Ranking LaMelo Ball among the last 10 Rookie of the Year winners

Charlotte Hornets: Ranking the past 10 ROTY winners

By Jason Huber | Oct 5, 2021

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 02: LaMelo Ball #2 of the Charlotte Hornets brings the ball up court against the Miami Heat during their game at Spectrum Center on May 02, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

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Feb. 20, 2021. Ja Morant. Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images /

Charlotte Hornets: Ranking the last 10 ROTYs – The Decent

Ja Morant (2020), Kyrie Irving (2012)

Ja Morant preceded LaMelo as Rookie of The Year and then took an even bigger step forward his second season in the league.

Kyrie Irving obviously became an NBA Champion and has turned out to be a multiple-time all-star.

However, even though it was very good, the rookie seasons for both Morant and Irving weren’t spectacular.

Morant averaged 17.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists while shooting 47 percent from the field but he arguably should’ve lost the award to Zion Williamson, who performed much better even though he missed almost half of the year with an injury.

Kyrie Irving in 2012. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

Morant only had 3.8 win-shares and was very streaky while trying to shoulder the load of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Irving averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds as a rookie but arguably had padded stats since he was on a terrible Cleveland Cavaliers team. He had 4.1 win-shares.

Both Morant and Irving had solid rookie seasons but the guys in tier 1 were just that much better.

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