Honorable Mention: George Yardley (1957-58)
George Yardley put up some numbers to give the new hometown fans something to cheer for in the Pistons first year in Detroit.
The seventh overall pick in the inaugural 1950 NBA draft, Yardley had his career year in 1957 while posting an impressive 27.8 points a game and pulling-down 10.7 rebounds. Using ahead-of-his-time jump shooting and athleticism, Yardley was able to win the league’s scoring title that season.
Per the LA Times,
"“I don’t know if people today could truly understand how good he was,” former Laker coach Bill Sharman, who played against Yardley in college and in the NBA, told The Times some years ago. “He had probably the quickest release of anybody in the NBA. He was a deadly shooter and one of the only ones dunking the ball back then.”"
Along with the scoring title, Yardley broke George Mikan‘s then NBA scoring record and surpassed 2,000 points in a season, the first to do so.
Yardley earned an all-star nod in every year he played in the league besides his rookie season. He retired early, keeping a promise to his wife, and was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 1996.
Next: #10: Jerry Stackhouse (2000-01)