Tag Archives: Rochester 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: Arnie Risen

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Arnie Risen

Arnie Risen

Arnie Risen’s pro basketball career spanned 13 years that saw dramatic change in the sport. The NBA didn’t exist. Towns like Sheboygan were in the major leagues. Regulation games were 40 minutes long just like in college. And, of course, there was no shot clock. The game may have been different, but legends arise in any era and Arnie Risen is certainly a legend of the game.

He began his pro career with the Indianapolis Kautskys of the NBL. The Kautskys snagged Risen midway through the 1945-46 campaign after Arnie was dismissed from Ohio State for low grades. It was a fortunate occurrence for Indianapolis since Risen had been the anchor of two Final Four squads with the Buckeyes.

Stilts, as the tall Risen was called, didn’t last too long in Indy, however. The Rochester Royals bought Risen midway through the 1947-48 season from the Kautskys who were suffering financial difficulties. Loud cries of protest rose from other NBL clubs  since the transaction occurred a week after the league’s trade deadline. The transaction was nonetheless upheld and the upstate New York team, known for its fantastic guard play, now had a center to combat the mighty George Mikan of Minneapolis.

From 1948 to 1955, the Royals jumped from the NBL to the BAA to the NBA and boasted a spectacular 339 – 197 record along the way. Risen was instrumental in the success. His tough rebounding and stout defense, helped slow down opposing centers like Mikan. On offense, Risen was no less important.

In the 1951 playoffs, Risen and Mikan went toe-to-toe in the Western Division Finals. Big George scored 32 points and Stilts 26 in Game 4 of the series which the Royals won to finally dethrone the Lakers. In the next round, the Royals took on the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. Risen was amazing the entire series leading all players in points (21.7) and rebounds (14.2) per game. If Finals MVP awards existed at that point, Risen would have took home the honors as he led the Royals to their only NBA title.

Rochester slowly declined thereafter, but Risen continued his success appearing in the first four NBA all-star games. In 1955, the Royals endured their first losing season finally dismantled their squad selling Risen to the Boston Celtics after that season. Nearing basketball retirement, Risen was a sage influence for the NBA’s next dominating center, Bill Russell.

The NBA’s greatest winner credited Arnie Risen with helping him adjust from college to the more physical play of the NBA. Risen wasn’t entirely washed up just yet, though. In Game 7 of the 1957 Finals, Stilts summoned up one final moment of glory tossing in 16 points. Every single one of those points was needed as the Celtics barely survived 125 – 123 to defeat the St. Louis Hawks in double overtime to win their first title.

50 years later in 2007, that Celtics team reunited. Russell and Risen were just as chummy then as they were back in the 1950s. The affable Arnie had that kind of influence on people. One of the great players and great people in basketball history.

NBA Photos

NBA Photos

Seasons Played: 1946 – 1958

Accolades

NBL -
All-NBL 2nd Team (1947)

BAA -
All-BAA 2nd Team (1949)

NBA –
2x Champion (1951, 1957)
4x All-Star (1952-’55)

Statistics

NBL - 184 Games
13.1 PPG, 66.1% FT
15th All-Time in Points, 16th All-Time in FGs Made, 15th All-Time in FTs Made

BAA - 60 Games
16.6 PPG, 1.7 APG, 42.3% FG, 66.0% FT
FG% Leader (1949)

NBA - 577 Games
11.5 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 37.5% FG, 70.5% FT

Warm and Fuzzy thoughts on Andrew “Fuzzy” Levane

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Editor’s Note: This was originally written May 6, 2012, shortly after Levane’s passing.

PatrickSmithPhotography (Flickr)

Andrew “Fuzzy” Levane passed away last Sunday. Obviously, I’m a bit slow on putting something together acknowledging his contribution to professional basketball, but the Internet has ably taken care of that.

The New York Times put together a great piece on Fuzzy:

A personable and gregarious figure, Levane was head coach of the Knicks during the 1958-59 season, leading them to a 40-32 record, a second-place finish in the N.B.A.’s Eastern Division and a playoff appearance, though he resigned under pressure early in the 1959 season after the team lost 19 of its first 27 games.

His biggest contribution to the franchise was probably his hiring of a scout, a longtime friend named Red Holzman, who would later coach the Knicks to their only league championships, in 1970 and 1973.

As you’ll see reading through the rest of that article, Holzman and Levane were practically inseparable. One would salvage the other’s career only to return the favor a couple of years later. The native New Yorkers most famously led the Knicks to their 1970 and 1973 titles, but for children of the 1990s like myself the most lasting Levane impact was his discovery of Anthony Mason.

But as I’ve mentioned, the Times did an excellent job summarizing Levane’s life and career, as did our friends over at Knicker Blogger.

All I can add is that Levane’s passing leaves us with one fewer voice to recall the sights, sounds and action of the early days of professional basketball. He got his start playing for the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League in shortly after his Coast Guard duty in World War II ended. The NBL, around since the mid-1930s, was the premier professional league and would later merge with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) to form the NBA.

Established in 1944, the Royals were the brainchild of Lester Harrison, a local Jewish businessman. Seeking to attract interest in the Royals amongst the local Jewish population, Harrison had signed Levane assuming he was Jewish because of his last name. Much to Harrison’s surprise, the 6’2″ forward was actually Italian. Nonetheless, Levane tipped Harrison off on a possible Jewish guard to fill the role mistakenly given to himself. That guard of course would be Red Holzman.

Despite the initial, comical mix-up, Levane adored his time with the Royals and pro ball in general:

We were millionaires! I was making five grand a year! Before that I didn’t know that you could get paid for what we were doing. I got married in 1945 and bought a house in Rochester and we stayed there until 1949.

- via The National Basketball League: A History 1935 – 1949

The times were grand in Rochester as Levane played on a team stacked from top to bottom with Hall of Fame and All-NBL talent: Bob Davies, Bobby Wanzer, Holzman, Arnie Risen, and Al Cervi chief amongst them. A different game usually brought a different leading scorer for the plucky club that played their games in an arena the size of a pillbox. They took home the NBL crown in 1946 and lost in the NBL Finals in 1947 and 1948.

Perhaps it was Levane’s experience with this egalitarian Royals team that later influenced how the early 1970s Knicks, so famous for their effortless passing and camaraderie, came about. What is certain is that Fuzzy Levane was one of the true ambassadors of the game and it’s a shame, as inevitable as it is, that he’s now gone.

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: 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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