He won MVP his ROOKIE YEAR, and you probably haven't heard of him

When you discuss the greatest centers of all time, Wes Unseld's name almost never comes up. However as a champion, finals MVP and coming into the league as the most valuable player his rookie year, it definitely should.

Legacy of Hoops is a channel dedicated to exploring the NBA, its history and current state. If you're a fan of the NBA, and basketball in general, subscribe so that you dont miss a video

INSTAGRAM

TWITTER

I do not own any of the clips on this video or the music so copyright is not intended

[JackFlaps]

one of my all time favorites, tough as they come. best outlet pass ever

[gynandroidhead]

You have a new subscriber.

I was fortunate enough to remember the second half of Unseld's career. Kareem said that running into Wes was similar to running into a cement highway divider, and I believe Wilt used a fire hydrant as an analogy.

He was also an amazing outlet passer with a sizzling two-handed chest pass.

Wes Unseld earned a great deal of respect from the many, hard-working blue collar basketball fans I encountered in my formative years. He was a "lunch pail" player, the guy on the construction site with a hearty lunch and a Thermos of high-test coffee.

[MaximillianHP]

He is probably one of the least talked about among the 50 Greatest NBA Players from the Anniversary Team. I never see anything about Wes Unseld, he's very rarely mentioned.

[kinodelacruz]

I think you haven’t heard of my myplayer in 2k

[twhands]

The amazing thing about Wes Unseld is that he accomplished what he did without a vertical jump. I grew up watching him play as a little guy and I never saw him dunk a basketball in an NBA game in an over the rim era. He wasn't only tough, but he was really smart. I mean Jedi Knight-type smart.. He knew angles and positions so well that he could do all the things that taller and more agile centers (meaning better leapers) could do around the basket. He was amazing.

[Crlongboarder]

And now you can play him at PG on MyTeam

[jaykaynum]

I win Rookie of the year/MVP in video games. That's unheard of in real life. Still say MJ should've been MVP his first season 🐐Wes Wes rest n peace💯

[jimmarble]

He was the kind of player any guard would love to have as a teammate. Getting rebounds, throwing great outlet passes, and setting bone shaking picks!

[randomcat]

Yeah his name is MOSES CUH

Anyway RIP Rookie MVP

[svfox]

this nailed it
nobody knows wes, unreal

and you probably haven't heard of him

[ReverendMike]

Wes Unseld was my idol in High School and "Uns" was my nickname. I played center at 6'3" and on our team we had a 6'9" 6'8" and a 6'6" ...yet I led in rebounds ...

[jamiecarpenter]

100th subscriber congrats and I'm glad it was me.

[zrt]

Ive heard of wes unseld, especially on 2K BROOOO ONE OF THE BEST PGS IN THE GAME

[mrdrfez]

In the season that Wes Unseld won MVP as a rookie, the NBA scoring title was also won by a rookie (Elvin Hayes; who averaged more than twice as many points and almost as many rebounds as Wes Unseld).
When Wes Unseld won the Finals MVP, he did not lead his team in any statistical category during the finals. Meanwhile, Elvin Hayes (who was Unseld's teammate by then) led the Bullets in points, rebounds, and blocks in that Finals.
Hayes was drafted #1 overall in 1968. Unseld was #2. But despite Hayes' being superior to Unseld on paper, it was Unseld who won the MVP awards because Hayes was notorious for being selfish and an overall bad teammate (whereas Unseld was the opposite).

[housesports]

Wes Unseld in retirement looked like that professor you knew but always thought he had a secret

[christophergooding]

I just want to note that Bob Pettit likely would’ve been among the players to win ROTY, and MVP, and a Finals MVP if FMVPs were around when he played as he led his team in points and rebounds and had a 50 point closeout game in the 58 finals.

[Nhilzer]

It's funny, almost every american player will always tell "I wanna be mvp" or rookie of the year, etc... Any individual trophy. While a few other ones like Doncic will just say "i want us to win a championship cause everyone's gonna be happy".

[YoungBlood]

how didn’t wilt win that mvp season when he had better numbers in every category

[Wallyworld]

I'm gonna say it... Wes Unseld 14/18/3 shouldn't have won MVP his Rookie season. Wilt averaged 20/21/5 led the Lakers to a 55-27 record and didn't win it??? If they gave Wes ROY and DPOTY fine but no way in hell should he have won MVP.
The reason they gave it to Wes instead of Wilt was a combination of Voter Fatigue (See Giannis) and the fact the Bullets only won 36 games and 57 with him.

[xtuneskki]

everyone heard of unseld are you serious?