Tag Archives: Cincinnati Royals

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Maurice Stokes

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Maurice Stokes

Maurice Stokes

Although he played a career that lasted just three seasons, Maurice Stokes left us a surefire Hall of Fame career with the Rochester and Cincinnati Royals.

To begin appreciating Maurice, consider how many players have averaged over 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists in one reason. The consideration only includes Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Elgin Baylor… and Stokes. Maurice accomplished the 15/15/5 feat in his final NBA season (1957-58) but he had been running close to that milestone all his career:

1955-56: 16.8 points, 16.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists
1956-57: 15.6 points, 17.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists
1957-58: 16.9 points, 18.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists

At 6’7″ and a muscled 230 pounds, Stokes was one of the strongest and most physically imposing basketball players in the 1950s NBA. He could snare a defensive rebound and push the ball all the way up the court. This was a skill few, if any, forwards could pull off. Especially a forward so big. He was basically a steamrolling powerhouse when it came to the break.

In his three seasons, Stokes was always an all-star and always a member of the All-NBA team. He was the 1956 Rookie of the Year. He led the league in RPG his rookie season and finished in 2nd place his final two seasons. He finished 3rd in APG in back-to-back seasons. In his rookie year, he was one of the rare handful of players to ever finish in the top 10 in PPG, APG, and RPG in the same season.

However, his career was indeed much too short. Falling on his head during the final game in the 1958 season, Stokes played in only one more game before he slipped into a coma. He ultimately emerged from the trauma but remained paralyzed for the rest of his life passing away at age 36.

His career is a cautionary tale, but his life is an inspirational one. We’d be fools to ever forget the lessons and triumphs of Maurice Stokes.

Seasons Played: 1956 – 1958

Accolades

NBA -
Rookie of the Year (1956)
3x All-NBA 2nd Team (1956-’58)
3x All-Star (1956-’58)

Statistics

NBA – 202 Games
16.4 PPG, 17.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 35.1% FG, 69.8% FT
RPG Leader (1956)

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Jerry Lucas

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Jerry Lucas (spokeo.com)

Jerry Lucas (spokeo.com)

Jerry Lucas was an outstanding player. He had a good scoring touch, could tighten up his belt on defense, but what he’s known best for is rebounding. Rather than mince words, let’s let Lucas and his old teammate Wayne Embry summarize the obsession…

Wayne Embry: I never saw anyone as obsessed with rebounding as Jerry Lucas. I played center next to him, and I’d get a rebound and he’d get mad at me and fight me for it. I’d say ‘Hey, Jerry, I’m on your side.’ He wanted to outrebound everybody on both teams.

Jerry Lucas: …I was also absolutely manic about rebounds. I had great timing and a sixth sense. I knew where the ball would come off the board when a guy shot it, because I studied his tendencies… About everyone could outjump me, and they would just rely on their legs to get the rebounds. But that wasn’t good enough. I always could outrebound guys who just lived off their legs.

This maniacal pursuit of the boards led Lucas to a five-year stretch (1965 to 1969) where he practically averaged 20 points and 20 rebounds a game. 20.1 points and 19.5 rebounds to be exact. His time with the Cincy Royals was marked by constant first round exits, though.

A trade to the San Francisco Warriors didn’t herald much greater team success. Finally in 1971, the Warriors traded Lucas to the New York Knicks. Although approaching the twilight of his career and his rebounding and scoring had fallen off, Lucas provided the Knicks with his most under-appreciated asset: passing.

In the egalitarian New York offense, Lucas’ ability to pass as a power forward (4 APG in his 3 Knicks seasons) was instrumental in leading the club to the 1972 NBA Finals, which they lost, and the 1973 Finals, which they won.
As one of the most cerebral players ever to lace up a pair of sneakers, Lucas couldn’t have a found a better team to be on than those Knicks.

The championship payout was more than justified for the wiz rebounder.

Seasons Played: 1964 – 1974

Accolades

 NBA –
3x All-NBA 1st Team (1965-’66, 1968), 2x All-NBA 2nd Team (1964, ’67)
All-Star Game MVP (1965), 7x All-Star (1964-’69, 1971)
Rookie of the Year (1964), All-Rookie 1st Team (1964)

Statistics

NBA - 829 Games
17.0 PPG, 15.6 RPG, 3.3 APG, 49.9% FG, 78.3% FT
FG% Leader (1964)
16th All-Time in Rebounds, 4th All-Time in RPG, 8th All-Time in MPG

The Lowdown: Jack Twyman

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Years Active: 1956 – 1966
Regular Season Stats: 823 games, 31.8 mpg
19.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.3 apg, 45% FG, 77.8% FT
Postseason Stats: 34 games, 32.2 mpg
18.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 44.1% FG, 82.4% FT
Accolades: 2x All-NBA 2nd Team (1960, ’62), 6x All-Star (1957-’60, ’62-’63), Hall of Fame (1983)

If you’ve heard of Jack Twyman, it’s likely because of his superhuman, graceful acts off the court. For over a decade he helped care for his teammate and friend Maurice Stokes. That story has rightfully been told several times and will continue to deservedly be told.

(SERIOUSLY, go here and watch the three-part video of the whole story. Powerful stuff)

But Twyman was a fine basketball player and that, too, deserves to be remembered.

A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Twyman starred at the University of Cincinnati averaging 24.6 points and 16.5 rebounds his senior season and is one of only three Bearcats to have their jersey retired. His spectacular offense intrigued the NBA’s Rochester Royals who made him the 8th pick in the 1955 Draft.

Also taken in that same draft and also from Pittsburgh was Maurice Stokes. Twyman and Stokes formed an incredible duo of forwards that looked to finally propel the Royals out of a dangerous mediocrity following their halcyon years with Bob Davies, Arnie Risen and Bob Wanzer. Of course, the superb tandem never really achieved their potential with the Rochester (and then Cincinnati) Royals. Stokes’ paralysis in 1958 curbed the team’s ascent and Twyman was the lone bright spot for the Royals for the rest of the decade.

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The Lowdown: Bob Boozer

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Years Active: 1961 – 1971
Regular Season Stats: 874 games, 29.2 mpg
14.8 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 46.2% FG, 76.1% FT
Postseason Stats: 48 games, 26.7 mpg
11.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.2 apg, 46.7% FG, 73.9% FT
Accolades: NBA Champion (1971), All-Star (1968)

Bob Boozer (upper right) with Royals teammates Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson, Adrian Smith and Jay Arnette

The sure hands of Bob Boozer dealt the Boston Celtics their first defeat in eight [NBA] games this season. The 6-foot-8 former Kansas State star hit on a couple of jump shots sandwiched around a Celtic Sam Jones basket for a 116-115 victory… Boozer’s last basket was a short jump shot with five seconds left in the game.

“I knew they were going in as soon as they left my hands,” Boozer said in the happy Royals’ dressing room after the game.

-Via The Bulletin, November 9, 1963

That performance early in the 1963-64 season would be one of Bob Boozer’s final games as a member of the Cincinnati Royals, the only pro club he’d known to that point in the NBA. His trade to the New York Knicks mid-season would be start of a sojourn across several teams in the NBA.

His time with the Knicks was brief. A mere 129 games through the rest of 1964 and all of the 1965 season. From there he hooked up with the Los Angeles Lakers for a year in 1966. His stop in California provided Boozer with his first taste of the NBA Finals. The Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in 7 games, which was the style at the time. Everyone lost to the Celtics in the Finals. Boozer hardly played a role though in the defeat, appearing in only half the games and barely getting any playing time when it occurred.

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Oscar Robertson’s Triple-Double Season

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Photo by UJ Nero (Flickr)

“Looking back, I never fully realized what he was doing,” [Jack] Twyman said.”It was not called a triple-double. We just went out every night trying to win. I don’t think Oscar or anyone really worried about statistics.”

- Via “Unnoticed Then, Oscar Robertson’s Triple-Double Unparalleled”

The triple-double is a most intoxicating basketball feat. It announces and confirms a player’s all-around, comprehensive ability to control a game. It’s mastering the art of scoring, the grueling task of rebounding and the finesse duty of passing.

And no one did the did the triple-double quite like Oscar Robertson. Or did it quite as much. His career total of 181 triple-doubles is 43 ahead of 2nd-place Magic Johnson.

Robertson accomplished the bulk of his triple-double mania in the first 6 years of his career (1961 – 1966). In fact, if you average out his total points, rebounds and assists from these seasons you get the following: 30.4 ppg, 10.7 apg, and 10.0 rpg.

But only during the 1961-62 campaign did Oscar accomplish the triple -double average within a single season.

Oscar Robertson entered the NBA in 1960-61 and was the long-awaited savior for the Cincinnati Royals. The franchise had suffered moribund back-to-back 19-win seasons in 1959 and 1960. These atrocious campaigns were mostly the result of the paralysis suffered by Royals big man Maurice Stokes at the end of the 1958 season. Without the big forward, Jack Twyman valiantly tried to keep the team afloat.  In 1960 he became the 1st player (along with Wilt Chamberlain that season) to average over 30 points a game.

But Twyman as great as he was, a hall of famer in fact, was no Oscar.

Robertson immediately turned the Royals around his rookie year pushing them to a much-improved 33-46 record behind his 30.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg and 9.7 apg. Almost a triple-double average, but not quite. The Big O would have to settle for the Rookie of the Year Award, 1st-Team All-NBA honors and being named the All-Star Game MVP.

Although the Royals missed out on the postseason, they were obviously on the way up with such a devastating, unique player in tow.

Robertson stood 6’5″ and weighed a good 210 lbs. That’s a big load for a point guard playing in today’s NBA, let alone in 1961. A decade earlier, Robertson could have easily slid into the PF spot for most teams. But actually, Robertson did play with a tremendous amount of power. He would use that bulk to pummel opponents into submission just wearing and bearing down on them. Getting to a favored spot on the court, he could easily rise up to shoot over the shorter defender or just make a spin and be at the rim for a layup.

The Royals opened the 1961-62 season in St. Louis taking on the Hawks. Robertson led the Royals to victory with 35 points and 15 rebounds and helped set up Twyman for 39 points. A little over a week later in the home opener at Cincinnati, the Big O again led the attack:

After sparking the Cincinnati Royals to a 44-point first quarter in their home opener, Oscar Robertson scored six points in the final two minutes to squelch a Syracuse Nats rally and produce a 139-132 Royals victory…

Robertson also set a Cincinnati Garden record with 8 assists in the first quarter.

A little over a month later in early December, Robertson orchestrated an absolute drubbing of the last-place Chicago Packers. The only bright spot for the Packers that season was the phenomenal rookie Walt Bellamy. But there was nothing Bells and company could do this night to thwart Oscar:

With Oscar Robertson scoring 32 points and also leading his team in rebounds and assists, the Cincinnati Royals defeated the Chicago Packers 133-117…

Robertson finished with 20 assists, feeding off 15 in the first half when he made only seven points. He also led his team with 15 of their 70 rebounds, while the Packers got 60.

Robertson was one of the more demanding teammates in league history and had a surly, difficult personality. However, the demanding tone was because the Big O expected perfection and execution. As the season progressed it was clear the Royals were still on the ascent with Bob Boozer, Wayne Embry and Bucky Bockhorn filling out the starting 5 with Robertson and Twyman. Oscar was quite pleased with the formation:

Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati’s great scorer, rebounder and defensive stalwart in the National Basketball Association, said today the Royals have improved over last year because the team is “working together more, playing together.”

The former Cincinnati University All-America voiced the opinion that the Royals are better balanced in scoring than the Philadelphia Warriors in the NBA.

As it happened, the Royals played the Warriors soon after Oscar gave that quote and the Royals won 151-133. 4 players scored between 19 and 28 for the Royals in the victory. Philadelphia was led by the 54 points of Wilt Chamberlain.

The Royals were 27-21 after that victory and would finish the season 43-37, the best record since the 1954 season when the franchise, then in Rochester, went 44-28. The record was good enough for 2nd place in the Western Division.

Robertson’s regular season was quite remarkable, even leaving aside the triple-double average. He shot .478 from the field and .822 from the free throw line. Extraordinarily efficient shooting for a primary ball-handler in the 1960s. He and Larry Costello were the only point guards to shot like that from the field and the line at the time.

And the amount of free throws Oscar took were plentiful. That load of his proved so unbearable for so many opponents he wound up taking 11 free throws a night. Good enough for 10th all-time among single seasons for a guard.

The 12.5 rebounds per game and 985 total rebounds remain the records for a guard in a single season. He and Tom Gola of the Philadelphia Warriors remain the only guards to average over 10 rebounds per game for a season.

Finally, the assists he handed out pretty much shattered the previous single-season record. In 1960, Bob Cousy became the 1st player to eclipse the 9.0 apg mark with 9.5. Then the next year along came Oscar who edged out that average with 9.7. Then this season, 1962, Oscar blew the mark to shreds averaging 11.4 making him the 1st player to surpass the 10.0 apg barrier.

In the postseason, the Royals would be bounced 3-games-to-1 by the Detroit Pistons, led by Bailey Howell, in the opening round. Robertson for his part did continue his triple-double ways in the series with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists per game while shooting .519 from the field and .795 from the line. A few others have come close (Wilt, Rajon Rondo, Magic Johnson), but only Jason Kidd has joined Oscar in the highly exclusive triple-double club for the postseason.

The Royals, now moved to the Eastern Division, reached their peak in 1963 and 1964. Both seasons they lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Finals, including an unforgettable Game 7 in 1963 where Oscar went off for 43 points and Sam Jones of the Celtics scored 47. Steadily thereafter, the Royals descended into mediocrity and ultimately Oscar was traded to Milwaukee. With the Bucks, he would finally capture that elusive title alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Dandridge in 1971.

But that 1962 Oscar Robertson… that was the Big O of NBA lore.

He’s not the 1964 MVP. He’s not a 1971 NBA champion. And 1960 Olympic gold medalist? Forget about it. Those aren’t the triplets that get the imagination wondering and the mind spinning.

30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists per game.

Those are the triplets that bewitch, bother and bewilder the boggled mind. Several other players have reached an apex as high as Oscar’s 1962 season… but the triple-double?

That’s the M.O. of the Big O.

The Lowdown: Maurice Stokes

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Years Active: 1956 – 1958
Regular Season Stats: 202 games, 37.3 mpg
16.4 ppg, 17.3 rpg, 5.3 apg, 35.1% FG, 69.8% FT
Postseason Stats: 1 game, 39 mpg
12 ppg, 15 rpg, 2 apg, 25% FG, 85.7% FT
Accolades: 3x All-Star (1956-’58), 3x All-NBA 2nd Team (1956-’58), 1956 Rookie of the Year

Stokes tallied 32 points and nabbed 20 rebounds in Rochester’s 100-98 loss to New York Saturday. On Sunday, he dropped to 17 points but again collared 20 rebounds as the Royals handed the champion Syracuse Nationals a 83-80 defeat.

Via Stokes Off To Fast Start in Pro Loop

Maurice Stokes was not the 1st black player in the NBA. That honor belongs to Earl Lloyd in 1950 (and Wat Misaka was the 1st non-white person in the league in 1947). Nor was Stokes the first selected at a lofty draft position. Ray Felix was taken #1 overall in 1953. Nor was he the first all-star. That would be Don Barksdale in the 1952-53 season.

Maurice Stokes was simply the 1st black superstar in the NBA. Not just a really good or all-star caliber player, but one who truly shifted the fortunes of a franchise by himself and could alter the way the game as a whole was played. He wasn’t merely a player who did an established role particularly well, he expanded, fused and created new roles for his position (power forward) in ways that still have been mastered by only a few players.

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