1957–58 Cincinnati Royals season

NBA professional basketball team season March 2026 August 2023 Cincinnati Royals 1958 33 39 Western 3 Bobby Wanzer Jack Harrison Les Harrison Cincinnati Gardens WKRC-TV WKRC West Division Semifinals(Eliminated 0–2) CIN Rochester Royals The 1957–58 season was the Royals first season in Cincinnati, following its relocation from Rochester during the offseason. Interest in the team was created by a draft deal that brought Lakers All-Star Clyde Lovellette to the team. The team then lured guard George King, the former Syracuse starter back from college coaching. Both additions added talent and veteran leadership to a still young squad. The roster included star shooter Jack Twyman, Dick Ricketts (who also pitched in the major leagues), and star swing man Tom Marshall. In their first year in Cincinnati, the Royals ended a two-year playoff drought by finishing in third place after tie-breakers in the NBA's West Division.Cincinnati Royals (1957–1972) The Royals finished with a record of 33–39. One of the team leaders was Maurice Stokes, who finished second in rebounding with 18.1 rebounds per game. The 6'8 240-pound Stokes, arguably the NBA's first black superstar, also amazed by rating third in the NBA in assists. Lovellette was fourth in the NBA in scoring, while Twyman led the NBA in shooting accuracy. Stokes and Twyman were named NBA All-Stars that first season. The team had the makings of a real contender, but the backcourt was debilitated by injuries to Marhsall and King, plus promising Si Green and Johnny McCarthy had been lost to mandatory military service. The team's first-year promise took a tragic turn in mid-March. In the final game of the regular season, played on March 12, Stokes suffered an injury when his head hit the hardwood floor in a game versus the Minneapolis Lakers. Despite being knocked unconscious, Stokes was to play in the playoffs against the Detroit Pistons. On the flight home after losing to the Pistons, Stokes suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the hospital upon landing. As the Pistons swept the Royals, Stokes lapsed into a coma. It was revealed that Stokes suffered encephalopathy, a traumatic brain injury that damaged his motor control center. The injury would leave Maurice Stokes as a quadriplegic without the ability to speak. Teammate Jack Twyman served as Stokes legal guardian until his death in 1970. The Stokes tragedy ultimately decimated the team, with six other players not returning for next season. The team was also suddenly sold to local Cincinnati buyers, and coach Bobby Wanzer was later replaced. This first year, therefore, stands out from all the Cincinnati teams. Draft picks Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 1 Rod Hundley USA 1912 West Virginia The Royals made the deal of the NBA draft with the first overall pick. They selected high-touted Rod Hundley, and then sent him along with two reserves to the Lakers for All-Star Clyde Lovellette and solid reserve Jim Paxson, who had been a college star at nearby Dayton. The Royals then tried to shore up their backcourt with selections Dick Duckett (2), Gerry Paulson (3), John Maglio (6) and Chet Forte (7). Forte was later the Director of ABC's Monday Night Football. As the season ended, local stars Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas were tabbed as territorial draft picks. Each would be selected by the team after the college senior seasons. Regular season Season standings CIN Game log 1957–58 Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 October 26 Syracuse 100–110 Jack Twyman (32) 1–0 2 November 1 St. Louis 92–99 Clyde Lovellette (26) 2–0 3 November 2 @ St. Louis 93–102 Stokes, Twyman (17) 2–1 4 November 3 Detroit 94–88 Regan, Stokes (15) 2–2 5 November 8 Boston 122–110 (OT) Lovellette, Stokes (22) 2–3 6 November 10 Philadelphia 106–101 Jack Twyman (24) 2–4 7 November 15 New York 99–101 Clyde Lovellette (33) 3–4 8 November 17 St. Louis 98–97 Jack Twyman (23) 3–5 9 November 19 N Detroit 75–92 Clyde Lovellette (25) 4–5 10 November 20 @ Philadelphia 99–89 Clyde Lovellette (30) 5–5 11 November 22 @ Syracuse 102–98 Clyde Lovellette (30) 6–5 12 November 27 N Minneapolis 106–107 Clyde Lovellette (22) 7–5 13 November 28 @ St. Louis 96–112 Jack Twyman (19) 7–6 14 November 29 Detroit 96–99 (OT) Maurice Stokes (20) 8–6 15 November 30 @ Detroit 96–100 Clyde Lovellette (30) 8–7 16 December 1 Minneapolis 89–90 Clyde Lovellette (23) 9–7 17 December 3 @ New York 104–110 Clyde Lovellette (27) 9–8 18 December 5 N Detroit 99–109 Maurice Stokes (22) 10–8 19 December 6 New York 112–97 Lovellette, Stokes (21) 10–9 20 December 7 @ Detroit 105–109 Clyde Lovellette (31) 10–10 21 December 8 Philadelphia 88–99 Jack Twyman (24) 11–10 22 December 10 N St. Louis 102–90 Clyde Lovellette (30) 11–11 23 December 11 @ Boston 104–116 Clyde Lovellette (26) 11–12 24 December 14 N Syracuse 104–100 Clyde Lovellette (31) 11–13 25 December 15 @ Syracuse 83–109 Clyde Lovellette (23) 11–14 26 December 20 Syracuse 122–113 Jack Twyman (26) 11–15 27 December 21 @ Detroit 101–112 Clyde Lovellette (28) 11–16 28 December 22 Boston 115–98 Lovellette, Twyman (26) 11–17 29 December 26 N Syracuse 104–100 Clyde Lovellette (32) 11–18 30 December 27 St. Louis 97–96 Jack Twyman (25) 11–19 31 December 28 @ Minneapolis 112–101 Jack Twyman (33) 12–19 32 December 29 Minneapolis 111–103 Jack Twyman (33) 12–20 33 December 31 Detroit 96–130 Jack Twyman (30) 13–20 34 January 3 Philadelphia 94–106 Jack Twyman (28) 14–20 35 January 5 @ New York 101–100 Maurice Stokes (27) 15–20 36 January 7 N Detroit 99–114 Jack Twyman (26) 16–20 37 January 8 N New York 123–105 Maurice Stokes (26) 16–21 38 January 10 New York 104–107 Clyde Lovellette (34) 17–21 39 January 11 Syracuse 100–105 Dick Ricketts (22) 18–21 40 January 12 Boston 97–115 Jack Twyman (26) 19–21 41 January 14 N New York 111–117 Jack Twyman (34) 20–21 42 January 16 Minneapolis 108–124 Clyde Lovellette (30) 21–21 43 January 17 @ Detroit 94–115 Clyde Lovellette (23) 21–22 44 January 19 @ St. Louis 90–108 Clyde Lovellette (26) 21–23 45 January 22 @ Syracuse 115–109 Clyde Lovellette (27) 22–23 46 January 24 Philadelphia 102–92 Jim Paxson (24) 22–24 47 January 26 Detroit 103–107 Clyde Lovellette (25) 23–24 48 January 30 @ Minneapolis 104–105 Jack Twyman (25) 23–25 49 January 31 St. Louis 92–100 Clyde Lovellette (25) 24–25 50 February 1 @ St. Louis 88–127 Piontek, Regan (16) 24–26 51 February 2 @ Minneapolis 95–106 Dave Piontek (21) 24–27 52 February 4 N Boston 87–107 Clyde Lovellette (20) 24–28 53 February 5 @ Boston 89–116 Clyde Lovellette (16) 24–29 54 February 7 @ Philadelphia 103–100 Clyde Lovellette (26) 25–29 55 February 8 N Boston 91–109 Maurice Stokes (25) 25–30 56 February 9 Minneapolis 104–121 Clyde Lovellette (34) 26–30 57 February 11 N Minneapolis 103–106 Maurice Stokes (23) 27–30 58 February 14 New York 103–92 Jack Twyman (22) 27–31 59 February 15 @ New York 97–99 Clyde Lovellette (24) 27–32 60 February 16 @ Syracuse 105–113 Clyde Lovellette (30) 27–33 61 February 20 @ Boston 92–94 Maurice Stokes (28) 27–34 62 February 21 Detroit 109–107 Jack Twyman (24) 27–35 63 February 22 @ Minneapolis 81–100 Dave Piontek (14) 27–36 64 February 23 Minneapolis 93–111 Clyde Lovellette (25) 28–36 65 February 26 N St. Louis 105–103 Clyde Lovellette (27) 28–37 66 March 1 @ Philadelphia 101–88 Clyde Lovellette (29) 29–37 67 March 2 @ St. Louis 93–103 Maurice Stokes (23) 29–38 68 March 4 N Philadelphia 97–91 Clyde Lovellette (29) 29–39 69 March 6 @ Philadelphia 110–108 Clyde Lovellette (37) 30–39 70 March 9 @ Boston 121–107 Jack Twyman (30) 31–39 71 March 10 St. Louis 84–122 Lovellette, Twyman (23) 32–39 72 March 12 @ Minneapolis 96–89 Maurice Stokes (24) 33–39 The first Cincinnati Royals game ever was a home game against Syracuse, 26 October 1957, a 110–100 win behind local star Jack Twyman. The team opened to good crowds with home games in their first ten. Nov 7–7, Dec 5–13 with injuries and extra road games, January 11–5, Feb 4–12 with a season-ending injury to Marshall, March 5–2, plus two playoff losses to Detroit, due to the permanent loss of Stokes. Playoffs Cincinnati Royals 1958 yes Cincinnati Royals Division Semifinals yes yes no 0 1 0 1 yes yes yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | March 15 | @ Detroit | L 83–100 | Clyde Lovellette (15) | Detroit Olympia | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | March 16 | Detroit | L 104–124 | Jack Twyman (24) | Cincinnati Gardens | 0–2 |- CIN yes 1958 Player statistics Season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Duckett, Dick Dick Duckett King, George George King Lovellette, Clyde Clyde Lovellette Marshall, Tom Tom Marshall Meineke, Monk Monk Meineke Paulson, Jerry Jerry Paulson Paxson, Jim Jim Paxson Piontek, Dave Dave Piontek Regan, Richie Richie Regan Ricketts, Dick Dick Ricketts Stokes, Maurice Maurice Stokes Twyman, Jack Jack Twyman Playoffs Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG King, George George King Lovellette, Clyde Clyde Lovellette Marshall, Tom Tom Marshall Meineke, Monk Monk Meineke Paxson, Jim Jim Paxson Piontek, Dave Dave Piontek Regan, Richie Richie Regan Ricketts, Dick Dick Ricketts Stokes, Maurice Maurice Stokes Twyman, Jack Jack Twyman Awards and honors Maurice Stokes, 2nd in rebounds, 3rd in assists, Second Team All-NBA. Clyde Lovellette, 1st in field goals made, 4th in scoring, 4th in shooting accuracy, Second Team All-NBA. Jack Twyman, 1st in shooting accuracy, NBA All-Star. George King, among top ten in NBA assists. References Royals on Basketball Reference Category:Sacramento Kings seasons Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Category:1950s in Cincinnati