Wait, that was historic! - Michael Carter-Williams's rookie debut
Philadelphia 76ers rookie Michael Carter Williams
Michael Carter Williams, the #11 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, couldn’t have asked for a better way to start off what now seems to be a potentially great NBA career.
Carter-Williams made a debut we’ll all remember, using 22 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 9 steals and 1!!! turnover to lead the Philadelphia 76ers past the double world champions Miami Heat 114-110. The former Syracuse point guard brought life into a 19k+ stagnant Philly crowd that included former legends Iverson, Charles Barkley, Julius Erving and Moses Malone.
Here is a list of all the individual accomplishments Michael Carter Williams achieved tonight:
- Carter- Williams had 12 assists in the game, the second highest by any player in their career debut in NBA history.
Ernie DiGregorio leads the pack with 14 in his debut for Buffalo Braves (1973, he also has the record of most assists by a rookie – 25), anyways here’s are some names that MCW passed Jason Kidd, Damian Lillard, Isiah Thomas & Maurice Cheeks, pretty nice company to be with.
- Carter-Williams had 9 steals, the most by any player in their career NBA debut.
He broke Gary Garland 1979 record of 6 steals by upping it by 150% percent, he also set the franchise regular season record for highest steals, tied with none other than Allen Iverson who achieved the feat twice.
- The 22-12-9-7 combination has happened only twice previously in NBA.
Ricky Green (a former all-star) 26-12-9-7 for the Utah Jazz in November, 1982 and Johnny Moore ( a Spurs retiree and NBA assist leader, 1982) 26-13-9-11 for the San Antonio Spurs in January, 1985.
- He became the second player to lit up 20 against the defending champs in his first NBA game.
He became the first player after Willie Anderson lit up the Lakers for 30 in the Spurs’ first game of the 1988-1989 season.
- He also broke the record of most assists by a player in his first game against the defending champs.
No other player has ever recorded more than seven assists when playing the reigning champs in his first game.
- <He also had the highest Game Score in NBA career debut for any player.
The second one is not even close, he also had the highest PER (Player Efficiency Rating) by a player in NBA debut – 48.0!
Other than the individual outburst, MCW also was the leader (on both ends of court) of the 76ers squad that shot a ridiculous 54% from the field and started the game with a 19-0 run which made them lead the Heat by 19 points at the end of the 1st quarter – That’s the Heat 2nd-largest deficit at the end of the 1st quarter in the LeBron era, even if it is just one game, it is pretty great for a team that was projected to under 16 wins at Las Vegas, the lowest of any other team. His presence on court really elevated the game of his teammates.
- Evan Turner scored 26 points on 19 shots.
A feat he only achieved 4 times in his 226 game long NBA career.
- Spencer Hawes poured in 24 points on 14 shots.
He has never done that before in his six NBA seasons.
Sure it was just one game and he will have nights where he will more turnovers than assists (he averaged 3.4 turnovers in college to go along with 7.4 assists), or nights when he’ll go 2-12 or 3-13 from the field (he only shot 40 percent from the field in college) and if you account the fact that Sixers are all in Riggins for Wiggins.
Still, the show the rookie put on was nothing short of legendary and deserves it fair shares of credit, after all on a night when arguably Philadelphia’s biggest sports icon Allen Iverson retired - a more of a iso guy who lead the lead the league 4 times in shots taken, Philly fans might have found their next superstar – the one who has a smile as that of a horse and one who makes sure his teammates get better.
Stay Smiling, Kid.