With an NBA-record 17 titles by the Boston Celtics and some of the greatest rookie debuts in the history of the league, one might think the Association’s history is filled with Celtics rookies leading their class in scoring in their first season.
But such an assumption would be wrong — VERY wrong. As one can see in a recent deep dive into the topic by our sister site Rookie Wire, only one Boston rookie has ever led his class in scoring during their rookie season across seven decades of record-keeping.
That wunderkind was not Larry Bird, Kevin McHale or even the mighty Bill Russell.
Projecting the Order the East + NBA's Robert Sarver Reaction | Celtics Lab https://t.co/LH6ptgMt9f via @YouTube
— Dr. Justin Quinn (@justinquinnn) September 17, 2022
But if you had guessed Russell, you’d have been close. It was his fellow rookie, Tommy Heinsohn, who managed the feat en route to winning Rookie of the Year honors. He averaged 16.2 points per contest over 72 games in 1956-57.
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