NBA All-Rookie Team

National Basketball Association honor

The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for players on their own team.^[1] The All-Rookie Team is generally composed of two five-man lineups: a first team and a second team. The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team. In the case of a tie at the fifth position of either team, the roster is expanded. If the first team consists of six players due to a tie, the second team will still consist of five players with the potential for more expansion in the event of additional ties. Ties have occurred several times, most recently in 2012, when Kawhi Leonard, Iman Shumpert, and Brandon Knight tied in votes received. No respect is given to positions. For example, the first team had four forwards, and one guard in 2008, while the first team had four centers (two of which were forward-centers) and one guard in 2016.

The Chicago Bulls hold the record for franchise with the most All-Rookie Team selections, with 25. The Detroit Pistons are second, with the franchise having 23 players selected. Nine All-Rookie Team members have won both the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) during their careers. Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld are the only players to accomplish this feat in the same season. As of the end of the 2023–24 season, 69 members of the All-Rookie Team have been elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 77 members were not from the United States, and 118 members are active in the NBA.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Selections

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (as Lew Alcindor) was named to the All-Rookie Team in the 1969–70 NBA season.

Larry Bird was named to the All-Rookie Team in the 1979–80 NBA season.

Magic Johnson was named to the All-Rookie Team in the 1979–80 NBA season.

Patrick Ewing was named to the All-Rookie Team in the 1985–86 NBA season.

David Robinson was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 1989–90 NBA season.

Shaquille O'Neal was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 1992–93 NBA season.

Kevin Garnett was named to the All-Rookie Second Team in the 1995–96 NBA season.

Kobe Bryant was named to the All-Rookie Second Team in the 1996–97 NBA season.

Tim Duncan was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 1997–98 NBA season.

Pau Gasol was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2001–02 NBA season.

Yao Ming was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2002–03 NBA season.

Amar'e Stoudemire was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2002–03 NBA season.

LeBron James was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2003–04 NBA season.

Carmelo Anthony was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2003–04 NBA season.

Dwight Howard was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2004–05 NBA season.

Chris Paul was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2005–06 NBA season.

Kevin Durant was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2007–08 NBA season.

Derrick Rose was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2008–09 NBA season.

Stephen Curry was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2009–10 NBA season.

Blake Griffin was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2010–11 NBA season.

Kyrie Irving was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2011–12 NBA season.

Anthony Davis was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2012–13 NBA season.

Luka Dončić was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2018–19 NBA season.

Zion Williamson was named to the All-Rookie First Team in the 2019–20 NBA season.

See also

• List of NBA regular season records
• Sports portal

Notes

• a Before the 1971–72 season, Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.^[8]
• b When Olajuwon arrived in the United States, the University of Houston incorrectly spelled his first name "Akeem". Olajuwon used that spelling until March 9, 1991, when he announced that he would add an H.^[9][10]
• c David Robinson was originally drafted in 1987, but due to his active-duty obligation with the Navy, his rookie season did not begin until the 1989–90 season.^[11]
• d Richard Dumas was originally drafted in 1991, but due to drug violations, he was suspended for the entire 1991–92 season. His rookie season began in the 1992–93 season.
• e Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace on September 16, 2011, and later Metta Sandiford-Artest in May 2020.^[12]
• f Amar'e Stoudemire's first name had previously been spelled incorrectly as "Amaré" or "Amare" since joining the NBA, but was changed to "Amar'e" in October 2008.^[13][14]
• g Blake Griffin was drafted in 2009, but injured his left kneecap in a pre-season game before the 2009–10 season. He underwent surgery in January 2010 and missed the entire season. His rookie season began in the 2010–11 season.^[15]
• h Jonas Valančiūnas was drafted in 2011, but due partially to the 2011 NBA lockout, he spent the entire 2011–12 season in his home nation of Lithuania. His rookie season began in the 2012–13 season.
• i Nenê Hilario changed his name to simply Nenê on August 6, 2003.^[16]
• j Ben Simmons was drafted in 2016, but injured his right foot and was ruled out of the entire season. His rookie season began in the 2017–18 season.

1. A player is not eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until he has been fully retired for three calendar years.

References

General

• "All-Rookie Teams". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
• "All-Rookie Teams". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2008.

Specific

1. "Durant, Horford Headline T-Mobile All-Rookie Team". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 14, 2008. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
2. "Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
3. "Most Valuable Player". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
4. "Hall of Famers". Hoophall.com. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
5. "NBA Players From Around The World: 2007-08 Season". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
6. "Players". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
7. "2025 Hall of Fame Candidates". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
8. "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
9. "Hakeem Olajuwon Bio: 1992–93". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
10. Dufresne, Chris (March 11, 1991). "Hakeem Still Can Be Called 'the Dream'". Los Angeles Times. p. 2.
11. Montville, Leigh (April 29, 1996). "Trials of David". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
12. "Artest's Name Change to Metta World Peace Approved". The New York Times. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
13. Bickley, Dan (October 30, 2008). "Bickley on Amaré: Awaking the giant". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
14. McMenamin, Dave (November 20, 2008). "Change the name of the game for Stoudemire this season". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
15. "Griffin's rookie season lost to injury". ESPN.com. January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
16. No More Hilario for Nenê | Denver Nuggets