Dolph Schayes -3
Dolph Schayes was one of professional basketball’s early superstars, a crack shooter and top rebounder whose career stretched from the NBA’s inaugural year to basketball’s emergence as a major sporting attraction. He was a pioneer, an athlete whose perfomances were so electrifying that he drew fans to the NBA to catch a game, just to see him play.
Play is a good description. While others labored, Schayes played. His fifteen seasons in the NBA earned his place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He has been named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Fourteen seasons with the Syracuse Nationals, and one with the Philadelphia 76ers when the team moved south. He scored a whopping 18,438 points with his season high of 1,791 points popped in the 1957-58 season.
He was practically the only scoring leader Syracuse ever had — leading the team’s offense in 13 of the club’s 17 year existence. Schayes never played for another organization, logging 15 seasons with Syracuse, following the team as it became the Philadelphia 76ers, and then becoming its coach.
Dolph Schayes passed away on December 10, 2015, at the age of 87 years. His legend lives on as one of the most dominating basketball players of NBA history.
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