representatives from the United States, almost 500 from Australia, and more than 2,000 from Israel, bringing the total...

. Schayes settled in Syracuse in 1948, and still makes his home there, where he is a real estate developer.

High school and college

He attended Creston Junior High School 79 and DeWitt Clinton High School
DeWitt Clinton High School
DeWitt Clinton High School is an American high school located in the Bronx, New York City, New York.-History:Clinton opened in 1897 at 60 West 13th Street at the northern end of Greenwich Village under the name of Boys High School, although this Boys High School was not related to the one in Brooklyn...

 (1945–48) in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

, New York, where he played for the basketball team and led it to a borough championship. He played his college basketball at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 1944–48, where he earned an engineering degree and was an All-American and won the Haggerty Award
Haggerty Award
The Haggerty Award is given to the All-Metropolitan New York Division I men's college basketball player of the year, presented by the National Invitation Tournament and the Met Basketball Writers Association...

 in his final year. His NYU coach, Howard Cann
Howard Cann
Howard Gardsell Cann was an American sportsman best known as the long-time men's basketball coach at New York University. He was also an Olympic shot putter and a college basketball and football player.- Playing career :...

, said of him: "He was in the gym practicing every spare minute. We had to chase him out."

Professional career

Schayes was drafted by both the New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 in the 1948 BAA Draft
1948 BAA Draft
The 1948 BAA Draft was the second annual draft of the Basketball Association of America , which later became the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on May 10, 1948 before to the 1948–49 season. In this draft, eight BAA teams along with four teams who moved from the National...

 (1st round; 4th pick overall), and by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in the NBL Draft. The Blackhawks traded his rights to the Nationals, who then offered him a contract worth $7,500 ($ today), 50% more than the Knicks, influencing his decision of going to Syracuse.

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". Defenders who attempted to deny him the outside shot were confronted by his powerful drive to the basket. 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 Schayes' 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.

In 1949 he was Rookie of the Year in the league. The following year he was 6th in the league in assists, with 259. 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. He was third in the league in rebounding in 1952-53, with 920. In 1954 his 12.3 rebounds per game were fourth-best in the NBA.

In 1955 he led his team to the NBA Championship. 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), and in 1957, he set an NBA consecutive free throw record with 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, which was second in the league, while averaging 14.2 rebounds per game (fourth in the NBA).

Schayes led the NBA in free throw percentage three times: in 1958 (.904), 1960 (.892), and 1962 (.896). In 1959, he scored a career-high 50 points in a game against the Celtics. In the NBA, Schayes did not miss a single game from February 17, 1952, until December 26, 1961; a NBA-record streak of 706 games. In 1960–61, he again led the league in free throws (with 680). In 1961 he had become the first player in NBA history to 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. He came in second in MVP voting in 1958, and 5th in both 1986 and 1957.

Upon retirement in 1964, Schayes held the NBA records for career scoring (19,249 points), games played (1,059), minutes played, playoff games played, foul shots made, and personal fouls (3,667).

In 1970, he was elected to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team
NBA 25th Anniversary Team
The NBA 25th Anniversary Team was announced in 11 December 1971 to celebrate the 25-year existence of BAA/NBA. This team was meant to be an All-NBA Team for that period. Up that time, All-NBA Teams only consisted of 2 teams , so this Team also only consists of 2 teams/10 players...

, as one of the top 12 players who had finished their career by that time.

In 1972, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame was opened July 7, 1981, in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around the world....

, the US National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Jewish American Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1996, Schayes was selected as one of the 50 Greatest NBA players of all-time.

NBA coach and referee supervisor

When the Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963, Schayes was named player-coach. 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
NBA Coach of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966...

 in 1966. From 1966–70, he was the supervisor of NBA referees. He was named the first coach of the Buffalo Braves
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...

 in 1970, but resigned one game into his second season.

Maccabiah Games coach

Schayes coached the US Maccabiah Games
Maccabiah Games
The Maccabiah is an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics held in Israel every four years under the auspices of the Maccabi Federation, affiliated with the Maccabi World Union. The Maccabiah Games is the third largest international sports competition in the world...

 basketball team to a gold medal in the 1977 Maccabiah Games
1977 Maccabiah Games
Called the Jubilee Maccabiah, the 1977 10th Maccabiah Games saw the number of competing athletes nearly double.From 33 countries, 2,700 athletes came to compete in 26 sports....

, beating a more experienced Israeli team in an upset win. He also coached the U.S. Masters basketball team at the 1993 Maccabiah Games.

Schayes also played an active role raising money for the Maccabiah Games.

See also

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