NBL (United States) Rookie of the Year Award

The National Basketball League Rookie of the Year Award was an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season in each of the twelve years the league existed. The Rookie of the Year was selected by sports writers, broadcasters, coaches, and managers.{{cite news| author =| title =Mikan Breaks Records; Named Most Valuable| url =http://www.newspapers.com |work =Chicago Daily Tribune | location =Chicago, Illinois | date =April 4, 1948 | access-date= June 17, 2019}}{{cite news| author =Associated Press | title =Otten of Tri-Cities Named Top Player in National League| url =http://www.newspapers.com |work =Chicago Daily Tribune | location =Chicago, Illinois | date =March 26, 1949 | access-date= June 17, 2019}} Despite the dozens of teams that played in the NBL through its history, three of them collectively dominated the award's recipients. The Indianapolis Kautskys and Sheboygan Red Skins had three winners each, while the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots had two, for a combined eight of the twelve awards bestowed (66.7%).{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/awards/roy.html|title=NBL – Rookie of the Year Award Winners|publisher=Sports Reference, LLC|work=basketball-reference.com|accessdate=June 17, 2019}}

Among the winners were two future Basketball Hall of Famers, Red Holzman (1986) and Dolph Schayes (1973).{{cite web|url=http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/red-holzman/ |title=Red Holzman |publisher=Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |accessdate=June 17, 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/dolph-schayes/ |title=Dolph Schayes |publisher=Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |accessdate=June 17, 2019}}

Winners

class="wikitable"

style="background-color:#FFFF99; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| *

|Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Team (X)

|Denotes the number of times a player from this team had won at that time

class="wikitable sortable"
Season !Player !Position !Team
1937–38 \| {{sortname\|Robert\|Kessler}} \| Forward \| Indianapolis Kautskys
1938–39 \| {{sortname\|Jewell\|Young}} \| Forward \| Indianapolis Kautskys (2)
1939–40 \| {{sortname\|Ben\|Stephens\|dab=basketball}} \| Guard / forward \| Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
1940–41 \| {{sortname\|Eddie\|Sadowski}} \| Guard \| Indianapolis Kautskys (3)
1941–42 \| {{sortname\|George\|Glamack}} \| Forward / center \| Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (2)
1942–43 \| {{sortname\|Ken\|Buehler}} \| Forward / center \| Sheboygan Red Skins
1943–44 \| {{sortname\|Mel\|Riebe}} \| Guard / forward \| Cleveland Chase Brassmen
1944–45 \| {{sortname\|Stan\|Patrick}} \| Forward \| Chicago American Gears
1945–46 \| style="background-color:#FFFF99"\|{{sortname\|Red\|Holzman}}* \| Guard \| Rochester Royals
1946–47 \| {{sortname\|Fred\|Lewis\|dab=basketball, born 1921}} \| Guard / forward \| Sheboygan Red Skins (2)
1947–48 \| {{sortname\|Mike\|Todorovich}} \| Forward / center \| Sheboygan Red Skins (3)
1948–49 \| style="background-color:#FFFF99"\|{{sortname\|Dolph\|Schayes}}* \| Center \| Syracuse Nationals

class="wikitable sortable"

Season

!Player

!Position

!Team

1937–38

| {{sortname|Robert|Kessler}}

| Forward

| Indianapolis Kautskys

1938–39

| {{sortname|Jewell|Young}}

| Forward