You can’t help but feel for Julius Randle, whose season ended during the first game of his rookie year. The timing of such an injury was fairly unprecedented for a top pick. There have been rookies who missed their entire first season and there have been rookies who missed a lot of the season but going down in game 1? This seems particularly crushing. The closest analog I could think of was Stephon Marbury, who sprained his ankle eight minutes into his first game. Marbury missed the next 18 days, but was fine the rest of the way.
Is a one-game rookie season a meaningful indicator to Randle’s career one way or another? Not really, provided Randle completely recovers from the broken leg. Just for fun, I went back to see who ended up having the best career of any rookie with only one game played in his rookie year. Basketball-Reference found only 76 such players, most of whom were quite forgettable. Here’s a review of the most notable of this crew:
-Jason Hart: Drafted by the Bucks in the second round in 2000, he didn’t actually play in a game until the final day of the season, when he got 10 minutes of action and hit a bucket. Hart would go on to have a decent career as a backup point for about ten seasons.
-Bruce Bowen: Bowen was undrafted and kicked around the minors before getting one minute for the Heat in a March 1997 game. Bowen’s hustle eventually led to a 873-game NBA career and looks like the most successful of the “One-Game Club.”
-Yinka Dare: Dare was the only other high pick besides Randle with a one-game rookie season. Dare was drafted 14th overall by the Nets in 1994, hoping to be the answer at center for a potentially solid team. Dare played in one early November game, where he shot an air ball and had two fouls in three minutes before missing the rest of the season with a knee injury. Dare played a little bit the next three years and wasn’t a bad rebounder but he was just too slow and unskilled to make it in the NBA. His career PER was 6.2 in 110 games.
-Derek Strong: The tough power forward from Xavier (where he teamed up with Tyrone Hill) was drafted 47th in 1990 by the 76ers. Strong spent 1990-91 in Europe before landing with the Bullets in 1991-92. Strong got 12 minutes in a 21-point loss to Milwaukee. While he shot 0-4, he did grab five boards (the most ever for a one-game rookie), presaging a solid ten-year career (mostly with Orlando).
-Tod Murphy: Yes, just one “d”. Murphy was third round pick in 1986 but didn’t make the League until a cameo in 1987-88 with the Clippers. He was able to get into a 46-point loss to the Nuggets. To Murphy’s credit, he was solid enough in 19 minutes (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal). Murphy went to Europe and appeared to be gone from the NBA for good until the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves signed Murphy before the 1989-90 season. Expansion gave Murphy another shot and he used it well. He was the undersized starter at center for the Wolves (starting 58 games at 6’9). Murphy was decent enough (8 ppg, 7 rpg, 13.0 PER), to stick around the NBA a few more seasons. Once the Wolves let Murphy so in 1991-92, Murphy played in the CBA, and had another cameo in 1993-94 before playing abroad until 1997-98. Murphy is currently the head coach of Gordon College.
–Charles Jones: Jones is one of four brothers (Wil, Caldwell, and Major are his siblings) to play in the NBA in from the 1970s to the 1990s. Charles, like Murphy, was a hustling and undersized forward/center. Jones was drafted in the eighth round of the 1979 Draft and bounced around before getting his first shot with the 76ers in 1983-84. He actually played in an important game between the 76ers and the Larry Bird Celtics on February 12, 1984. Jones’ role was probably not critical, as Philly won by 18. Jones played a few games in 1984-85 and then somehow became starting center for the Bullets for the better part of six or seven years. Jones’ hustle couldn’t help offensively, where he was a total zero (from 1986-1991, he played 22.2 mpg but put up only 3.2 ppg, and 5.0 rpg and a PER of about 9.5). In case you were wondering: yes, the Bullets were bad during most of that time period. But the hustle and defense helped Jones make a name for himself and Jones lasted in the NBA through 1997-98 (age 40) as a backup.
-Carl Thomas: Thomas might have had the most interesting one game season. Thomas was an undrafted two guard out of Eastern Michigan, where he played with his twin brother Charles Thomas (who also played briefly in the NBA in 1991-92). Carl made the Kings as an undrafted rookie in 1991-92. On November 2, 1991 (the second game of the season), the Kings lost to the Warriors by 61. Thomas, though, was a legendary cameo performer. Thomas leads all one game rookies in minutes (31), field goals (5), shots (12), and points (12). He didn’t play another game for the Kings and he then spent the next five years in the CBA before getting another shot in 1996-97. Over the next two seasons, Thomas played 62 games and was a decent reserve for Cleveland and a few other teams.
Finally, special acknowledgement should go to Renaldo Major (2006-07), Ryan Robertson (1999-00), and Oliver Lafayette (2009-10), all of whom have had only a one-game NBA career but still managed to get more than 20 minutes of action that one time. (Lafayette is still young enough to possibly get another shot).