Every year, a rookie is chosen in the NBA as the Rookie of the Year. This player showcases excellence among all rookies. More often than not, the player exceeds in offense, rather than defense. Below is a list of the the rookie of the year from every year since the 1952-1953 season.

Year          Player                Team

1952-53       Don Meineke           Fort Wayne
1953-54       Ray Felix             Baltimore
1954-55       Bob Pettit            Milwaukee
1955-56       Maurice Stokes        Rochester
1956-57       Tom Heinsohn          Boston
1957-58       Woody Sauldsberry     Philadelphia 
1958-59       Elgin Baylor          Minneapolis 
1959-60       Wilt Chamberlain      Philadelphia 
1960-61       Oscar Robertson       Cincinnati 
1961-62       Walt Bellamy          Chicago 
1962-63       Terry Dischinger      Chicago 
1963-64       Jerry Lucas           Cincinnati 
1964-65       Willis Reed           New York 
1965-66       Rick Barry            San Francisco 
1966-67       Dave Bing             Detroit 
1967-68       Earl Monroe           Baltimore 
1968-69       Wes Unseld            Baltimore 
1969-70       Kareem Abdul-Jabbar   Milwaukee 
1970-71       Dave Cowens           Boston 
              Geoff Petrie          Portland 
1971-72       Sidney Wicks          Portland 
1972-73       Bob McAdoo            Buffalo 
1973-74       Ernie DiGregorio      Buffalo 
1974-75       Keith Wilkes          Golden State 
1975-76       Alvan Adams           Phoenix 
1976-77       Adrian Dantley        Buffalo 
1977-78       Walter Davis          Phoenix 
1978-79       Phil Ford             Kansas City 
1979-80       Larry Bird            Boston 
1980-81       Darrell Griffith      Utah 
1981-82       Buck Williams         New Jersey 
1982-83       Terry Cummings        San Diego 
1983-84       Ralph Sampson         Houston 
1984-85       Michael Jordan        Chicago 
1985-86       Patrick Ewing         New York 
1986-87       Chuck Person          Indiana 
1987-88       Mark Jackson          New York 
1988-89       Mitch Richmond        Golden State 
1989-90       David Robinson        San Antonio 
1990-91       Derrick Coleman       New Jersey 
1991-92       Larry Johnson         Charlotte 
1992-93       Shaquille O'Neal      Orlando 
1993-94       Chris Webber          Golden State 
1994-95       Grant Hill            Detroit 
              Jason Kidd            Dallas 
1995-96       Damon Stoudamire      Toronto 
1996-97       Allen Iverson         Philadelphia 
1997-98       Tim Duncan            San Antonio 
1998-99       Vince Carter          Toronto 
1999-00       Elton Brand           Chicago 
              Steve Francis         Houston 
2000-01       Mike Miller           Orlando